Pineda v. City of Houston
| Decision Date | 06 December 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV. A. H-98-3877.,CIV. A. H-98-3877. |
| Citation | 124 F.Supp.2d 1057 |
| Parties | Claudia Navarro PINEDA, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF HOUSTON, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas |
Richard Warren Mithoff, Jr., Mithoff and Jacks, Houston, TX, Paul Constance Nugent, Foreman Degeurin et al., Houston, TX, Julian Fertitta, III, Grimes & Fertitta, Houston, TX, Roger Townsend, Hogan Dubose et al., Houston, TX, for plaintiffs.
Robert Louis Cambrice, City of Houston Legal Dept., Houston, TX, for City of Houston.
Fred A. Keys, Jr., Houston, TX, Robert Anthony Armbruster, Houston, TX, for D.H. Strouse.
Robert J Thomas, Houston, TX, for D.R. Berrera, P.A. Herrada, L.E. Tillery, James R. Willis.
Duncan Neblett, III, Houston, TX, for D.R. Perkins.
Pending before the court is the City of Houston's Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket Entry No. 180). The City argues that it is entitled to summary judgment on the claims plaintiffs have brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 19831 and § 1988. For the reasons set forth below the City's motion will be granted.
Until the early 1990s responsibility for narcotics enforcement in the Houston Police Department (HPD) resided primarily with the local patrol divisions whose tactical units conducted undercover narcotics investigations. In 1992 Sam Nuchia became HPD Chief.2 Nuchia ordered the tactical units to remain in uniform and to stop conducting undercover narcotics investigations, which were consolidated in a specialized Narcotics Division.3
In high crime areas Nuchia implemented "zero tolerance," a strategy in which communities are saturated by uniformed officers who enforce every law without regard to the magnitude of the offense.4 Nuchia approved use of zero tolerance in the Gulfton area to combat street-level narcotics dealing.5 Nuchia also created the Gang Task Force (GTF), an overtime program dedicated to suppressing gang activity through high visibility and aggressive enforcement of all laws.6 The GTF is composed of uniformed patrol officers assigned to regular patrol shifts who also work overtime shifts with the GTF.7 In the Gulfton area, the Southwest GTF was ordered to suppress gang activity using the zero-tolerance strategy.8
On the night of July 11, 1998, two officers assigned to the Southwest GTF, P.A. Herrada and J.R. Willis, stopped a car for traffic violations. Herrada and Willis arrested a passenger, Ryan Baxter, for public intoxication and for giving alcohol to a minor. When Baxter offered to provide information about a crack cocaine dealer Herrada and Willis contacted other members of their unit. Together with officers D.R. Barrera, D.R. Perkins, L.E. Tillery, and the GTF supervisor, Sergeant D.H. Strouse, Herrada and Willis went with Baxter to the apartment occupied by Rogelio Oregon Navarro, Salvador Lopez, Nelly Mejia, and Pedro Oregon Navarro. While Baxter knocked on the door, the officers waited in a column at the foot of the stairs. Once the door opened, the officers entered the apartment without a warrant and without consent from the occupants. Following the entry, Navarro was shot dead and the three other occupants of the apartment were arrested. A subsequent search of the apartment failed to find drugs, but did find a handgun close to Navarro's body.
On November 17, 1998, Pedro Oregon Navarro's mother-Claudia Navarro Pineda, his sister-Susana Oregon Navarro, who has been appointed administratrix of his estate, and the mothers of his two children-Ana Isabel Lores as next friend of Ashley Oregon-Lores and Blanca Lidia Viera as next friend of Belinda Marili Viera filed this action together with the surviving occupants of the apartment, Rogelio Oregon Navarro, Salvador Lopez, and Nelly Mejia, against the City of Houston and HPD officers Herrada, Willis, Barrera, Perkins, Tillery, and Strouse pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Texas Wrongful Death Statute, Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §§ 71.001 et seq. Plaintiffs alleged that without a warrant or probable cause the officers forcibly entered the apartment occupied by Pedro Oregon Navarro, Rogelio Oregon Navarro, Salvador Lopez, and Nelly Mejia and used excessive force to seize the occupants of the apartment in violation of rights guaranteed by the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. Specifically, plaintiffs alleged that when Rogelio Oregon Navarro opened the door to the apartment from the inside, the defendant officers rushed in without a search warrant and without stopping to request consent. Plaintiffs alleged that once inside, the officers threatened, assaulted, and falsely arrested Rogelio Oregon Navarro, Salvador Lopez, and Nelly Mejia, and shot and killed Pedro Oregon Navarro. Plaintiffs alleged that the officers' wrongful acts were conducted pursuant to official policies or customs of the City.
