Buenrostro v. Collazo

• Citation: 777 F. Supp. 128
• Decision Date: 24 October 1991
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 89-0384(JAF).
• Parties: Leonel BUENROSTRO, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Pablo COLLAZO, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

777 F. Supp. 128

Leonel BUENROSTRO, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Pablo COLLAZO, et al., Defendants.

Civ. No. 89-0384(JAF).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

October 24, 1991.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Francisco A. Besosa, Goldman Antonetti Ferraiuoli & Axtmayer, San Juan, Puerto Rico, for plaintiffs.

Lou Ann Delgado, Supervisor, Antonio Fiol Matta, Director, Federal Litigation Div., Hector Rivera Cruz, Secretary of Justice, Com. of Puerto Rico, for defendants.

Saldaña Rey & Alvarado, San Juan, Puerto Rico, for López-Feliciano.

OPINION AND ORDER

FUSTE, District Judge.

At 5:30 A.M. on March 29, 1988, six Puerto Rico police officers entered the apartment of plaintiff Leonel Buenrostro with neither a search nor an arrest warrant. Buenrostro was arrested in connection with a drug crime in New York. He was held for thirty-one days in horrific conditions in the State Penitentiary in Puerto Rico before the police realized that they had made an error and arrested the wrong person.¹ The police now admit that although Buenrostro had the same name and birth date as the suspect in New York, Buenrostro and the suspect had completely different fingerprints and photos. (It appears from the record that the actual suspect was Fausto Buenrostro, plaintiff's brother, who somehow obtained plaintiff's identification cards and showed those cards to police during a prior arrest in New York). Plaintiff Leonel Buenrostro was released and now sues under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the arrest in his home without a warrant was illegal and that at some point long before the thirty-one days had passed the defendants had an obligation to check the photos and fingerprints and realize their errors. In addition, Buenrostro's wife and three children claim independently for a violation of their own constitutional rights as a result of the warrantless entry into their home, and also on a pendent state law claim for infliction of emotional distress. Each claim is clouded by a series of procedural complications brought to our attention by motions which we deal with in turn.

Facts

Leonel Buenrostro was at home with his wife and three daughters at 5:30 A.M. when the six police officers came knocking. According to Buenrostro, they identified themselves as police officers, and then entered the home without his consent. The officers allege that consent was given, a matter over which there is a material dispute of fact.

They placed Mr. Buenrostro under arrest. They had no search warrant and no arrest warrant. They told plaintiff that he was wanted in New York on drug charges. The only information they had was that a Leonel Buenrostro, with the same birthdate as plaintiff, and with brown eyes, was wanted in New York. The Puerto Rico police had located plaintiff using the name through the Puerto Rico driver registration system. Through the use of the system they obtained plaintiff's social security number and address. He was handcuffed, taken to police headquarters, and put in a cell. Eventually, Buenrostro was brought before a judge who sought to get Buenrostro to waive the extradition hearing. When Buenrostro refused and asserted his innocence, the judge ordered his immediate detention in the State Penitentiary. A sworn statement was made out by one of the police officers stating that Buenrostro was wanted in New York. According to plaintiff, the officer swearing out the complaint lied. For instance, plaintiff claims that the officer swore that New York had already issued a decision to extradite when in fact it was not issued until later. A magistrate found probable cause to hold plaintiff. Two more extradition "hearings" were held at which a judge tried to get Buenrostro to waive his rights to fight extradition, but Buenrostro refused each time. Mr. Buenrostro was in the State Penitentiary for thirty-one days before the police finally compared the photos and fingerprints of the suspect wanted in New York and allowed for the release of Mr. Buenrostro, clearing him of any suspicion in the crime. The defendants do not dispute that the photo and fingerprints were in police custody at the time of the arrest (either in New York or Puerto Rico, it is not clear when they were actually sent to Puerto Rico) and that it was just a matter of requesting them and making the comparison. (As stated earlier, it now appears that the individual actually wanted in New York was a relative of Leonel Buenrostro who had used the plaintiff's name and birth date when he (the relative) was booked in New York on a previous occasion).

