Mata v. Anderson
| Citation | 685 F.Supp.2d 1223 |
| Decision Date | 13 January 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV 08-0046 JB/RLP.,CIV 08-0046 JB/RLP. |
| Parties | Juan MATA, Plaintiff, v. Sgt. Ron ANDERSON, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico |
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Dennis W. Montoya, Montoya Law, Inc. Rio Rancho, NM, for the Plaintiff.
Alex C. Walker, Erin Langenwaiter Lisa Mann, Modrall, Sperling, Roehl, Har- ris & Sisk, P.A., Albuquerque, NM, for the Defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDERTHIS MATTER comes before the Court on Defendant Ron Anderson's Motion for Summary Judgment, filed October 19, 2009 (Doc. 36). The Court held a hearing on December 18, 2009. The primary issue is whether Defendant Sgt Ron Anderson is entitled to summary judgment on Plaintiff Juan Mata's Second Amended Complaint for First-Amendment retaliation, Fourth-Amendment malicious prosecution, and malicious abuse of process in violation of New Mexico common law. Resolution of Anderson's summary judgment motion turns on five subissues: (i) whether a November 2005 settlement agreement executed by J. Mata releases Anderson from J. Mata's FirstAmendment and malicious-abuse-of-process claims; (ii) whether J. Mata has presented a genuine issue of material fact that Anderson lacked probable cause to file criminal charges of criminal libel harassment, and stalking against J. Mata (iii) whether the court proceedings against Mata constitute a seizure under the Fourth Amendment; (iv) whether Anderson, even if there was no probable cause, is entitled to qualified immunity; and (v) whether the statute of limitations bars J. Mata's malicious abuse of process claims. To the extent that J. Mata's claims accrued after the November 2005 settlement agreement, the Court will deny Anderson's motion for summary judgment on those claims on that basis, but will grant summary judgment on any portion of the claims that accrued before the settlement agreement. The Court will find that J. Mata's First-Amendment retaliation claims and his state tort malicious-abuse-of-process claims accrued before November 2005 and will therefore grant Anderson summary judgment as to those claims. Because the Court finds that J. Mata has shown genuine issues of material fact regarding the validity of the facts Anderson used in his probable-cause determination, the Court will not grant Anderson summary judgment on that basis. The Court will grant summary judgment on the Fourth-Amendment malicious-prosecution claims because the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has rejected the notion that seizure includes restrictions imposed upon a plaintiff during his or her court proceedings, and because J. Mata did not suffer a traditional seizure. The Court will also find that there are enough facts for a jury to determine that a reasonable officer in Anderson's position would not have brought charges against J. Mata based on the information Anderson had and therefore qualified immunity is inappropriate. Finally, the Court will find that, although pre-filing notice was not required, state law required him to bring his state tort claims within two years of the filing of the lawsuit against him, and therefore his state tort claims are time barred. Because the Court finds that there are no remaining viable claims, the Court will grant Anderson's motion for summary judgment.
The facts of this case are partially undisputed. All material facts set forth in Anderson's motion are deemed admitted unless J. Mata specifically controverted those assertions. See D.N.M. LR-CV 56.1(b)("All material facts set forth in the statement of the movant will be deemed admitted unless specifically controverted."). To the extent that J. Mata has controverted Anderson's undisputed facts with competent evidence, the Court has noted the discrepancies and viewed the facts in the light most favorable to J Mata, as the non-moving party.
In the background of this lawsuit is an incident that occurred between J. Mata and the Farmington, New Mexico Police Department in 2002. J. Mata alleges that his civil rights were violated during a November 29, 2002 arrest in which he was pepper sprayed by Officer Mike Briseno of the Farmington Police Department. J. Mata was one of several Mata family members who filed a civil-rights lawsuit on November 28, 2004 against the City of Farmington and several police officers, including Briseno. See Mata v. Briseno, No. CIV 04-1334 ACT/RLP, Complaint, filed November 28, 2004 (Doc. 1). A year later, J. Mata and his family settled all claims arising from the November 29, 2002 incident for $75,000.00, see Plaintiffs' [sic] Response to Defendant Ron Anderson's Motion for Summary Judgment, filed November 6, 2009 (Doc. 38)("Response").
