Ireland v. Jefferson County Sheriff's Dept.
| Decision Date | 26 March 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV.01-B-1058.,CIV.01-B-1058. |
| Citation | 193 F.Supp.2d 1201 |
| Parties | Patrick IRELAND, Plaintiff, v. JEFFERSON COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT; Board of County Commissioners of the County of Jefferson, Colorado; Jefferson County Sheriff John C. Stone, individually and in his official capacity; Former Jefferson County Sheriff Ronald Beckham, individually and in his official capacity; Neil Gardner, individually; John Healy, individually; John Hicks, individually; Mark M. Miller, individually; Tanya Williams, individually; Mike Guerra, individually; Philip Lebeda, individually; John Dunaway, individually; Terry Manwaring, individually; David Walcher, individually; John Kiekbusch, individually; John or Jane Does 1 Through 100 (Deputies in the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department), individually; Jefferson County School District R-1; Howard Cornell, individually and in his official capacity; James D. Tanner d/b/a Tanner Hunting and Fishing Shows f/k/a Tanner Gun Shows, individually; Ronald Hartman, individually; and James Washington, individually, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Colorado |
Stephen C. Peters, Lindquist & Vennum, P.L.L.P., Denver, CO, for Patrick Ireland.
William J. Kowalski, Susan S. Schermerhorn, William Stuart Stuller, Caplan & Earnest, L.L.C., Boulder, CO, for Jefferson County School Dist. R-1.
Lori Mary Moore, Retherford, Mullen, Johnson & Bruce, Colorado Springs, CO, Malcolm S. Mead, Hall & Evans, U.S. Dist. Court, Denver, CO, for James D. Tanner.
Michael R. Waters, Jones & Waters, LLC, Colorado Springs, CO, for Ronald Hartman.
Gordon Lamar Vaughan, Vaughan & DeMuro, Colorado Springs, CO, for James Washington.
Defendants Jefferson County Sheriff's Department (JCSD or Sheriff's Department), Jefferson County Sheriff John C. Stone, individually and in his official capacity, former Jefferson County Sheriff Ronald Beckham, individually and in his official capacity, Neil Gardner, individually, John Healy, individually, John Hicks, individually, Mark M. Miller, individually, Tonya Williams (incorrectly spelled in the caption as Tanya), individually, Mike Guerra, individually, Philip Lebeda, individually, John Dunaway, individually, Terry Manwarning, individually, David Walcher, individually, and John Kiekbusch, individually (collectively, Sheriff Defendants) move, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), to dismiss all claims brought by Plaintiff Patrick Ireland. In a separate Rule 12(b)(6) motion, Defendants Jefferson County School District R-1 (School District) and Howard Cornell, individually and in his official capacity, (collectively, School Defendants), also seek dismissal. In separate Rule 12(b)(6) motions, Defendants James D. Tanner d/b/a Tanner Hunting and Fishing Shows, f/k/a Tanner Gun Shows, Ronald Hartman and James Washington (collectively, Gun Show Defendants) also move for dismissal. Oral argument is unnecessary to determine the motions. After consideration of the motions and briefs and for the following reasons, I grant all motions except those of Defendants Hartman and Washington.
The following facts are alleged in Plaintiff's Complaint. These allegations closely parallel and mirror in many respects those set forth in numerous related cases. See e.g., Castaldo v. Stone, 192 F.Supp.2d 1124 (D.Colo.2001); Case No. 00-B-790, Schnurr v. Board of County Comm'rs; and Case No. 00-B-806, Ruegsegger v. Jefferson County Bd. of County Comm'rs.
On April 20, 1999, at approximately 11:20 a.m., Plaintiff, a Columbine High School (School) student, was shot and seriously injured in the school library (Library), C/O ¶¶ 1, 21, by fellow students Dylan Klebold or Eric Harris. Id. at ¶ 21. The attack, apparently in the planning stages for more than a year, involved meticulous preparations, including selection of a date, design of a scheme, surveillance of school activities, acquisition of bomb-making supplies, acquisition and modification of firearms, shooting practice, and transportation and delivery of bombs to the School. C/O ¶ 25. Harris' and Klebold's actions resulted in the deaths of twelve students and one teacher, and serious physical injuries to some twenty-six others, including Patrick Ireland. Id. at ¶ 20.
Sheriff Stone has served as the Sheriff of Jefferson County, Colorado since January 1999. C/O ¶ 4. Sheriff Beckham was the Sheriff of Jefferson County, Colorado at all material times until January 1999. Id. at ¶ 5.
