Rodriguez v. United States
Decision Date | 14 July 1971 |
Docket Number | Civ. No. 848-70. |
Citation | 328 F. Supp. 1389 |
Parties | Ramón Agueda RODRÍGUEZ, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant. |
Court | U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico |
Pedro E. Purcell Ruiz, San Juan, P. R., for plaintiff.
Wally de la Rosa, Asst. U. S. Atty., San Juan, P. R., for defendant.
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
This is an action for personal injuries which arises under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671 et seq.
On October 9, 1970 plaintiff filed a complaint whereby he alleges that a Mr. Charles T. Ward, on April 4, 1969, was a member of the U. S. Navy and while driving a motor vehicle property of the U. S. Navy, in a reckless and negligent manner, within the scope of his office or employment, did impact a motor vehicle that plaintiff was driving. That as a result of said accident plaintiff was rendered unconscious, received a fracture of the distal third of the right tibia, suffered severe lacerations of the tongue and of the fourth distal phalanx, suffered great pain, agony, mental anguish, loss of earnings and a total loss of his vehicle.
Subsequently, on March 31, 1971, defendant filed a motion to dismiss and as grounds for said motion stated that Mr. Charles T. Ward, the driver of the vehicle which supposedly caused the accident resulting in the damages as well as the injuries to plaintiff, was not acting in his line of duty.
Defendant further alleged that Mr. Ralph W. Carey, who dispatched the vehicle to Mr. Charles T. Ward on the night of April 4, 1969, did dispatch said vehicle in an unauthorized manner and that said vehicle was used for a purely personal matter and not in the furtherance of the Government.
A hearing was held on April 29, 1971.
Plaintiff did not present any evidence but limited himself to cross-examine defendant's witnesses.
Plaintiff's opposition to defendant's motion to dismiss, in essence consists in that the accident occurred within the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the imposition of responsibility on defendant is governed by Commonwealth of Puerto Rico's doctrine of respondeat superior as is clearly set forth in Section 1751 of the Title 9, Laws of Puerto Rico Annotated.
Plaintiff relies heavily on the cases of McGee Quiñones v. Palmer, 91 P.R.R. 450, 454 (1964) and Cordero Santiago v. Lizardi, (89 P.R.R., 148, 155), which interpreted Section 1751.
These two cases of McGee and Cordero, supra, clearly establish that Section 1751, is a permissive use statute, for they impose liability once the possession is obtained by express or implied authorization of the owner and being the determining factor the authorized possession, not the authorized use. Rodríguez Rivera v. Transport Insurance Co., 373 F.2d 716, 717 (1967) (1st Cir.).
There cannot be any doubt that Title 9, Laws of Puerto Rico Annotated, Section 1751 ( ), is a permissive use statute.
Permissive use statutes do not apply to claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act: See O'Toole v. United States, n. 6, 284 F.2d 792 (2 Cir.); United States v. Hull, 195 F.2d 64, 67 (1st Cir., Mass., 1952); Hubsch v. United States, 174 F.2d 7 (5th Cir., Fla., 1949), compromised after grant of certiorari, 338 U.S. 440, 70 S.Ct. 225, 94 L. Ed. 244 (1949); Williams v. United States, 105 F.Supp. 208, 209 (ND Cal. 1952), considered on other grounds 350 U.S. 857, 76 S.Ct. 100, 100 L.Ed. 761 (1955); Clemens v. United States, 88 F.Supp. 971 (ND Minn. 1950); Cropper v. United States, 81 F.Supp. 81 (ND Fla. 1948); Murphey v. United States, 79 F.Supp. 925, 927-928 (ND Cal. 1948), rev'd on other grounds 179 F.2d 743 (9th Cir., Cal. 1950); Long v. United States, 78 F.Supp. 35, 37 (SD Cal. 1948).
In the light of the aforementioned cases we must discard Title 9, Laws of Puerto Rico Annotated, Section 1751, as imposing liability on defendant.
We then must be guided by the local rule of respondeat superior doctrine of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Merritt v. United States, 332 F.2d 397, (1st Cir., 1964). A leading case which sheds light as to said doctrine is Jiménez v. People of P. R., 83 P.R.R. 195, 200, 201, which states as follows:
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...the scope of the employment. c) That the agent has not been prompted by purely personal motives.'" Id., quoting Rodríguez v. United States, 328 F.Supp. 1389, 1391 (D.P.R.1971). The criminal conduct at issue in the instant case was clearly prompted by purely personal motives and was not rela......
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