Cruz v. City of Wilmington

• Decision Date: 23 February 1993
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 91-165 MMS.
• Citation: 814 F. Supp. 405
• Parties: Arcelio CRUZ and Wanda Taylor, individually and as Guardian Ad Litem for Peter Taylor and Star Taylor, Minor Children, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF WILMINGTON and John Hartnett, William Browne, Mark Lemon, Kevin Connor, James Ogden, Henry Cannon and Douglas Baylor, individually and in their capacity as City of Wilmington Police Officers, Defendants and Cross-Claimants, v. AGENCY RENT-A-CAR, a foreign corporation, Cross-Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Delaware

814 F. Supp. 405

Arcelio CRUZ and Wanda Taylor, individually and as Guardian Ad Litem for Peter Taylor and Star Taylor, Minor Children, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF WILMINGTON and John Hartnett, William Browne, Mark Lemon, Kevin Connor, James Ogden, Henry Cannon and Douglas Baylor, individually and in their capacity as City of Wilmington Police Officers, Defendants and Cross-Claimants, v. AGENCY RENT-A-CAR, a foreign corporation, Cross-Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 91-165 MMS.

United States District Court, D. Delaware.

February 23, 1993.

Darrell J. Baker, Heiman, Aber & Goldlust, Wilmington, DE, for plaintiffs.

Carol J. Dulin, Asst. City Sol., Wilmington, DE, for defendants and cross-claimants.

Richard W. Pell, Tybout, Redfearn, Casarino & Pell, Wilmington, DE, for cross-defendant.

OPINION

MURRAY M. SCHWARTZ, Senior District Judge.

Plaintiffs, Aracelio Cruz and Wanda Taylor (individually and as guardian Ad Litem for Pete Taylor and Star Taylor), bring this action against the City of Wilmington and seven of its police officers. The police officers are named in both their official and individual capacities.¹ In the first count of their amended complaint plaintiffs allege, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1988), violations of Aracelio Cruz's rights under the United States Constitution. Docket Item (D.I.) 12 at ¶ 31. In their second and third state law counts plaintiffs allege battery upon Mr. Cruz and intentional infliction of emotional distress upon all plaintiffs, both under Delaware law. D.I. 12 at ¶ 38, 45. The Court has jurisdiction over the first count pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1343 (1988) and has supplemental jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1367 (Supp. II 1990) over the second and third counts.

For reasons which follow, the defendants' motion for summary judgment will be granted on plaintiffs' first count and plaintiffs' second and third counts will be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

I.

On March 26, 1989, two Wilmington police officers, James P. Ogden and William R. Browne, were driving in a marked police vehicle. D.I. 66 at A-1, A-4. While in the 600 block of Walnut Street, the officers spotted a white Chevrolet Celebrity which displayed Pennsylvania license plates and a rental agency sticker. Id.

Due to recent rental car thievery, Officer Browne called the "Central Data Center" to check this particular car's status. D.I. 66 at A-5. The "Data Center" reported the car stolen. Id. at A-2, A-5. After Officer Browne called for back up assistance, the officers activated their "emergency overhead equipment" and the vehicle, driven by plaintiff Wanda Taylor, stopped at Third and Walnut Streets. Id. at A-2, A-5.

While it is known other patrol cars responded to the call and arrived at the scene, D.I. 66 at A-2, A-5, it is not clear how many officers responded, nor who they were. Among the defendants, Officers Ogden and Browne were already present, and Sergeant Hartnett along with Officers Lemon, Cannon and Baylor all admit to being on the scene. Id. at A-13, A-16, A-19 and A-21.²

As these officers assembled outside the vehicle, inside it sat four adults and two children, Pete and Star Taylor. The driver of the car was plaintiff Wanda Taylor. D.I. 66 at A-6. Beside her, in the front passenger seat, was plaintiff Aracelio Cruz. On Mr. Cruz's lap sat one or possibly both of the children. Id. at A-27. David and Hector DeJesus sat in the back. Id. at A-21, A-6.

As the officers approached the vehicle, Officer Browne, and at least one other officer ordered the occupants to keep their hands visible. D.I. 66 at A-5, A-13, A-16 and A-21. According to Mr. Cruz's deposition testimony, the officers twice ordered him to keep his hands on the dashboard. Id. at A-27. Despite these orders, Mr. Cruz admits his hands "were moving on top of the dashboard. I didn't put them down." Id. at A-28.³ However, one of the passengers in the vehicle, David DeJesus, stated that Mr. Cruz was trying to get something out of the glove compartment until an officer ordered Mr. Cruz to get his hands out of the glove compartment. Id. at A-29.

