McClure v. Prisoner Transp. Servs. of Am.
| Decision Date | 22 April 2022 |
| Docket Number | 1:18-cv-00176-DAD-SKO,1:18-cv-00917-DAD-SKO |
| Parties | TERRY RENEE MCCLURE and DUSTIN HUBBARD, Plaintiffs, v. PRISONER TRANSPORTATION SERVICES OF AMERICA, LLC, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of California |
ORDER GRANTING IN PART DEFENDANTS PRISONER TRANSPORTATION SERVICES OF AMERICA, LLC'S AND CLEVELAND WHEELER'S MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, AND DENYING DEFENDANTS LETICIA MONIQUE AVALOS'S AND FAUSTOS AVALOS'S AMENDED MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (DOC. NOS 137, 138, 140, 141)
This matter is before the court on motions for summary judgment filed on behalf of defendants Prisoner Transportation Services of America, LLC (“PTSA”) and Cleveland Wheeler (Doc. Nos. 137, 138) as well as a separate motion for summary judgment filed on behalf of defendants Leticia Monique Avalos and Faustos Avalos (collectively, the “Avaloses” or “Avalos defendants”) (Doc. Nos. 140, 141). Pursuant to General Order No. 617 addressing the public health emergency posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, all motions were taken under submission on the papers. (Doc. Nos. 139, 142.) For the reasons explained below, the court will grant in part and deny in part defendants PTSA and Wheeler's motions for summary judgment and deny the motion for summary judgment brought on behalf of the Avalos defendants.[1]
This case concerns a multi-vehicle collision involving all defendants that occurred on July 8, 2016 on State Route 99 in Modesto, California. The facts set forth below are based on the parties' separate statements of facts, which include defendants PTSA and Wheeler's alleged material facts and plaintiffs' responses submitted thereto (Doc. Nos. 137-2 138-2, 145, 167-1, 168-1), as well as the Avalos defendants' alleged material facts and plaintiffs' and defendant Albert T. Gonzalez's responses thereto (Doc. Nos. 141-2, 157-1, 159-2, 164-2).
On July 8, 2016 on State Route 99 in Modesto, California, a multi-vehicle collision occurred involving four vehicles driving in the following order: a Dodge Ram truck driven by Adam Budell (not a party to this case); a Chevrolet Express van (“PTSA van”) driven by defendant Cleveland Wheeler and owned by defendant PTSA; a Chevrolet Silverado truck (“Gonzalez truck”) driven by defendant Albert Gonzalez; and, a Chevrolet sedan[2] driven by defendant Leticia Avalos and owned by defendant Faustos Avalos.
PTSA is an independent private company that provides prisoner transportation services through contracts with government law enforcement entities. (Doc. No. 137-2 at ¶¶ 1, 2.) Cleveland Wheeler was employed as a driver for PTSA, received training in connection with his employment, had held his role for approximately three years at the time of the collision at issue, and had previously been involved in one other collision, for which he reports the other driver was found at fault. (Id. at ¶¶ 3-5; Doc. No. 145 at ¶¶ 3-5.)
PTSA's written policies and procedures require drivers to “operate vehicles in a manner to maximize the safety and security of prisoners” and require all prisoners to be restrained with handcuffs, Martin Chain, leg irons, and interconnecting chains, but not necessarily seatbelts. (Doc. No. 137-2 at ¶¶ 7, 8.) The written policies and procedures also provide that prisoner restroom stops should occur every four hours and may occur only in a “secure detention facility.” (Id. at ¶ 6.) PTSA asserts that when secure detention facilities are located more than four hours away, drivers should provide prisoner restroom breaks only at the next secure detention facility. (Id.) Plaintiffs dispute that the PTSA policies and procedures provide for any exceptions to this four-hour restroom rule. (Doc. No. 145 at ¶ 6.) PTSA does not provide medical care or hygiene care, which must occur at either a medical or a custodial facility. (Doc. No. 137-2 at ¶ 9.) Plaintiffs assert that PTSA has a legal duty to provide medical care to prisoners in its care. (Doc. No. 145 at ¶ 9.)
The evidence on summary judgement establishes the following. Defendant Wheeler drove the PTSA van that provided transportation to plaintiffs Terry McClure and Dustin Hubbard on July 8, 2016 and that was involved in the multi-vehicle collision in Modesto. (Doc. Nos. 1372 at ¶¶ 10, 19; 138-2 at ¶ 12.) The PTSA van driven by defendant Wheeler was beginning a cross-country trip to bring plaintiffs to a detention facility in Kentucky. The van was not equipped with seatbelts for the inmates and was divided by caged partitions into three compartments separating the driver cab, female prisoners, and male prisoners. (Doc. No. 137-2 at ¶¶ 10, 11.) Plaintiff McClure testified that the PTSA van had a circulating fan, and defendant Wheeler testified that the PTSA van was equipped with air conditioning. (Doc. No. 137-2 at ¶ 14.) Plaintiffs were restrained with handcuffs and ankle shackles in the van and were not secured to the PTSA van itself. (Id. at ¶ 13.) While seated in the van, plaintiff Hubbard could only see a portion of the windshield on the left side of the PTSA van, was unable to see the speedometer, and could not see clearly into the driver's compartment. (Id. at ¶ 16; Doc. No. 145 at ¶ 16.) From his seat, plaintiff McClure could not see the PTSA van's front windshield, the driver, or the passenger, but could hear muffled conversations between defendant Wheeler and PTSA employee David Hedrick, who was seated in the front passenger seat of the van. (Doc. Nos. 137-2 at ¶¶ 17, 18; 145 at ¶ 18.)
