Coster v. Maryland
| Decision Date | 30 November 2021 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action GLR-21-65 |
| Parties | RODNEY COSTER, Plaintiff, v. THE STATE OF MARYLAND, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Maryland |
THIS MATTER is before the Court on Defendant the State of Maryland's (the “State”) Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint (ECF No. 43) and Defendants Harford County Sheriff's Office, Harford County Detention Center Warden Michael Capasso, Deputy First Class (“DFC”) Donald Licato, DFC Christopher Majewski DFC Mark Jeric, DFC Kevin Bliss, DFC Matthew Norton, DFC Derek Seman, DFC Stavros Kalambihis, DFC Joe DiBartolo, DFC Nicholas Robinson, Sgt. Andrew Meador, Cpl. Nickolas Goins and Does 1 to 20's (collectively, “County Defendants”)[1] Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint (ECF No. 46). The Motions are ripe for disposition, and no hearing is necessary. See Local Rule 105.6 (D.Md. 2021). For the reasons outlined below, the Court will grant the Motions in part and deny the Motions in part.[2]
Plaintiff Rodney Coster (“Coster”) was diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder decades ago. (Am. Compl. ¶ 1, ECF No. 37). On January 10, 2018, Coster went to visit his mother, Sharon Coster (“Ms. Coster”) for her birthday. (Id.). Coster is just over five feet tall and, at the time of the visit, was unarmed, over fifty years old, and weighed approximately 145 pounds. (Id. ¶ 3). Coster was not making sense upon his arrival and Ms. Coster immediately determined that he was having a mental health crisis. (Id. ¶ 1). Ms. Coster persuaded her son to drive her to the Harford County Sheriff's Office (the “Sheriff's Office”), located at the Harford County Detention Center (the “Detention Center”), so that she could get him help. (Id.).
Coster and his mother arrived at the Detention Center around 8:00 a.m. (Id. ¶ 52). After arriving, they waited in the car until Defendants Licato and Majewski pulled up in front of them in a police cruiser. (Id. ¶ 2). Ms. Coster approached Licato and explained that Coster “was bipolar and was not taking his medicine, ” and asked them to assist in “connecting him with trained mental health professionals.” (Id. ¶¶ 2, 54). She tried to provide Licato additional details, but he left and approached the driver's side of the car, where Coster was seated. (Id. ¶¶ 54-55).
Licato was joined by Majewski and the two of them began questioning Coster. (Id. ¶¶ 4, 56). Coster “responded in the manner of a person in the midst of an acute mental health crisis by saying that no one could help him and repeating over and over, largely to himself, that ‘everything's going to be [okay].'” (Id.). Majewski and Licato then “briefly tried to pull Mr. Coster out of the car, ” but Coster “resisted passively, shrinking away from the officers and seeking to avoid being pulled out of the vehicle.” (Id. ¶¶ 5, 58). Seconds after this initial attempt, Majewski “drew his Taser, aimed it at Mr. Coster, and repeatedly tased him.” (Id. ¶¶ 5, 59). After the Taser barbs “impaled” Coster, Majewski “delivered four Taser cycles (lasting 5 seconds, 2 seconds, 3 seconds and 5 seconds) over the following 20 seconds.” (Id. ¶ 60). Majewski then hit Coster with a Taser “stun drive, ” “appl[ying] the Taser directly to Mr. Coster's leg, point blank, for 3 seconds.” (Id. ¶ 61).
Majewski and Licato then removed Coster from the car and pulled his sweatshirt over his head. (Id. ¶¶ 6, 77-78). While Coster was “doubled over and at times lying on the asphalt next to the car, ” “one of the deputies repeatedly punched and kneed Mr. Coster, including delivering several overhand ‘hammer-fist' punches to the back of Mr. Coster's head.” (Id. ¶ 6). Majewski and Licato then moved Coster onto an adjacent lawn and, in doing so, “caused his pants to fall down-exposing him in front of his mother.” (Id. ¶ 7). Within seconds of moving Coster onto the lawn, “a total of at least seven Individual Defendants piled on top of Mr. Coster, including, but not limited to, Warden Capasso, Deputies Majewski and Licato, and on information and belief, Defendants Jeric, Bliss, Norton, Robinson, Seman, and Kalambihis.” (Id. ¶ 8). Coster was unable to move under the weight. (Id.). Despite this, “Majewski continued to punch Mr. Coster while kneeling on his head and neck, while other Individual Defendants in the dogpile were striking Mr. Coster with their fists and knees.” (Id.).
