Hoffman v. Mercado

• Decision Date: 14 September 2005
• Docket Number: Civil No. 02-2561(DRD).
• Citation: 392 F.Supp.2d 148
• Parties: Roberto Bird HOFFMAN, Plaintiff v. Ferdinand MERCADO, et als., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

392 F.Supp.2d 148

Roberto Bird HOFFMAN, Plaintiff v. Ferdinand MERCADO, et als., Defendants.

Civil No. 02-2561(DRD).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

September 14, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Luis F. Del-Valle-Emmanuelli, Garcia & Fernandez, San Juan, PR, for Plaintiff.

Carlos E. Lopez-Lopez, Llovet-Zurinaga & Lopez P.S.C., Hato Rey, PR, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

DOMINGUEZ, District Judge.

The instant case is a Civil Rights action brought forth by Roberto Bird Hoffman ("plaintiff") pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and P.R. Laws Ann. § 5141. In sum plaintiff is seeking several remedies, to wit: (1) compensatory damages, (2) punitive damages, (3) costs, interests, and attorney's fees. At the time of the filing of the complaint, plaintiff was the Registrar of the Copyright Registry of Puerto Rico. He later resigned the position in August 2003. Plaintiff brought the instant suit against Ferdinand Mercado (then Secretary of the Department of State of Puerto Rico), his wife, their Conjugal Partnership; Anabelle Rodriguez (then Secretary of the Department of Justice), her husband, and their Conjugal Partnership; Sila Maria Calderon (then Governor of Puerto Rico), her husband, and their, Conjugal Partnership; and Cesar R. Miranda (then Chief of Staff to the Governor of Puerto Rico), his wife, and their Conjugal Partnership for having violated his First, and Fourth Amendment rights, and having deliberately defamed him through the local press due to his political affiliation. See Third Amended Complaint, Docket No. 59 at 12-14. Now, pending before the Court is Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment. (Docket Nos. 65, 66, 67, and 72). Said motion was duly opposed by plaintiff. (Docket Nos. 89, and 93).

I. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

The framework of Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 provides that it is appropriate to enter summary judgment when "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on Me, 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 judgment as a matter of law." FED.R.CIV P. 56(c). See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324-25, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2553-54, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Abbadessa v. Moore Business Forms, Inc., 987 F.2d 18, 22 (1st Cir.1993). Pursuant to the language of the rule, the moving party bears the two-fold burden of showing that there is "no genuine issue as to any material facts," and that he is "entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Vega-Rodriguez v. Puerto Rico Tel. Co., 110 F.3d 174, 178 (1st Cir.1997). When the moving party asserts that the competent evidence clearly demonstrates that it is entitled to judgment and after the moving party has satisfied this burden, the onus shifts to the resisting party to show that there still exists "a trial worthy issue as to some material fact." Cortes-Irizarry v. Corporation Insular, 111 F.3d 184, 187 (1st Cir.1997).

To determine whether these criteria have been met, a court must pierce the boilerplate of the pleadings and carefully review the parties' submissions to ascertain whether they reveal a trial worthy issue as to any material fact. See Perez v. Volvo Car Corporation, 247 F.3d 303, 310 (1st Cir.2001); Grant's Dairy-Me., LLC v. Comm'r of Me. Dep't of Agric., Food & Rural Res., 232 F.3d 8, 14 (1st Cir.2000); Cortes-Irizarry v. Corporation Insular, 111 F.3d 184, at 187; McIntosh v. Antonino, 71 F.3d 29, 33 (1st Cir.1995) (the Court must look behind the facade of the pleadings alleged in the complaint, in this case the Third Amended Complaint (Docket No. 59) and examine the parties proof in order to determine whether a trial is required.). Furthermore, a fact is "material" if it potentially could affect the suit's outcome. See Id. An issue concerning such a fact is "genuine" if a reasonable fact finder, examining the evidence and drawing all reasonable inferences helpful to the party resisting summary judgment, could resolve the dispute in that party's favor. See Id. The Court must review the record "taken as a whole," and "may not make credibility determinations or weigh the evidence." Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 2110, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000).

