González Pérez v. Gomez Aguila

• Decision Date: 07 April 2004
• Docket Number: Civil 00-2602(HL)(JA).
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico
• Parties: Evelyn GÓNZÁLEZ PÉREZ, et al., Plaintiffs v. Rafael GÓMEZ AGUILA, et al., Defendants.

Page 161

312 F.Supp.2d 161

Evelyn GÓNZÁLEZ PÉREZ, et al., Plaintiffs v. Rafael GÓMEZ AGUILA, et al., Defendants.

Civil 00-2602(HL)(JA).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

April 7, 2004.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Judith Berkan, Mary Jo Méndez-Vilella, G-11 O'Neill, Peter Berkowitz, San Juan, PR, for Plaintiffs.

Ricardo L. Rodríguez-Padilla, Andrés W. López, San Juan, PR, Eileen Landrón-Guardiola, Edardo A. Vera-Ramírez, Centro Internacional de Mercadeo, Guaynabo, PR, Nelson Robles-Díaz, Federico Lora-Lopez, Nancy Santiago-Otero, San Juan, PR, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

ARENAS, United States Magistrate Judge.

This matter is before the court on "Defendants' Motion to Renew Request for Judgment as a Matter of Law After Mistrial and/or Requesting that the Court Alter or Amend the Order Setting the Case for a New Trial." (Docket No. 322, February 17, 2004.) The defendants have also filed a "Motion Requesting Prompt and Formal Entry of Ruling as to Defendants' Dispositive [sic] Arguments." (Docket No. 323.) A motion in response was filed by the plaintiffs on February 24, 2004 (Docket No. 324) to which the defendants replied on March 4, 2004. (Docket No. 326.) After considering the arguments of the parties and for the reasons stated below, defendants' motions will be DENIED.

I. BACKGROUND

This is a damages action brought by the relatives and heirs of Anthony Hérnandez-González (hereinafter "Anthony") pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Puerto Rico law. They seek redress for the alleged wrongful death of Anthony by members of the Puerto Rico Police, San Juan Saturation Unit, in the early morning hours of January 1, 2000 (the Millennium) at the Monte Park Housing Project. The central allegation in the complaint is that on the night in question, defendant police officers entered the premises of Monte Park and upon entry shot indiscriminately at the buildings where residents of all ages celebrated the Millennium. In doing so, they injured Anthony and another youngster, both of whom took refuge in the center of a stairwell of one of the buildings. It is further alleged that acting in concert, some of the police officers entered the stairwell shooting and killing Anthony on the spot. Finally, it is plaintiffs' general contention that the defendants orchestrated a massive cover-up of the incidents that transpired that night, including but not limited to the planting of an AK-47 rifle that was eventually attributed to Anthony. The plaintiffs also allege liability for the involvement of certain supervisor co-defendants in the alleged cover-up and for the failure to train, monitor and evaluate the performance of some of the officers involved in the Monte Park incident. A claim for libel under Puerto Rico law is also asserted. However, plaintiffs primarily argue that the excessive force used by the defendants violated Anthony's constitutional rights.

The defendants on the other hand maintain that the officers acted reasonably in the use of deadly force and in responding to a real threat. The intervention at Monte Park was justified, according to the defendants, because in the midst of the celebration, the residents of Monte Park were carrying and shooting firearms which is a felony under Puerto Rico law. The defendants particularly claim that Anthony was one of the individuals that was shooting at them. They have asserted throughout the process that Anthony was carrying, possessing and firing an AK-47 rifle. It is further contended by the defendants that Anthony refused to obey a halt order given by the officers, which made necessary the use of deadly force.

Trial by jury in the present case was held between November 20, 2003 and January 28, 2004. At the close of plaintiffs' presentation of their case in chief and again at the close of all the evidence, the defendants moved for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50. (Docket Nos. 269, 294.) Both motions were denied by me from the bench after considering the arguments of the parties in open court and outside the presence of the jury. A mistrial was declared after the jury deadlocked, despite their efforts in trying to reach a unanimous verdict. (Docket No. 316.) Re-trial of this case is set for August 30, 2004. (Docket No. 317.)

