Cavanaugh v. Cnty. of San Diego
| Decision Date | 12 November 2020 |
| Docket Number | Case No.: 3:18-cv-02557-BEN-LL |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of California |
| Parties | SHANE CAVANAUGH, an individual and as personal representative and successor in interest of the Estate of RICHARD BOULANGER; the Estate of RICHARD BOULANGER, Plaintiffs, v. COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO, a municipal Corporation; SHERIFF BILL GORE, individually and in his official capacity as Sheriff for the County of San Diego; KEVIN KAMOSS, in his individual and offical capacity; STANLEY DIXON, in his individual and official capacity; JOSEPH REYES, in his individual and official capacity; and DOES 1-50 inclusive, Defendants. |
ORDER GRANTING:
(1) DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFFS' SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT WITH PREJUDICE
Plaintiff Shane Cavanaugh, an individual and as personal representative and successor in interest of the Estate of Richard Boulanger along with the Estate of Richard Boulanger (collectively, "Plaintiffs") brings this wrongful death action against Defendants COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO, a municipal Corporation; Sherriff BILL GORE individually and in his official capacity as Sherriff for the County of San Diego; KEVIN KAMOSS, in his individual and official capacity; STANLEY DIXON, in his individual and official capacity; JOSEPH REYES, in his individual and official capacity; and JAMES PARENT, in his individual and official capacity (collectively, "Defendants"). ECF No. 55.
Before the Court is Defendants' Motion to Dismiss and Strike Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint (the "Motion"). ECF No. 56. Plaintiffs opposed. ECF No. 59. Defendants filed a reply brief. ECF No. 63. The Court also considers the Joint Motion to Dismiss Defendants Brett Germain and Michael Pacheco with prejudice. ECF No. 61.
The motions were submitted on the papers without oral argument pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7.1(d)(1) and Rule 78(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ("FRCP"). ECF No. 64. After considering the papers submitted, supporting documentation, and applicable law, the Court GRANTS the Joint Motion as well as Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Second Amended Complaint without leave to amend.
This case arises out of the death of Richard Boulanger ("Decedent" or "Mr. Boulanger") on February 14, 2016 in the San Diego County Central Jail ("SDCCJ"), at the age of 51 years old. Second Amended Complaint, ECF No. 55 ("SAC") at 12-15; ECF No. 20 at 9, ¶¶ 2-4. His son, Shane Cavanaugh ("Mr. Cavanaugh"), as administrator of Mr. Boulanger's estate, brings this action both on Mr. Boulanger's behalf as his personal representative as well as on behalf of himself as Mr. Boulanger's heir. Id. at 3:1-5. The record indicates Mr. Boulanger died intestate and had at least one other child: Desiree Boulanger. Declaration of Shane Cavanaugh, ECF No. 20 at 9-10. This is significant, as will be seen later.
On February 9, 2016, Mr. Boulanger was arrested for a non-violent crime and placed in the San Diego County Central Jail ("SDCCJ"). SAC at 7:19-23. At the time of his arrest, Mr. Boulanger was a known opiate user and suffering from withdrawal symptoms. Id. at 7:21-23. During the booking process, Mr. Boulanger (1) tested positive for narcotics, including cocaine and heroin; (2) "told jail staff" he used heroin and drank alcohol on a daily basis; (3) was observed as experiencing withdrawal symptoms; (4) was noted as having a history of mental illness; and (5) was provided medication for his withdrawal symptoms. Id. at 7:24-8:3. Later, Mr. Boulanger was placed in jail cell 4B 1 "FOUR-BAKER." Id. at 8:4.
On February 12, 2016, at 5:19 p.m., Defendant Deputy Joseph Reyes ("Deputy Reyes") performed a soft count,2 which is required by the San Diego County Sheriff's Detention Policy.3 SAC at 17:7-17. Video surveillance shows Deputy Reyes closing Mr. Boulanger's cell door and walking past the next four cells without stopping or peering intothe cells. Id. at 17:11-17. During the soft count at approximately 5:25 p.m., video surveillance shows Deputy Reyes "walking up to each cell and peering in for approximately 1 second before proceeding to the next cell." Id. at 17:18-21. SDCCJ's Green Sheet Policy requires that soft counts are "conducted at the beginning and end of [e]very shift, and that a printed Operations Report (Count Sheet) is utilized while conducting these 'Soft Counts.'" Id. at 16:12-17. At 6:00 p.m., at the end of Deputy Reyes' shift, surveillance video also shows him performing a security check (also known as a head count), rather than a soft count, by peering into each cell for only one second and without consulting paperwork. Id. at 17:26-18:4; see also Defendants' Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for Leave to File Second Amended Complaint, ECF No. 35-1 at 14.
