Barbosa v. Hyland
| Decision Date | 02 December 2013 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION NO. 11-11997-JGD |
| Parties | MARIA BARBOSA, HENRIQUETA BARBOSA, MANUEL BARBOSA, and ANGELA BARBOSA, Plaintiffs, v. THOMAS HYLAND, JESSE DRANE, BRIAN DONAHUE, STEVEN JOHNSON, FRANK BAEZ, EMANUEL GOMES, and LEON McCABE, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
FINDINGS OF FACT AND RULINGS OF LAW
This action arises out of an altercation between the plaintiffs and various Brockton police officers on November 15, 2008 at the plaintiffs' home. A jury-waived trial was held before this court on July 15, 16, 17 and 18, 2013. The parties have submitted proposed findings of fact and rulings of law. The court has been provided with draft transcripts of the trial. After careful consideration of the transcripts, exhibits, and the parties' submissions, this court makes the following findings of fact and rulings of law.
As detailed more fully below, judgment shall enter:
1. in favor of Henriqueta Barbosa against the defendants Thomas Hyland and Brian Donahue, jointly and severally, for their unlawful entry into her home, in violationof her Fourth Amendment rights, in the amount of $25,000, plus interest, costs and fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
2. in favor of Manuel Barbosa against the defendants Thomas Hyland and Brian Donahue, jointly and severally, for their unlawful entry into his home, in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights, in the amount of $7,500, plus interest, costs and fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
3. in favor of Henriqueta Barbosa against the defendant Thomas Hyland for his use of excessive force in connection with her arrest, in violation of her Fourth Amendment rights, in the amount of $5,000, plus interest, costs and fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This award shall also compensate Henriqueta for her claims of assault and battery.
4. in favor of Angela Barbosa against the defendant Jesse Drane for his use of excessive force in connection with her arrest, in violation of her Fourth Amendment rights, in the amount of $7,500, plus interest, costs and fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This award shall also compensate Angela for her claims of assault and battery.
5. in favor of Maria Barbosa against the defendants Steven E. Johnson and Frank Baez, jointly and severally, for their use of excessive force, in violation of her Fourth Amendment rights, in the amount of $15,000 plus interest, costs and fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This award shall also compensate Maria for her claims of false arrest and assault and battery. 6. in favor of defendants Emanuel Gomes and Leon McCabe on all claims against them.
7. Count XVIII (Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress) is dismissed, as are the plaintiffs' claims based on alleged deliberate indifference to the plaintiffs' medical needs.
The plaintiffs Manuel and Henriqueta Barbosa, husband and wife, are the owners of a single family home located at 22 Leavitt Street, Brockton, Massachusetts. They purchased the house on May 28, 1988. At the time of trial, Manuel was 61 years old and Henriqueta was 54.
Manuel and Henriqueta are American citizens originally from Cape Verde. While they understand English, they do not speak it fluently and converse in their native language, Creole. They testified at trial through an interpreter.
The plaintiff Angela Barbosa is the daughter of Manuel and Henriqueta Barbosa. At the time of trial, she was 24 years old. Angela was born in Cape Verde, but came to America as a child and is fluent in English. On November 8, 2008, Angela gave birth to Jezmany Andrade, by cesarian section, and at the time of the incident she was staying at her parents' home to recuperate. Jezmany's father, John Andrade, was also staying there to help out with the baby.
The plaintiff Maria Barbosa is also the daughter of Manuel and Henriqueta Barbosa. At the time of trial she was 26 years old. Maria is fluent in English. On the date of the incident, Maria had left her parents' home before the police arrived, and was at the home of another sister, Nilda Barbosa. Maria's claims arise out of events that transpired at the Brockton Police Department after the incident at her parents' home.
22 Leavitt Street
On November 15, 2008, the Barbosa family was gathered at the home of Manuel and Henriqueta for a Nota Sete, a Cape Verdean traditional celebration held seven days after a child is born. It was a small gathering of about 15 family members and friends, half adults and half children ranging in age from the newborn Jezmany to a 9 year old.
At the time of the incident, Manuel and Henriqueta had seven grandchildren, and it had been expected that five would sleep over that night.
The Barbosas' home is a well-maintained single family home in a residential neighborhood. There is a front door with a doorbell on Leavitt Street, and a side door with a doorbell on Hazel Street. To get to the side door, you have to walk up some stairs onto a back porch. (Exhibit ("Ex.") 4).
