Anglin v. City of Aspen
| Decision Date | 01 May 2008 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 06-cv-01592-EWN-KLM. |
| Citation | 562 F.Supp.2d 1304 |
| Parties | Bronwyn ANGLIN, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF ASPEN, Colorado, a municipality, Loren Ryerson, Chief of Police, in his official and individual capacity, Aspen Police Officer Melinda Calvano, in her official and individual capacity, Aspen Police Officer Dan Davis, in his official and individual capacity, Pitkin County Commissioners, in their official and individual capacities, Pitkin County Sheriff Robert Braudis, in his official and individual capacity, Pitkin County Deputy Sheriff Walt Geister, in his official and individual capacity, Doctor Chris Martinez, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Colorado |
David Arthur Lane, Darold W. Killmer, Elisabeth Hunt White, Killmer, Lane & Newman, LLP, Denver, CO, for Plaintiff.
This is a civil rights case in which Plaintiff Brownyn Anglin alleges Defendants, Aspen Police Department Officer Dan Davis, Aspen Police Chief Loren Ryerson and the City of Aspen (hereinafter collectively "Aspen Defendants") and a former Aspen Police Department officer, Officer Melinda Calvano (hereinafter "Officer Calvano"), violated her rights to due process and free speech, as well as her right to be free from unreasonable seizure, by forcibly injecting her with antipsychotic medication while she was in custody at the Pitkin County Jail. This matter is before the court on "Defendants, City of Aspen, Police Chief Loren Ryerson and Officer Dan Davis's Motion for Summary Judgment," filed on April 11, 2007 and Officer Calvano's "Motion for Summary Judgment," filed on April 11, 2007. Jurisdiction is premised upon the existence of a federal question pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343.
a. Facts Regarding the Events in the Jail
On the evening of December 11, 2004, Plaintiff, her boyfriend, Byron Hawkins, and her four-year-old daughter attended a dinner party at the apartment of her friend, Amber Nespeca. (Defs. City of Aspen, Police Chief Loren Ryerson and Officer Dan Davis's Br. in Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J. ], Statement of Undisputed Material Facts [hereinafter "SOF"] ¶ 1 [filed Apr. 11, 2007]; Kevin Dunkleburg, Ms. Nespeca's boyfriend, also attended the party. (Id.) Over the course of the evening, Plaintiff consumed four to five glasses of wine. (Id., SOF ¶ 2; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., RSOF ¶ 2.) During the party, Ms. Nespeca and Mr. Dunkleburg became embroiled in an argument, and Plaintiff witnessed Mr. Dunkleburg hitting Ms. Nespeca. (Id., SOF ¶ 3; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., RSOF ¶ 3.) Out of concern for Ms. Nespeca, Plaintiff called 9-1-1, and Aspen Valley Police Officers Calvano and Ron Fabrocini, as well as Officer Dan Davis (hereinafter "Officer Davis"), were dispatched to the scene. Upon arrival, the police arrested Ms. Nespeca. (Aspen Defs.' Br., SOF ¶ 4; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., RSOF ¶ 4.) Plaintiff testified that she tried to get up from the couch but was shoved back down by Officer Davis and told that if she got up again she would be arrested. (Id., SOF ¶ 5; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., RSOF ¶ 5.)
Plaintiff later went outside and approached the police vehicle. (Id.) Plaintiff testified that she did not remember opening the police car door, but thought it was possible she might have, since she was trying to ask Officer Davis a question, and had knocked on his window. (Id.) Plaintiff testified that Officer Davis told her that if she wanted to talk to Ms. Nespeca she could do so at the jail. (Id.) Feeling that Ms. Nespeca's arrest was her fault, Plaintiff left her daughter with Mr. Hawkins to go to the jail to help her friend. (Id., SOF ¶ 7; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., RSOF ¶ 7.)
Plaintiff went to the jail lobby to obtain Ms. Nespeca's ATM card and PIN number so that Plaintiff could obtain sufficient funds to bond her out of jail. (Id., SOF ¶ 8-9; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., RSOF ¶ 8-9.) Plaintiff left the jail and returned a short time later with the funds, at the same time that Office Davis was entering the jail. (Id., SOF ¶ 9; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., RSOF ¶ 9.) Officer Davis told Plaintiff that Ms. Nespeca would not be released that night. (Id.) Deputy Walt Geister (hereinafter "Deputy Geister") was the sole Pitkin County Sheriff's Deputy present and the person charged with running the jail that evening. (Id., SOF ¶ 10; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., RSOF ¶ 10.) Deputy Geister made the decision that Ms. Nespeca would not be released based on his understanding that both Ms. Nespeca and Plaintiff were intoxicated. (Id.; Calvano's Br., SOF ¶ 2; admitted at Pl.'s Resp. to Calvano, RSOF ¶ 2.)