That same day, at an unknown time, Deputy James Parent ("Deputy Parent") was stationed in the watchtower and "took over watch" for approximately one hour for a deputy working before Defendant Deputy Stanley Dixon ("Deputy Dixon") started his shift. SAC at 13:25-28. While Deputy Parent was filling in for the deputy, he muted the Emergency Intercom System. Compare SAC at 11:22-25 () with SAC at 13:25-14:8 (); id. at 14:4-20 (); ECF No. 35-1 at 14 ().4 However, Sheriff's Detentions Policy I.I requires alarm buttons in inmatecells to be connected to a central control area to ensure constant monitoring of the alarms with appropriate, timely assistance dispatched to the scene of any alarm. SAC at 9:16-27.
Also, on February 12, 2016, at an unknown time likely between 5:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.,5 Mr. Boulanger's cellmate woke up to find Mr. Boulanger hanging from the bunk bed with what appeared to be a rope fabricated from a sheet around Mr. Boulanger's neck. SAC at 8:5-9; ECF No. 35-1 at 13-14. Mr. Boulanger's cellmate called for help four to ten times using an intercom system in each cell, but no one responded. SAC at 8:10-18. After no one responded to the calls via the intercom, the cellmate started banging on the doorsof his cell. Id. at 8:19-21. Somewhere between 10 to 30 minutes6 passed before Deputies Michael Pacheco and Brett Germain "randomly discovered" Mr. Boulanger during an opening shift count. See SAC at 10:21-24. Deputies Pacheco and Germain notified Deputy Dixon, who was working at the watchtower, by radio that Mr. Boulanger had hung himself. Id. at 8:21-23, 9:1-4, 11:14-21. It was not until that point in time that Deputy Dixon discovered the intercom had been muted. See id. at 11:15-21 ().
As soon as they discovered Mr. Boulanger's body, deputies temporarily resuscitated and revived Mr. Boulanger, and he was transported to UCSD Medical Center. SAC at 9:5-8. However, on February 14, 2016, two days later, Mr. Boulanger developed multisystem failure and died. Id. at 9:8-19.
Plaintiffs assert that Defendants violated Mr. Boulanger's rights by, inter alia, failing to (1) keep him in a safe and secure environment where he could be kept free from injury, harm, and death and (2) provide him with adequate medical care and attention, in violation of the Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. See ECF. No. 17. Plaintiffs further allege that Defendants' (1) deliberate indifference to Mr. Boulanger's serious medical needs violated Mr. Boulanger's civil rights and (2) "failure to train, supervise and/or take other measures at the Central Jail to prevent the conduct that caused the untimely and wrongful death of Richard Boulanger deprived Plaintiffs of their liberty interest in the parent-child relationship in violation of their substantive due process rights as defined by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to theUnited States Constitution." SAC at 30:27-31:8.
Mr. Boulanger's death certificate indicates that the immediate cause of death was (a) acute diffuse anoxic/ischemic encephalopathy,7 but the certificate instructed the individual completing it to "[e]nter the chain of events that directly caused death," and as such, (b) resuscitated cardiac arrest and (c) ligature hanging were also listed. ECF No. 20 at 16. When asked to describe how the injury occurred, the certificate states "HANGED SELF WITH STRIPS OF SHEET ATTACHED TO BED POLE." Id. at 16. Manner of death is listed as "suicide," on February 12, 2016, with the hour listed as unknown. Id.
On February 9, 2018, Plaintiff filed this lawsuit against Defendants County of San Diego and Sheriff William Gore ("Sheriff Gore") in the San Diego Superior Court, alleging causes of action for violation of his civil rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for (1) violation of Plaintiff's Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights; (2) deliberate indifference to the decedent's medical needs; (3) wrongful death; (4) loss of familial relationship; (5) pain and suffering (survival action); and (6) Monell municipal liability. See Notice of...
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