II. LEGAL STANDARD

In reviewing defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50,¹ I begin my analysis with bedrock principles. A motion for judgment as a matter of law is appropriate if there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find for the non-moving party. See Richards v. Relentless, Inc., 341 F.3d 35, 41 (1st Cir.2003) (internal quotations and citations omitted); see also Guilloty Pérez v. Pierluisi, 339 F.3d 43, 50 (1st Cir.2003). The court must "examine the evidence and all fair inferences in the light most favorable to the plaintiff [and] may not consider the credibility of witnesses, resolve conflicts in testimony, or evaluate the weight of the evidence." Katz v. City Metal Co., 87 F.3d 26, 28 (1st Cir.1996) (quoting Richmond Steel, Inc. v. P.R. Am. Ins. Co., 954 F.2d 19, 22 (1st Cir.1992)). If from the evidence presented at trial, fair minded persons could draw different inferences, then the matter is for the jury to resolve and judgment as a matter of law is not appropriate. Espada v. Lugo, 312 F.3d 1, 2 (1st Cir.2002). But the non-moving party must have presented "`more than a mere scintilla' of evidence" to survive a motion for judgment as a matter of law and cannot rely on "conjecture or speculation." Katz v. City Metal Co., 87 F.3d at 28 (quoting Richmond Steel, Inc. v. P.R. Am. Ins. Co., 954 F.2d at 22).

In addition, it must be noted that a renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(b)² may be filed even if a mistrial has been declared. DeMaine v. Bank One, Akron, N.A., 904 F.2d 219, 220 (4th Cir.1990). Rule 50(b) particularly provides that such motion may be brought even if no verdict was returned. Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(b)(2). Indeed, "[a] jury's inability to reach a verdict does not necessarily preclude a judgment as a matter of law." Headwaters Forest Def. v. County of Humboldt, 240 F.3d 1185, 1197 (9th Cir.2000), cert. granted and vacated on other grounds by 534 U.S. 801, 122 S.Ct. 24, 151 L.Ed.2d 1 (2001); see also Petit v. City of Chicago, 239 F.Supp.2d 761, 766 (N.D.Ill.2002). Thus, the court must determine whether looking at the evidence presented at trial in the light most favorable to them, there was sufficient evidence adduced by the plaintiffs in support of their claims, or if to the contrary, as a matter of law, judgment should be entered in favor of the defendants. DeMaine v. Bank One, Akron, N.A., 904 F.2d at 220.

III. ANALYSIS

In their renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law, the defendants argue inter alia that they are entitled to qualified immunity as to the supervisory liability and failure to train claims. They also claim entitlement to said defense with respect to the unreasonable use of force and cover-up causes of action. Finally, the defendants maintain that as a matter of law, they are entitled to judgment on the claims brought under Puerto Rico law. They request a "prompt and formal" ruling.

The plaintiffs oppose defendants' motion arguing that it was untimely filed since it was filed over 10 days after the jury in the present case was discharged. In addition, the plaintiffs argue that co-defendants' motion is akin to a motion for summary judgment, without compliance with the rules established in this district for summary disposition. According to them, defendants' motion is, in essence, an attempt to have the court determine that the plaintiffs have failed to submit sufficient evidence to have the case tried before a jury. It is asserted that defendants are asking the court to review the evidence in the light most favorable to them and accept as true their version of the facts. The plaintiffs maintain that such is an incorrect statement of the proper standard of review under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50.

I will address the arguments presented by the defendants in support of their motion in the order they are presented. I will note as a preliminary matter, however, that the plaintiffs mistakenly assert that defendants' motion was untimely filed. The jury in this case was discharged on January 28, 2004. (Docket No. 316.) The discharge was docketed, by way of minute entry, on February 2, 2004. Considering that February 16, 2004 was a legal holiday, defendants' motion was due on or before February 17, 2004 (computing the 10 days without intervening weekends and legal holidays), that is, the actual date in which the defendants filed their motion. (Docket No. 322.) Accordingly, it was timely brought.

A. Qualified Immunity

The argument advanced by the defendants is that the officers' conduct in the present case was objectively reasonable in light of the situation presented to them at Monte Park the night in question. They claim that even assuming that Anthony was deprived of his constitutional rights and that said rights were clearly established, the conduct of the defendant police officers was objectively reasonable inasmuch as they could not have believed that they were violating such clearly established constitutional rights.

The qualified immunity defense recognizes "an entitlement not to stand trial or face the other burdens of litigation, conditioned on the resolution of the essentially legal question whether the conduct of which the plaintiff complains violated clearly established law." Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 526, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). In the First Circuit, the analysis of the qualified immunity defense is comprised of three separate inquiries: (1) the court must ask "whether plaintiff has alleged the violation of a constitutional right[;]" (2) "[i]f so, then [the court must inquire]...