Ayala Serrano v. Lebron Gonzalez

Decision Date08 March 1990
Docket NumberNo. 89-1366,89-1366
PartiesNestor AYALA SERRANO, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. Cruz LEBRON GONZALEZ, Defendant, Appellant. . Heard
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Reina Colon De Rodriguez, Asst. Sol. Gen., with whom Jorge E. Perez Diaz, Sol. Gen., and Norma Cotti Cruz, Deputy Sol. Gen., were on brief for defendant, appellant.

Luis Angel Lopez Olmedo for plaintiff, appellee.

Before TORRUELLA and SELYA, Circuit Judges, and RE, * Chief Judge.

RE, Chief Judge.

Defendant-appellant, Cruz Lebron Gonzalez (Lebron), a prison officer, appeals from a judgment of the District Court for the District of Puerto Rico which, after a bench trial, granted plaintiff-appellee Nestor Ayala Serrano (Ayala), an inmate, $20,000, with costs, for deprivation of his civil rights under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983.

Ayala alleged that, on May 11, 1983, while an inmate at the State Penitentiary in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, he was assaulted and stabbed by two other inmates. Ayala also alleged that Lebron, who was present at the time of the assault, violated Ayala's constitutional rights by failing to take any action to prevent the assault.

On appeal, Lebron contends that the district court erred in not dismissing Ayala's claim because: the claim was barred by the applicable statute of limitations; Lebron was protected by qualified immunity; and the district court did not have subject matter jurisdiction. Lebron also contends that the decision should be reversed because the The questions presented on this appeal are whether:

factual findings of the district court during the bench trial were clearly erroneous.

1) the district court erred in denying Lebron's motion for summary judgment because it determined that the amendment of Ayala's complaint to add Lebron as a defendant satisfied the requirements of Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(c), and, hence, related back to the filing of Ayala's original complaint, which was within the applicable statute of limitations; Lebron was not protected by qualified immunity; the district court had subject matter jurisdiction over Ayala's claim, and

2) whether the judgment should be reversed because the factual findings of the district court during the bench trial were clearly erroneous.

We hold that the district court did not err in determining that the amendment of the complaint to add Lebron as a defendant satisfied the requirements of Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(c), that Lebron was not protected by qualified immunity, and that the district court had subject matter jurisdiction. Since we also hold that the factual findings of the district court were not clearly erroneous, the judgment of the district court is affirmed.

BACKGROUND

On May 11, 1983, Nestor Ayala Serrano (Ayala), an inmate in the Intensive Treatment Unit (UTI) of the State Penitentiary at Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, left a workshop on the lower level of the UTI to return to his cell on the upper level. As Ayala approached the electronic iron gate separating the levels, he signalled to a prison officer sitting at the controls who opened the gate. After Ayala passed through the gate, he was assaulted by two fellow inmates who had been lying in wait for him. Ayala suffered seven stab wounds during the assault.

On November 28, 1983, Ayala filed a pro se complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. The complaint, which was written in Spanish, alleged that Ayala had been subjected to serious physical injury. The pro se complaint sought damages for physical and mental injury, and transfer to a minimum security prison. Ayala named as defendants Jorge L. Collazo Torres, the Administrator of Corrections of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and Carmelo Gonzalez Rivera, the Superintendent of the State Penitentiary at Rio Piedras.

Subsequently, Ayala obtained counsel, and, on June 28, 1984, an amended complaint was filed, adding as defendants the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, its Department of Corrections, and Jaime Rivera Torres, a Department official. In his amended complaint, Ayala sought damages, under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, for personal injury caused by the violation of his constitutional rights during the assault of May 11, 1983. On August 21, 1984, Ayala filed a second amended complaint, adding as a defendant Cruz Lebron Gonzalez (Lebron), a prison officer on duty in the UTI at the time Ayala was assaulted.

Alleging that it was immune from suit and that the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico moved to dismiss Ayala's complaint. The district court entered an order granting the motion to dismiss as to all defendants. Ayala appealed to this court, and we affirmed the dismissal as to all the defendants except Lebron. We also remanded to the district court to determine whether Ayala's motion to amend the complaint by adding Lebron as a defendant satisfied the requirements of Rule 15(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Serrano v. Torres, 764 F.2d 47, 50 (1st Cir.1985).

