Freitas v. Stone
| Decision Date | 15 April 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-00436.,92-00436. |
| Citation | 818 F. Supp. 1333 |
| Parties | Melvin FREITAS, Jr., Plaintiff, v. Ryan M. STONE, Matthew Manuma, John Does 1-10, Jane Does 1-10, and Doe Government Entities 1-10, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Hawaii |
Stanford H. Nakamoto, Stephen Y. Arakawa, Kiuchi Nakamoto & Ahu, Honolulu, HI, for plaintiff.
Steven S. Michaels, Atty. Gen., Robert A. Marks, State Atty. Gen., Thomas D. Farrell, Attorney General Office, Honolulu, HI, for defendants.
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR STAY
The court heard defendants' motion for summary judgment or, in the alternative, for stay on April 12, 1993. Stanford Nakamoto, Esq. appeared on behalf of plaintiff. Steven Michaels, Esq. and Thomas Farrell, Esq. appeared on behalf of defendants. After reviewing the motion and the supporting and opposing memoranda, the court DENIES defendants' motion for summary judgment and GRANTS defendants' motion for stay pending appeal.
In 1988, Melvin Freitas was a prisoner at the Halawa Medium Security Facility in Honolulu. This case arises from three related incidents that occurred at the end of that year and, according to Freitas, resulted in his being subject to an unconstitutional beating. Though the facts surrounding these three altercations are disputed, there can be no uncertainty that prisoners and guards alike are well-skilled in the use of invective.
Shortly before noon on December 26, Freitas became involved in a verbal dispute with Ryan Stone, an adult correctional officer. While being escorted to his housing module after an early lunch, Freitas fell out of line from the group of inmates with whom he was travelling. Stone ordered Freitas to step back in place. Freitas alleges that the following conversation ensued:
Deposition of Melvin Freitas, Plaintiff's Memorandum in Opposition, R. 28 (hereinafter "R. 28"), at 16-17. Freitas alleges that Stone added the following final ominous comment a short time later: "We going see who the punk is when we get back to the module." Id. at 18.
Officer Stone told his superior officer, Matthew Manuma, that there had been trouble in the chow line. Manuma ordered Stone to counsel Freitas for the lunchtime incident, and at approximately 11:30 a.m. he and Stone escorted Freitas to a counseling office in the module.
Freitas alleges that the officers closed the curtain to the office, that Stone undressed partially, and made several abusive statements with the intent of starting a fight. Fearful that he would be attacked, Freitas left the office, but was coaxed back inside. He alleges that he was subsequently grabbed by the neck, pushed against a wall, and thrown on a chair. Freitas states that his forearm was injured as a result of the alleged beating.
The officers' version of the counseling incident is quite different. They claim that Freitas was repeatedly insubordinate, that he tried to instigate a fight, and that he threatened Stone by warning him that he would catch him on the outside after he was paroled. Defendants' Memorandum in Support of Motion For Summary Judgment, or, in the Alternative for Stay, R. 21 (hereinafter "R. 21") at 508. Manuma concedes that he forced Freitas into a chair, but states that he did so only after Freitas improperly left the counseling office and yelled to the officers, Id.
Near the end of the session, Freitas said, "Eh, sarge Manuma, I like go with this fucka again, referring to Stone in a kindly manner, but first I like one paper for sign so that when I pau1 broke this punk's ass you guys no throw me in the hole special holding unit." Id. Freitas' version of the comment is only slightly different, but he contends that it was made only in response to Stone's incessant taunting. Defendants claim that Freitas' comment was just one in a litany of statements attempting to provoke a fight.
Manuma ordered that Freitas be transferred to the special holding unit and instructed Freitas to go back to his cell and collect his things. Fifteen minutes later, Manuma, Stone, and Thor Salona escorted Freitas, who was not restrained in any manner, to the special holding unit. Manuma opened the door to the unit and the most serious of the day's three alleged altercations began.
