Currier v. Doran

• Decision Date: 01 March 2001
• Docket Number: 99-2288,Nos. 99-2287,s. 99-2287
• Parties: (10th Cir. 2001) CHARLES C. CURRIER, as personal representative of the Estate of Anthony Michael Juarez, deceased; DEVONNE ESPERANZA JUAREZ, as mother and next friend of Latasha Juarez, a minor, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. TOM DORAN, SHIRLEY MEDINA, MELBA GONZALES, REGINA SENTELL, in their personal capacity, Defendants-Appellants, and KELLY ROBBINS, in her personal capacity, Defendant
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

Page 905

242 F.3d 905 (10th Cir. 2001)

CHARLES C. CURRIER, as personal representative of the Estate of Anthony Michael Juarez, deceased; DEVONNE ESPERANZA JUAREZ, as mother and next friend of Latasha Juarez, a minor, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. TOM DORAN, SHIRLEY MEDINA, MELBA GONZALES, REGINA SENTELL, in their personal capacity, Defendants-Appellants, and KELLY ROBBINS, in her personal capacity, Defendant.

Nos. 99-2287, 99-2288

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS TENTH CIRCUIT

March 01, 2001

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico. (D.C. No. CIV-97-477-BB/JHG) [Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Paula I. Forney, of Legal Bureau-Risk Management, Santa Fe, New Mexico, for Appellant Gonzales.

Timothy Flynn-O'Brien, Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Appellants Doran, Medina and Sentell.

Charles K. Purcell, of Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin & Robb, P.A., Albuquerque, New Mexico, (William S. Dixon of Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin & Robb, P.A., and Michael L. Stout, of Roswell, New Mexico, with him on the briefs) for Plaintiffs-Appellees.

Before SEYMOUR, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges, and KANE,^* District Judge.

MURPHY, Circuit Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs, the representatives of two minor children abused by their father, brought suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983 alleging Defendants violated their fundamental rights under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Defendants Tom Doran, Shirley Medina, and Regina Sentell are social workers for the Children, Youth and Families Department of the State of New Mexico ("CYF"), and defendant Melba Gonzales is a supervisor for CYF.¹

Defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing they were entitled to qualified immunity. The district court treated the motions as motions to dismiss. Defendants appeal the district court's denial of their motions. Jurisdiction to consider Defendants' appeal arises under 28 U.S.C. 1291. See Johnson v. Fankell, 520 U.S. 911, 915 (1997) ("[A] Federal District Court order rejecting a qualified immunity defense on the ground that the defendant's actions--if proved--would have violated clearly established law may be appealed immediately as a 'final decision' within the meaning of the general federal appellate jurisdiction statute."). Because Plaintiffs have alleged a clearly established constitutional claim against Defendants Doran and Gonzales, these Defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity; this court therefore affirms the district court's denial of their motions for summary judgment. Because Plaintiffs have not alleged a viable constitutional claim against Defendant Sentell, this court reverses the district court's denial of her motion for summary judgment. Because the constitutional violation Plaintiffs state against Medina was not clearly established at the time of the events underlying this suit, this court reverses the district court's denial of Medina's motion for summary judgment.

II. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiffs allege the following facts in their complaint and in their response to Defendants' motions for summary judgment. On April 30, 1993, Defendant Medina visited the home of Devonne Juarez ("Juarez") to investigate a report of child neglect. Juarez is the natural mother of Latasha and Anthony Juarez, whose abuse prompted this lawsuit.² Medina found Latasha and Anthony, who were both under four years old, in the care of their five-year-old cousin. Medina discovered that Juarez had left the state. Medina removed Latasha and Anthony from the home and delivered the children into the physical custody of CYF.

On May 3, 1993, CYF petitioned the New Mexico Children's Court ("Children's Court") for an order formally granting legal custody of the children to CYF. Medina stated in an affidavit supporting the petition that Christopher Vargas, the father of Latasha and Anthony, had not supported the children and had allowed them to live in "alarming conditions." Medina had also been informed by an associate of Vargas that Vargas worked evenings and would "have a hard time taking care of the kids."

During this time Defendant Doran became aware of Vargas' history of financial irresponsibility, which included having made only eight child-support payments in the preceding three years. On May 10, 1993, the Children's Court held a custody hearing. Doran attended but said nothing about Vargas' history of child-support payments. The Children's Court stated that "no parent, guardian, custodian or other person is able or willing to provide adequate supervision and care for the children." Nevertheless, based on the recommendation of Medina, the court granted physical custody of the children to Vargas while keeping legal custody with CYF.

