Shoup v. Doyle

• Decision Date: 24 September 2013
• Docket Number: Case No. 3:12–cv–351.
• Citation: 974 F.Supp.2d 1058
• Parties: Patsy J. SHOUP, Plaintiff, v. Brian M. DOYLE, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio

974 F.Supp.2d 1058

Patsy J. SHOUP, Plaintiff,

v.Brian M. DOYLE, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 3:12–cv–351.

United States District Court,

S.D. Ohio,

Western Division.

Sept. 24, 2013.

Patrick Keith Dunphy, Falke & Dunphy LLC, Dayton, OH, for Plaintiff.

Jared A. Wagner, Jane Michele Lynch, Green & Green, Dayton, OH, for Defendants.

DECISION AND ENTRY SUSTAINING IN PART AND OVERRULING IN PART DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS (DOC. # 7); PLAINTIFF'S FOURTH CLAIM (MALICIOUS PROSECUTION UNDER STATE LAW), TENTH CLAIM (MALICIOUS PROSECUTION UNDER FEDERAL LAW), SEVENTH CLAIM AND ALL STATE LAW CLAIMS AGAINST DEFENDANT THE CITY OF HUBER HEIGHTS, AND THIRTEENTH CLAIM (PUNITIVE DAMAGES) ARE DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE; PLAINTIFF'S FIRST CLAIM (ASSAULT), SECOND CLAIM (FALSE IMPRISONMENT), THIRD CLAIM (FALSE ARREST), FIFTH CLAIM (INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS), SIXTH CLAIM (INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS), EIGHTH CLAIM (UNLAWFUL SEIZURE), ELEVENTH CLAIM (DELIBERATE INDIFFERENCE), AND TWELFTH CLAIM (FAILURE TO TRAIN) ARE DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE; PLAINTIFF GRANTED LEAVE TO AMEND COMPLAINT WITHIN TWENTY (20) DAYS TO REPLEAD CLAIMS DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE, WITH NOTICE OF DEFENDANTS' INVOCATION OF QUALIFIED IMMUNITY AGAINST PLAINTIFF'S FEDERAL CLAIMS; ALL AMENDMENTS MUST TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE STRICTURES OF RULE 11 OF THE FEDERAL RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE.

WALTER H. RICE, District Judge.

Plaintiff Patsy J. Shoup (“Shoup” or “Plaintiff”) filed suit against the City of Huber Heights, Ohio (“City”), police officers Brian M. Doyle (“Officer Doyle”), Shawn F. Waler (“Officer Waler”), Anthony W. Ashley (“Officer Ashley”), and firefighter/paramedics Clifford B. Koss (“Koss”) and James N. Kuntz (“Kuntz”) (collectively, “Defendants”), alleging deprivation of her constitutional rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and various Ohio common law tort claims. The Court has original jurisdiction over Shoup's federal claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1343(a)(3), which allows for the Court's supplemental jurisdiction over her state law claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a).

Pending before the Court is Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (Doc. # 7), brought under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY¹

Plaintiff Shoup is a resident of Greene County, Ohio, and is employed by the Veteran's Administration in Dayton, Ohio. On Friday, October 22, 2010, sometime after 4:00 p.m., Shoup left work and traveled to the home of her adult daughter, Carrie A. Sports (“Sports”). Sports lived in Huber Heights with her two children, a twelve year old daughter and a one year old son.

After Shoup arrived, while inside her daughter's house, a home invasion occurred. Two males and one female, unknown to either Shoup or Sports, forced their way into Sports's house and violently assaulted both of them. Shoup instructed her granddaughter to take the baby into the laundry room and hide. Sports was “pulled outside, beaten, kicked, and sexually assaulted by the assailants,” resulting in “visible injuries on her face, neck, and arms.” Shoup herself was “beaten, kicked, and struck violently in the face by the assailants,” which caused both “serious visible injuries to her face,” as well as “traumatic brain injury, specifically, subarachnoid hemorrhage and cerebral concussion.”

Shoup was able to call 911 during the ordeal, and neighbors called as well. Upon arrival, Officer Doyle was approached by Sports, who was visibly injured. Sports informed him that both she and her mother had been attacked. As Officer Doyle and Sports approached the house, Shoup emerged onto the porch holding Sports's baby son. Officer Doyle asked Shoup to hand the baby to a neighbor. Shoup, who did not know the neighbor and was afraid for her grandson's safety, did not want to hand him over.

Officer Doyle then “grabbed Plaintiff's arm, threw her to the ground and handcuffed her” before placing her in the back of a police car. He told her that she was “under arrest for obstructing justice.” Shoup made repeated pleas to Officer Doyle to release her so that “she could go back and check on her daughter and grandchildren,” but his only response was to “tell her she was going to be charged with a crime.” Officer Doyle then left her in the cruiser, “unattended,” and still in handcuffs. From where the car was parked, Shoup could not see any of the police officers. During this time, one of the assailants, who was armed with a gun, was still at large. Shoup states that she “was injured, very upset, could hardly breath [sic], and was terrified to be left alone in the cruiser.”