Ms. Nespeca, realizing that she would not be released, asked Plaintiff to leave the jail. (Aspen Defs.' Br., SOF ¶ 11; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., RSOF ¶ 11.) Plaintiff did not leave and instead called 9-1-1 to locate a sheriff because she did not know how else to reach one. (Id.) The operator placed Plaintiff on hold. (Id., SOF ¶ 12; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., RSOF ¶ 12.) Plaintiff thought she had been disconnected and called 9-1-1 again. (Id.) The operator, who sounded busy and under stress, put Plaintiff on hold again. (Id.) Plaintiff then hung up and phoned 9-1-1 for the third time, which made the operator angry. (Id.) Plaintiff admits that in retrospect she realized she did not have a true emergency. (Id., SOF ¶¶ 11; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., RSOF ¶ 11; Calvano's Br., SOF ¶ 4; admitted at Pl.'s Resp. to Calvano, RSOF ¶ 4.) The operator contacted Officer Calvano and complained that she was being harassed and that Plaintiff's calls were interfering with her ability to respond to other calls.
In response, Officer Calvano approached Plaintiff in the lobby and told her she was arresting her. (Aspen Defs.' Br., SOF ¶ 13; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., RSOF ¶ 13.) Officers Calvano and Davis then restrained Plaintiff. (Id.; Calvano's Br., SOF ¶ 7; admitted at Pl.'s Resp. to Calvano, RSOF ¶ 7.) Deputy Geister testified that members of the Aspen Police Department sometimes function as auxiliary deputy sheriffs, as they did the night in question.
Deputy Geister, who was in charge, decided to put Plaintiff in the jail's maximum security cell. (Aspen Defs.' Br., SOF ¶ 14; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., RSOF ¶ 14.) Plaintiff struggled and had to be dragged to her cell, because she was terrified by the thought of being placed in maximum security. (Id.) Plaintiff asked several times to make a phone call to ensure that her daughter was safe. (Aspen Defs.' Br., SOF ¶ 15; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., RSOF ¶ 15.) Plaintiff testified that Officer Davis responded by stating he could not allow her to do so "because of the Patriot Act". (Id.) After Plaintiff was placed in a cell, her handcuffs and shackles were removed. (Id.)
Once in the cell, Plaintiff began yelling out her request for a phone call to her daughter. According to Plaintiff, after about ten minutes, Officer Davis came into her cell and told her to shut up or he would have her sedated. (Aspen Defs.' Br., SOF ¶ 15; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., RSOF ¶ 15.) Plaintiff specifically testified that she pounded on the door as hard as she could.
Deputy Geister testified that he usually allowed detainees to make a phone call. He also stated that he was not aware Plaintiff wished to call her child until he entered her cell with the Paramedics around 4:00 A.M. (Pl.'s Br., Ex. 2 at 8 [Geister Dep.].) By that point, according to Deputy Geister, Plaintiff "had lost all credibility" with him. (Id.) He testified that did he not allow her to make a phone call because doing so would only wake up her young daughter. (Id.)
Officer Calvano testified that she did not know what Plaintiff was yelling, but called it intrusive to the inmates and obstructive to jail staff. Officer Calvano testified, though, that Plaintiff did not stop her from doing her job at the jail that night; her yelling was "just something I had to listen to." (Id.)
Plaintiff testified that she used her hands and may have kicked the door, but never used her head, arms or torso in pounding on the door. ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Brooks v. Colo. Dep't of Corr., David Oba, Patrick Blake, Angie Turner, Corr. Corp.
...part of the [government], and the causal connection between the policy and the constitutional deprivation.'" Anglin v. City of Aspen, 562 F. Supp. 2d 1304, 1324 (D. Colo. 2008) (quoting Okla. City v. Tuttle, 471 U.S. 808, 824 (1985) (internal quotations omitted). Plaintiff's allegations wou......
-
Whitener v. Rutherford Cnty. Det. Ctr.
... ... staff's instructions. See Anglin v. City of ... Aspen , 562 F.Supp.2d 1304, 1318 (D. Col. May 1, 2008) ... (“A ... ...
-
Krause v. Vancouver Police Dep't
... ... suspect.” Dkt. 19 at 7. These facts favor the ... Defendants. See Oakry v. City of Tempe , 629 ... F.Supp.3d 974, 984 (D. Ariz. 2022) (“There is no ... dispute that ... The analysis - a test of objective ... reasonableness - is largely the same. Anglin ... reasonableness - is largely the same. Anglin v. City of ... Aspen ... ...
-
Mud Buddy, LLC v. Gator Tail, LLC
...2013. 14. Docket no. 212. 15. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586 (1986). 16. Anglin v. City of Aspen, 562 F.Supp. 2d 1304, 1318 (D. Colo. 2008) (quoting Branson v. Price River Coal Co., 853 F.2d 768, 771-72 (10th Cir. 1988)). 17. See Cypert v. Indep. Sch. D......
-
Part 1: complete case summaries in alphabetical order.
...MEDICAL CARE: Involuntary Medication TRAINING: Failure to Train, Medical Care USE OF FORCE: Excessive Force Anglin v. City of Aspen, 562 F.Supp.2d 1304 (D.Colo. 2008). A jail inmate brought a civil rights action under [section] 1983 against a city, former and current police officers, and a ......