Sayan-Resto v. Berrios

• Decision Date: 27 March 2013
• Docket Number: Civil No. 10–1562 (ADC).
• Citation: 933 F.Supp.2d 252
• Parties: Adaliz SAYAN–RESTO, Plaintiff, v. Angel BERRIOS, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico

933 F.Supp.2d 252

Adaliz SAYAN–RESTO, Plaintiff,

v.Angel BERRIOS, et al., Defendants.

Civil No. 10–1562 (ADC).

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico.

March 27, 2013.

Adriana G. Sanchez–Pares, Alvaro R. Calderon, Jr., Alvaro R. Calderon, Jr., LLP, San Juan, PR, for Plaintiff.

Victor A. Ramos–Rodriguez, Victor A. Ramos Rodriguez Law Office, Carolina, PR, Wilfredo Diaz–Narvaez, Wilfredo Diaz Narvaez Law Office, Lavinia Aparicio–Lopez, Commonwealth Department of Justice, San Juan, PR, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

AIDA M. DELGADO–COLÓN, Chief Judge.

Adaliz Sayán–Resto (“Sayán” or “plaintiff”) filed the present complaint against several defendants pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (“Section 1983”) for violations of her rights under the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments. ECF No. 1.¹ Plaintiff also sought this Court's supplemental jurisdiction over violations to Sections 1, 4, 7, and 8 of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Commonwealth's tort statutes, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, §§ 5141 et seq.Id. Now before the Court is co-defendants' José Figueroa–Sancha, Emilio Díaz–Colón, José Caldero–López, David Ortiz–Echevarría, Daniel Rosa–Bonilla and Aníbal Martínez–Martínez' (collectively “co-defendants”) motion to dismiss the fourth amended complaint (ECF No. 146) and plaintiff's opposition thereto (ECF No. 147). For the reasons discussed herein, co-defendants' motion (ECF No. 86) is

GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.

I. Factual Background

Plaintiff brings suit against Emilio Díaz–Colón (“Díaz–Colón”); José Figueroa–Sancha (“Figueroa–Sancha”); David Ortíz–Echevarría (“Ortíz–Echevarría”); José Caldero–López (“Caldero–López”), Mary Doe, and their Conjugal Partnership; Daniel Rosa–Bonilla (“Rosa–Bonilla”), Flo Doe, and their Conjugal Partnership; Ángel Berríos (“Berríos”), Jane Doe, and their Conjugal Partnership; Aníbal Martínez–Martínez' (“Martínez”), Flo Doe, and their Conjugal Partnership; and ABC Insurance Co.²ECF No. 146. Unless otherwise noted, the relevant allegations, which are assumed to be true, are derived from plaintiff's fourth amended complaint. Id.

Plaintiff is legally married to Mr. Victor Narváez (“Narváez”); yet they have been separated since November 27, 2009. Id. at ¶ 3.1. On the afternoon of February 24, 2010, plaintiff took Narváez (to a medical appointment because he did not have a means of transportation. During a discussion on the way back to his house from the appointment, Narváez assaulted plaintiff, hitting her face with his fists, and bruising and cutting one of her cheekbones. Id. at ¶ 3.2. During the assault, construction workers, who were close to the car, opened the car door and dragged Narváez out, at which point plaintiff was freed from his grasp.

Moments later, plaintiff received a call on her personal mobile phone from codefendant, Sergeant Berríos, calling from Puerto Rico Police Headquarters. Berríos informed plaintiff that Narváez had filed an assault complaint against her under Law 54 and ordered her to appear at headquarters. Sergeant Berríos threatened plaintiff that if she did not report promptly to headquarters, he would order her arrest. Id. at ¶ 3.3. During this conversation, plaintiff tried to explain that she was the one assaulted by her husband and that he had cut her face. Plaintiff also told Sergeant Berríos that she urgently needed medical assistance to suture her face. Berríos refused to listen to plaintiff, threatened her, and once again ordered her to appear at police headquarters. Id. at ¶ 3.4. Plaintiff immediately drove to police headquarters and reported to Berríos who, after looking at plaintiff and her medically unattended face, locked her inside a cell for approximately five hours without any medical assistance. Id. at ¶ 3.5. Berríos ordered a female agent to search plaintiff and ordered plaintiff to take off her shoes and turn in her belongings. At approximately 5:30 p.m., Sergeant Berríos locked plaintiff in a cell. Id. at ¶ 3.6.

Berríos did not show plaintiff the complaint filed against her and he did not give her any information regarding the same. He did not allow her to file her own complaint or declaration. Id. at ¶ 3.7. While plaintiff remained in the cell, Berríos did not provide her with a phone call, water, food or even something to clean the blood off her face. Moreover, he did not read plaintiff her rights or advise her of her right to an attorney. Id. at ¶ 3.8. A couple of hours later, police personnel from the Puerto Rico Police Department's Law 54 division in Carolina arrived at headquarters to process the alleged Law 54 complaint against plaintiff. When the Law 54 policewoman saw the blood and bruises on plaintiff's face, she refused to file charges or process the case, stating that it was evident that plaintiff was the one assaulted. Id. at ¶ 3.9.

