Rivas v. City of Passaic
| Citation | 365 F.3d 181 |
| Decision Date | 26 April 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 02-3875, 02-3916.,02-3875, 02-3916. |
| Parties | Milagros RIVAS, Individually and as Administrator ad Prosequendum of the Estate of Carlos Rivas; Amaurey Rivas; Sagrario Rivas; Carlos Rivas, Jr.; Aminabel Rivas; Paloma Rivas v. CITY OF PASSAIC; Passaic Police Department; City of Passaic-EMT Division; Ross Capuana, Police Officer, # 234; Paul Slater, Police Officer, # 283; Robert Callaghan, Police Officer, # 271; G. Caceres, Police Officer, # 307; Farallo, Police Officer, # 299; O'Donnell, Police Officer, # 301; Robert Longo, Police Officer, # 261; George Garcia, EMT; Amalin Rodriguez, EMT; Mike Lovitch, Paramedic; Bill Walsh, Paramedic; Passaic-Clifton MICU; John Does I Through X George Garcia; Amalin Rodriguez, Appellants, City of Passaic<SMALL><SUP>*</SUP></SMALL>; Passaic Police Department<SMALL><SUP>*</SUP></SMALL>; Police Officer Paul Slater, # 283; Police Officer Ross Capuana, # 234; Police Officer Robert Callaghan, # 271; Police Officer Farallo, # 299; Police Officer O'Donnell, # 301; Police Officer Robert Longo, # 261, Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
David L. Ganz, (Argued), Ganz & Savin, LLP, Fair Lawn, N.J., for Appellants Garcia and Rodriguez.
Peter W. Till, (Argued), Law Offices of Peter W. Till, Springfield, N.J., for Appellant Farallo.
Anthony J. Fusco, Jr., Fusco & Macaluso, Passaic, N.J., for Appellant O'Donnell.
Nicholas J. Palma, Clifton, N.J., for Appellant Slater.
Joel M. Miklacki, Bloomfield, N.J., for Appellant Callaghan.
Miles Feinstein, Clifton, N.J., for Appellant Capuana.
Kathleen C. Goger, (Argued), Singer & Goger, Newark, N.J., for Appellees.
Before AMBRO, FUENTES, and GARTH, Circuit Judges.
This Section 1983 case focuses on the conduct of a group of police officers and medical professionals who responded to an emergency in an apartment where a middle-aged man was experiencing a seizure. The seizure victim, after being restrained, died shortly after the police arrived, thereby prompting a lawsuit by his family. The District Court denied motions brought by the police officers and the medical professionals for summary judgment, giving rise to this appeal. We hold that there are certain material factual disputes that must be resolved by a jury. Accordingly, we will affirm the District Court's order with respect to EMTs Amalin Rodriguez and George Garcia and Police Officers Rosario Capuana, Paul Slater, Robert Callaghan, Mauro Farallo, and Timothy O'Donnell. We will dismiss Police Officer Robert Longo's appeal.
On the morning of November 6, 1998, Milagros Rivas awoke in bed to find her 44-year-old husband, Carlos Rivas, shaking uncontrollably. The Rivases lived with their five children on the second and third floors of a two-family house in Passaic, New Jersey. The house had an enclosed front porch, from which a stairwell led up to the Rivases' apartment.
Because Mrs. Rivas spoke poor English, she asked one of her children to call 911 for an ambulance. At approximately 7:05 a.m., emergency medical technicians ("EMTs") George Garcia and Amalin Rodriguez arrived on the scene. They were met on the street by Mrs. Rivas, who testified that she immediately informed Rodriguez in Spanish that her husband had experienced some convulsions and that he had previously had seizures. Mrs. Rivas also testified that she advised Rodriguez that Mr. Rivas was taking diabetic medication and that Rodriguez should not talk to or touch Mr. Rivas. This last piece of information seems to have been sound advice because Rodriguez later testified that she had learned as part of her medical training that a patient experiencing a seizure should not be disturbed during the period of the seizure.
Rodriguez followed Mrs. Rivas into the apartment while Garcia parked the ambulance. Mrs. Rivas testified that when they entered the apartment, she found her husband standing in the living room looking ashen. According to her testimony, Mr. Rivas raised his arms in front of him and began walking in their direction "like a zombie," but that she and Rodriguez stepped out of his way. Mrs. Rivas is adamant that her husband never came into physical contact with Rodriguez.
