Gomez v. Miami-Dade Cnty.
| Decision Date | 28 September 2021 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 20-cv-23069-COOKE/GOODMAN |
| Parties | Janet GOMEZ, Plaintiff, v. MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida |
Anthony Carlos Hevia, Hevia Law Firm, Coral Gables, FL, Samuel DePaola, Pro Hac Vice, Sim & DePaola, LLP, for Plaintiff.
Zachary Edward Vosseler, Miami-Dade County Attorney's Office, Miami, FL, for Defendants.
ORDER ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS
THIS MATTER is before the Court on Defendants’ motion to dismiss the amended complaint. ECF No. 30. Plaintiff has opposed this motion. ECF No. 31. Having considered the parties’ arguments and the relevant legal authorities, the Court will GRANT the motion and DISMISS this case with prejudice .
This case arises out of a dispute that took place on the night of February 16, 2019, and into the early morning of February 17, 2019. Plaintiff Janet Gomez ("Plaintiff" or "Ms. Gomez") is a federal agent of the United States and a resident of Miami-Dade County, Florida. ECF No. 24 ¶ 8. On the evening of February 16, 2019, Ms. Gomez was hosting a family gathering at her home in the Country Walk neighborhood. Id. ¶ 13.
Around 11:25pm on February 16, 2019, Officer Giovanni Lorente ("Officer Lorente") of the Miami-Dade Police Department ("MDPD") arrived at Ms. Gomez's home. Id. ¶ 19. Officer Lorente stated he was responding to a noise complaint from one of Ms. Gomez's neighbors. Id. ¶ 20. Video evidence shows that as Officer Lorente is standing on the street outside of Ms. Gomez's home, music is audible on his body camera. G.L. Vid. at 23:30:20–23:30:30. The video shows Officer Lorente asks Ms. Gomez to lower the music and she responds that she has already asked someone to do so. Id. But the music is still audible from where Officer Lorente and Ms. Gomez are speaking. Id. Ms. Gomez states that "there's a band here," and Officer Lorente goes on to explain that someone has complained about the noise, there's a county noise ordinance, and she could get a citation if she does not lower the music. Id. at 23:30:30–23:30:38. Ms. Gomez tells Officer Lorente that she "totally understand[s]" and that she is also an officer with the federal government's U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Id. at 23:30:38–23:30:43. The exchange continues for several seconds as Officer Lorente asks Ms. Gomez to comply with his request, and she says she has already asked her brother to have the music turned down, but she will go and ask herself that it be turned down. Id. at 23:30:50–23:31:09. Ms. Gomez appears to walk towards her home and leaves the line of vision of the camera. Id. at 23:31:10–23:31:14. Officer Lorente then says, "I see a customs agent going to jail tonight." Id. at 23:31:15–23:31:18. Throughout the exchange, the music remains audible on camera.
A second video for Officer Lorente's body camera begins a couple of minutes later. G.L. Vid. II at 23:32:52. The music is still audible in the video. A man approaches the camera and tells Officer Lorente he believes that they have until 11:00pm to play music, but Officer Lorente tells him he is mistaken. Id. at 23:32:52–23:33:03. The man says he "can lower the music a little bit," and Officer Lorente responds that if officers need to come back to the home, "someone is going to get cited." Id. at 23:33:08–23:33:15. The man responds "alright." Id. at 23:33:16. Ms. Gomez now appears next to the man, and Officer Lorente repeats that if officers need to return to the home, someone will get cited. Id. at 23:33:18–23:33:24. Ms. Gomez gives Officer Lorente a thumbs up and says "okay." Id. at 23:33:23–23:33:29. Officer Lorente thanks Ms. Gomez and the man for their cooperation. Id.
Approximately an hour later, in the early morning of February 17, 2019, Officers Daniel Quiles ("Officer Quiles") and Eric Garcia ("Officer Garcia") arrived at Ms. Gomez's home.2 ECF No. 24 ¶ 24. Officer Garcia's body camera shows him approaching Ms. Gomez's home around 12:37am on February 17, 2019. E.G. Vid. at 00:37:31–00:37:35. Music is audible in the video as he approaches the driveway and becomes increasingly louder as he nears the home. Id. at 00:37:31–00:37:35. Once he reaches the front door, Officer Garcia knocks on the door. Id. at 00:37:50–00:38:15. Getting no immediate response, he peers through a window by the door, and calls out "open up." Id. Officer Quiles’ body camera shows him approaching the home as Officer Garcia first knocks on the door, and then shows him standing a couple of feet from the door, near Officer Garcia. D.Q. Vid. at 00:37:50–00:38:15.3 Music is audible on video from both officers’ body cameras.