The Law 54 policewoman questioned Sergeant Berríos as to whether plaintiff had received any medical assistance, to which he responded that no female agents were present to take plaintiff to the hospital. However, plaintiff alleges that there was a female agent present, who searched her when she was incarcerated. The Law 54 policewoman left headquarters without processing the case against plaintiff. Id. at ¶ 3.10. Plaintiff later received a visit from a friend who was in charge of her children while she was detained. However, Berríos did not allow plaintiff's friend to visit her and remarked that she should arrange to visit plaintiff at the Women's Prison in Vega Alta “because she was going to be there for a very long time.” Plaintiff's friend left. Id. at ¶ 3.11.

Several hours later, plaintiff was still in pain and detained in the cell, without any provisions. She screamed desperately, asking for a pain reliever or to be taken to the hospital. At that moment, a policewoman, Agent González, appeared and asked plaintiff what was wrong and inquired about her injuries. Plaintiff relayed the events of the day. Apparently, Berríos had left headquarters when his shift ended, and left plaintiff in her cell. Id. at ¶ 3.12.

Agent González left the reception area to investigate the complaint filed against plaintiff. When she came back to plaintiff's cell, Agent González stated that she did not find any complaint filed against her, nor did she find any entries in the precinct logbook related to her case. She let plaintiff out of the cell to take her to the hospital at approximately 10:30 p.m. Id. at ¶ 3.13. In order to follow procedure, Agent González created a blank complaint, explaining that she could not take plaintiff to a hospital without a complaint number. She took plaintiff's statement at 10:30 p.m. Id. at ¶ 3.14.

Agent González took plaintiff to the University of Puerto Rico's Hospital in Carolina at approximately 11:10 p.m. However, the emergency room doctor informed plaintiff that, due to the amount of time that had elapsed, he was unable to suture the cut on her face. He cleaned her face and gave her pain medications. By the time plaintiff left the hospital, it was past midnight. Id. at ¶ 3.15.

Agent González then took plaintiff to the Law 54 Division headquarters in Carolina to investigate and/or process the alleged complaint filed against plaintiff. Agents in headquarters informed Agent González, in plaintiff's presence, that the matter had been badly managed in the Iturregui Avenue headquarters and that plaintiff's rights had been violated. The agents in the Law 54 Division refused to process any complaint against the plaintiff and requested she come back the following day to speak to a supervisor. Id. at ¶ 3.16. Plaintiff was released at approximately 2:00 a.m. Id. at ¶ 3.17.

Plaintiff was fearful of going back to police headquarters the following day because Sergeant Berríos was working there. Plaintiff went directly to the Women's Ombudsman, located in the Court of First Instance, Carolina Part, to request that the meeting be held there. Id. at ¶ 3.18. There, plaintiff met with the Law 54 Carolina Division supervisor, Sergeant Carmen Marcano, who requested that plaintiff file a Law 54 complaint against her husband. She stated that the division would be in trouble if the complaint was not filed, given how matters were handled the night before. Marcano assured plaintiff that she would assign a good agent to process the case against her husband. Plaintiff then filed the Law 54 complaint against her husband on February 25, 2010 at around 2:00 p.m., while the other agents accompanying Marcano left the Court to arrest her husband. Id. at ¶ 3.19. Subsequently, plaintiff's husband was accused and found guilty of Law 54 violations and assault. Id. at ¶ 3.20.

Sergeant Berríos was never removed from his position as the supervisor in the Carolina Precinct. As a result, plaintiff fears for her life and liberty every time she sees a patrol car or is around the precinct. She lives in a constant state of anxiety and nervousness, thinking that Berríos might retaliate against her. Id. at ¶ 3.21. Since plaintiff was not provided medical assistance for approximately seven hours after her husband beat her, her face could not be sutured and now she has a permanent scar. Id. at ¶ 3.23.

Berríos knew that a complaint had not been filed against plaintiff, yet proceeded to search, seize and arrest plaintiff and denied her medical assistance, water, food, phone call, the right to an attorney, due process rights, and the right to file her own complaint. Id. at ¶ 3.24. Before these events transpired, the co-defendants knew that Berríos had incurred in a pattern of aggressive and negligent behavior since 1989, yet none of them took corrective measures or actions against him. Even after the events concerning plaintiff occurred, no corrective action has been taken against Berríos to prevent him from repeating such acts. Plaintiff's requested administrative investigation has not rendered any results or determinations. Id. at ¶ 3.25.

Berríos' first...