Rodriguez provides a very different account of what transpired when she first entered the apartment. In a sworn declaration submitted to the District Court, Rodriguez claimed that: "Subsequent to my arrival, I was place [sic] in eminent [sic] fear of my life when Carlos Rivas attach [sic] me without provocation, put his arm around my neck, and attempted (my view at the time) to strangle me." This account was corroborated by Garcia, who entered the house after he parked the ambulance. He testified that as he climbed the stairs to the Rivases' apartment he saw Rodriguez and Mrs. Rivas run out of the apartment into a small vestibule at the top of the stairwell followed by Mr. Rivas, who he claims came towards Rodriguez and "put his hands on her shoulders, like choking."
Garcia claims he ducked under Mr. Rivas's arm and wedged himself between Rodriguez and Mr. Rivas, so that he could push Mr. Rivas back. Garcia described Mr. Rivas, who stood approximately 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighed 240 pounds, as "physically strong." Garcia even went so far as to describe the situation as "life-threatening." Mrs. Rivas disputes these statements as well, claiming that Garcia "did not put his body weight against my husband to protect [Rodriguez], since there was nothing to protect her from."
It is undisputed that Garcia told Rodriguez to go into the apartment and call for police backup. Meanwhile, Mr. Rivas walked through the living room and into a bathroom, where he sat down on a closed toilet and rested his head against a windowsill. Garcia followed closely behind and waited outside the bathroom. After calling for backup, Rodriguez questioned Mrs. Rivas in the kitchen about her husband's condition.
The first two police officers to respond to the request for assistance were Robert Callaghan and Paul Slater. Officer Callaghan testified that he and Officer Slater were informed upon their arrival by Garcia that a male patient inside the apartment had assaulted Rodriguez.1 Officer Callaghan also testified that he and Officer Slater did not receive "any information as to Mr. Rivas' physical condition," but this was disputed by Garcia and Rodriguez, who signed an incident report which states that: "Upon arrival of Police ... EMT G. Garcia informed the officer's [sic] of the patient's medical history (diabetes and possible seizure hx: RX: Rezulin)."
The two officers proceeded directly to the bathroom, where they found Mr. Rivas sitting on the closed toilet. Officer Callaghan instructed Mr. Rivas to leave the bathroom. Mr. Rivas complied, but remained silent. It was around this time that a third police officer, Rosario Capuana, entered the apartment. As the three officers escorted Mr. Rivas through the kitchen, Officer Slater claims to have noticed a large knife on the kitchen table, prompting him to remark, Officer Slater testified that when he placed his hand on Mr. Rivas's shoulder to direct him into the living room, Mr. Rivas became very aggressive and began punching and pushing him in the chest. Officers Slater and Callaghan claim they reacted by trying to restrain Mr. Rivas, and that they all fell to the floor of the living room.
Mrs. Rivas, who was standing in the kitchen when her husband exited the bathroom, paints a very different picture of what transpired. She agrees that one of the officers grabbed her husband's shoulder as they walked through the kitchen, but she claims her husband merely pulled his shoulder away and that he did not attack any of the officers. She testified that the officers threw her husband to the floor without any provocation.
Officer Capuana provided yet a third version. He testified that he was walking in front of Mr. Rivas through the kitchen when he suddenly heard grunting noises behind him. When he turned around, he saw Mr. Rivas experience what appeared to be a seizure, grunting and shaking violently. At his deposition, Capuana could not recall what Officers Slater and Callaghan were doing at the time, but he was confident that no one was touching Mr. Rivas. He testified that Mr. Rivas fell to the ground and began swinging violently and kicking and that he (Officer Capuana) and the other two officers tried to control Mr. Rivas.
The struggle on the living room floor between Mr. Rivas, who fell onto his stomach, and the three police officers continued for several minutes. Officer Slater, who was attempting to restrain Mr. Rivas's left arm, later described it as "a life and death game of twister." Officer Callaghan, who says he was on Mr. Rivas's other side and was attempting to restrain his right arm, testified that Mr. Rivas was "extremely strong, struggled violently and kept pulling away." The third officer, Capuana, kneeled behind Mr. Rivas and tried to pin down his legs. Officer Capuana testified that Mr. Rivas lost control of his bladder during the struggle.
All three officers allege that at one point during the struggle, Mr. Rivas tried to grab Officer Callaghan's pistol from his holster. Officer Capuana testified that Mr. Rivas "actually had it palmed in his hand," but that Officer Callaghan was able to push Mr. Rivas's hand away. Mrs. Rivas disputes this allegation, claiming that her husband, who was on his stomach throughout the struggle, merely reached around blindly with his arm and touched Officer Callaghan's thigh. Officers Callaghan and Slater also allege that they were bitten by Mr. Rivas.2
Garcia and Rodriguez stayed out of the fray, but observed most of the altercation. Garcia remembers one of the officers sitting on Mr. Rivas's back, around...
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