Flores v. City of Palacios
| Citation | 270 F.Supp.2d 865 |
| Decision Date | 30 May 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. G-02-657.,G-02-657. |
| Parties | Erika FLORES, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF PALACIOS and Wilbert Kalina, a/k/a Billy Kalina, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas |
Bobby D Brown, Brown & Martinez, LLP, Victoria, TX, for Erika Flores.
William Scott Helfand, Magenheim Bateman, et al., Houston, TX, for City of Palacios, Wilbert Kalina aka Billy Kalina.
ORDER PARTIALLY GRANTING AND PARTIALLY DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM, DENYING DEFENDANTS' ALTERNATIVE MOTION FOR MORE DEFINITE STATEMENT OR REPLY, AND DENYING DEFENDANT KALINA'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
On September 13, 2002, Plaintiff Erika Flores ("Flores") brought this lawsuit against the City of Palacios ("City") and Officer Wilbert Kalina ("Kalina") (collectively, "Defendants"), via 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Flores alleges that she was unlawfully arrested, subjected to an excessive use of force, and maliciously prosecuted in violation of her rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Further, she alleges that Defendants' conduct deprived her of her good name, reputation, and property in violation of her due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment.1 Now before the Court are Defendants' Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim and Alternative Motion for More Definite Statement or Reply, Defendant Kalina's Motion for Summary Judgment, and Plaintiffs timely Responses thereto. For the following reasons, Defendants' Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART, Defendants' Alternative Motion for More Definite Statement or Reply is DENIED, and Defendant Kalina's Motion for Summary Judgment is also DENIED.
Flores's version of the events giving rise to her claims is as follows: On July 16, 2002, Flores, a sixteen-year-old student at Palacios High School, was visiting her cousin and some friends at her aunt's house. At approximately 11:00 p.m., Flores called her mother to tell her she was on her way home. Flores left her aunt's house, got into her car, and turned on the radio. As she began to pull away, she heard a noise, felt something hit her car, and immediately stopped. She got out of her car and was accosted by Kalina, who had fired his gun at her car to stop her. He exclaimed, "I almost killed you," and then he forced her to the ground, handcuffed her, and arrested her. Flores claims she was already in her car when Officer Kalina's patrol car drove past her and that she never heard Kalina tell her to stop, to pull over, or to get out of the car. Without conducting a preliminary investigation, Kalina swore out a felony charge of evading arrest against Flores and attempted to have her detained overnight by the juvenile probation department, which refused to do so. Flores contends that the City knew that complaints had been filed against Kalina for using excessive force in the past and that, at least once before, Kalina pointed his gun at an unarmed juvenile who posed no risk to anyone.
Defendants tell a somewhat different story: At approximately 11:15 p.m., while patrolling the city, Palacios Police Department Officers Kalina and Baldemar Isquierdo observed a white 1998 four-door Oldsmobile parked on the wrong side of the road (facing west, but on the eastbound side of the road). The Officers saw no one near the car and decided the circumstances warranted investigation. Officer Kalina shined a spotlight on the area, and people (who had not been visible before) began running from the area near the car. The Officers got out of their car, and Officer Kalina followed the fleeing people up a driveway. As he did, another person passed by him running toward the Oldsmobile. Officer Kalina called out, The person who had passed him did not stop.2 Officer Kalina ran up alongside the Oldsmobile, which was pulling away, and yelled, but the car did not stop. As Officer Kalina ran next to the car, the driver (Flores) pulled to the right, nearly striking him. Kalina stopped running, and, as the car drove away, he shot at its right rear tire, but hit the muffler-a few inches from the car's gas tank. Flores was arrested, charged with evading detention in a motor vehicle, and processed through the juvenile justice system. A subsequent investigation revealed alcohol in the area from which the minors had fled, but Kalina observed no signs that Flores had been drinking. Additionally, Flores and the other minors were in a public place after 11:00 p.m. on a weeknight in violation of the City's curfew.
Kalina and the City seek dismissal of Flores's claims under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, for failing to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. When considering a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, the court accepts as true all well-pleaded allegations in the complaint and views them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See Molina v. Gonzales, 994 F.2d 1121, 1125 (5th Cir.1993). Such motions should be granted only when it appears without a doubt that a plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claims that would entitle him to relief. See Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 102, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); Tuchman v. DSC Communications Corp., 14 F.3d 1061, 1067 (5th Cir.1994).
Kalina has also moved for summary judgment on Flores's claims against him. When considering a motion for summary judgment, the Court accepts the nonmovant's evidence and draws all justifiable inferences in that party's favor. See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 585-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1355-56, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Such motions should be granted only if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Determining credibility, weighing evidence, and drawing inferences are left to the trier of fact. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2513, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). If the evidence is such that a reasonable fact-finder could find in favor of the nonmoving party, summary judgment should not be granted. Id. at 247-48, 106 S.Ct. at 2510.
In addressing Flores's claims against Officer Kalina, the Court must first consider Officer Kalina's qualified immunity defense. Qualified immunity protects government officials performing discretionary functions from liability for actions taken in the course of their duties unless the alleged conduct violates clearly established law of which a reasonable official would have been aware. See Gibson v. Rich, 44 F.3d 274, 277 (5th Cir.1995). Deciding whether a police officer is entitled to qualified immunity is a two-step process. See Hayter v. City of Mount Vernon, 154 F.3d 269, 274 (5th Cir.1998). The Court first determines whether the plaintiff has alleged a violation of a clearly established constitutional right. If not, the defendant is entitled to qualified immunity. If the plaintiff alleges such a violation, and even if the conduct actually violated a clearly established right, the Court then asks whether the official's conduct was objectively reasonable. If so, he is entitled to qualified immunity. See id.
Although whether an official is entitled to qualified immunity is a question of law, the reasonableness determination is made by evaluating the conduct in light of established facts; thus, the decision generally must be made at the summary judgment stage. See Baker v. Putnal, 75 F.3d 190, 197 (5th Cir.1996) () (citing Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 250, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1693, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974)). Although the plaintiff bears the burden of proving that the law is clearly established, the typical summary judgment burden of demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material fact rests with the defendant.
Flores alleges that Kalina violated her Fourth Amendment rights by using excessive force to seize her, by arresting her without probable cause, and by maliciously prosecuting her. At this broad level of generality, these rights are all clearly established. See Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 388, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 1867-68, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989) (); Beck v. State of Ohio, 379 U.S. 89, 91, 85 S.Ct. 223, 225-26, 13 L.Ed.2d 142 (1964) (); Castellano v. Fragozo, 311 F.3d 689, 701 (5th Cir.2002) ().
More specifically, Flores alleges that Kalina violated her rights by using deadly force to prevent her from leaving her aunt's house. This more specific allegation, too, articulates a violation of clearly established law. See Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 11, 105 S.Ct. 1694, 1701, 85 L.Ed.2d 1 (1985) (...
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Flores v. City of Palacios
...each of the Fourth Amendment claims and therefore denied Kalina's motion for summary judgment on those claims. Flores v. City of Palacios, 270 F.Supp.2d 865, 872-73 (S.D.Tex.2003). The district court dismissed the Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process claims because it found those cl......