J. Mata executed a settlement agreement on December 6, 2005, see Affidavit of Ezora Boognl ¶ 3, at 1, filed October 19, 2009 (Doc. 34)("Boognl Aff."); Boognl Aff. Exhibit 1 (Doc. 34-2). In the settlement of his lawsuit against the City of Farmington and several of its police officers, Mata agreed as follows:
Plaintiffs hereby expressly release, forever discharge, and acquit Defendants and their agents, predecessors and successors, employees, insurers, representatives and attorneys ("Released Parties") from all claims, suits, costs, debts, demands, actions and causes of action which they had or might have had against the Released Parties, arising out of or in any way related to the claims which were made or could have been made in the Action or in any way arising out of the facts or occurrences that could or did form the basis of the Action, or for any other reason including, but not limited to, any and all claims based in tort, contract, statute, ordinance, or law of any nature whatsoever, and any and all claims under any other federal, state or local statute, ordinance, or law. This Agreement therefore shall be construed to extinguish and discharge all claims included in the Action and any and all claims that Plaintiffs now have or could hereafter assert against any of the Released Parties of any nature whatsoever.
Boognl Aff. ¶ 3, at 1; Boognl Aff. Ex. 1.
On May 12, 2003, the Farmington Police Department received a petition delivered by Gregoria Mora, J. Mata's mother, which he and others had signed, alleging that Briseno had engaged in illegal stops and searches of vehicles, and of several persons. See Affidavit of Ron Anderson ¶ 5, at 2 (executed September 23, 2009), filed October 19, 2009 (Doc. 35)("Anderson Aff."). One-hundred-eighty-eight people sighed the petition, but some signed first names only or fictitious names, such as "Mr. and Mrs. Annomous" [sic]. Farmington Police Department Administrative Investigation Citizen Complaint, Exhibit 1 to Anderson Aff., filed October 19, 2009 (Doc. 35-2) ("Petition Investigation").
Internal Affairs conducted an investigation into the allegations in the petition. See Anderson Aff. ¶5. Internal Affairs investigated the improper conduct alleged in the May 12, 2003 petition by sending letters to the 147 people whose names and addresses they could decipher from the petition. See Petition Investigation at 2. Of the 147 individuals, only twenty contacted the police department during the next five weeks. See Petition Investigation at 9. Of the twenty individuals, sixteen stated that they never had negative contacts with Briseno, and seven stated that they did not sign the petition and that someone who knows them must have forged their names. See Petition In- vestigation at 9. Eight individuals stated that they signed the petition. See Petition Investigation at 9. J. Mata's sister, Maria Mata, formerly Maria Martinez, contacted internal affairs regarding the petition, and stated that she signed the petition because her mother told her about an incident where Briseno slammed a 13-year old boy to the ground and because she feels that the Farmington Police Department is unprofessional. See Affidavit of Maria Mata ¶ 5, at 1 (executed November 5, 2009), filed November 6, 2009 (Doc. 38-2)( ); Petition Investigation at 7-8.1 The investigation, completed in early July 2003, determined that the complaint was unsustained. See Petition Investigation at 9.2
On May 20, 2003, Anderson received an interoffice memorandum from Briseno regarding a potential death threat against him by J. Mata. See Anderson Aff. ¶7, at 2; City of Farmington Interoffice Memorandum (dated May 20, 2003), Anderson Aff. Exhibit 2, filed October 19, 2009 (Doc. 35-3).3 On May 23, 2003, Anderson received another interoffice memorandum from Briseno regarding possible threats by J. Mata. See Anderson Aff. ¶ 8, at 2-3; City of Farmington Interoffice Memorandum (dated May 23, 2003), Anderson Aff. Exhibit 3, filed October 19, 2009 (Doc. 35-4). According to the memoranda, the alleged information about a hitman and threats came from conversations Briseno and a fellow Farmington police officer, Officer Hooper, had with J. Mata's ex-wife Maritza Torres. See Anderson Aff. ¶¶7-8, at 2-3 and Exhibits 2 & 3.
On September 9, 2004, the Farmington Police Department received a letter from the office of local attorney Ronald R Adamson requesting an administrative investigation regarding Officers Kent O'Donnell and Briseno. See Anderson Aff. ¶ 13, at 4; Farmington Police Department Administrative Investigation (dated Sept. 9, 2004), Anderson Aff. Exhibit 4, filed October 19, 2009 (Doc. 35-5)("Letter Investigation").4 According to Brandon Cummings, Adamson's employee, Adamson asked Cummings to review a videotape of a police car following J. Mata's vehicle, which Cummings describes as portraying a police car following J. Mata's vehicle so closely that the headlights of the police vehicle disappeared. See Affidavit of Brandon Cummings ¶¶...
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