Estate of Roman v. City of Newark

• Decision Date: 29 January 2019
• Docket Number: No. 17-2302,17-2302
• Citation: 914 F.3d 789
• Parties: *The ESTATE OF Adriano ROMAN, Jr., Appellant v. CITY OF NEWARK; City of Newark Police Department; Anthony Campos, Chief of Police; Rodger C. Mendes; Albano Ferreira ; Onofre H. Cabezas; Joseph Cueto; FNU Ressureicao; FNU Golpe; Joyce Hill, Individually and in their Capacity as Police Officers; John Does 1-20, as Fictitious Names for Presently Unknown Agents Member Commissioners and Chiefs *(Amended pursuant to Clerk’s Order dated 1/25/2018)
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

914 F.3d 789

*The ESTATE OF Adriano ROMAN, Jr., Appellant

v.CITY OF NEWARK; City of Newark Police Department; Anthony Campos, Chief of Police; Rodger C. Mendes; Albano Ferreira ; Onofre H. Cabezas; Joseph Cueto; FNU Ressureicao; FNU Golpe; Joyce Hill, Individually and in their Capacity as Police Officers; John Does 1-20, as Fictitious Names for Presently Unknown Agents Member Commissioners and Chiefs

*(Amended pursuant to Clerk’s Order dated 1/25/2018)

No. 17-2302

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued June 12, 2018

Opinion filed: January 29, 2019

OPINION OF THE COURT

AMBRO, Circuit JudgeNewark police officers forcibly entered and searched the apartment of Adriano Roman’s girlfriend. App. at 386, 391, 459, 486. They arrested Roman, who was present in the apartment, after they found drugs in a common area that was shared by multiple tenants. Id. at 399, 479. Though he was imprisoned for over six months and indicted for various drug offenses, the New Jersey Superior Court found the search to be unlawful and the charges were dropped.

Roman now brings claims against the City of Newark (which includes its Police Department) and various police officers under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (which gives a federal remedy against state officials who, acting under color of state law, deprive "any citizen of the United States ... of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the [U.S.] Constitution and laws") and New Jersey tort law. He alleges the City had a pattern or practice of constitutional violations and failed to train, supervise, and discipline its officers. He also pleads an unlawful search claim against the officers and contends they are liable for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. The District Court dismissed all of the claims because they were inadequately pled. It also held the City did not have an ongoing practice of unconstitutional searches and arrests.

While most of Roman’s claims do not withstand dismissal, his § 1983 claims against the City do. He has adequately alleged that its Police Department had a custom of warrantless searches and false arrests. He also sufficiently pled that the Department failed to train, supervise, and discipline its officers, specifically with respect to "the requirements of [the] Fourth Amendment and related law." App. at 160. Because Roman has stated plausible claims against the City, we vacate and remand the District Court’s holding on municipal liability. We affirm in all other respects.

I. Background¹

On May 2, 2014, Roman and his girlfriend Tiffany Reyes were watching a movie in her apartment’s bedroom. App. at 386, 389, 395. Unbeknownst to them, four Newark police officers had set up surveillance outside of her building because of complaints about narcotics activity. Id. at 338. The officers heard an argument between a man and a woman, id. at 340-42, and decided to enter Reyes’ apartment without a warrant, id. at 491.

After they stepped inside the building, they discovered that the front door of the apartment was locked. They also noticed Melissa Isaksem, Reyes’ friend, walking inside the building. Id. at 417-20. They stopped and questioned her. Id. at 417, 419. When she told them she was visiting Reyes, id. at 419, they ordered her to knock on the apartment door for them and threatened to arrest her if she did not comply, id. at 419-20. Isaksem led them to the apartment and stood directly in front of the peephole. Id. at 421. The police stood to her left, presumably out of the peephole’s range. Id. An officer knocked on her behalf. Id. Reyes asked who was at the door, and Isaksem announced her presence. Id.

Reyes opened the door, expecting to see only Isaksem. Id. at 386, 400, 501. Instead, several officers rushed inside. Id. at 387, 400, 501. They handcuffed Roman, Reyes, and Isaksem, then demanded Roman "call someone to bring drugs to the [apartment]." Am. Compl. ¶ 30 (internal quotation marks omitted). If he did, they assured him they would " ‘make a deal’ and ‘let him go.’ " Id. Roman refused the officers’ demands, id. ¶ 33, and the police searched the apartment. Eventually they found drugs in a common-area space that was shared by multiple tenants and located in the back of the apartment. App. at 399, 479. After seizing the contraband, they yelled, "[W]e got you, motherfucker[;] ... you’re fucked now." Id. at 427. Officer Rodger Mendes walked back to Roman, "flipped him ... on[ ]to his stomach ..., put his knee in his neck[,] and ... said he was going to get raped [in prison]." Id. at 428. Another officer informed Roman’s father, who lived next door and observed parts of the search, that his son "would go away for a long time." Id. at 454.