When you come into the home from the side door, there is a small vestibule and then, off to the left, is a dining room area, with a table surrounded by chairs. (Exs. 5, 8). The refrigerator is also in the dining room. (Ex. 8). Through the dining area is a small galley kitchen with a sink, stove, dishwasher and cabinets along one wall. (Exs. 9, 10). There is not enough room for the refrigerator in the kitchen.
There is also at least one bedroom on the first floor of the home. On the second floor there are additional bedrooms and a room used as a living room. At the time of the Nota Sete, there was a disc jockey playing records in the living room upstairs.
At the Nota Sete, food was served to the family, including soup, finger food and desserts. There was beer in the refrigerator and some of the adults had some beers to drink. Prior to the entry of the police, as discussed below, however, there is no evidence that the participants in the party were rowdy or in any way unruly.
On November 15, 2008, the defendant Thomas Hyland was working the midnight to 8 a.m. shift at the Brockton Police Department. Officer Hyland was a 15 year veteran of the Brockton Police Department. Officer Hyland was partnered with the defendant Brian Donahue, and they were riding in one car.1
A 911 call came in at around midnight from a resident at 30 Leavitt Street in Brockton. (Ex. 17). According to the female caller, her neighbors across the street who had "just bought the house" were "blasting" music. (Ex. 13). It is unclear to this court whether the caller was actually complaining about noise coming from 22 Leavitt Street, since the Barbosa family had been living at the home since 1988, and were not new neighbors. In addition, the defendant Officer Jesse Drane testified that when he arrivedon site, he heard loud music.2 However, as detailed below, Officer Hyland testified that the music had been shut off at 22 Leavitt Street by the time Officer Drane arrived. One way of reconciling this conflicting testimony is to conclude that the music may have been coming from another location. However, that issue does not need to be resolved. I do find that there was music being played by a disc jockey on the second floor of 22 Leavitt Street and that it could be heard from the street.
According to the police log, about one hour after the neighbor's call, at approximately 1:13 a.m., Officers Hyland and Donahue were dispatched to the scene. Officer Hyland reported his arrival at a little after 1:14 a.m. (Ex. 17).
Upon their arrival at the street near 30 Leavitt Street, Officers Hyland and Donahue parked on Leavitt Street and walked toward 22 Leavitt Street. According to Officer Hyland, he heard loud music coming from the second floor of the house through an open window. He could not identify the music, other than to say it had a bass beat. He did not hear any vocals.
The officers did not go to the front door of the house, and did not ring the front door bell or knock on the door.
The officers went directly to the side door by going up the stairs and onto the porch. Officer Hyland admits that the officers did not knock on the door, and that he didnot have consent to enter the premises. He also admits that the police did not ring the bell for the side door even though it is clearly visible. (Ex. 5).
For the reasons detailed more fully below, I find that Officers Hyland and Donahue entered the home at 22 Leavitt Street without probable cause, in violation of the home owners' Fourth Amendment rights.
Although not argued by either party, it seems to this court that there is strong circumstantial evidence that Officer Hyland called for backup before he even entered the house. Officer Shane Cantone, the dispatcher on the night of November 16, 2008, testified that the dispatch log (Ex. 17) shows that Officer Hyland logged in as arriving at 22 Leavitt Street by 1:14 a.m. Although there is no record of the time of the call for backup, the log shows that by 1:18, Officer Drane was en route to provide backup. According to Officer Drane, he understood that he was coming to the residence to clear the house. Consequently, the call for backup had to come in the four minutes between 1:14 a.m. and 1:18 a.m. By 1:20 a.m., the first of six backup cars arrived. Sergeant Lofstrom arrived at 1:20 a.m., Officer Celia arrived at 1:21:57, Officer Dube arrived at 1:22:01, Officer Drane arrived at 1:24:20, Officer Almeida arrived at 1:25:01, and Sergeant Maker arrived at 1:25:04.
As detailed below, Officer Hyland testified that he engaged in various conversations both inside and outside the house, went upstairs and engaged in conversation with the disc jockey, who shut off the music and produced identification, and came backdownstairs and engaged in further conversations and obtained the homeowner's identification, all before he decided to call for backup. It is difficult to imagine that Officer Hyland engaged in all of...
To continue reading
Request your trial