Martinez v. Colon, 94-2138

Decision Date03 April 1995
Docket NumberNo. 94-2138,94-2138
PartiesWilfredo MARTINEZ, a/k/a Wilfredo Martinez Rodriguez, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. Rafael COLON, a/k/a Rafael Colon Pizarro, et al., Defendants, Appellees. . Heard
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

John E. Mudd, Towson, MD, with whom Howard Charles and Ortiz Toro & Ortiz Brunet Law Offices, Hato Rey, PR, were on brief, for appellant.

Edgardo Rodriguez-Quilichini, Asst. Sol. Gen., with whom Pedro Delgado Hernandez, Sol. Gen., and Carlos Lugo Fiol, Deputy Sol. Gen., Hato Rey, PR, were on brief, for appellees.

Before TORRUELLA, Chief Judge, BOWNES, Senior Circuit Judge, and SELYA, Circuit Judge.

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

This appeal raises interesting questions about the contours of 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 (1988) and the reach of the Supreme Court's core holding in DeShaney v. Winnebago County Social Servs. Dep't, 489 U.S. 189, 109 S.Ct. 998, 103 L.Ed.2d 249 (1989). Concluding, as we do, that the court below appropriately applied DeShaney, we affirm the entry of summary judgment in the defendants' favor.

I. BACKGROUND

Consistent with the method of Fed.R.Civ.P. 56, we canvass the material facts in a light that flatters, but does not impermissibly distort, the plaintiff's claims. We then recount the travel of the case.

A. The Facts.

We outline the facts, omitting the graphic details on which our dissenting brother prefers to dwell. In our view, these details are not relevant to the legal issues posed on appeal.

In the early morning hours of May 26, 1988, plaintiff-appellant Wilfredo Martinez Rodriguez (Martinez), a youthful member of Puerto Rico's police force, drove to the Loiza Street Precinct, located in the San Juan metropolitan area. Though Martinez was not scheduled to begin his shift until 4:00 a.m., he arrived early, pursuant to local custom, in order to procure his post assignment. Martinez alleges that he was on duty from the moment he arrived--even before his shift began--because from that point forward he was subject to the shift commander's orders.

Upon Martinez' arrival, a fellow officer who was on duty at the time, Angel Valentin Corali (Valentin), approached Martinez' car and called him "pretty boy" ("papito lindo"). When Martinez alighted, Valentin drew his service revolver, pointed it at Martinez' stomach, cocked the hammer, placed his finger on the trigger, and inquired if Martinez was afraid. Valentin then disarmed the weapon, and Martinez hurried inside the station, first telling Valentin: "Don't horse around with that because you will kill me."

Shortly after this fracas had occurred, Valentin accosted Martinez in the radio room, inserted his finger into a small hole in Martinez' undershirt, and ripped it. Once again, Martinez walked away from Valentin. He then changed into his uniform, entered the waiting room, and reported to his shift supervisor, defendant-appellee Juan Trinidad Marrero (Trinidad).

Soon thereafter, Valentin reappeared, pointed his revolver at Martinez' genitals, cocked the hammer, and, with his finger on the trigger, threatened to "blow away" Martinez' penis (asking him, somewhat rhetorically, if he was scared). When Valentin lowered the weapon, Martinez immediately moved away from him. Within minutes Valentin again approached Martinez, cocked the revolver, aimed it at Martinez' groin, and resumed his taunting. The revolver accidentally discharged, maiming Martinez.

The first encounter took place in the precinct's parking lot and the rest transpired inside the police station. According to Martinez, roughly twenty minutes elapsed from start to finish. All parties agree that the shooting, which occurred before the 4:00 a.m. shift change, was unintentional. 1

B. Travel of the Case.

On May 22, 1989, Martinez filed suit in federal district court against numerous defendants, including, as relevant here, Rafael Colon Pizarro (Colon), Luis A. Velez Rentas (Velez), and Trinidad (collectively, "the officers" or "the defendants"). 2 Invoking 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 and premising jurisdiction on the existence of a federal question, see 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1331 (1988), he alleged that his rights had been abridged in that each defendant owed him a duty to intervene and protect him from readily discernible harm at the hands of a fellow officer, but each defendant breached this duty by subsequent inaction. 3 Martinez asserted pendent tort claims with respect to all three defendants and, with respect to Trinidad, asserted a section 1983 claim based on supervisory liability.

