Abreu-Guzman v. Ford

• Decision Date: 15 September 1999
• Docket Number: No. Civ. 95-1246(DRD).,Civ. 95-1246(DRD).
• Citation: 69 F.Supp.2d 274
• Parties: Gabriel Eduardo ABREU-GUZMAN, and Rosa L. Guzman-Nieves, Plaintiffs, v. Alicia FORD, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

69 F.Supp.2d 274

Gabriel Eduardo ABREU-GUZMAN, and Rosa L. Guzman-Nieves, Plaintiffs, v. Alicia FORD, et al., Defendants.

No. Civ. 95-1246(DRD).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

September 15, 1999.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Benny F. Cerezo, Rio Piedras, PR, for Plaintiffs.

Isabel Munoz-Acosta, U.S. Attorney's Office District of P.R., Civil Division, Hato Rey, PR, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

DOMINGUEZ, District Judge.

The motion before the Court is a Motion For Summary Judgment (Docket No. 26) filed by Defendants, Alicia Ford, and the United States, on December 15, 1998. Plaintiffs, Gabriel Abreu Guzmán ("Abreu") and his mother, Rosa Guzmán Nieves ("Guzmán"), opposed. (Docket No. 46). For the following reasons the Motion For Summary Judgment is GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUND

The facts of this case are straight-forward and are taken from the Plaintiffs' Statement Of Contested Facts (Docket No. 46), and, where uncontroverted, supplemented by the Defendants' Statement Of Uncontested Facts (Docket No. 26).

On or about January 22, 1993, Special Agent Steve Riley ("Riley") and Jay Stoothoff ("Stoothoff"), along with other Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") Agents, initiated an investigation pertaining to the transportation of multi-kilograms of cocaine entering Puerto Rico en route to New York. Several defendants were initially arrested in this investigation followed by a superseding indictment charging others for criminal conspiracy involving approximately 68 kilograms of cocaine. During this investigation Riley and Stoothoff assisted in the debriefing of co-operating defendants and sources regarding the criminal conspiracy. They learned in the investigation that one of the co-conspirators was identified as "Junior." Riley later obtained the name "Junior" and telephone number on a piece of paper which was provided to him by a cooperating defendant. On or about March 26, 1993, Riley prepared a DEA Administrative subpoena to the Puerto Rico Telephone Company (PRTC) requesting subscriber information regarding telephone number (809) 380-0255. The DEA was provided with subscriber information regarding this telephone number, which yielded the subscriber as Gabriel Abreu Guzmán, residing at 751 Calle Victor Figueroa, Santurce, Puerto Rico.

Agents Riley and Stoothoff also obtained and viewed a photograph of Abreu, which appeared to come from a driver's license. Indeed, Abreu states that the photograph was one he submitted years before for his learner's permit.

On or about April 20, 1993, Riley and Stoothoff met with a cooperating defendant who described the co-conspirator known to him/her as "Junior" as being a black, light skinned Hispanic male, approximately 6'0" to 6'2" in height, weighing approximately 175 to 180 pounds, black hair, clean shaven 33 to 35 (years of age) and driving what the cooperator believed to be a 280-Z Nissan, grey in color.

Riley and Stoothoff then attended a meeting at the U.S. Attorney's Office with DOJ Senior Litigation Counsel Jose A. Quiles and a cooperating defendant. At the meeting several photographs were shown to the cooperator. The cooperator picked the photograph of Gabriel Abreu Guzmán as "Junior" but stated that the photograph appeared to be a younger version of "Junior".

Riley also served a DEA Administrative subpoena to the Sands Hotel, Isla Verde, Puerto Rico requesting hotel guest records and telephone tolls pertaining to alleged co-conspirator Daniel Nuñez. Nuñez stayed at the Sands Hotel during the time-frame of the alleged overt acts in this investigation. On two occasions defendant Nuñez placed calls from his registered hotel room to telephone number 380-0255 which was known to Riley as co-conspirator "Junior's" telephone number and which was subscribed to Abreu.

The United States District Court issued a Warrant For Arrest, on April 28, 1993, for John Doe 2, a.k.a. "Junior".

On May 6, 1993 defendant Alicia Ford ("Ford") was assigned as Group Supervisor for DEA San Juan and assisted by Special Agent Ana Saulnier went out to execute three arrest warrants, including one arrest warrant for John Doe, a.k.a. "Junior". Prior to the checking the addresses for John Doe a.k.a. "Junior", the agents were briefed on the locations and description photographs of the addresses for John Doe a.k.a. "Junior", that were going to be checked. In addition, the agents were provided the address and physical description of John Doe, a.k.a. "Junior", as approximately 6'0" to 6'2" tall, approximately 175 to 180 pounds, black hair, clean shaven, approximately 33 to 35 years of age and driving a gray 280-Z Nissan. The agents checked the Lopez-Landrau address, and did not find anyone home, then went to the Calle Victor Figueroa address and knocked on the door and no one was home. They checked with neighbors and advised them we were looking for Gabriel Eduardo Abreu-Guzmán, and showed the photograph they had for him.