At some point during the following months, Vargas was also awarded legal custody. Plaintiffs contend this occurred on October 19, 1993, and that Doran, either through his failure to investigate and report to the Children's Court or his affirmative recommendation to the Children's Court, was responsible for this decision. Defendants maintain Vargas assumed legal custody on June 23, 1993. The district court allowed limited discovery on this issue, but found it unnecessary to resolve the issue in denying Defendants' motions.

On July 22, 1993, Doran visited Latasha and Anthony at Vargas' home. Doran noticed a small bruise on Anthony's cheek; Vargas' girlfriend claimed the bruise was the result of a fall on the playground. On August 3, 1993, Anthony had another bruise when he arrived at the CYF office for a visit. This bruise was also attributed to a fall. Doran did not further investigate either bruise.

Juarez returned to New Mexico in August 1993. On August 25 and September 16, 1993, Juarez asserted to the children's guardian ad litem that Vargas and his fiancee were physically abusing Latasha and Anthony. Defendant Doran was told about at least one of these allegations but failed to investigate. On August 31, 1993, during the course of a comprehensive psychological evaluation conducted at CYF's request, Juarez alleged that Vargas' fiancee punished Latasha and Anthony by dunking them in a bathtub full of water. Doran learned of these accusations but failed to investigate.

On October 15, 1993, during a visit between Juarez and the children at the CYF office, two bruises were noticed on Latasha's back. When Latasha was asked who gave her the bruises, she replied "Da, Da." On October 20, 1993, the guardian ad litem for Latasha and Anthony sent letters to Doran and Gonzales urging a thorough investigation of the recent observations of bruises on Latasha's back. Doran did interview Vargas and his fiancee about the bruises; they explained that the bruises had been caused by a bunk bed ladder which they had since thrown away.

On November 17, 1993, bruises were noticed on Anthony's face while he was in the CYF office. Vargas' fiancee claimed the bruises were the result of Anthony's fall from a bunk bed. CYF then removed Latasha and Anthony from Vargas' home and placed them with relatives. When questioned about the bruises on Anthony's cheek, Vargas explained to Doran that he had bitten Anthony on the cheek while wrestling on the floor, but that he did not think he had bitten Anthony "that hard." Latasha made some remarks indicating that "Ta Ta" had bitten Anthony to punish him. There were also bite marks on Latasha that Vargas could not explain. Doran prepared an affidavit for a November 19, 1993 meeting with Gonzales in which he indicated that the children would be subject to further abuse if permitted to stay with Vargas. In the meeting, however, Doran failed to strongly advocate against return of the children to Vargas. Gonzales concluded the children had to be returned to Vargas, which occurred on November 19, 1993.

On January 10, 1994, a request for an investigation of possible physical abuse of Anthony was made to Defendant Sentell. Sentell received this request and referred it to Medina for further action. Medina discovered bruises on Anthony's buttocks but concluded the bruises were the result of a fall. During the visit Latasha told Medina that she was spanked with a belt.

On January 16, 1994, the children's guardian ad litem filed a report indicating that "Anthony and Latasha will be subject to further injury in their current home situation" and recommended monitoring the situation. Despite this recommendation, Medina and Doran then instructed Juarez to stop making allegations of abuse because it was traumatizing the children. On March 16, 1994, Doran referred another allegation of abuse to Sentell. Sentell discovered bruises on both Latasha and Anthony but concluded the injuries were not the result of abuse.

On April 16, 1994, Vargas poured boiling water on Anthony, causing Anthony severe burns over most of his body. When Doran learned of this incident, he went to Vargas' home, where he observed many indications of violence. Doran removed Latasha, who was covered with bruises, from Vargas' home and took her to the emergency room. Doctors at the emergency room indicated that Anthony was bruised everywhere he was not burned. Defendants then sought and gained custody of the children on CYF's behalf. Anthony died in an intensive care unit on May 3, 1994.

Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, claiming Defendants had violated Latasha and Anthony's rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. After the completion of the limited discovery referred to above, Medina and Doran moved for summary judgment on the grounds that DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services precluded Plaintiffs' claims. 489 U.S. 189 (1989). Defendant Gonzales independently moved for summary judgment, raising the same argument. Gonzales also maintained, however, that even if DeShaney did not foreclose Plaintiffs' claims, the law was not clearly established at the time of the...