After several minutes, unspecified Individual Defendants put Coster in handcuffs and leg irons. (Id. ¶ 9). Despite this restraint, “several of the Individual Defendants continued to stand on Mr. Coster and to kneel on his back, neck and head, ” while other Individual Defendants milled around and watched. (Id.). After about five minutes, medical personnel arrived on the scene and walked toward Coster, but rather than allowing them access to Coster, Individual Defendants turned the medical personnel away. (Id. ¶ 10).
Approximately five minutes after the medical personnel left, Individual Defendants stood Coster up and left him standing for an additional fifteen minutes. (Id. ¶ 11). At this time, two Individual Defendants “lifted Mr. Coster off the ground by his elbows while his arms were still cuffed behind his back” and “marched him toward the Harford County Detention Center.” (Id. ¶ 12). Coster describes this as a “stress position” that is “highly painful and very likely to result in injuries.” (Id.). The manner in which they were carrying Coster caused him to flip over, so the two Individual Defendants “carried him across the parking lot into the Harford County Detention Center upside down with his face just a few inches above the pavement.” (Id. ¶ 13).
Coster sustained a number of injuries during the altercation: “his left shoulder was dislocated, he had extensive lacerations and bruising, including a bruised and/or fractured rib, his clothes were bloodied, and his glasses were broken.” (Id. ¶ 96). Coster believes the dislocation of his shoulder occurred during the “frog march[]” he endured while handcuffed. (Id. ¶ 12, 91). According to Coster, at no time during the course of these events did he fight or otherwise actively resist the Individual Defendants. (Id. ¶ 14).
On January 11, 2018, Goins, Meador, and DiBartolo transported Coster to the hospital to treat the injuries he sustained the previous day. (Id. ¶ 16). During the procedure to repair his dislocated shoulder, hospital staff asked that Coster change positions. (Id. ¶ 108). When he did so, hospital staff began to tighten a weighted medical device used to relocate the shoulder. (Id.). This caused Coster to become “extremely agitated, ” and he “yelled and tried to pull away from the hospital staff.” (Id.). Meador asserted that Coster kicked him during this incident, but Coster states that if he did so, it was inadvertent and caused by him reacting to the painful medical procedure. (Id. ¶ 109).
Coster believes that in response, one of the Individual Defendants instructed hospital staff to exit the room. After they left, (Id. ¶ 111).
In their Motions to Dismiss and Replies, Defendants provide the Court copies of records detailing criminal charges that were brought against Coster. (See Docket Entries for State v. Coster, Dist. Ct. for Harford County, Case No. 2R00113766 [“Jan. 10 Crim. Docket”], ECF No. 43-2; Docket Entries for State v. Coster, Dist. Ct. for Harford County, Case No. 2R00113778 [“Jan. 11 Crim. Docket”], ECF No. 43-3; Incident Report for Jan. 10, 2018 Arrest [“Incident Report”], ECF No. 46-2; Transcript of May 14, 2018 Hr'g, State v. Coster, Dist. Ct. for Harford County, Case Nos. 2R00113766, 2R00113778 [“Hr'g Tr.”], ECF No. 57-3). The Court will take judicial notice of the existence of these documents and the underlying proceedings for the purpose of reviewing Defendants' Motions.[4] Because the Court will take judicial notice of these documents, it will also grant County Defendants' Motion for Leave to File Audio Recording as Exhibit (ECF No. 58), which merely presents the Court with an alternate format through which to review Coster's May 14, 2018 hearing at the District Court for Harford County.
The documents provided by Defendants reflect that criminal charges were filed against Coster for the incidents on January 10 and 11, 2018. With respect to the January 10, 2018 incident outside the Detention Center, Coster was charged with two counts of second-degree assault, one count of resisting arrest, and one count of assault on a law enforcement officer. (See Jan. 10 Crim. Docket at 3-4). Of these, one of the counts for second-degree assault count and the resisting arrest count were placed on the “stet docket, ” and the remaining count for assault on a law enforcement officer was nolle prosequi. (Id.). With respect to the January 11, 2018 incident at the hospital, Coster was charged with one count of second-degree assault, one count of assault on a Detention Center employee, and one count of resisting arrest. (See Jan. 11 Crim. Docket at 3). Of these charges, the second-degree assault count was placed on the stet docket, and the remaining counts for assault on a detention center employee and resisting arrest were nolle prosequi. (Id.).
With respect to the remaining count for second-degree assault arising from the January 10, 2018 incident, Coster pleaded not guilty with an agreed statement of facts. (Hr'g Tr. at 13). The prosecutor read the following statement of facts into the record:
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