Rabinovitz v. City of L. A.

• Decision Date: 02 March 2018
• Docket Number: Case No. CV 16–8087 DMG (JPRx)
• Court: U.S. District Court — Central District of California
• Parties: Michael RABINOVITZ, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES, et al., Defendants.

287 F.Supp.3d 933

Michael RABINOVITZ, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.CITY OF LOS ANGELES, et al., Defendants.

Case No. CV 16–8087 DMG (JPRx)

United States District Court, C.D. California.

Signed March 2, 2018

Paul Wade Leehey, Paul W. Leehey Law Offices, Fallbrook, CA, Donnie R. Cox, Donnie R. Cox Law Offices, Oceanside, CA, for Plaintiffs.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell, J. Edwin Rathbun, Jr., Los Angeles City Attorneys Office, Office of City Attorney, Los Angeles, CA, Wendy C. Shapero, Los Angeles City Attorneys Office, Van Nuys, CA, for Defendants.

ORDER RE PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT OR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT [59, 61]

DOLLY M. GEE,UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter is before the Court on the parties' motions for summary judgment or partial summary judgment. Plaintiffs Michael Rabinovitz and his daughter, M.R., a minor (by and through her Guardian ad Litem , Ronald Austin) seek partial summary judgment as to Defendants City of Los Angeles' ("the City") and Los Angeles Police Department's ("LAPD" or "the Department") municipal liability under 42 U.S.C. section 1983. [Doc. # 61 ("Pls' MSJ").] Defendants, the City and Officer Arvin Buenaventura, move for summary judgment or partial summary judgment as to Plaintiffs' civil rights claims under 42 U.S.C. section 1983. [Doc. # 59 ("Defs' MSJ").] For the reasons set forth below, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Defendants' MSJ, and GRANTS Plaintiffs' MSJ.

I.PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On December 29, 2016, Plaintiffs filed the operative First Amended Complaint ("FAC"), bringing civil rights causes of action under 42 U.S.C. sections 1983 against, as relevant here, the City and Officer Buenaventura in connection with an interaction between Buenaventura and M.R. that occurred at M.R.'s school. [Doc. # 27.]¹

Days before the parties filed the instant motions, pursuant to a Joint Stipulation, this Court dismissed "[t]hose portions of the First, Second and Third Claims for Relief in [the FAC] that are based upon [Officer] ‘Buenaventura's interview’ and any alleged violation of the Fifth Amendment in such Claims for Relief." [Doc. # 58.] This dismissal "[did] not affect Plaintiffs' First, Second and Third Claims for Relief based upon [Officer] ‘Buenaventura's coercion,’ " and the dismissal did not constitute Plaintiffs' "dismiss[al], waiv[er], or releas[e] [of] their claims that [Officer Buenaventura] violated their Constitutional rights when he seized and interviewed Plaintiff M.R. on May 21, 2015." Id.

On January 12, 2018, both sides filed the motions now before the Court. Defendants seek summary judgment or partial summary judgment on the following grounds:

1. Reasonable suspicion supported M.R.'s temporary detention to investigate whether she was sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend; any threat by Buenaventura to arrest M.R. did not violate the Constitution; in the alternative, Buenaventura is entitled to qualified immunity on the Fourth Amendment claim;

2. Buenaventura's investigation did not interfere with Plaintiffs' Fourteenth Amendment right to their parent/child relationship; in the alternative, Buenaventura is entitled to qualified immunity on the Fourteenth Amendment claim;

3. Plaintiffs fail to establish Buenaventura retaliated against them in violation of their First Amendment rights; in the alternative, Buenaventura is entitled to qualified immunity on the First Amendment retaliation claim; [and]

4. The City of Los Angeles is entitled to summary judgment on Plaintiffs' Monell claims because LAPD's policies, practices, and customs relating to school interviews of suspected child abuse victims did not violate the Constitution.

Defs' MSJ at 2.

Plaintiffs seek partial summary judgment only as to their Monell² claim, arguing that

Defendant City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Police Department['s] ... policies and procedures were the moving force behind Defendant Buenaventura's violation of Plaintiff M.R.'s Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizure and Plaintiff Michael Rabinovitz's Fourteenth Amendment procedural due process rights and right to be free from unreasonable intereference with familial association.

Pls' MSJ at 2.

On February 16, 2018, the Court held a hearing on the motions. [Doc. # 71.]

II.FACTUAL BACKGROUND³

The Court sets forth the following undisputed material facts.

A. The May 21, 2015 Incident

On May 21, 2015, M.R. was a 14–year–old sophomore at Oak Park High School. Defs' SUF at ¶¶ 7, 9; Pls' SUF at ¶¶ 1–2. At the time, Rabinovitz had full legal and physical custody of M.R. Officer Buenaventura, then a 21–year veteran of the LAPD, worked in the juvenile unit at the Department's Topanga station. Pls' SUF at ¶¶ 3–5. Buenaventura's primary job was to investigate suspected child abuse and, specifically, Suspected Child Abuse Reports ("SCAR") prepared by the Department of Children and Family Services ("DCFS"). Id. at ¶ 6; Ex. 1 to Shapero Decl. ("Buenaventura Depo.") at 11:24–12:6 [Doc. # 59–2⁴ ].

