Egudu v. District of Columbia

72 F. Supp. 3d 34, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153423, 2014 WL 5472176
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedOctober 29, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. 2012-1841
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 72 F. Supp. 3d 34 (Egudu v. District of Columbia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Egudu v. District of Columbia, 72 F. Supp. 3d 34, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153423, 2014 WL 5472176 (D.D.C. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

AMY BERMAN JACKSON, United States District Judge

In November 2012, plaintiff Ike Pascal Egudu filed the fifteen-count complaint in this case against the District of Columbia and defendant Jose Jimenez, a Metropolitan Police Department Officer. 1 On July 24, 2013, the Court granted in part and denied in part defendants’ partial motion to dismiss, or for summary judgment, thereby significantly narrowing the case. Mem. Op. & Order at 24-25 (July 24, 2013) [Dkt. # 16]. The counts that remained were.Counts One and Two to the extent that they were asserted against Officer .Jimenez in his personal capacity, and Counts Four, Nine, Ten, and Eleven to the extent that they were asserted against the District. Id. at 25. Discovery ensued.

On April 7, 2014, defendants filed a motion for partial summary judgment, arguing that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law on plaintiffs excessive force claim in Count One and the entirety of Counts Four, Nine, Ten, and Eleven. Defs.’ Mot. for Partial Summ. J. (“Defs.’ Mot.”) [Dkt. # 26]; Defs'.’ Mem. of P. & A. in Supp. of Defs.’ Mot. (“Defs.’ Mem.”) [Dkt. # 26]; Supp. to Defs.’ Mot. for Partial Summ. J. (“Defs.’ Supp.”) [Dkt. # 29]. Plaintiff opposed that motion on the grounds that there are genuine issues of material fact that preclude summary judgment. Pl.’s Opp. to Defs.’ Mot. (“Pl.’s Opp.”) [Dkt. # 30],

Because the Court finds that plaintiff did not present sufficient evidence to support municipal liability under Monell v. Department of Social Services of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), it will grant defendants’ motion for summary judgment on Count Four. The Court will also grant defendants’ motion with respect to plaintiffs excessive force claim in Count One because, even accepting plaintiffs version of the facts as true, the alleged force was not so excessive that it meets the legal standard for a violation of plaintiffs constitutional rights. And finally, the Court will dismiss Counts Nine, Ten, and Eleven because it finds that the arrest report filed in connection with plaintiffs arrest did not satisfy the jurisdictional notice requirement of D.C.Code § 12-309.

BACKGROUND

I. Factual Background

For purposes of the motion for summary judgment, defendants filed a statement of material facts that adopts a skeletal version of the facts alleged in the complaint. 2 Defs.’ Statement of Material Facts as to which there is No Genuine Issue (“Defs.’ SOF”) at 3 n.l [Dkt. # 26]. Those facts are as follows:

• On the evening of November 14, 2009, plaintiff drove into the parking lot of a *38 7-Eleven convenience store located in the District of Columbia. Defs.’ SOF ¶ 1; Dep. of Ike Pascal Egudu (“Egu-du Dep.”), Mar. 10, 2014, Ex. 1 to Defs.’ Mot. 7:14-18, 8:8-10, 9:5-7 [Dkt. # 26-1]; see also PL’s Statement of Material Facts as to which there are Genuine Issues of Material Dispute (“Pl.’s SOF”) ¶ 1 [Dkt. # 30].
• He wished to park in one of two spaces near the entrance of the store but could not because a Metropolitan Police Department (“MPD”) cruiser was occupying both spaces. Defs.’ SOF ¶¶ 1-2; Egudu Dep. 10:15-20.
• MPD Officer Jose Jimenez was seated inside the vehicle, so plaintiff gestured to the officer in ah effort to get him to move the cruiser into one space, but Officer Jimenez did not respond. Defs.’ SOF ¶¶ 2-3; Egudu Dep. 11:12-19,12:17-21.
• Plaintiff then parked his vehicle in another spot and walked towards the convenience store. Defs.’ SOF ¶ 3; Egudu Dep. 14:5-19.
• Before he entered the building, plaintiff stopped and spoke to Officer Jimenez about his unwillingness to move the police cruiser to free up one of the two spots. Defs.’ SOF IT 3; Egudu
. Dep. 15:6-20.
• Plaintiff contends that once he got inside the convenience store, Officer Jimenez “spun him around and pulled him” or pushed him out of the building. Defs.’ SOF ¶¶ 4-5; Egudu Dep. 23:5-14.
• Plaintiff alleges that Officer Jimenez then “slammed” him onto the hood of the police cruiser and began to “rough [plaintiff] up,” which amounted to “pulling [him] and pushing [him] while [he] was on the top of the hood of the cruiser?’ Defs? SOF ¶ 5; Egudu Dep. 24:17-22; see also PL’s SOF ¶ 5.
• Officer Jimenez then put handcuffs on plaintiff and placed him under arrest. Defs? SOF ¶ 5; Egudu Dep. 25:1-5.

In response, plaintiff filed a statement of material facts as to which he believes there is a genuine dispute. See PL’s SOF. Although he identified several contested facts he believes to be pertinent to the Court’s resolution of the motion, he did not object to any of the facts set forth in defendants’ statement of material facts. See id. As a result, the Court will accept as undisputed the core facts as outlined in defendants’ statement.

But the sparse statements of material facts from both parties provide little information about what occurred on the night in question, and the details filling in the gaps are disputed. Plaintiff contends that when he addressed Officer Jimenez prior to entering the 7-Eleven store, he was respectful and simply stated that being a police officer did not entitle Officer Jimenez to inconvenience other .people. Egudu Dep. 15:12-16:18. But according to Officer Jimenez’s version of events, plaintiff shouted expletives at him. 3 Dep. of Officer Jose Jimenez (“Jimenez Dep.”), Mar. 10, 2014, Ex. 2 to PL’s Opp. 16:21-17:1, 18:5-7 [Dkt. #30-2] (“[Mr. Egudu] was screaming and going at it, you know, f* * *ing police, they think they can do whatever the f* * * they want.”). Officer Jimenez alleges that plaintiffs loud and *39 boisterous behavior continued once plaintiff entered the store, and that he asked plaintiff to leave several times. Id. 17:22-19:1; 21:3-22:17. Plaintiff objects to that characterization, stating that he did not yell while inside or outside the store, and that instead, it was Officer Jimenez and Officer Marshall who came up to him, grabbed his arm, and started yelling in his face: “[WJhat’s your problem, do you have a problem.” Egudu Dep. 18:15-19:2, 20:21-21:9. Plaintiff contends that in response, he held out his wrists to the officers and encouraged them to arrest him if he had done anything wrong, or to otherwise let him go. Id. 19:4-12. He alleges that the officers continued to yell at him, id. 20:16-21:1, so he placed his wrists behind his back and again told the officers to arrest him if he had done anything wrong. Id. 22:8-13; see also Jimenez Dep.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
72 F. Supp. 3d 34, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153423, 2014 WL 5472176, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/egudu-v-district-of-columbia-dcd-2014.