Leftridge v. Matthews, Civil Action No. ELH-11-3499
| Decision Date | 30 September 2013 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. ELH-11-3499 |
| Parties | VERNON J. LEFTRIDGE, Plaintiff, v. MICHAEL KELLY MATTHEWS, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Maryland |
VERNON J. LEFTRIDGE, Plaintiff,
v.
MICHAEL KELLY MATTHEWS, et al., Defendants.
Civil Action No. ELH-11-3499
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND
Date: September 30, 2013
Vernon J. Leftridge, Jr., the self-represented plaintiff,1 has sued Sergeant Michael Kelly Matthews, Deputy First Class ("DFC") Benjamin Charles Parsons, and Corporal Howard Lee Bowden, all of whom are deputy sheriffs for Wicomico County, Maryland, asserting claims arising from a traffic stop that occurred at around 4:00 a.m. on December 1, 2008, in Wicomico County, Maryland. Plaintiff was the driver of the vehicle and his brother, Sylvontae Bishop, was the passenger. During the stop, both men were frisked and the car was scanned by a drug detection police dog. Mr. Leftridge and Mr. Bishop are African American. The defendant deputies are white.
In his original Complaint (ECF 1), plaintiff asserted four counts: violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (Count I); violation of the Fourth Amendment (Count II); violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (Count III); and a claim, which seems to be duplicative of the others, alleging "racial profiling and racial harassment because of his race and color, in violation of the 1866 Civil Rights Act and all applicable federal statutes that prohibits
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[sic] violation of rights while acting under color of law to the US Constitution" (Count IV). Complaint ¶ 18. Counts II, III, and IV all invoked the private right of action provided by 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Plaintiff's Amended Complaint (ECF 64), which is the operative pleading, is not divided into counts, but purports to incorporate the original Complaint by reference. Accordingly, this Memorandum addresses the counts asserted in the original Complaint, as augmented by the allegations of the Amended Complaint. The Amended Complaint also purports to assert claims on behalf of Leftridge's brother, Bishop, as a "John Doe" plaintiff,2 and against twelve John or Jane Doe law enforcement officer defendants.
The three named defendants have filed a Motion to Dismiss or, in the Alternative, Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF 71), which has been fully briefed.3 No hearing is necessary to resolve it. See Local Rule 105.6. For the reasons that follow, I will construe the Motion as one for summary judgment and will grant it. Therefore, judgment will be entered in favor of the
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named defendants, and plaintiff's claims against the Doe defendants will be dismissed.
This is the second lawsuit spawned by the traffic stop that occurred on December 1, 2008. In the first suit, Bishop v. Lewis, Civ. No. WMN-10-3640 (D. Md.) ("Leftridge I"), Mr. Leftridge and his brother, Mr. Bishop, both represented by counsel, sued the Maryland State Police ("MSP"), the "Wicomico County Sheriff's Office," and Mike Lewis, who is the Sheriff of Wicomico County. Sheriff Lewis was sued in both his individual and official capacities. The amended complaint in Leftridge I asserted substantially the same factual allegations as are asserted in this suit, and contained three counts: discrimination on the basis of race, in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (Count I); a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, based on violations of the Fourth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Amendments (Count II); and a claim of racial discrimination by a recipient of federal financial assistance, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. See ECF 7 in Leftridge I.
On May 4, 2011, Judge William Nickerson granted motions to dismiss filed by the defendants in Leftridge I and dismissed the suit. See Bishop v. Lewis, Civ. No. WMN-10-3640, 2011 WL 1704755 (D. Md. May 4, 2011). He held that the "Wicomico County Sheriff's Office" was not a legal entity capable of being sued; that the § 1981 and § 1983 claims against the MSP and Sheriff Lewis in his official capacity were barred by Eleventh Amendment immunity; that Sheriff Lewis was not liable for violation of Title VI; and that the Title VI claims against the MSP and the § 1981 and § 1983 claims against Sheriff Lewis in his official capacity were
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insufficiently pleaded. See id. Judge Nickerson's Order dismissing Leftridge I directed: "Plaintiffs shall file an amended complaint within ten days of the date of this Order, or the dismissal of the current Amended Complaint will be with prejudice." ECF 21 in Leftridge I (emphasis added). Notably, the plaintiffs in Leftridge I did not file an amended complaint within ten days. No further orders were issued in the case.
