Bosworth v. City Of San Jose

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedJanuary 30, 2020
Docket5:18-cv-05459
StatusUnknown

This text of Bosworth v. City Of San Jose (Bosworth v. City Of San Jose) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bosworth v. City Of San Jose, (N.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10

11 Case No. 18-cv-05459-NC

12 JESSE BOSWORTH, et al., ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART 13 Plaintiffs, DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; 14 v. DENYING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY 15 CITY OF SAN JOSE, et al., JUDGMENT; DISMISSING PLAINTIFFS NANCY 16 Defendants. BOSWORTH AND ELIZABETH CAMPBELL FROM THE CASE 17 Re: Dkt. Nos. 71, 72 18 19 This case arises out of the San Jose Police Department’s warrantless entry into the 20 home of Jesse Bosworth, his mother Nancy Bosworth, and his grandmother Elizabeth 21 Campbell to arrest Jesse. Officers deployed a police dog into the home that bit Jesse while 22 he slept, resulting in injuries requiring hospital treatment. Plaintiffs Jesse Bosworth, Ms. 23 Bosworth, and Ms. Campbell sue defendants the City of San Jose and individual officers 24 for violations of their constitutional rights. The principal issue before the Court on cross- 25 motions for summary judgment is whether the officers are entitled to qualified immunity 26 for both their warrantless entry into the home and for the force used by the dog, Jax. 27 Defendants move for summary judgment on all of Plaintiffs’ claims. Dkt. No. 71. 1 Clear. Dkt. No. 71. The Court FINDS that the officers are entitled to qualified immunity 2 as to their deployment of the dog, but not for the warrantless entry into the home. The 3 Court DENIES the defendants’ motion for summary judgment as to Jesse Bosworth’s 4 claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress and violations of California Civil 5 Code § 52.1 (the Bane Act) against the individual officers and the City of San Jose due to 6 genuine factual disputes underlying those claims. 7 The Court GRANTS the defendants’ motion for summary judgment as to the 8 Monell claims against the City of San Jose for lack of evidence in the record of the city’s 9 policy, practice, or custom. The Court GRANTS the defendants’ motion for summary 10 judgment as to the state law claims brought by Ms. Bosworth and Ms. Campbell based on 11 their failure to file a government claim and therefore DISMISSES them from the case. 12 The Court DENIES the plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment in its entirety 13 because genuine disputes of material fact exist as to all claims challenged in that motion. 14 I. BACKGROUND 15 A. Undisputed Facts 16 1. The Investigation 17 On August 10, 2017, San Jose police officers responded to a reported robbery and 18 assault outside a Panda Express in West San Jose. Dkt. No. 71, Att. 2, Declaration of 19 Officer Clear at ¶ 3; Dkt. No. 71, Ex. 11. A man had thrown a woman on the ground, 20 pinned her arm behind her back, and left with her purse, $170 in cash, and her cell phone. 21 Clear Decl. ¶¶ 5–7; Dkt. No. 71, Exs. 4 and 5. A witness who was inside the Panda 22 Express described the incident to Officers Jennifer Clear and Richard Harrison, and the 23 woman who had been robbed identified the man who had robbed her as “Jesse Boz.” Id. 24 After Officer Clear showed the woman a photo of Jesse Bosworth, she confirmed that he 25 was the man who had robbed her. Id. 26 San Jose police officers were already familiar with Jesse Bosworth: a month earlier, 27 he was arrested for robbery and resisted arrest. Clear Decl. ¶ 9; Dkt. No. 71, Ex. 20 at 1 involved in that prior arrest. Clear Decl. ¶ 9. 2 Officer Clear investigated Jesse Bosworth’s whereabouts and learned that he lived 3 with his mother, Nancy Bosworth, and grandmother, Elizabeth Campbell. Id. at ¶¶ 10–11. 4 Officer Clear learned that Ms. Bosworth and Ms. Campbell had a restraining order against 5 Jesse issued in June of that year based on reported domestic disputes, which had recently 6 been modified to allow Bosworth to have “peaceful contact” with his mother and 7 grandmother. Id. Officer Clear made a plan to arrest Bosworth. Ex. 16 at 55:19–56:11. 8 She did not obtain a search warrant or an arrest warrant. Id. 9 Officer Clear assembled Officers Harrison, Segura, Mario Tatom, Topui Fonua, and 10 Erin Arana, as well as other SJPD resources, at a City maintenance yard near the Bosworth 11 home. Clear Decl. ¶ 15; Ex. 16 at 37:11–38:13. They planned to station officers around 12 the perimeter of the property in case Jesse tried to escape, to bring stun bags, and to have a 13 police dog ready if needed. Id. at ¶ 16; Ex. 19 at 30:2–12. The police proceeded to the 14 Bosworth home and arrived around 10:00 p.m. Sergeant Robert Finnie, Officer Clear’s 15 supervisor, met them at the house. Ex. 17 at 6:19–7:14. 16 2. The Entry 17 Video and audio footage from multiple officers’ body-worn cameras depicts the 18 events that took place at the Bosworth home and are in the court record. First, Officer 19 Clear called the house by phone and spoke with Ms. Bosworth, who told her that Jesse was 20 at home. Dkt. No. 71, Ex. 6 at 2:50–4:08. Officer Clear asked if Ms. Bosworth and Ms. 21 Campbell were safe, and then said, “Would you guys mind stepping out of the house so 22 that we can see that you’re safe? And then we’re going to need to speak with him.” Id. 23 Ms. Bosworth exited the house, and Officer Segura asked her, “Can she come out also? 24 You can stay here, can you just let her know to come out?” Dkt. No. 72, Ex. J, 2:15. Ms. 25 Bosworth called to Ms. Campbell, “Mom, they need you to come out.” Id. Ms. Campbell 26 exited the home as Officer Segura said, “Come on, come on, ma’am, come on over here.” 27 Id. By this time, officers had secured the perimeter of the home. Dkt. No. 72, Ex. 6 at 1 The women stood in the driveway, Ms. Campbell barefoot. Dkt. No. 71, Ex. 6, at 2 6:15–7:50. They had a conversation with Officers Clear and Segura about their dog, who 3 was in the house; the women re-entered to put their dog in the bathroom with the door 4 closed. Dkt. No. 71, Ex. 8, at 2:10. Back in the driveway, the following conversation 5 ensued1:

6 Officer Clear: Can you tell me where his room is and do you mind if we go in there? 7 Ms. Bosworth: It’s just right in the door—you make your right at the hallway, it’s 8 the first door on the left.

9 Officer Clear: Make a right and it’s the first door on the left? Okay. Do you mind if we go in there? 10 Officer Segura: Nobody else is in the house? 11 Ms. Bosworth: Nobody else is in the house. 12 Ms. Campbell, at the same time: No. 13 Ms. Bosworth: Our German Shepherd is locked in the bathroom, which is directly 14 across from his room—

15 Ms. Campbell, at the same time: Yeah, that’s on the right, when you go down the hall it’s on the right. 16 Ms. Bosworth: —so make sure you go to the left. 17 Officer Segura, at the same time: The reason we are here is he is wanted for a 18 robbery—

19 Ms. Bosworth: What?

20 Officer Segura: —your son. So we need to talk to him.

21 Ms. Bosworth: Okay, he’s in his room, to the left, yes, not the right, that’s where our dog is. 22 Ms. Campbell: You want me to show you which one? 23

24 Officer Segura: No, no, no. 25 1 The Court created this transcription based on the officers’ bodyworn camera footage, 26 which was filed by both parties as exhibits to the cross-motions for summary judgment. Defendants filed Exhibits 4–10 to the Declaration of Keith Neumer via thumb drive at Dkt. 27 No. 71, Att. 9, and Plaintiffs filed Exhibits B, I, J, and K via CD at Dkt. No. 72, Att. 2. 1 Ms. Bosworth: Okay, you make a right turn, go down the hall, on the left, he’s in there. 2 Officer Clear: He’s awake? 3 Ms. Bosworth: Mm-hmm. 4 Officer Clear: Okay, does he know we’re here? 5 Ms. Bosworth: I believe so. 6 Officer Clear: Okay, does he have any weapons? 7 Ms. Bosworth: No. 8 9 Officer Clear then attempted twice to call Jesse’s cell phone to ask him to come out, 10 but he did not answer. Id. at 7:40–9:40. Meanwhile, a police helicopter circled overhead. 11 Id. Ms.

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Bosworth v. City Of San Jose, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bosworth-v-city-of-san-jose-cand-2020.