Gutierrez v. Geofreddo

• Decision Date: 31 March 2021
• Docket Number: No. CIV 20-0502 JB/CG,CIV 20-0502 JB/CG
• Parties: RAY GUTIERREZ; PATRICIA GUTIERREZ; BRIANA TAPIA and ALLAN TAPIA, Plaintiffs, v. JUSTIN GEOFREDDO; BLAINE LATTIN; JOHN AND JANE DOES 1-3, Deputy Sheriffs 1-3 and JOHN AND JANE DOES, and New Mexico State Police Officers 1-4, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico

RAY GUTIERREZ; PATRICIA GUTIERREZ;

BRIANA TAPIA and ALLAN TAPIA, Plaintiffs, v. JUSTIN GEOFREDDO; BLAINE LATTIN;

JOHN AND JANE DOES 1-3, Deputy Sheriffs 1-3 and JOHN AND JANE DOES,

and New Mexico State Police Officers 1-4, Defendants.

No. CIV 20-0502 JB/CG

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO

March 31, 2021

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

THIS MATTER comes before the Court on the Motion to Dismiss Complaint Based on Qualified Immunity, filed June 2, 2020 (Doc. 7)("Motion"). The Court held a hearing on July 23, 2020. See Clerk's Minutes at 1, filed July 23, 2020 (Doc. 17). The issues are: (i) whether Plaintiff Ray Gutierrez has alleged plausibly a false arrest claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 as to Defendant Deputy Blaine Lattin; (ii) whether R. Gutierrez has alleged plausibly a false arrest claim or a malicious prosecution claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 as to Defendant Deputy Justin Geofreddo; (iii) whether Plaintiff Patricia Gutierrez has alleged plausibly a First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Defendant Deputy John Doe; (iv) whether the Court should consider federal claims brought against the collective group of the Defendants; and (v) whether the Court should remand the state law claims. The Court concludes that: (i) R. Gutierrez has not alleged a plausible false arrest claim against Lattin, because Lattin had probable cause to arrest R. Gutierrez for driving while intoxicated ("DWI"); (ii) R. Gutierrez neither has alleged a plausible false arrest claim nor a malicious prosecution claim against Geofreddo, because (a) there was probable cause to arrest R. Gutierrez,, (b) R. Gutierrez does not allege that Geofreddo acted with malice, and (c) R. Gutierrez does not allege that Geofreddo caused his continued confinement or prosecution; (iii) P. Gutierrez has not alleged a plausible First Amendment claim, because she neither has described nor identified the officer that she alleges violated her right to film a police officer performing public duties; (iv) the Court will dismiss the claims in the Complaint, filed May 26, 2020 (Doc. 1-1), which refer to the Defendants as a collective, because the Complaint does not make clear exactly who is alleged to have done what to whom, and, therefore, does not provide each individual Defendant with fair notice of the basis of the claims against him or her; and (v) the Court will remand the state claims, because there are no remaining federal claims. Accordingly, the Court will: (i) grant the Motion; (ii) dismiss all federal claims against Lattin and Geofreddo; (iii) dismiss all remaining federal claims without prejudice; (iv) remand the remaining state claims and the case to the First Judicial District Court, County of Santa Fe, State of New Mexico; and (v) enter a separate Final Judgment in this matter.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The Court takes its facts from the Complaint. The Court accepts the factual allegations as true for the purposes of the Motion. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009); Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007); Sanders v. Mountain Am. Fed. Credit Union, 689 F.3d 1138, 1141 (10th Cir. 2012)(concluding that a court accepts "all facts pleaded by the non-moving party as true and grants all reasonable inferences from the pleadings in that party's favor"). The Court does not, however, accept as true the legal conclusions within the Complaint. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 ("[T]he tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions.").

On September 28, 2019, R. Gutierrez, P. Gutierrez, Briana Tapia, and Allan Tapia attended the Santa Fe Wine and Chili Festival. See Complaint ¶¶ 10, 12, at 2, 3. The event ended at 4:00 p.m., and P. Gutierrez and B. Tapia went to the restroom while waiting for a valet to retrieve their car. See Complaint ¶¶ 11, 12, at 2, 3. Some women by the bathrooms started glaring and whispering about B. Tapia and P. Gutierrez; one of the women bumped B. Tapia very hard on the woman's way out of the restroom. See Complaint ¶¶ 12-16, at 3. As B. Tapia and P. Gutierrez were walking away, a woman grabbed B. Tapia by the neck and pulled her to the ground; the woman who had bumped into B. Tapia began to punch B. Tapia's head. See Complaint ¶¶ 17, 18, at 3. When P. Gutierrez pulled this woman off B. Tapia, the woman started to attack P. Gutierrez; meanwhile, another woman pulled P. Gutierrez' ponytail and "slammed her onto the floor." Complaint ¶ 20, at 3. See id. ¶ 19, at 3.