Timeliness: The Four Officers

The original complaint did not allege the names of all of the police officers involved, but instead listed twenty "John Does". Later, plaintiff moved to amend the complaint to add four officers ("the officers"), all of whom now claim that the action is untimely as to them.² The officers concede that the original complaint was timely filed as to all the named defendants contained in it at the time. The parties agree that the one-year Puerto Rico tort statute of limitations is applicable to this action. 31 L.P.R.A. § 5298. Wilson v. García, 471 U.S. 261, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 85 L.Ed.2d 254 (1985). The officers complain of untimeliness because although the allegedly illegal arrest took place on March 29, 1988, the permission to amend the complaint was not granted until December 27, 1989, and none of them were served until even later.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 15 allows an amended complaint which brings in a new party to be considered timely if the newly-joined party had notice of the institution of the action within the limitations period. The officers seem to concede that if the original complaint (which did not contain them) had been served against all the other defendants, at least some of whom are employed by the police department, within the one-year limitations period, they (the lately added officers) could be charged with "knowledge" of the institution of the action rendering the late amendment timely.

In this case, however, there is a snag. Although the original complaint was timely filed with the court within one year, the plaintiffs took advantage of Fed.R.Civ.P. 4(j), which allows them to make actual service on the defendants within 120 days after filing of the complaint, even where the extra time brings the service of the complaint past the one-year filing deadline. In other words, according to the officers, since no one was served until after the one year time had run, there can be no constructive knowledge within one year to trigger the relation-back provisions of Rule 15. The officers contend that while Rule 4(j) extends timely service for up to 120 days after the limitations period runs, that rule has no effect on the requirement of actual notice to non-named persons who the plaintiff seeks to add later. Schiavone v. Fortune, 477 U.S. 21, 106 S.Ct. 2379, 91 L.Ed.2d 18 (1986).

According to defendants, then, the service past the limitations period on the defendants named in the first complaint cannot be relied on by plaintiffs as justifying Rule 15 "relation back" and the complaint must fail as to the newly-added police officers. Even assuming that defendants' arguments are true, plaintiffs' case survives for a different reason. Unfortunately for the officers, there is a completely independent basis for sustaining the timeliness of the amended complaint and its service. Not only are state limitations periods adopted by the federal court for purposes of section 1983 suits, but the state tolling provisions related to those limitations periods are also adopted. Wilson v. García, 471 U.S. 261, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 85 L.Ed.2d 254 (1985). Therefore, Puerto Rico's tolling provisions must be applied along with its one-year limitations period. Puerto Rico law provides that a statute of limitations begins to toll in an action as soon as the action is filed in court, not when the parties are served. 31 L.P.R.A. § 5303. Feliciano v. Puerto Rico Aqueduct & Sewer Authority, 93 P.R.R. 638, 644 (1966); Federal Insurance Co. v. Banco Popular, 750 F.2d 1095, 1098 (1st Cir. 1983). In an action against joint and severally liable tortfeasors, tolling of the statute of limitations as to one tolls the statute as to all. 31 L.P.R.A. § 5304. Rodríguez Narvaez v. Nazario, 895 F.2d 38, 43 (1st Cir.1990). The amended claims against the four officers are timely and the motion to dismiss on that basis is denied.

Res Judicata and Stay Request

The next hurdle for plaintiffs is placed by the fact that a related action has proceeded in the Puerto Rico Commonwealth courts to a disposition on the merits. Defendants at this point seek to stay our action until that matter reaches the Puerto Rico Supreme Court. We have no intention of waiting for that eventuality, but we instead review the Puerto Rico trial court decision for any possible res judicata effect. Explosives Corp. of America v. Garlam Enterprises Corp., 817 F.2d 894, 900 (1st Cir.1987) (Federal court must review Puerto Rico Superior Court judgments for possible collateral estoppel effect regardless of whether they are on appeal or not).

The local action, Civil No. FDP 89-215(404), in the Superior Court of Carolina, included as defendants the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Ismael Betancourt Lebrón (the Superintendent of Puerto Rico's Police Department), the Clerk of the District Court of Puerto Rico, San Juan Section, the Chief Judge of the District Court of Puerto Rico, San Juan Part, and the Administrative Director of the Criminal Justice Information System. The suit alleged only local law negligence, and sought both monetary damages and an order that the various record keepers purge their files of any information relating to the erroneous arrest.

The judge in the matter found that Betancourt Lebrón was not the superintendent at the time of the acts and, therefore, could not possibly be liable. Since plaintiffs have agreed voluntarily to drop him as a defendant from the suit,...