Turner v. Kight, CIV.A. AW-01-1408.

• Decision Date: 25 March 2002
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A. AW-01-1408.,CIV.A. AW-01-1408.
• Parties: Sherri A. TURNER, Plaintiff, v. Raymond M. KIGHT, et al. Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

192 F.Supp.2d 391

Sherri A. TURNER, Plaintiff, v. Raymond M. KIGHT, et al. Defendants.

No. CIV.A. AW-01-1408.

United States District Court, D. Maryland. Southern Division.

March 25, 2002.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Ralph T Byrd, Laytonsville, MD, for Sherri A. Turner.

Frank William Mann, Office of the Atty. Gen., Baltimore, MD, for Raymond M. Kight, Bruce P. Sherman, Rodney Brown, Richard Kane, Robin Lewis, William Pechnick, Eric Brown, Brian Phillips.

Joann Robertson, Montgomery County Attorney's Office, Rockville, MD, Patricia P. Via, Montgomery County Attorney's Office, Rockville, MD, for Arthur M. Wallenstein, T.L. Hicks, R. Andrews, Montgomery County, MD.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

WILLIAMS, District Judge.

This case arises out of various claims of federal civil rights and state constitutional and common law violations related to the arrest and detention of Plaintiff Sherri A. Turner by Defendants Raymond M. Kight Bruce P. Sherman, Rodney Brown, Richard Kane, Robin Lewis, William Pechnick, Eric Brown, and Brian Phillips ("State Defendants"), as well as Defendants Arthur M. Wallenstein, Theresa Hicks, Robert Andrews, and Montgomery County ("County Defendants"). Several motions are pending before the Court: (1) State Defendants' Motion to Dismiss and/or for Summary Judgment [7-1; 7-2]; (2) County Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Complaint, or in the Alternative, for Summary Judgment [8-1; 8-2]; (3) State Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint, or in the Alternative, for Summary Judgment, or in the Alternative to Strike [12-1; 12-2]; (4) County Defendants Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint and/or Motion for Summary Judgment [13-1; 13-2]; (5) Plaintiff's Cross-Motion for Continuance to Permit Discovery [14-1]; and (6) Plaintiff's Motion to Excuse Late Filing [17-1].

The Court has reviewed the pleadings and applicable law and has determined that no hearing is necessary. See D. Md. R. 105(6). For the reasons stated below, the Court will deny as moot both the State and County Defendants' Motions to Dismiss, or the in Alternative, for Summary Judgment. The Court will grant summary judgment to the Defendants on Counts I through VIII, and Counts X and XI. In addition, the Court will grant Defendant's Motion to Dismiss on Counts IX and XII. The Court will dismiss all remaining state counts (Counts XIII to XIX). Finally, the Court will deny Plaintiff's Motion for Continuance to Permit Discovery and will grant Plaintiff's Motion to Excuse Late Filing.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff is a forty-five year old African American physician who resides in Montgomery County, Maryland. As a result of an automobile accident in 1997, Plaintiff sustained spinal cord injuries, which she claims rendered her disabled. See Pl.'s Am. Compl. at ¶ 6. On February 7, 2002, Plaintiff's fifteen-year old daughter was struck by an automobile and hospitalized for a week. Plaintiff stayed with her daughter during the hospitalization period, and as a result missed a February 9, 2000 appearance in the District Court of Maryland for Montgomery County for an oral examination in aid of enforcement of a former landlord's money judgment.

Plaintiff claims that she sent a letter dated March 7, 2000, to the state court requesting a new appearance date for the following summer. On March 30, 2000, however, the state court issued an arrest warrant for Plaintiff on a charge of contempt of court. According to the arrest warrant, Turner was required to post bond in the amount of $5,500.00. On April 6, 2000, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office sent Plaintiff a notice advising her of the arrest warrant and requesting her immediate response. Allegedly without knowledge of the March 30 arrest warrant, Plaintiff sent the court a second letter by certified mail on April 7, 2000.

Plaintiff claims that upon receipt of the April 6 notice, she initiated telephone calls over the next three days to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and spoke with three individuals, including Defendant Kane. During the conversations, Plaintiff claims that she explained that she is disabled, needed to arrange handicap transport, and advised Defendant Kane that she would call him ahead of time to let him know when she was coming so that she could come in and handle the matter expeditiously. State Defendants claim that on April 7, 2000, Plaintiff contacted the Sheriff's Office and advised it that she would turn herself in on April 13, 2000. See State Defs.'s Mot. to Dismiss, or in the Alternative, for Summ. J., or, in the Alternative, to Strike ("Defs.'s Mot. to Dismiss") at 3. State Defendants claim that Plaintiff called again to change the turn-in date to April 14, 2000. However, Plaintiff did not appear on either date, nor did she call to schedule an alternative date. Id.