On remand, Lebron moved for summary judgment. Lebron contended that the action should be dismissed because the amendment of the complaint to add Lebron as a defendant did not satisfy the requirements for relation back set by Rule 15(c), and, hence, was time barred by the applicable statute of limitations. Lebron also contended that he was entitled to qualified immunity. See Ayala Serrano v. Collazo Torres, 650 F.Supp. 722, 724 (D.P.R.1986).

The district court noted that, under Rule 15(c), a motion to add a defendant will relate back to the date of the filing of the original complaint if the party to be added " 'received such notice of the ... action that [the party] will not be prejudiced ..., and ... [the party] knew or should have known that, but for a mistake concerning the identity of the proper party, the action would have been brought against him.' " Id. at 725 n. 3 (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(c)). The district court found that it could be presumed that Lebron had notice of the filing of Ayala's original complaint, since Lebron "is an employee whose immediate superiors and colleagues were named and served as defendants in the initial action." Id. at 726. The court also noted that Lebron was present during the assault, assisted in the subsequent investigation, and continued to work in the UTI while Ayala was the subject of extensive special protection. See id. at 727. Hence, the court concluded that Lebron had notice of the filing of the original complaint, and that Lebron was not prejudiced by the delay caused by Ayala's failure to name him as a defendant in the original complaint. See id. at 726-27.

The court noted that the applicable statute of limitations period is one year, but determined that "Lebron knew or should have known that he was a proper party to the action within one year of the incident." Id. at 727. Hence, the court held that "Lebron was sufficiently apprised of plaintiff's suit to satisfy the relation-back provisions of Rule 15(c)." Id. at 729.

Since it was not the subject of the remand order, the court did not rule on the issue of Lebron's qualified immunity defense. See id. at 729. On the basis of his claimed qualified immunity defense, Lebron subsequently filed a new motion for summary judgment, and submitted affidavits. On April 6, 1988, the court denied Lebron's motion.

At the bench trial, on December 13, 1988, both Ayala and Lebron testified about the assault, and there was no other eyewitness testimony. The district court noted that "[t]his case hinges upon the credibility of the parties." Ayala Serrano v. Lebron Gonzalez, Civil No. 83-2909 HL, slip op. at 4 (D.P.R. Dec. 22, 1988). According to Ayala's testimony, several prison officers, including Lebron, were present at the time the gate opened. Ayala testified that he saw the two inmates lying in wait for him, but proceeded through the gates nonetheless because of the presence of the prison officers. See id. at 4. Ayala stated that during the attack, all of the officers, including Lebron, did nothing to protect him or to prevent the assault. See id. at 4-5. Ayala stated that, even after the assault, the prison officers did not summon help or assist him to the prison dispensary. See id. at 5.

In contrast to the testimony of Ayala, Lebron testified that, during the assault on Ayala, he was separated from Ayala by a glass divider and could not see past the iron gate. See id. at 5. The district court, however, noted that Lebron testified that after witnessing the closing of the iron gate Lebron "noticed a strange movement, like a noise, occurring behind the gate." Id. at 5. Lebron stated that after investigating, he saw the assault, and ordered another officer to open the gate. Lebron testified that he then halted the fight and, with another officer, brought Ayala to the prison dispensary. See id. at 5.

On cross examination, however, Lebron testified that as he attempted to stop the assault, he too was attacked by the two inmates. See id. at 6. Nevertheless, Lebron admitted that he had never reported the assault on himself to the investigators. See id. Lebron also stated on cross examination that, although Ayala had not been gagged by the assaulting inmates, Ayala remained silent throughout the assault. See id.

The court determined that Lebron's testimony was untrustworthy, noting that "[o]n direct examination, he never stated that he was almost attacked by one of the assailants," id. at 7, and "failed to include said incident in his sworn affidavit attached to his motion for summary judgment." Id. at 8. The court "also [found] incredulous [Lebron]'s testimony that [Ayala] did not On December 22, 1988, the district court entered judgment in favor of Ayala, and awarded him $20,000 for the deprivation of his constitutional rights by Lebron.

                yell, scream, call out or complain of pain while [the attacker] was inflicting ... seven stab wounds."
...

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