Davis v. District of Columbia

800 F. Supp. 2d 28, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79146, 2011 WL 3240439
District Court, District of Columbia·Decided July 21, 2011·No. Civil Action 10-1756 (RBW)·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

REGGIE B. WALTON, District Judge.

The plaintiff, Naishia Davis, acting as Personal Representative for the Estate of James Brodus Miller, Sr. (“Decedent”) and Next Friend for James Brodus Miller, Jr., filed an amended complaint on November 15, 2010, claiming that the District of Columbia (“the District”), a municipal corporation and the defendant in this civil case, (1) negligently caused the Decedent’s death, (2) is liable for an assault and battery sustained by the Decedent, and (3) is liable for damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violating the Decedent’s Fourth Amendment rights. See Plaintiffs First Amended Complaint for Negligence, Negligent Hiring, Assault and Battery, and Violation of Civil and Constitutional Rights (“Am. Compl.”). Currently before the Court is the defendant’s Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint. See Defendant’s Renewed Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint Or, In the Alternative, For Summary Judgment (“Defi’s Mot.”) at 1. After carefully considering all of the relevant submissions made by the parties, 1 the Court will grant the defendant’s Motion to Dismiss and dismiss the claim brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 because the plaintiff has failed to plead sufficient facts, as required by Federal Civil Rule 8(a), to show that a policy or practice of the defendant gave rise to the alleged constitutional violation. The remaining common law claims of negligence and assault and battery will be remanded, as they would be more properly adjudicated in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (“Superior Court”).

I. BACKGROUND

On October 21, 2009, the plaintiff called 911 and informed the answering dispatcher that her boyfriend, the Decedent, had locked himself in the bathroom of the apartment they shared, located at 905 21st Street N.E., Washington D.C., and was refusing to come out. Am. Compl. ¶ 5. The plaintiff told the dispatcher that no *30 violence had occurred, but that she was concerned about the Decedent becoming suicidal or “paranoi[d],” and feared that she or her children may be in danger. Id. The plaintiff alleges that the dispatcher failed to accurately convey this information to the responding officers and instead informed the two officers that an “unwanted guest” had locked himself in the bathroom. Id. When two officers from the Metropolitan Police Department arrived at the plaintiffs apartment at 5:32 a.m., they escorted the plaintiff and her children from the apartment, id. ¶ 10, whereafter they “pushed open the door to the bathroom” and entered the bathroom to find the Decedent pointing a gun at them, 2 id. ¶ 7. The officers then “discharged their service revolvers, striking the Decedent.” Id. The Decedent was subsequently pronounced dead at Howard University Hospital at 5:48 a.m. Id. ¶ 9.

On December 7, 2009, through her counsel at the time, the plaintiff sent a letter to the Mayor of the District of Columbia (“Mayor”) notifying him that “[o]n October 21, 2009 at approximately 5:20 a.m., at 905 [ ] 21st St. N.E., Apartment No. 10, Washington D.C. 20002, [the Decedent] was fatally shot inside his apartment while in the bathroom, due to the improper and/or negligent acts of police officers of the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department.” Def.’s Mot., Exhibit (“Ex.”) A (plaintiffs first notice letter to the Mayor’s office). The letter further stated that “a claim is being made, on behalf of the Estate of James B. Miller for fatal personal injuries, against the District of Columbia, and/or the Metropolitan Police Department, due to the negligent and careless acts of employees and/or police officers ... [,] which resulted in the wrongful death of James B. Miller.” Id. The letter stated that it was sent to the Mayor to provide the notice required by D.C.Code § 12-309, and that the plaintiff was making a claim against the District. Id. Finally, it stated that the notice requirements would be assumed satisfied unless “otherwise notified.” Id. On February 22, 2010, the plaintiff sent another letter to the Mayor’s office through her current attorney, again notifying him of her intention to file a claim against the District. Def.’s Mot. Ex. B (plaintiff’s second letter to the Mayor’s office). The letter again references the events that took place on October 21, 2009, stated that the responding officers lacked probable cause to use deadly force, and asserted that the use of deadly force violated the Decedent’s constitutional rights. Id.

The plaintiff filed her amended complaint on November 15, 2010, claiming that the District negligently caused the Decedent’s death, that the District is liable for the responding officers’ alleged assault and battery of the Decedent, and that the District is liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for the officers’ violations of the Decedent’s *31 Fourth Amendment rights. 3 See Am. Compl. at 1. More specifically, the plaintiff claims that the District of Columbia is liable for the allegedly negligent act of the 911 dispatcher in incorrectly identifying the Decedent as an “unwanted guest,” which, the plaintiff claims, prevented the officers from realizing the barricade situation involved a potentially mentally ill individual. Id. ¶ 8. The plaintiff also claims that the District is negligent because it improperly trains its officers to handle barricade situations, and that the District is liable for the officers’ negligent application of their training. Id. ¶ 15. Next, the plaintiff claims that the responding officers, while working within the scope of their employment with the District, shot the Decedent without legal justification or probable cause, thus’committing an assault and battery. Id. ¶ 22-24. Finally, the plaintiff claims the District is liable for the officers’ alleged violation of the Decedent’s Fourth Amendment rights because the officers were “enforcing the District’s long[-]standing policy instituted and sanctioned, by the District, on the use of deadly force,” when they shot the Decedent, and simultaneously that it was “the District’s failure to properly train its police officers on the proper procedures involving [barricaded] individuals” that resulted in the Decedent’s death. Id. ¶ 29.

The District moves to dismiss the plaintiffs Amended Complaint on the grounds that: (1) the plaintiff failed to comply with the statutory notice requirement of D.C.Code § 12-309

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Davis v. District of Columbia, 800 F. Supp. 2d 28, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79146, 2011 WL 3240439 (D.D.C. 2011).

800 F. Supp. 2d 28 (Davis v. District of Columbia) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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