Defendants Stone, Beckham, Gardner, Hicks, Miller, Williams, Healy, Guerra, Lebeda and unidentified John and Jane Does 1-59 are collectively referred to as Investigating Defendants.
Plaintiff alleges that in approximately February 1998, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold broke into a van to steal tools. C/O ¶ 37. The two were apprehended by the Sheriff's Department, prosecuted by the Jefferson County District Attorney, and placed in a Jefferson County juvenile offender diversion program on approximately March 25, 1998. Id.
According to Plaintiff, on or about March 18, 1998, shortly before Harris and Klebold were placed in the diversion program, Defendant Deputy Miller received a complaint from Randall Brown, a Jefferson County citizen, that Eric Harris often talked about making pipe bombs and using them to kill numerous people and that Klebold knew of Harris' bomb making activity. C/O ¶ 38. Mr. Brown and his wife also told Deputy Miller that Harris maintained a website. Id. Mr. Brown gave Deputy Miller a printout of information on Harris' website containing: 1) death threats including statements that Harris and Klebold were planning to use pipe bombs to kill numerous people; 2) a description of a pipe bomb detonated by the pair; 3) detailed descriptions of multiple pipe bombs built by Harris and Klebold; 4) explicit threats to shoot and kill people; 5) reference to killing using a sawed-off shotgun; 6) threats to "go to some down-town area in some big ... city and blow up and shoot everything I can;" and 7) threats to rig up and detonate explosives and shoot numerous people. C/O ¶ 38.
It is alleged that after meeting with the Browns, Deputy Miller completed an incident report to which the website printout was attached and submitted it to his supervisor, Sgt. Lebeda. See C/O ¶ 39. Sgt. Lebeda designated that the incident report and the attached website information was to be sent to Deputy Gardner, assigned full-time to Columbine High School as a student resource officer. Id. at ¶ 40. Plaintiff alleges that a copy of Deputy Miller's report was forwarded to Deputy Gardner and that he was briefed on the reports. Id. at ¶ 41.
The Complaint states that Deputy Gardner knew or should have known information available to Columbine teachers and school officials about bizarre, hate-filled and threatening behavior of Harris and Klebold. Id. at ¶ 42. This information included but was not limited to video tapes made by Harris and Klebold showing them: 1) in possession of and discharging firearms; 2) in a mock attack on Columbine students; and 3) killing Columbine students. See id. at ¶ 42.
In the alternative, Plaintiff alleges that Deputy Gardner and other Sheriff Defendants never informed any teachers, deans, administrators or other school officials of the conduct reported by the Browns or of the contents of Harris' website. C/O ¶ 47.
Deputy Hicks, assigned to investigate the website information, C/O ¶ 117, met with Mr. and Mrs. Brown and bomb squad deputies, including Deputy Guerra. Id. at ¶ 49. Deputies Healy and Williams were also assigned investigative duties concerning Harris' and Klebold's activities, including the website. See id. at ¶ 50. Apparently the Sheriff's Department unsuccessfully attempted to access the Website. See Exhibit A. Plaintiff alleges that the Website remained accessible until after the attack. Id. at ¶ 65.
Prior to April 20, 1999, Harris added the following information to the Website on "information panels":
Hobbies: Preparing' for the big April 20
You'll all be sorry that day
Occupation: Senior at CHS and the rest is still
unpublished
Personal Quote: when in doubt, pull it out. (computers)
___shut up and shoot it—
quit whining, it's just a flesh
wound ___ Kill Em AALLLL
Id. at ¶ 67. The Complaint does not contain the date this information was added or if the statements were made together or separately.
At some point after the meeting between Deputy Hicks and the Browns, initial steps were taken to prepare and obtain a search warrant in connection with Harris' activities. See C/O ¶ 53. Ultimately, the search warrant application was halted by "someone in a position of authority in the Department." Id. At approximately the same time, all follow-up on the Brown's complaint was "apparently ceased." Id. at ¶ 54. Plaintiff alleges that investigation of the Browns' report and the website was intentionally and deliberately aborted by someone in a position of authority in the Sheriff's Department for reasons unrelated to legitimate law enforcement considerations. C/O ¶¶ 57-58.
Defendants Stone, Dunaway, Manwaring, Walcher, Kiekbusch and unidentified John and Jane Does 51-100 (collectively, Command Defendants) were the officers in charge of the JCSD's response to the Columbine attack on April 20, 1999. At approximately 11:17 a.m. on April 20, 1999, Harris and Klebold walked from an adjacent parking lot toward Columbine High School's southwest entrance doors. Each carried a shotgun and various homemade explosive devices. Harris also carried a 10-shot Hi-Point model carbine rifle, while Klebold...
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