After a flurry of pretrial discovery, the officers moved for summary judgment. They argued, inter alia, that Valentin was not acting under color of state law when the mishap occurred; and that, therefore, onlooker officers did not have a constitutional duty to intervene on Martinez' behalf. The district court referred the motions and Martinez' timely opposition to a magistrate judge. The magistrate concluded that, under DeShaney, the officers had no constitutional obligation to protect Martinez from Valentin's actions, and urged the district court to grant summary judgment. The plaintiff objected to the magistrate's report and recommendation, but the district court, affording de novo review, see Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b), adopted the report, accepted the recommendation, and entered judgment accordingly. This appeal followed.

II. THE SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

A district court may grant summary judgment only "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). We have charted the boundaries of this rule in case after case, see, e.g., Coyne v. Taber Partners I, 53 F.3d 454, 457 (1st Cir.1995); National Amusements, Inc. v. Town of Dedham, 43 F.3d 731, 735 (1st Cir.1995), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 2247, 132 L.Ed.2d 255 (1995); Vasapolli v. Rostoff, 39 F.3d 27, 32 (1st Cir.1994); Dow v. United Bhd. of Carpenters, 1 F.3d 56, 58 (1st Cir.1993); Pagano v. Frank, 983 F.2d 343, 347 (1st Cir.1993); Wynne v. Tufts Univ. Sch. of Med., 976 F.2d 791, 793-94 (1st Cir.1992), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 1845, 123 L.Ed.2d 470 (1993); United States v. One Parcel of Real Property (Great Harbor Neck, New Shoreham, R.I.), 960 F.2d 200, 204 (1st Cir.1992); Rivera-Muriente v. Agosto-Alicea, 959 F.2d 349, 351-52 (1st Cir.1992); Medina-Munoz v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 896 F.2d 5, 7-8 (1st Cir.1990); Garside v. Osco Drug, Inc., 895 F.2d 46, 48-49 (1st Cir.1990); Brennan v. Hendrigan, 888 F.2d 189, 191-92 (1st Cir.1989), and it would serve no useful purpose to draw that map anew.

For present purposes, we need say no more than that summary judgment will lie if the record, even when taken in the aspect most favorable to the nonmovant, see Rivera-Muriente, 959 F.2d at 352, fails to yield a trialworthy issue as to some material fact. In applying this principle, it is important to bear in mind that not every genuine factual conflict necessitates a trial. It is only when a disputed fact has the potential to change the outcome of the suit under the governing law if found favorably to the nonmovant that the materiality hurdle is cleared. See One Parcel, 960 F.2d at 204. Here, the record reflects a veritable salmagundi of bitterly disputed facts--but none that is material.

To that extent, then, our task is simplified. Exercising de novo review, see Pagano, 983 F.2d at 347, and adopting the plaintiff's version of all controverted facts (but not, however, giving credence to "conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, [or] unsupported speculation," Medina-Munoz, 896 F.2d at 8), we conclude that the court below did not err in jettisoning the section 1983 claims.

III. ANALYSIS

There are two essential elements of an action under section 1983: "(i) that the conduct complained of has been committed under color of state law, and (ii) that this conduct worked a denial of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States." Chongris v. Board of Appeals, 811 F.2d 36, 40 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 483 U.S. 1021, 107 S.Ct. 3266, 97 L.Ed.2d 765 (1987); accord West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48, 108 S.Ct. 2250, 2254, 101 L.Ed.2d 40 (1988); Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 330-31, 106 S.Ct. 662, 664-65, 88 L.Ed.2d 662 (1986). Of course, the reference to "state law" cannot be taken literally, for Puerto Rico enjoys the functional equivalent of statehood in regard to section 1983 and, thus, state law includes Puerto Rico law. See Playboy Enters., Inc. v. Public Serv. Comm'n of P.R., 906 F.2d 25, 31 n. 8 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 959, 111 S.Ct. 388, 112 L.Ed.2d 399 (1990); Berrios v. Inter Am. Univ., 535 F.2d 1330, 1331 n. 3 (1st Cir.), appeal dismissed, 426 U.S. 942, 96 S.Ct. 2665, 49 L.Ed.2d 1180 (1976).

For purposes of this appeal, the defendants do not contest the plaintiff's allegation that, at all relevant times, the defendants were on duty and acting under color of state law. This concession reduces our inquiry to whether the facts, taken most congenially to the plaintiff, can support a finding that the defendants violated a right secured to the plaintiff either by the Constitution or by federal law. Since the plaintiff has not alleged the transgression of any right secured to him under a federal statute, we may narrow the inquiry still further, limiting it to whether the facts show a violation of a constitutional right. It is to this elusive question that we next proceed.

A. The Duty to Intervene.

Plaintiff pins his hopes principally on a claim that the defendants' failure to protect him from the imminent peril posed by Valentin abridged his right to substantive due process. The touchstone of the law in this area is the Supreme Court's opinion in DeShaney. There, a child sued...

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