At some point, Sergeant Hartnett took Mr. Cruz by the jacket and pulled him out of the vehicle. D.I. 66 at A-3, A-6, A-19. The Sergeant then placed Mr. Cruz's hands on top of the hood of the car. Id. at A-3, A-19. Officer Lemon stated that Mr. Cruz "was told to place his hands on the vehicle," although who told Mr. Cruz to do so is unclear. Id. at A-16.

With Mr. Cruz now out of the vehicle, Sergeant Hartnett and Officer Lemon, either individually or in unison, attempted to pat him down. According to his affidavit, Sergeant Hartnett found patting Mr. Cruz down difficult because he again failed to follow instructions and "kept trying to turn around." D.I. 66 at A-13. Officer Lemon stated that after he had begun a pat down, Mr. Cruz made a "sudden movement away from the vehicle." Id. at A-16. After his hands had been on the hood of the car, Mr. Cruz admitted "his hands moved but they were always over the car...." D.I. 66 at A-10. After the pat down, the officers attempted to handcuff Mr. Cruz, but Mr. Cruz held his arms "straight out at his sides." D.I. 66 at A-13. At this point, Sergeant Hartnett and Officer Lemon pulled Mr. Cruz's arms behind his back and handcuffed him. D.I. 66 at A-14, A-16.

The contact occurring during this arrest caused all of the physical injury about which plaintiff Cruz has complained. In response to an interrogatory, plaintiffs described the activity which caused the officers to be named as defendants by saying, "defendants either pulled him or twisted his arm or aided or abetted those who did." D.I. 66 at A-26. Asked to describe the physical injuries suffered as a result of the alleged conduct, plaintiffs responded to an interrogatory by stating "Aracelio Cruz hurt his left shoulder, neck and back." D.I. 66 at A-38.⁴

The three men, Mr. Cruz and the DeJesus brothers, were taken in custody and transported to the police station. D.I. 66 at A-6, A-21. Ms. Taylor with her children stayed in the vehicle and were escorted to the police station. D.I. 66 at A-6. At the station, Ms. Taylor produced the rental agreement through which she had obtained the car. Id. The Philadelphia Police were called. They told the Wilmington officers that Philadelphia based rental agencies often do not report returned stolen vehicles. Id. The rental agency did not answer a phone call and Ms. Taylor was released. Id.

At some point, while the plaintiffs were still at the police station, the final defendant, Officer Kevin Connor, was called in to transport Mr. Cruz to the hospital. D.I. 66 at A-23. Officer Connor transported Mr. Cruz to the Wilmington Hospital for an examination of his shoulder. The Officer stayed with Mr. Cruz for the duration of the examination. Id. at A-24.

All of the above activities occurred on March 26, 1989. On March 25, 1991, plaintiffs filed a complaint naming the City of Wilmington and John Doe police officers as defendants. On May 29, 1991, plaintiffs amended their complaint by specifically identifying and naming the individual police officers.

II.

The defendant has moved for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 56 requires the Court to enter summary judgment "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ. 56(c).

An issue is genuine "if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). "As to materiality, the substantive law will identify which facts are material. Only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment." Id.

Where there is a dispute, the non-moving party must place in the record sufficient evidence for the Court to find a genuine issue of material fact.

The plain language of Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case; and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.

Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

If the non-movant provides no evidence or provided only a scintilla of evidence supporting its position, it will not have sufficiently discharged its obligation to avoid summary judgment. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. at 252, 106 S.Ct. at 2512. The Court will enter summary judgment if "the nonmoving party has failed to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of her case with respect to which she has the burden of proof." Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. at 2552.

If a non-moving party fails to meet its burden, a rational trier of fact would not be able to find for the non-moving party, and the Court should enter summary judgment against it. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). It is not the Court's task to replace the rational trier of fact and to resolve questions about which genuine issues exist. The Court will only enter summary judgment if no rational trier of fact could weigh the evidence and find for the nonmoving party. "At the summary judgment stage the judge's function is not himself to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. at 2510.

Because the plaintiffs have not introduced any evidence on their own behalf, but have rested on the defendants' record, Rule 56(e) is of particular pertinence. Federal Rule...