This is so, because credibility determinations, the weighing of the evidence, and the drawing of legitimate inferences from the facts are jury functions, not those of a judge. See Reeves, id. There is "no room for credibility determinations, no room for the measured weighing of conflicting evidence such as the trial process entails, [and] no room for the judge to superimpose his own ideas of probability and likelihood[.]" Greenburg v. Puerto Rico Mar. Shipping Auth., 835 F.2d 932, 936 (1st Cir.1987). "The Court should give credence to the evidence favoring the non-movant as well as the evidence supporting the moving party that is contradicted and unimpeached, at least to the extent that evidence comes from disinterested witnesses." Id. An absence of evidence on a critical issue weighs against the party — be it the movant or the non-movant — who would bear the burden of proof on that issue at trial. See Perez v. Volvo Corporation, 247 F.3d at 310; see also Torres Vargas v. Santiago Cummings, 149 F.3d 29, 35-36 (1st Cir.1998); Garside v. Osco Drug, Inc., 895 F.2d 46, 48 (1st Cir.1990). Accordingly, "speculation and surmise, even when coupled with effervescent optimism that something definite will materialize further down the line, are impuissant on the face of a properly documented summary judgment motion." Ayala-Gerena v. Bristol Myers-Squibb Co., 95 F.3d 86, 95 (1st Cir.1996) (citations omitted).

At the summary judgment stage, the trial court examines the entire record "in the light most flattering to the non-movant and indulges all reasonable inferences in that party's favor. Only if the record, viewed in the manner and without regard to credibility determinations, reveals no genuine issue as to any material fact may the court enter summary judgment." Cadle Company v. Hayes, 116 F.3d 957 at 959-60 (1st Cir.1997). In other words, the court must construe the record and all reasonable inferences from it in favor of the non-movant (the party opposing the summary judgment motion). See Suarez v. Pueblo Int'l, Inc. 229 F.3d 49, 53 (1st Cir.2000); Cortes-Irizarry, 111 F.3d at 187; see also United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 655, 82 S.Ct. 993, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962). Moreover, "[i]f the adverse party does not [file an opposition], summary judgment, if appropriate, shall be entered against the adverse party." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e) (emphasis added). The First Circuit Court of Appeals has made clear that failure to timely oppose a motion for summary judgment, does not, in itself, justify entry of summary judgment against the party; therefore, a District Court is nonetheless "obliged to consider the motion on the merits, in light of the record as constituted, in order to determine whether judgment would be legally appropriate." Kelly v. United States, 924 F.2d 355, 358 (1st Cir.1991); see also Lopez v. Corporacion Azucarera de Puerto Rico, 938 F.3d 1510, 1517 (1st Cir.1991) (holding that before granting an unopposed summary judgment motion, the court must inquire whether the moving party has met its burden to demonstrate undisputed facts entitling it to summary judgment as a matter of law). In the case of failure to oppose a motion for summary judgment, the consequence "is that the party may lose the right to file an opposition." Mullen v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 972 F.2d 446, 451-52 (1st Cir.1992) (discussing unopposed motion for summary judgment). Notwithstanding, a party that fails to oppose a motion for summary judgment, does so at its own risk and peril. See e.g. Corrada Betances v. Sea-Land Service, Inc., 248 F.3d 40, 43 (1st Cir.2001); Hebert v. Wicklund, 744 F.2d 218, 223 (1st Cir.1984). However, even though that there is no opposition on file to a summary judgement, the Court must entertain the motion on the merits and may not grant the same as a sanction to the party who fails to oppose. See De La Vega v. San Juan Star, 377 F.3d 111 (1st Cir., 2004).

II. FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Court must analyze the factual scenario in this case construing the facts, the record, and all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. See Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 2110, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000) ("... the Court must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party ..."); see also, Leahy v. Raytheon Company, 315 F.3d 11, 17 (2002) ("... the court must take the record `in the light most hospitable to the party opposing summary judgment, indulging all reasonable inferences in that party's favor'.") (quoting Griggs-Ryan v. Smith, 904 F.2d 112, 115 (1st Cir.1990); see also, Plumley v. Southern Container Inc., 303 F.3d 364, 368-69 (1st Cir.2002)).

Before becoming Registrar of the Copyright Registry of Puerto Rico, plaintiff labored as the Deputy Secretary of Commerce under the administration of ex-governor Luis A. Ferre. He then was the Director of the Municipality of San Juan's Legal Department under the exmayor (and later, ex-governor) Carlos Romero Barcelo. Both, Mr. Ferre, and Mr. Barcelo held office under the NPP party. Subsequently, between 1976 and 1991, plaintiff served as Superior Court Judge. All in all, plaintiff has been serving the government for over thirty (30) years. However, he did not work solely under NPP administrations. Plaintiff was also employed for about two (2) years by former PDP governor Rafael Hernandez Colon to provide legal services under various contracts with the Right to Work Administration.

Plaintiff was appointed Registrar of the Copyright Registry of Puerto Rico on July 1st, 1993 under NPP former governor Dr. Pedro Rossello. As Registrar, plaintiff enjoys employment benefits...