A.B. ex rel. Ybarra v. City of Woodland Park

174 F. Supp. 3d 1238, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41247, 2016 WL 1222859
District Court, D. Colorado·Decided March 29, 2016·No. Civil Action No. 14-cv-00151-RM·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

ORDER ON WOODLAND PARK DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (ECF NO. 69)

AND

MOTION PURSUANT TO FEDERAL RULE OF EVIDENCE 702 (ECF NO. 59)

RAYMOND P. MOORE, United States District Judge

This action arises from the fatal shooting of Plaintiffs father, Craig Bondo, after he resisted arrest for driving a stolen vehicle. The matter is before the Court on the City of Woodland Park, Christopher Moel-ler, and Andrew Liebbrand’s (collectively, the “Woodland Park Defendants”) Motion for Summary Judgment (the “Motion”) (ECF No. 69) filed pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 56. Upon consideration of the Motion, Plaintiffs Response (ECF No. 83), the Woodland Park Defendant’s Reply (ECF No. 90), the Court file, and the applicable statutes, rules and case law, and being otherwise fully advised, the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART the Motion.

I. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A. General

Summary judgment is appropriate only if there is no genuine dispute of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Henderson v. Inter-Chem. Coal Co., Inc., 41 F.3d 567, 569-70 (10th Cir.1994). “A party seeking summary judgment bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion.... ” Robertson v. Bd. of Cty. Comm’rs of the Cty. of Morgan, 78 F.Supp.2d 1142, 1146 (D.Colo.1999) (citation omitted). Whether there is a genuine dispute as to a material fact depends upon whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Stone v. Autoliv ASP, Inc., 210 F.3d 1132, 1136 (10th Cir.2000). Once the moving party meets its initial burden of demonstrating an absence of a genuine dispute of material fact, the burden then shifts to the non-moving party to move beyond the pleadings and to designate evidence which demonstrates the existence of a genuine dispute of material fact to be resolved at trial. See 1-800-Contacts, Inc. v. Lens.com, Inc., 722 F.3d 1229, 1242 (10th Cir.2013) (citation omitted). A fact is “material” if it pertains to an element of a claim or defense; a factual dispute is “genuine” if the evidence is so contradictory that if the matter went to trial, a reasonable jury could return a verdict for either party. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. In considering whether summary judgment is appropriate, the facts must be considered in a light most favorable to the non-moving party. Cillo v. City of Greenwood Vill., 739 F.3d 451, 461 (10th Cir.2013) (citations omitted).

If a movant properly supports a motion for summary judgment, the opposing party may not rest on the allegations contained in his complaint, but must respond with specific facts showing a genuine factual issue for trial. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e); Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 380, 127 S.Ct. 1769, 167 L.Ed.2d 686 (2007) (holding that “[t]he mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the re[1243] quirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact”) (citation omitted). “If a party fails to properly support an assertion of fact or fails to properly address'another party’s assertion of fact..., the court may: (1) give an opportunity to properly support or address the fact; (2) consider the fact undisputed for purposes of the motion; (3) grant summary judgment if the motion and supporting materials — including the facts considered undisputed — show that the movant is entitled to it; or (4) issue any other appropriate order.”1 Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e). “[C]onclusory, self-serving, and generalized denials” are insufficient to defeat summary judgment. Sartori v. Susan C. Little & Associates, P.A, 571 Fed.Appx. 677, 680 (10th Cir.2014).

B. Qualified Immunity

When a defendant asserts a qualified immunity defense, the plaintiff initially bears the “heavy two-part burden” of showing that the defendant’s actions violated (1) a constitutional or statutory right that, (2) was clearly established at the time of the conduct at issue. Reynolds v. Powell, 370 F.3d 1028, 1030 (10th Cir.2004); Albright v. Rodriguez, 51 F.3d 1531, 1534 (10th Cir.1995); Scull v. New Mexico, 236 F.3d 588, 595 (10th Cir.2000). If the plaintiff does not carry his burden, the defendant prevails. Reynolds, 370 F.3d at 1030. The district courts may exercise then-sound discretion in deciding which of the two-part inquiry should be addressed first in light of the circumstances of the case. Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 236, 129 S.Ct. 808, 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009). In determining whether the right was clearly established, the court assesses the objective legal reasonableness of the action at the time of the alleged violation and asks whether “the right [was] sufficiently clear that a reasonable officer would understand that what he is doing violates that right.” Wilson v. Layne, 526 U.S. 603, 615, 119 S.Ct. 1692, 143 L.Ed.2d 818 (1999); Pearson, 555 U.S. at 244, 129 S.Ct. 808.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On January 22, 2013, Defendant Christopher Moeller, a police officer of Defendant City of Woodland Park, drove his patrol car to Defendant Wal-Mart’s Woodland Park store on a personal errand, but he was on duty and wearing his uniform. While in the store, Wal-Mart personnel contacted him claiming there was a male shoplifting suspect in the store. Defendants Seth Shelton and Melissa Young, Wal-Mart employees, initially told Officer Moeller that they suspected a prior shoplifter was in the store. Subsequently, Ms. Young2 told Officer Moeller that the suspect — Mr. Bondo — was not the prior shoplifting suspect. The prior shoplifting suspect and Mr. Bondo were both Hispanic males.

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A.B. ex rel. Ybarra v. City of Woodland Park, 174 F. Supp. 3d 1238, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41247, 2016 WL 1222859 (D. Colo. 2016).

174 F. Supp. 3d 1238 (A.B. ex rel. Ybarra v. City of Woodland Park) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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