On May 4, 2015, Buenaventura was tasked with investigating a SCAR concerning M.R. ("Subject SCAR"). Defs' SUF at ¶ 4; Ex. 9 to Cox Decl. (Subject SCAR) [Doc. # 66–12]. The Subject SCAR, filed by a counselor at M.R.'s school on April 27, 2015, indicated that someone found a letter, which M.R. wrote, indicating that she had an "inappropriate relationship" with her mother's boyfriend. Defs' SUF at ¶ 5; Pls' SUF at ¶ 18; Subject SCAR at 5. Because M.R. lived with Rabinovitz and her mother lived out of state and had not been involved in M.R.'s life "for years," the Subject SCAR stated that M.R. was "not in immediate danger." Subject SCAR at 5. The Subject SCAR also indicated that it was unknown when the purported inappropriate relationship occurred. Id. Rabinovitz did not know about the letter M.R. wrote or the purported contact between M.R. and her mother's boyfriend, and law enforcement never suspected Rabinovitz was involved in the alleged abuse. Pls' SUF at ¶¶ 19–20.⁵

Because the SCAR's allegations described a "situation" that did not require "immediate attention," Buenaventura did not interview M.R. until over two weeks later. Buenaventura Depo. at 71:16–25. On May 21, 2015, Buenaventura decided to interview M.R. while she was at school. Defs' SUF at ¶ 7.⁶ Prior to interviewing M.R., Buenaventura did not contact DCFS to learn whether it had evaluated or investigated the SCAR's allegations. Pls' SUF at ¶ 23. Nor did Buenaventura contact Rabinovitz (despite the SCAR's inclusion of Rabinovitz's contact information) about the SCAR or tell Rabinovitz that he wanted to interview M.R. Id. at ¶ 25; Pls' ASUF at ¶ 9. Buenaventura knew nonetheless that the alleged abuse did not involve Rabinovitz. See Ex. 9 to Cox Decl. (Buenaventura's Detective's Case Progress Log) at 1 [Doc. # 61–14].

M.R. was pulled out of class and taken to Mr. Buchanan's (school principal) office, where Mr. Buchanan informed her that "a police officer [was] there to see her." Pls' SUF at ¶¶ 28–29, 31. M.R. was "terrified" because she did not know what was going on and immediately asked the principal if she could call her father because she wanted "to find safety in [her] dad." Id. at ¶¶ 32–33. M.R. called and sent text messages to her father and attorney but at first was unable to reach them. Defs' SUF at ¶ 12. While trying to contact them, Mr. Buchanan told M.R. to go into another room to speak with Buenaventura. Pls' SUF at ¶ 36. M.R. told the principal she did not want to speak to police. Id. at ¶ 13.

It appears that by the time M.R. entered the second room for the interview, she had reached her father. Defs' SUF at ¶ 15; Ex. 3 to Shapero Decl. ("M.R. Depo.") at 25:1–23 [Doc. # 59–4⁷ ]. Once M.R. reached her father, who was with his attorney at the time, M.R. put them on speakerphone. Defs' SUF at ¶ 37; see Iulianelli Decl. at ¶¶ 7–12 (Rabinovitz's then-attorney detailing the May 21, 2015 events from the time M.R. got in contact with Rabinovitz). During the interview, M.R. told Buenaventura that she did not wish to speak to him without her attorney present. Defs' SUF at ¶ 38. When Buenaventura asked for her name and grade level, M.R. refused to answer and told him "repeatedly," "I don't know. Ask my lawyers." Pls' SUF at ¶ 16. Mr. Buchanan was present during M.R.'s interview. See M.R. Depo. at 23:20–23:25, 27:10–15, 32:12–16.

When Rabinovitz and his attorney asked why Buenaventura did not ask for Rabinovitz's consent to interview M.R., what exigent circumstances existed that allowed Buenaventura to conduct the interview, and why Buenaventura went to the school to interview M.R., Buenaventura responded that he did not require either exigency or consent to conduct the interview. Pls' SUF at ¶ 42; see also Ex. 6 to Shapero Decl. ("Rabinovitz Depo.") at 12:18–13:2 [Doc. # 61–10⁸ ] (Rabinovitz testifying at his deposition that he told Buenaventura, "you need my permission to talk with M.R., and you don't have it.... I got a response, and I was told [by Buenaventura] that my permission wasn't needed"). Then, while Rabinovitz was still on speakerphone, Buenaventura threatened to arrest M.R. and take her to the station for questioning if she did not answer his questions. Pls' SUF at ¶ 17. M.R. began to cry and, throughout the entire encounter, was "hysterical, crying, and asking her father what to do." Id. at ¶ 45; Defs' SUF at ¶ 18.

At some point, Buenaventura left the conference room and terminated the interview. See Buenaventura Depo. at 103:9–23; Iulianelli Decl. at ¶ 12 [Doc. # 61–2] (stating that Buenaventura stopped questioning after approximately an hour's worth of discussion among LAPD employees and representatives, Rabinovitz's attorney, and Los Angeles City's and County's attorneys). The entire incident, from the time Buenaventura arrived at the school and left the premises, took 68 minutes. Ex. 11 to Cox Decl. [Doc. # 61–16]; Buenaventura Depo. at 102:21–103:8. Rabinovitz estimated that the phone call (where he and his counsel...