Prior to the collision, neither plaintiff knew how fast defendant Wheeler was driving. (Doc. No. 137-2 at ¶¶ 21, 22.) However, plaintiff Hubbard testified at deposition that the traffic was “stop and go” just prior to the accident and that defendant Wheeler was accelerating quickly and braking. (Id. at ¶ 21.) Plaintiff McClure testified at his deposition that traffic was congested and he thought the PTSA van could not have been traveling fast due to that congestion, but also that he believed the PTSA van accelerated quickly. (Id. at ¶¶ 22, 23.) Plaintiff McClure thought that defendant Wheeler pressed on the brakes, causing the prisoners to shift forward toward the front of the PTSA van and the van to skid “for a while” before it turned left. (Id. at ¶ 24.) Plaintiff McClure felt a small impact just before the PTSA van stopped moving, describing it as if the van “barely hit the car in front, ” and felt a strong impact from behind that caused him to go airborne inside the van. (Id. at ¶ 25.) Plaintiff Hubbard testified to feeling one impact to the front and another impact from behind. (Id. at ¶ 26.)
Defendant Wheeler felt the first impact from behind, followed by the PTSA van striking the vehicle in front of it, as well as the center road divider. (Doc. No. 141-2 at ¶¶ 7, 8.) Defendant Wheeler did not remember feeling any other impact. (Id. at ¶ 9.) According to defendant Gonzalez, he was traveling approximately 65 miles per hour behind the PTSA van when it suddenly braked. (Doc. No. 157-2 at ¶ 4.) Defendant Gonzalez applied his brakes and felt an impact from behind from the Avalos vehicle, which he has stated pushed his truck into the PTSA van. (Id.) However, defendant Leticia Avalos believed that the Gonzalez's truck collided with the PTSA van prior to the Avalos' car impacting Gonzalez's truck. (Doc. No. 141-2 at 17.) California Highway Patrol Officer Christopher K. Shore investigated the incident, which investigation included the interviewing of a third-party witness who was driving immediately ///// behind Avalos' car at the time of the accident, and filed a report summarizing his findings and conclusions. (Doc. No. 141-2 at ¶¶ 12, 18-36.)
After the collision, multiple attempts were made to open the PTSA van's rear doors: PTSA employee Hedrick made three attempts to open the rear doors; defendant Wheeler attempted to open the doors approximately five minutes after the collision and two to three minutes after exiting the vehicle; law enforcement and emergency personnel also made such attempts, but all were unsuccessful until fire truck personnel used the jaws of life to free the plaintiffs. (Doc. No. 138-2 at ¶¶ 27, 28.) Ambulance personnel transported plaintiffs to Doctors Medical Center, where plaintiffs Hubbard and McClure were administered x-rays and received pain medication (Motrin in the latter's case). (Id. at ¶ 29; Doc. No. 137-1 at ¶¶ 29, 42.) Law enforcement subsequently transported plaintiff Hubbard to Modesto County Jail and plaintiff McClure to Stanislaus County Jail, where they remained overnight until defendant Wheeler returned the next day with a new PTSA van he procured from Las Vegas to continue the crosscountry transport trip. (Doc. Nos. 137-2 at ¶¶ 30-32; 138-1 at ¶¶ 30-32.) The new PTSA van also did not have seatbelts, did have a fan, and was similar to the first PTSA van, except that the male prisoner section was separated by a solid steel partition rather than a cage partition, and the windows were “blacked out.” (Doc. No. 137-2 at ¶¶ 33-34.)
Plaintiff McClure thought it took five to six hours to drive from Modesto to Los Angeles. (Id. at ¶ 35.) The PTSA van made multiple stops along its route in Los Angeles Nevada, Arizona, Kansas, and eventually Christian County, Kentucky, where plaintiffs were eventually dropped off at the Christian County Jail. (Id.) Plaintiff McClure recalls at least two stops in addition to a stay in Wichita, Kansas, his stay at the medical facility in Modesto, his jail stay in Stanislaus County, and his multiple overnight stays during the trip, though he did not specify that these stops were the restroom breaks described by defendants. (Id. at ¶ 36; Doc. No. 145 at ¶...
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