A. Tapia, P. Gutierrez' son, heard his mother and sister calling for help, and he ran to their rescue; after separating A. Tapia and P. Gutierrez from their attackers, the three started running towards where R. Gutierrez was waiting. See Complaint ¶¶ 22-23, at 4. As they ran, P. Gutierrez and B. Tapia could hear that one of the attackers was calling for her male friends, and that this woman "was fired up, cursing, and screaming with so much anger." Complaint ¶ 24, at 4. P. Gutierrez "was screaming and crying out for help to Ray, that they had just been robbed." Complaint ¶ 25, at 4. P. Gutierrez and B. Tapia were crying and screaming at R. Gutierrez, telling him that their attackers were still coming. See Complaint ¶ 29, at 4. P. Gutierrez had lent B. Tapia a necklace worth $4,500.00, and she then noticed that the attackers had stolen it. See Complaint ¶ 31, at 5.

R. Gutierrez, in a hurry to leave the parking lot with his family and to get to a safe place, scraped the car next to him as he pulled out of the parking space. See Complaint ¶¶ 26-28, at 4.R. Gutierrez then spotted Geofreddo, a Deputy Sheriff, and stopped the car and approached him to ask for help. See Complaint ¶ 32, at 5. Deputy Sheriff Doe ordered R. Gutierrez' family out of the car, but he "did not seem to care" when A. Tapia explained that the women stole B. Tapia's necklace. Complaint ¶ 35, at 5. See id. ¶ 33-34, at 5. R. Gutierrez had been separated from his family, and Geofreddo became angry and agitated at P. Gutierrez, A. Tapia, and B. Tapia as they were trying to get law enforcement to investigate the attack, and as they asked what was happening with R. Gutierrez. See Complaint ¶¶ 37-38, at 5. P. Gutierrez attempted to explain to a deputy sheriff that R. Gutierrez "was initially not the driver but was protecting his family," but another deputy sheriff told her to stay away. Complaint ¶ 38, at 5. Meanwhile, P. Gutierrez saw one of her female attackers and a man with her, "feet away from them cursing at them wanting to jump over the rails to get to them," but the sheriff deputies and New Mexico State Police officers did almost nothing to the aggressors. Complaint ¶ 39, at 5. The deputies and officers told the aggressors only that they would be arrested if they did not back away. See Complaint ¶ 39, at 5. Geofreddo did not speak with R. Gutierrez' family. See Complaint ¶ 40, at 6.

B. Tapia began crying, because she wanted to explain her side of the story. See Complaint ¶ 41, at 6. A deputy sheriff threatened to arrest her if she did not calm down; A. Tapia asked the deputy sheriff why he would arrest her, and the deputy sheriff then handcuffed both of them and put them in a pickup truck police unit. See Complaint ¶¶ 42-45, at 6. B. Tapia became scared that her mother was all alone, and P. Gutierrez tried to calm her at the truck's window. See Complaint ¶¶ 46-47, at 6. B. Tapia told P. Gutierrez that the handcuffs were too tight and hurt, but, when P. Gutierrez told a deputy sheriff this, the deputy sheriff told her to go to another area and stay quiet. See Complaint ¶¶ 47-48, at 6. This area was near the "assailants that were trying to get through a barricade to get to Patricia." Complaint ¶ 48, at 6. P. Gutierrez tried to take a video, but "an officer(NMSP, Deputy, Doe)" grabbed her arm, and told her to put her telephone away and sit on the curb. Complaint ¶ 49, at 7.

R. Gutierrez also spoke with deputies around the same time. See KRQE, Video: El Paso Judge's DWI Arrest in Santa Fe at 0:11, YouTube (Oct. 22, 2019), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cSo7aU1RTM ("R. Gutierrez Arrest Video"); Complaint ¶ 65, at 8.¹ R. Gutierrez told the police that he "came to the wine fest with my family. We were leaving and, apparently, we hit this car." R. Gutierrez Arrest Video at 0:13. A police officer then asked Gutierrez, "How did you hit the car?" R. Gutierrez Arrest Video at 0:29. R. Gutierrez responded, "We were backing in and we hit him." R. Gutierrez Arrest Video at 0:32. Next, officers asked R. Gutierrez, "How much have you had to drink today?" R. Gutierrez Arrest Video at 0:36. R. Gutierrez replied, "I don't know. They were samples of glasses." R. Gutierrez Arrest Video at 0:39. The officers pressed R. Gutierrez for an answer, asking, "How many samples?" R. Gutierrez Arrest Video at 0:42. R. Gutierrez responded, "I don't know. Five." R. Gutierrez Arrest Video at 0:44. Geofreddo conducted a standardized field sobriety test on R. Gutierrez, which he passed. Complaint ¶¶ 56, at 7. See id. ¶ 55, at 7; R. Gutierrez Arrest Video at 0:48. R. Gutierrez was placed under arrest for "driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs." R. Gutierrez Arrest Video at 0:53. A. Tapia also told R. Gutierrez to "say I was driving," in the officers' presence. R. Gutierrez Arrest Video at 1:00. R. Gutierrez responded, "No, no, no." R. Gutierrez Arrest Video at 1:01. An officer interjected, "I saw it! You can't say that you were driving." R. Gutierrez Arrest Video at 1:02. A. Tapia then told the deputy, "You can't, you didn't see shit!" R. Gutierrez Arrest Video at 1:04. R. Gutierrez instructed his son to, "Stop. Just go ahead and go out. Just bail me out, I'll see you when you bail me out." R. Gutierrez Arrest Video at 1:10. A. Tapia replied, "But I was driving." R. Gutierrez Arrest Video at 1:16. An officer then instructed, "Okay, let's go," and ushered A....