On April 7, 1999, Barrera, Herrada, Tillery, and Willis filed a motion for partial summary judgment on claims arising from the death of Pedro Oregon Navarro based on qualified immunity (Docket Entry No. 46). On April 8, 1999, Barrera, Herrada, Tillery, and Willis filed a motion to dismiss the § 1983 claims asserted by Rogelio Oregon Navarro, Salvador Lopez, and Nelly Mejia based on qualified immunity (Docket Entry No. 47); Strouse filed a motion to dismiss (Docket Entry No. 48) and a motion for summary judgment (Docket Entry No. 50); and Perkins filed a motion for summary judgment (Docket Entry No. 49). In an Opinion and Order entered on July 29, 1999 (Docket Entry No. 72), the court granted in part and denied in part the officers' motions and ordered plaintiffs to file a second amended complaint. In the court's Opinion and Order of July 29, 1999, the motion for partial summary judgment on plaintiffs' claims for wrongful death and excessive use of force against Pedro Oregon Navarro was granted as to Tillery and Willis and denied as to Barrera and Herrada; the motion of Barrera, Herrada, Tillery, and Willis to dismiss plaintiffs' § 1983 claims was denied as to plaintiffs' claims against all four officers for the wrongful entry and search of Rogelio Oregon Navarro's apartment; denied as to plaintiffs' claims against Herrada for the false arrests of Salvador Lopez, Rogelio Oregon Navarro, and Nelly Mejia; denied as to plaintiffs' claims against Willis for the false arrests of Salvador Lopez and Rogelio Oregon Navarro and excessive use of force against Rogelio Oregon Navarro; denied as to plaintiffs' claims against Barrera for the false arrest of Nelly Mejia; granted as to plaintiffs' claims against Herrada for excessive use of force against Salvador Lopez, Rogelio Oregon Navarro, and Nelly Mejia; granted as to plaintiffs' claims against Willis for the false arrest of Nelly Mejia and excessive use of force against Salvador Lopez and Nelly Mejia; granted as to plaintiffs' claims against Barrera for the false arrests of Salvador Lopez and Rogelio Oregon Navarro and excessive use of force against Salvador Lopez, Rogelio Oregon Navarro, and Nelly Mejia; and granted as to plaintiffs' claims against Tillery for false arrests and excessive use of force against Salvador Lopez, Rogelio Oregon Navarro, and Nelly Mejia. Perkins' motion for summary judgment was denied as to plaintiffs' claims for the warrantless entry and search of Rogelio Oregon Navarro's apartment and the false arrests of Salvador Lopez and Nelly Mejia; granted as to plaintiffs' claims for the false arrest of Rogelio Oregon Navarro and excessive use of force against Salvador Lopez, Rogelio Oregon Navarro, Nelly Mejia, and Pedro Oregon Navarro; and granted as to plaintiffs' claims for the wrongful death of Pedro Oregon Navarro. Strouse's motion to dismiss was denied as to plaintiffs' claims for the wrongful entry and search of Rogelio Oregon Navarro's apartment and the false arrest of Nelly Mejia; granted as to plaintiffs' claims for the false arrests of Salvador Lopez and Rogelio Oregon Navarro and for excessive use of force against Salvador Lopez, Rogelio Oregon Navarro, Nelly Mejia, and Pedro Oregon Navarro; and granted as to plaintiffs' claims for the wrongful death of Pedro Oregon Navarro. Strouse's motion for summary judgment was denied.9
On August 9, 1999, plaintiffs filed their Second Amended Complaint (Docket Entry No. 76). On August 23, 1999, the City of Houston filed crossclaims against the officers (Docket Entry No. 84), and the officers filed crossclaims against the City (Docket Entry No. 85).
On August 24, 1999, defendants Barrera, Herrada, and Willis filed their Notice of Interlocutory Appeal of the court's partial denial of their dispositive motions (Docket Entry No. 86). On August 27, 1999, Strouse filed his Notice of Interlocutory Appeal of the court's partial denial of his dispositive motions (Docket Entry No. 92). By Order entered on March 16, 2000, the Fifth Circuit dismissed Strouse's appeal (Docket Entry No. 159); and by Order entered on March 21, 2000, the Fifth Circuit dismissed Willis's appeal (Docket Entry No. 160). The appeals filed by Barrera and Herrada are pending before the Fifth Circuit.
On October 13, 1999, plaintiffs Rogelio Oregon Navarro, Salvador Lopez, and Nelly Mejia filed a Motion for Voluntary Dismissal Without Prejudice (Docket Entry No. 120). At a hearing held on October 27, 1999, the court granted the Motion for Voluntary Dismissal Without Prejudice and dismissed all claims brought by Rogelio Oregon Navarro, Salvador Lopez, and Nelly Mejia (Docket Entry No. 127). On August 4, 2000, the City filed motions for summary judgment on the claims that plaintiffs have brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and § 1988 (Docket Entry No. 180) and on the claims asserted by the officers (Docket Entry No. 181). By Order entered on September 29, 2000, the court denied the City's motion for summary judgment on the crossclaims...
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