On that same date, May 6, 1993, at approximately 3:30 p.m., the receptionist at DEA Headquarters called the group and advised that Abreu was in the reception area. Defendant Ford and Special Agents Ana Saulnier, Izquierdo and Reginald Cheney proceeded to the reception area and made contact with Abreu and two women whom had accompanied him. Abreu was placed into custody and defendant Ford explained the charges and advised them of the process that was going to take place; booking and pretrial services.¹ Abreu denied being the person they were looking for, and one of the women with him was also adamant that the agents had the wrong person. Curiously, although Abreu had his wallet with credit cards on his person, he had no identification.

Also on the day of his arrest, plaintiff Abreu was showed a photocopy of a photo which he identified as a very old photo of him. At this point, the Court notes that particularities of the identifying photograph are in dispute, which will be dealt with extensively in the discussion below. Abreu was also photographed on that day. The personal history taken after plaintiff's arrest shows he is a Puerto Rican black 70" in height, weighing 202 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair. At the time of his arrest plaintiff was 25 years old.²

After his arrest on May 6, 1993 plaintiff Abreu Guzmán was taken before Magistrate Judge Arenas who ordered his commitment to the Puerto Rico State Penitentiary. The detention hearing was set for May 11, 1993 and the arraignment for May 12, 1993. On May 6, 1993, the Court appointed plaintiff a counsel. On May 11, 1993, attorney Lydia Lizarriba Masini entered Appearance on behalf of plaintiff. On September 2, 1993 Judge Pérez Giménez signed Order Setting Conditions of the Release of plaintiff.

On January 28, 1994, Stoothoff served a subpoena to the Puerto Rico Telephone Company regarding the status of Gabriel Abreu Guzmán['s] account and claims regarding (809) 380-0255. The information obtained, failed to show any documentation of fraudulent claims or evidence of the cloning of Gabriel Abreu Guzman['s] assigned cellular telephone number.

On February 16, 1994 the United States filed Motion For Voluntary Dismissal.

II. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

A court should grant summary judgment "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 ..." FED.R.CIV.P. 56(c). "In applying this formulation, a fact is `material' if it potentially affects the outcome of the case," Vega-Rodriguez v. Puerto Rico Tel. Co., 110 F.3d 174, 178 (1st Cir.1997), and "`genuine' if a reasonable factfinder, examining the evidence and drawing all reasonable inferences helpful to the party resisting summary judgment, could resolve the dispute in that party's favor." Cortés-Irizarry v. Corporación Insular, 111 F.3d 184, 187 (1st Cir.1997). The court should "`look at the record ... in the light most favorable to ... the party opposing ... the motion' ... [and] indulge all inferences favorable to the party opposing the motion." Hahn v. Sargent, 523 F.2d 461, 464 (1st Cir.1975) (quoting Poller v. Columbia Broadcasting System, 368 U.S. 464, 82 S.Ct. 486, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962)) (citations omitted). However, the nonmovant must "present definite, competent evidence to rebut the motion." Mesnick v. General Electric Co., 950 F.2d 816, 822 (1st Cir.1991), cert. denied, 504 U.S. 985, 112 S.Ct. 2965, 119 L.Ed.2d 586 (1992). "The court may consider any material that would be admissible or usable at trial." See 10A CHARLES ALAN WRIGHT, ARTHUR R. MILLER, & MARY KAY KANE, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE § 2721, at 361 (3d ed.1998). "But the court should do no more than this in reviewing the quality of the evidence. Most critically, it must never `weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter. ...'" Lipsett v. University of P.R., 864 F.2d 881, 895 (1st Cir.1988) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2511, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)). Furthermore, "[n]o credibility assessment may be resolved in favor of the party seeking summary judgment." Woodman v. Haemonetics Corp., 51 F.3d 1087, 1091 (1st Cir.1995) (citations omitted). "Summary judgment may be appropriate if the nonmoving party rests merely upon conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation." Medina-Muñoz v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 896 F.2d 5, 8 (1st Cir.1990).

III. DISCUSSION

The Amended Complaint (Docket No. 25 and 45) alleges violations of Plaintiffs' Constitutional rights arising under the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments by Drug Enforcement Agency ("DEA") agents Alicia Ford, William J. Mitchell, Jay Soothoff, Steve Riley, Waldo Santiago, Francisco J. Alvarez, Reginald Cheney, Ivan Rios, and INS agent Richard Escalera, John Doe and Jane Doe, in their personal capacities. Further, the Amended Complaint alleged claims "against the Drug Enforcement Administration of...