The body camera videos show the following:
As Officer Quiles is standing by the entrance to Ms. Gomez's home, Officer Garcia approaches the door a second time. Someone appears to open the door from the inside of the home, and Officer Garcia pulls it open. E.G. Vid. at 00:38:18–00:38:30. Two young men are standing there. Id. Officer Garcia, while still standing outside the house, asks for the backpack of one of the young men, because he says he believes he saw weed. Id. Officer Garcia takes the backpack and asks the young man where the weed is. Id. The young man says there is no weed and tells Officer Garcia to check the backpack. Id. Officer Garcia and Officer Quiles remain outside the home with the backpack.
As the officers are speaking to the two young men, Ms. Gomez approaches the door from the inside of the house. E.G. Vid. at 00:38:35–00:38:39. As she approaches, Officer Garcia asks who owns the house and Ms. Gomez identifies herself as the owner. Id. While Ms. Gomez is still inside the home, Officer Garcia tells her they are going to "need to turn the music off." Id. at 00:38:39–00:38:48. Ms. Gomez replies, "we lowered it," and asks the officers if they can please step outside. Id. The officers remain outside, Ms. Gomez steps outside the home and closes the door behind her. Id. She begins to speak to the officers just outside her front door.
Ms. Gomez asks the officers, "what seems to be the problem?" E.G. Vid. at 00:38:48–00:39:02. She explains that there is a party going on for a "special occasion." Id. Officer Garcia congratulates her. Id. However, he explains that they have to turn the music off. Id. at 00:39:04–00:39:08. "For what reason?" asks Ms. Gomez. Id. Officer Quiles interjects. D.Q. Vid. at 00:39:08–00:39:12. Ms. Gomez explains that "they" came earlier and told her to lower the music, which she did, and that "the band even left." E.G. Vid. at 00:39:11–00:39:24. The officers ask Ms. Gomez who came earlier, and she confirms it was the other police officers. Id. Officer Garcia asks Ms. Gomez to confirm that this is the second time someone comes to her home to ask her to turn down the music, which she confirms. Id.
Officer Garcia tells Ms. Gomez that they are going to cite her and ask for her identification. E.G. Vid. at 00:39:22–00:39:33. Ms. Gomez says, and goes back into her home. Id. As she leaves, she pulls the door behind her, id. , but Officer Quiles props it open before it shuts, id. at 00:39:34–00:39:46. While Ms. Gomez looks for her identification, Officer Garcia searches the backpack he still has in his hands. Id.
As the officers wait outside the open door, a man approaches from inside the house, he greets the officers, and pulls the door towards him, leaving it ajar and sticking his head out to speak to the officers. D.Q. Vid. at 00:39:42–00:39:58. "Open the door," says Officer Garcia, putting his hand on the door and propping it open. Id. The man asks why, and Officer Garcia replies, because he says so. Id. "You don't have a search warrant," says the man, and begins arguing with Officer Garcia. Id.
Ms. Gomez returns to the door with a purse in hand, as Officer Garcia and the man are arguing. D.Q. Vid. at 00:39:58–00:40:16. Ms. Gomez tells the officers they are not allowed into her home and they tell her they are not going inside. Id. Ms. Gomez tells Officer Garcia she wants to close the door, but Officer Garcia says no. Id. Officer Garcia stands in front of Ms. Gomez, between her and the door, keeping her from closing it. Id. Ms. Gomez tells Officer Garcia to step away from the door, but he refuses. Id. at 00:40:20–00:40:30. Other individuals start converging around the doorway on the inside of the house, behind Ms. Gomez, and start arguing with the officers. Id. at 00:40:30–00:40:45. Officer Garcia asks if there is weed inside the house and says he smells it. Id. at 00:40:45–00:41:02. Someone from inside the house yells that the smell is coming from across the street. Id. The arguing continues as individuals behind Ms. Gomez continue interjecting. Id.
Again, Officer Garcia asks Ms. Gomez for her identification. D.Q. Vid. at 00:41:02–00:41:38. Ms. Gomez says she will comply with the officer's order if he steps away from the door. Id. Officer Garcia refuses, and this back-and-forth continues for several seconds—Ms. Gomez keeps saying she will provide her identification only if Officer Garcia steps away from the door, and Officer Garcia insists on her providing her identification immediately. Id. Finally, Officer Garcia tells Ms. Gomez that if she does not give him her identification, "you are going to go to jail." Id. at 00:41:38–00:41:39. "Do what you gotta do," Ms. Gomez responds, and Officer Garcia holds her by the arm, later letting her go. Id. at 00:41:39–00:41:42. Other individuals start grabbing Ms. Gomez and pulling her back into the house as she repeats, "let him, let him." E.G. Vid. at 00:41:42–00:41:46.
"Everybody needs to go inside," says Officer Garcia. D.Q. Vid. at 00:41:46–00:42:12. Officer Quiles holds Ms. Gomez by the wrist, moves her outside the house, and lets go of her wrist. Id. Officer Garcia then proceeds to place handcuffs on Ms. Gomez, and arrest her, as Officer Quiles assists him....
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