Jones v. Prince George's County, Md., Civil Action No. AW-04-3044.

• Decision Date: 02 April 2008
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. AW-04-3044.
• Parties: Mabel S. JONES, et al., Plaintiffs, v. PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MARYLAND, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

Page 761

541 F.Supp.2d 761

Mabel S. JONES, et al., Plaintiffs, v. PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MARYLAND, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. AW-04-3044.

United States District Court, D. Maryland, Southern Division.

April 2, 2008.

Gregory L. Lattimer, Law Offices of Gregory L. Lattimer PLLC, Ted Justice Williams, Law Offices of Ted J. Williams, Patrick A. Malone, Patrick A. Malone and Associates PC, Terrell N. Roberts, III, Roberts and Wood, Riverdale, MD, for Plaintiffs.

Jay H. Creech, Office of Law for Prince Georges County, Upper Marlboro, MD, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ALEXANDER WILLIAMS, JR., District Judge.

This case has traveled a complex and winding maze through several state and federal court jurisdictions, as well as taking the respective appeals process, beginning in 2000 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, spending some time in the Maryland state courts, and finally ending here in this Court. Since that time, the case has matured, and the issues have narrowed significantly. Currently pending before this Court is Defendant Corporal Carlton B. Jones' Second Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket No. 182). The Court has reviewed the entire record, as well as the pleadings and exhibits, with respect to the instant motion and finds that no hearing is deemed necessary. See Local Rule 105.6 (D.Md.2008). For the reasons stated more fully below, the Court will GRANT Defendant's Second Motion for Summary Judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

This case involved the untimely death of Plaintiffs son, Prince Carmen Jones, Jr., ("Prince Jones, Jr." or "decedent") on September 1, 2000. The incidents which gave rise to Prince Jones, Jr.'s death began with police surveillance of him in Maryland and concluded in Virginia, where he was shot and killed by Defendant Jones, a member of the Prince George's County Police Department. The details of this case need not be repeated here, as the events leading up to the decedent's death are thoroughly summarized in this Court's Memorandum Opinion, dated April 28, 2005 (Docket No. 135).¹

Plaintiff, as personal representative of the decedent, brought several claims against Defendants: a Maryland Survival Act claim, Md.Code Ann., Est. & Trusts, § 7-401(y), (Count I); a Virginia Wrongful Death claim, Va.Code Ann. § 8.01-50, (Count II); an Excessive Force/Police Brutality claim (Count III); Assault and Battery (County IV); Deprivation of Civil Rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Count V); Negligent Training and Supervision (Count VI); and Intentional/Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress (Count VII). In an earlier ruling, the Court granted summary judgment to Defendants Prince George's County, Sergeant Alexandre Bailey, and Chief of Police John S. Farrell on Plaintiffs state and federal law claims, but denied summary judgment as to Defendant Carlton Jones. See Memorandum Opinion, April 28, 2005 (Docket No. 135).

During the pendency of this case and the numerous appeals, a settlement agreement was reached between Prince Jones, Sr., the decedent's father, and Ms. Candace Jackson, as next friend on behalf of Nina Jones, the decedent's daughter: Mr. Jones was to receive $200,000.00, and Ms. Jackson was to receive $2,300,000.00 on behalf of Nina.² On January 20, 2006, Plaintiff eventually dismissed Count II of her complaint, which alleged a cause of action under the Virginia Wrongful Death Act, as Nina, and not Plaintiff, was the sole beneficiary who was entitled to recover under the Virginia Wrongful Death Act. See Docket Nos. 160 and 161.³

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment is appropriate only if there are no genuine issues of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e); see Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-25, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). When ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the court must view the factual evidence and all inferences to be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The moving party discharges its burden by showing an absence of evidence to support the non-moving party's case. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548. When faced with a motion for summary judgment, Rule 56(e) requires the non-moving party "to go beyond the pleadings" and show the existence of a genuine issue for trial, by way of affidavits, deposition testimony, or answers to interrogatories. Id. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548; see also Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). While the evidence of the non-movant is to be believed and all justifiable inferences drawn in his or her favor, a party cannot create a genuine dispute of material fact through mere speculation or compilation of inferences. See Deans v. CSX Transp., Inc., 152 F.3d 326, 330-31 (4th Cir.1998); Beale v. Hardy, 769 F.2d 213, 214 (4th Cir.1985).