Five days later, on April 19, 2002, Defendants Lewis and Pechnick, along with a third officer, went to Plaintiff's home. Plaintiff alleges that Defendants Lewis and Pechnick "stormed into Plaintiff's residence while Plaintiff was in bed, terrifying Plaintiff's daughters." Pl.'s Am. Compl. at ¶ 27. Plaintiff claims that Defendant Lewis shouted orders to Plaintiff and told her "`to stop talking because she was going to jail' and that she `understood' Plaintiff and Plaintiff's `game.'" Id. at ¶ 28. Plaintiff alleges that she informed Defendant Lewis that she had been in touch with Defendant Kane, and after verifying that information, Defendant Lewis told Plaintiff to come to the Sheriff's Office by April 21, 2000, or else be arrested and spend the weekend in jail. State Defendants claim that during the visit, they "observed Turner walking down the steps of her home `without the assistance of a cane or a noticeable limp'" and that they agreed not to arrest Turner, but to allow her a third opportunity to turn herself in. State Defs.'s Mot. to Dismiss at 4.

On April 20, 2000, unbeknownst to Plaintiff, the District Court of Maryland for Montgomery County set a May 17, 2000 hearing on Plaintiff's Motion to Strike Body Attachment. On April 21, 2000, Plaintiff came to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office with her fourteen-year old daughter. Defendant Pechnick instructed Plaintiff to leave her pocketbook and to accompany him, which she did. Plaintiff alleges that she was then "taken to a room, handcuffed to a table and arrested." Plaintiff claims that Defendant Pechnick then searched Plaintiff and required her to surrender all her belongings, including her medicine and neck brace, copies of the papers Plaintiff had filed with the court, and documentation about her medical disability. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Pechnick noted Plaintiff's three spinal surgery scars, and commented that the scars were "`nothing, they will go away.'" Pl.'s Am. Compl. at ¶ 33.

Plaintiff next alleges that Defendant Pechnick drove her to a holding cell at the District Court of Maryland for Montgomery County and that when she asked for her neck brace and medicine to alleviate pain and muscle spasms, Defendant Pechnick refused her request. Plaintiff then alleges that she was detained for four hours without any lunch, was in "excruciating pain and suffering from muscle spasms and stiffness," and was once again denied her medication and neck brace. Id. at ¶ 36.

Plaintiff claims that she was then taken to see a judge, who refused to listen to her explanation about her motion to strike body attachment and required that she post a $100.00 cash bond before her release. Plaintiff was then taken to a holding cell for two hours while her daughter attempted to post bond. Plaintiff claims that her daughter was incorrectly informed that Plaintiff had $20.00, and that as a result, her daughter attempted to post only $80.00, only to be told that another $20.00 was required. State Defendants contend that because Plaintiff was unable to post the $100.00 bond, Plaintiff was transferred pursuant to the state judge's order to the Montgomery County Detention Center at approximately 2:45 p.m. State Defs.'s Mot. to Dismiss at 4.

Plaintiff next alleges that Defendants Brown and Phillips took Plaintiff on a painful van ride to the Montgomery County Detention Center, during which the officers refused to answer her inquiries regarding the welfare of her child, her right to a telephone call, her medicine, her tote bag with neck brace, an opportunity to see a doctor, and how she could be expected to arrange bail. Plaintiff claims that she was made to sit without seatbelts facing a steel door and that the risk of trauma from any sudden stop caused Plaintiff to suffer paralyzing fear.

Plaintiff claims that when she arrived at the Montgomery County Detention Center, she was again denied her medication and medical attention and was subjected to "a prolonged period of `processing'." Pl.'s Am. Compl. at ¶ 44. On the other hand, Plaintiff subsequently asserts that the booking process took approximately five minutes. Id. at ¶ 45. Plaintiff also alleges that she was strip searched by Defendant Hicks and then placed in a cell for six hours, during which time Defendant Hicks, Andrews, and Phillips "repeatedly taunted and mocked and denied [Plaintiff] medical attention." Id. at ¶ 47. Plaintiff claims that she continued to experience uncontrolled pain, muscle spasms, and medication withdrawal symptoms, was taunted by Defendant Phillips, and finally released at 9:30 p.m., approximately twelve and a half hours after she first arrived at the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.

Finally, Plaintiff alleges that subsequent to her release, she wrote several letters complaining of the events. She claims that Defendant R. Brown contacted her and "taunted, mocked and belittled" her. Id. at 50. In addition, she received a letter from Defendant Sherman which stated that the matter would be investigated; however, no corrective action was taken. Plaintiff also alleges that she received copy of a memorandum from a Montgomery County Council member to Defendant Wallenstein...