After Officer Doyle returned, Shoup asked to be taken to the hospital. Koss and Kuntz, two firefighter/paramedics who had been dispatched to the scene, approached Officer Doyle's car and “looked at” Shoup while she was still inside. In front of Koss and Kuntz, Officer Doyle asked Shoup why should thought she needed to go to the hospital. Shoup, who was crying, had a lip split open, and felt a “terrible pressure on her chest,” could not respond before Officer Doyle said: “See there, she can't even think of why she needs to go to the hospital.” After Shoup stated that she needed to go to the hospital because of her “badly cut” mouth, Officer Doyle responded: “That's because you got busted in the mouth!” Shoup alleges that he had a “very belligerent and disrespectful” tone of voice when talking to her.

Koss and Kuntz completed an incident report stating the following: Shoup told them that several people had attacked her; she had been “punched in the jaw,” and her jaw hurt; she “was very upset and crying almost hysterically;” after asking if she was okay, Shoup answered, three times, that she could not breathe; she had “dried blood around her lips;” she complained of chest pain and asked to go to the hospital “immediately;” and, in a statement that Shoup characterizes as an attempt “to ridicule” her, that she “was playing games with ems and police trying to get out of arrest.” At this time, Shoup alleges that she was “experiencing a hypertensive crisis,” because her blood pressure was 180/90. Koss and Kuntz left the scene without providing Shoup with medical care or taking her to the hospital.

Shoup was “eventually released” ² and taken by her family to Kettering Hospital. There, she reported the injuries she had suffered, including being punched and kicked in the head. Shoup complained of dizziness, nausea, head pain, and a loss of consciousness. After concluding that Shoup had suffered a concussion, a cerebral contusion, a contusion to her right shoulder, and a lacerated lip, the physicians concluded that the “seriousness of her injuries” required her transfer to the trauma center at Miami Valley Hospital. There, her diagnosis was augmented to include a contusion to her left chin and a subarachnoid hemorrhage. After two days at Miami Valley Hospital, Shoup was discharged on October 24, 2010.

Shoup filed suit on October 21, 2011, in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County, Ohio, and originally alleged only state law claims against Defendants. Doc. # 1. After Shoup was granted leave to amend, she filed an Amended Complaint on October 12, 2012, in which she also alleged violations of her federal constitutional rights and sought recovery under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441, Defendants removed the case to this Court.

Shoup's Amended Complaint presents thirteen claims. Doc. # 2. The first seven allege claims under Ohio law, to wit: assault and battery against Officer Doyle (First Claim); false arrest against Officer Doyle (Second Claim); false imprisonment against Officer Doyle (Third Claim); malicious prosecution against Officer Doyle (Fourth Claim); intentional infliction of emotional distress against Officers Doyle, Waler, and Ashley (Fifth Claim); intentional infliction of emotional distress against Koss and Kuntz (Sixth Claim); and a claim against the City, stating that it has a duty to indemnify Koss, Kuntz, and Officers Doyle, Waler, and Ashley (Seventh Claim).

Shoup's remaining claims arise under 42 U.S.C. § 1983: a claim for unlawful seizure against Officer Doyle (Eighth Claim); a claim of excessive force against Officer Doyle (Ninth Claim); a claim for malicious prosecution against Officer Doyle (Tenth Claim); a claim of deliberate indifference to her serious medical needs against Doyle, Koss, and Kuntz (Eleventh Claim); a claim against the City for failure to train Officer Doyle (Twelfth Claim); and a claim against Doyle, Koss, and Kuntz for punitive damages (Thirteenth Claim).

Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss on November 10, 2012, arguing that Shoup's claims, as stated, fail to establish any constitutional violation against her and cannot overcome the qualified immunity defense to which Defendants are entitled. Doc. # 7. Shoup filed a Memorandum in Opposition to Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (Doc. # 16) on December 21, 2012, and Defendants filed a Reply Memorandum in Support of Their Motion to Dismiss (Doc. # 17) on January 7, 2013.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW—MOTION TO DISMISS

Under Rule 8(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a complaint must present “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief” to satisfy the pleading standard of the federal courts. “Specific facts are not necessary,” as the statement need only provide the defendant fair notice of the nature of the claim and upon what grounds it rests. Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007) (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). Nevertheless, Rule 8(a)(2) “imposes both legal and factual demands on the authors of complaints.” 16630 Southfield Ltd. Partnership v. Flagstar Bank, F.S.B., 727 F.3d 502 (6th Cir.2013) (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955 and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009)). Thus, ...