Freitas contends that, once inside the unit, Stone rushed him from behind. The momentum of Stone's lunge carried him to the floor, but he rebounded quickly, had at Freitas again, and pinned him against the wall punching him repeatedly in the body. Freitas grabbed Stone's testicles in an attempt to defend himself. Understandably enraged, Stone threw Freitas to the ground and began to punch him in the face. After the beating stopped, Freitas alleges that Stone gave him a few kicks to the head for good measure. All the while, Manuma allegedly did nothing.
Freitas states that he was taken to the special holding unit solely to ensure a private beating. He notes that the investigating correctional officer, Glenn Kakuda, determined that correctional officers from the search and escort team should have been called to escort Freitas to the holding unit because of the previous trouble among Freitas, Manuma, and Stone. R. 28, Exh. 2 at 478. Kakuda also determined that Stone and Manuma also should have placed restraints on Freitas while escorting him to the special holding unit. Id. Freitas alleges that the sole reason he was not restrained was so Stone and Manuma could beat him and claim that he had started the fight. Freitas Declaration, ¶ 4.
Stone's version of the fight is quite different. Stone states that Freitas began to walk quickly once inside the holding unit. In response, he ordered Freitas to slow down. Freitas dropped the bag of property that he was carrying, turned, and said, "C'mon let's go." Stone states that Freitas then charged him causing his head to strike against the wall. He successfully subdued Freitas, but only after the prisoner succeeded in causing him significant pain. R. 21 at 322-23. That point is not in dispute.
As a result of the alleged beating, Freitas contends that he suffered lacerations of the face, a puncture wound below the lower lip, bruises to his head and upper body, a cracked tooth, a bite wound to his left hand, a loss of hearing that required surgery, and a considerable amount of emotional distress. He concedes that he had a preexisting punctured eardrum, but states that this injury was not bothering him before the alleged beating. R. 28, Exh. 1 at 80-85, Exh. 2 at 414, 474, 481-82, and Exh. 4 at 63-70.
Freitas was subsequently found guilty of refusing to obey orders of a staff member, but he was acquitted on the more serious charge of assaulting any person. R. 21 at 322. Stone filed a criminal complaint against Freitas for assault and terroristic threatening, but the police refused to charge Freitas at least partially on the basis of his successful completion of a polygraph examination. R. 28 at 67-69.
Freitas commenced this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The matter is currently before the court on defendants' motion for summary judgment.
Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment shall be entered when:
... 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.
The moving party has the initial burden of "identifying for the court those portions of the materials on file that it believes demonstrate the absence of any genuine issue of material fact." T.W. Elec. Serv., Inc. v. Pacific Elec. Contractors Ass'n, 809 F.2d 626, 630 (9th Cir.1987) (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)). The movant must be able to show "the absence of a material and triable issue of fact," Richards v. Neilsen Freight Lines, 810 F.2d 898, 902 (9th Cir.1987), although it need not necessarily advance affidavits or similar materials to negate the existence of an issue on which the nonmoving party will bear the burden of proof at trial. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2552. But cf., Id., at 328, 106 S.Ct. at 2555 (White, J., concurring).
If the moving party meets its burden, then the opposing party may not defeat a motion for summary judgment in the absence of any significant probative evidence tending to support his legal theory. Commodity Futures Trading Comm'n v. Savage, 611 F.2d 270, 282 (9th Cir.1979). The opposing party cannot stand on his pleadings, nor can he simply assert that he will be able to discredit the movant's evidence at trial. See T.W. Elec., 809 F.2d at 630. Similarly, legal memoranda and oral argument are not evidence and do not create issues of fact capable of defeating an otherwise valid motion for summary judgment. British Airways Bd. v. Boeing Co., 585 F.2d 946, 952 (9th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 981, 99 S.Ct. 1790, 60 L.Ed.2d 241 (1979). Moreover, "if the factual context makes the nonmoving party's claim implausible, that party must come forward with more persuasive evidence than would otherwise be necessary to show that there is a genuine issue for trial." California...
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