Roman was arrested and imprisoned on the same night. The officers filed a criminal complaint against him for possession of, as well as intent to distribute, heroin and cocaine. A New Jersey grand jury returned a six-count indictment against him for the same offenses.

In response, Roman moved to suppress the evidence seized from the apartment. He argued the search was invalid under the Fourth Amendment because the contraband was not in plain view and thus a warrant was needed. The New Jersey Superior Court agreed. It concluded the plain-view exception did not apply and suppressed the contraband.

The State of New Jersey did not appeal the ruling and instead moved to dismiss the case. The Superior Court granted its motion in December 2014 and issued a final judgment of dismissal. Roman was released from prison during the same month.

Approximately a year later, Roman brought § 1983 and state-law tort claims against the City of Newark and various police officers (for simplicity, the City and the officers are jointly referred to as the "Defendants"). Among other things, he alleged the City had a custom or policy of unconstitutional searches, inadequate training, and poor supervision and discipline.² He also claimed the officers unlawfully searched his apartment and were liable for the torts of unlawful imprisonment and malicious prosecution.³

The Defendants responded with a motion to dismiss. The District Court sided with them, dismissing the complaint in its entirety. It first addressed Roman’s claim against the City and concluded the complaint "fail[ed] to plead ... a custom or policy" of unlawful searches and a failure to train or supervise officers. Roman v. City of Newark , Civil Action No. 16-1110-SDW-LDW, 2017 WL 436251, at *4 (D.N.J. Jan. 30, 2017). Although the complaint alleged "a pattern or practice of constitutional violations in areas including stop[ ] and arrest practices, use of force, and theft by officers," the Court did not consider that sufficient to state a claim. Id . (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Compl. ¶ 59). Instead, it viewed those practices as predating Roman’s arrest and observed that "the imposition of a [f]ederal [m]onitor indicate[d] [the City’s] attempts to change any wrongful policies or practices." Id.

The Court also held the unlawful search claim was inadequately pled, as Roman did not "explain which [Defendant(s) ] committed the allegedly wrongful acts" during the search and arrest. Id. Turning to the false imprisonment and malicious prosecution claims, it construed them as state-law claims and noted that plaintiffs must comply with the New Jersey Tort Claims Act before bringing them against public entities. See N.J. Stat. Ann. § 59:8-1 et seq. Because the "[c]omplaint nowhere allege[d]" Roman complied with the Act’s procedures, the Court dismissed those claims as well. Roman , 2017 WL 436251, at *6.

The Court’s dismissal was without prejudice, and it granted Roman leave to amend. He did so by omitting his tort claims and retaining his other allegations in almost identical form. The Court dismissed his amended complaint and reaffirmed its ruling on reconsideration. This appeal followed.⁴

II. Jurisdiction and Standard of Review

The District Court had federal-question and supplemental jurisdiction per 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1367(a), respectively, and we have jurisdiction over its final orders under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

We review de novo its dismissal of a complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). See Phillips v. County of Allegheny , 515 F.3d 224, 230 (3d Cir. 2008). When conducting our review, "we accept all factual allegations as true [and] construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff." Warren Gen. Hosp. v. Amgen Inc. , 643 F.3d 77, 84 (3d Cir. 2011) (internal quotation marks omitted). However, "we are not compelled to accept unsupported conclusions and unwarranted inferences ... or a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation[.]" Baraka v. McGreevey , 481 F.3d 187, 195 (3d Cir. 2007) (internal quotation marks omitted) (internal citation omitted).

III. Discussion

A. Roman sufficiently pled a municipal liability claim against Newark.

As noted, Roman alleges the City is liable under § 1983 because it "engaged in a pattern or practice of constitutional violations," "failed to properly train and/or supervise" its police force, and "failed to properly and adequately control and discipline" its police officers.⁵ Am. Compl. ¶¶ 68, 73-74. Before discussing the merits of his claims, Roman directs our attention to the types of documents we may consider on a motion to dismiss. He contends we may review three sources that were provided to the District Court: an article published in the Newark Star Ledger (the "Star Ledger article"), a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office (the "press release"), and a consent decree between the United States and the City of Newark (the "consent decree"). The Star Ledger article and press release were referenced in the amended complaint, see id. ¶¶ 68-69 (including hyperlinks to both), but the consent decree was attached to the Defendants’ motion to dismiss, see App. at 129. Roman also asks us to look at one other document: the Department of Justice’s Report on the investigation of the Newark Police...