ANALYSIS

Maryland choice of law principles and the rules of lex loci delecti govern this case since the wrongful act — the shooting death of Prince Jones, Jr. — occurred in Virginia. Cooper v. Berkshire Life Ins. Co., 148 Md.App. 41, 54, 810 A.2d 1045, 1052 (Md.App.2002). Lex loci delicti dictates that "when an accident occurs in another state[,] substantive rights of the parties, even though they are domiciled in Maryland, are to be determined by the law of the state in which the alleged tort took place." Id. (citing Philip Morris Inc. v. Angeletti 358 Md. 689, 744-46, 752 A.2d 200, 230-31 (2000)); see also White v. King, 244 Md. 348, 352, 223 A.2d 763, 765 (1966) (same). The Court of Appeals of Maryland has stated explicitly that, as a general rule, "the place of the tort is considered to be the place of the injury." Ben-Joseph v. Mt. Airy Auto Transporters, LLC, 529 F.Supp.2d 604, 608 (D.Md. 2008) (citing Angeletti 358 Md. 689, 745, 752 A.2d 200, 231 (2000)); see also Sacra v. Sacra, 48 Md.App. 163, 426 A.2d 7, 10 (Md.App.1981) (holding that in a wrongful death and survival action where accident occurred in Delaware but where victims were propelled across state line in Maryland and eventually died, the substantive law of Delaware, and not Maryland, was applicable).⁴

Plaintiffs Virginia Wrongful Death claim, Count II of the complaint, has been fully adjudicated and resolved, and, as a result of the settlement agreement, Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed that claim. The question now remaining before the Court is whether Plaintiff, as personal representative of Prince Jones, Jr., can maintain a Maryland Survival Act claim when the wrongful act which led to the death of decedent occurred in Virginia, considering that there has already been a recovery under the Virginia Wrongful Death Act.

While the Maryland Wrongful Death statute specifically dictates the choice of law to be used in these circumstances, the law is silent for claims brought under the Survival Statute. However, since Maryland adheres to the lex loci delecti rule in applying choice of law for actions sounding in tort, the Court will look to the substantive law of Virginia. Cooper, 148 Md.App. at 54, 810 A.2d at 1052.

Defendant, in moving for summary judgment, argues that under Virginia law, the personal representative is barred from pursuing a separate recovery under a Survival Act theory where there has already been a recovery in favor of the appropriate, statutory beneficiary under the Wrongful Death Act. Virginia law, according to Defendant, only allows one recovery of the same injury, under either the Survival statute or the Wrongful Death statute. Defendant maintains that since there has already been a recovery under the wrongful death statute, there can be no additional recovery for the same injury under the survival statute.

Plaintiff, on the other hand, argues that the personal representative of the estate of Prince Jones, Jr., can bring any claim that the decedent may have brought under the Maryland Survival Act, had he in fact survived.⁵ The death of Plaintiffs son gave rise to two separate and distinct claims, one under the Virginia Wrongful Death Act and the Maryland Survival Act, as they serve different purposes and accomplish entirely different results.

It is well-settled law in Maryland (and Virginia) that a cause of action at the time of death survives the death of a person.⁶ Additionally, in Maryland, a party can assert both a survival claim and a wrongful death claim when a person dies as a result of another's tortious conduct, as these are two separate and distinct causes of action. Benjamin v. Union Carbide Corp., 162 Md.App. 173, 202, 873 A.2d 463, 480 (2005).⁷ In a survival action, the cause of action arises from the injuries sustained by the victim and is commenced by the personal representative of the deceased, seeking damages for the injuries suffered by the victim and prosecuted as if the victim were still alive. Id. (citing Globe Amer. Casualty Co. v. Chung, 76 Md.App. 524, 526-27, 547 A.2d 654 (1988), vacated on other grounds, 322 Md. 713, 589 A.2d 956 (1991)). In contrast, a wrongful death action is brought by the relatives of the decedent, seeking recovery for their loss as a result of the victim's death. Id. Furthermore, the death of the victim is irrelevant in a survival action, because a wrongful death action, as the name implies, results from the death, and not the injury, of the victim. Id. In other words, a survival action is for the benefit of the person injured or his estate, while the wrongful death action inures to the benefit of the designated statutory beneficiaries.

While Maryland recognizes two separate and distinct causes of action, Virginia does not. Virginia, like Maryland, does recognize a survival action for injuries sustained by the victim.⁸ However unlike Maryland, a survival action brought in Virginia is converted to...