Estate of Osorio v. Miami-Dade County

191 F. Supp. 3d 1366, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79761, 2016 WL 3221138
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedJune 9, 2016
DocketCivil Action No. 16-20200-Civ-Scola
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 191 F. Supp. 3d 1366 (Estate of Osorio v. Miami-Dade County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of Osorio v. Miami-Dade County, 191 F. Supp. 3d 1366, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79761, 2016 WL 3221138 (S.D. Fla. 2016).

Opinion

Order Granting Defendant’s ' Motion to Dismiss

Robert N. Scoja, Jr. United States District Judge

The Estate of Federico Osorio (“The Estate”) sued the Defendant Miami-Dade County for the wrongful death of Federico Osorio (“Osorio”) as well as violating his civil rights. For the foregoing reasons, the Defendant’s motion to dismiss is granted. The Court dismisses the Estate’s claim for relief under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1903 with prejudice. To the extent that the Estate is attempting to make a civil rights claim under another statute, as well as its wrongful death claim, the Court dismisses without prejudice and grants the Plaintiff leave to amend its complaint.

1. Background

On March 4, 2014, two Miami-Dade county police officers were called to Oso-rio’s house at 10511 SW 108th Avenue. (See Am. Compl. ¶2, 6, ECF No. 14.) The officers were informed by Osorio’s mother that he had a history of mental illness and that he was alone inside the house. (Id. at ¶7.) The officers proceeded to enter the house by breaking through a window. (Id.) After confronting Osorio, the officers allegedly proceeded to shoot him fourteen times. (Id. at ¶ 8.) The Court has no other information on the circumstances surrounding this confrontation or Osorio’s death.

On April 4, 2016, the Estate filed an amended complaint against the Defendant, alleging a civil rights violation and a state law claim for wrongful death. In the amended complaint, the Estate alleges that the officers negligently used excessive force against the mentally-ill Osorio, that Osorio’s wrongful death was due to the officers’ negligence, and that the Defendant is vicariously liable1 for their actions. (Id. at ¶ 8-9.) Additionally, the Estate asserts a claim for a civil rights violation under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1903, alleging that the officers’ actions were partly or wholly motivated by “mental disability re-[1368]*1368suiting from mental illness”, as well as “an unreasonable fear of harm by the decedent.” (Id. at ¶ 14-15.) The Estate also contends that the Defendant improperly trained and retained its officers, and failed to discipline or adequately investigate its officers for civil rights violations; these failures were either deliberate and the result of policy, or were performed so inadequately that it amounted to a climate of tolerance for such violations. (Id. at ¶ 16.) Finally, the Estate alleges that the Defendant had a policy allowing its officers to use deadly force against the mentally ill. (Id. at ¶ 17.) The Estate is seeking damages for attorney’s fees, funeral and medical expenses, and pain and suffering. (Id. at ¶ 20.) On April 20, 2016, the Defendant moved to dismiss. (See Def. Mot. to Dismiss 8-6.) The Estate filed an, unhelpful, two-page “reply” to the motion to dismiss, which cites zero statutes or cases.

2. Legal Standard

A court considering a motion to dismiss, filed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), must accept all of the complaint’s allegations as true, construing them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Pielage v. McConnell, 516 F.3d 1282, 1284 (11th Cir.2008); Although a pleading need only contain a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief, a plaintiff must nevertheless articulate “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). “But where the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged— but it has not shown-—that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2)) (internal punctuation omitted). A court must dismiss a plaintiffs claims if she fails to nudge her “claims across the line from conceivable to plausible.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955.

3. Discussion

A. Wrongful Death Claim ,

The Estate’s first claim alleges that the Defendant is liable for Osorio’s wrongful death under Florida law. In the state of Florida, the right of action for wrongful death arises “[w]hen the death.of a person is caused by the wrongful act, negligence, default, or breach of contract or warranty of any person ... and the event would have entitled the person injured to maintain an action and recover damages if death had not ensued .,..” Fla. Stat. § 768.19. The Estate claims the cause of the wrongful death was the officers’ negligent use of excessive force.

Although, generally speaking, negligence can be the basis of a wrongful death suit, no cause-of action for the negligent use of force exists under Florida law. Lewis v. City of West Palm Beach, 561 F.3d 1288, 1294 (11th Cir.2009) (finding that the plaintiff failed to state a claim for wrongful death because “it is inapposite to allege the negligent commission of an intentional tort, such as the use of excessive force.”) (citing City of Miami v. Ross, 695 So.2d 486, 487 (Fla.3d DCA 1997); City of Miami v. Sanders, 672 So.2d 46, 48 (Fla.3d DCA 1996)). As Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal detailed in City of Miami v. Sanders, a plaintiffs allegations for excessive force must first overcome the presumption of good faith afforded to an officer’s use of force, whereby an officer is only liable for damages if the force used is found to be clearly excessive. 672 So.2d at 47. Under Florida law, an “officer is justified in the use of any force ... [w]hich he or she reasonably believes to-be necessary to defend himself or herself or another from bodily harm’ while making the arrest”. Fla. Stat. § 776.05. Therefore, if a [1369]*1369plaintiff does overcome this good faith presumption and the force applied by the officer is deemed to be clearly excessive, then it is considered to be the intentional tort of battery. Sanders, 672 So.2d at 47. Because an officer’s use of excessive force is necessarily considered an intentional tort, it cannot, therefore, be “negligent” because it is impossible to negligently commit an intentional tort. Id, at 48. Therefore, the Estate’s wrongful death claim for negligent excessive force fails as a matter of law. Lewis,

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Bluebook (online)
191 F. Supp. 3d 1366, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79761, 2016 WL 3221138, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-osorio-v-miami-dade-county-flsd-2016.