The docket in Leftridge I reflects that Mr. Leftridge, apparently without legal representation, attempted to file a second amended complaint in that case on October 14, 2011. See ECF 22-1 in Leftridge I. By letter of the same date, Judge Nickerson returned the second amended complaint to Mr. Leftridge, stating: "Case was ordered dismissed May 4, 2011, if plaintiffs did not file an amended complaint within 10 days of the date of the order." ECF 22 in Leftridge I.
On December 2, 2011, plaintiff filed suit in this case.
In his original Complaint in this case, plaintiff named Sergeant Matthews, Sheriff Lewis, and thirteen Doe defendants, one of which was a police dog and the others of whom were alleged to be law enforcement officers with the Wicomico County Sheriff's Department and the MSP. All of the defendants were sued in their individual and official capacities.
Sheriff Lewis and Sergeant Matthews filed a Motion to Dismiss (ECF 18), arguing that suit was barred by the doctrine of res judicata, due to the previous dismissal of Leftridge I. I granted the Motion to Dismiss in part and denied it in part. See ECF 33 & 34. In particular, I held that all claims against Sheriff Lewis and all of the official capacity claims against Sergeant Matthews and the Doe defendants were barred by res judicata. I also dismissed all claims
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against the Doe police dog, because dogs are not entities that can be sued under federal civil rights statutes. See, e.g., Dye v. Wargo, 253 F.3d 296, 299-300 (7th Cir. 2001). However, pursuant to Andrews v. Daw, 201 F.3d 521 (4th Cir. 2000), and Brooks v. Arthur, 626 F.3d 194 (4th Cir. 2010), I concluded that the prior dismissal in Leftridge I was not res judicata as to the individual claims against Sergeant Matthews and the Doe defendants.4
Subsequently, I issued a Preliminary Scheduling Order (ECF 37) establishing a procedure for "limited preliminary disclosures" aimed at ascertaining the identities of the unidentified Doe defendants so as to enable plaintiff to file an amended complaint against all purported defendants. In letters of June 11, 2012 (ECF 48) and July 2, 2012 (ECF 53), defense counsel identified Sergeant Matthews and two other Wicomico County sheriff's deputies, Corporal Bowden and DFC Parsons, as the only law enforcement officers who had participated in the traffic stop. Corporal Bowden was the handler of the drug detection dog. In response, plaintiff insisted that more than three officers had participated in the traffic stop, but provided no factual basis for this assertion, such as descriptions of the Doe officers or allegations as to what particular actions each Doe officer took giving rise to liability. In an Order issued on July 20, 2012 (ECF 59), I cautioned Mr. Leftridge:
If plaintiff maintains that more officers than the three identified by the defense participated in the traffic stop, he may identify those officers by "Doe" identities in his amended complaint, but must allege a factual basis for his allegation that each individual Doe officer was a participant in the traffic stop. Unparticularized
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claims against a "laundry list" of Doe officers may lead to dismissal for failure to state claims upon which relief can be granted.
Thereafter, plaintiff filed his Amended Complaint, and the named defendants filed the pending Motion.
In the early morning hours of December 1, 2008, Mr. Leftridge and Mr. Bishop were driving northbound on Maryland Route 13, en route to Connecticut, where Mr. Leftridge resides. The brothers were traveling from their father's home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where they had
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just spent the Thanksgiving holiday. Mr. Bishop, who resides in Virginia Beach, was accompanying his brother with the intention of enrolling in a community college in Connecticut. See Sylvontae Bishop Aff. ¶ 3. Mr. Leftridge was driving the vehicle, a four-door Acura owned by his father, Sylvester Bishop.
According to Sgt. Matthews' affidavit, he effectuated the stop of Mr. Leftridge's vehicle at 3:57 a.m. on December 1, 2008. Matthews Aff. ¶ 2. The Video of the traffic stop begins with Sgt. Matthews' vehicle driving northbound along Route 13, which is a three-lane divided highway with traffic lights. At first, the Video has no sound. Approximately 45 seconds in to the Video, Sgt. Matthews' vehicle approaches a red light in the left lane. In the middle lane (one lane to the right of Sgt. Matthews' vehicle) and ahead of Sgt. Matthews' car is the four-door automobile that Mr. Leftridge is...
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