Estrada ex rel. Estate of Estrada v. Cook

166 F. Supp. 3d 1230, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177501, 2015 WL 10606951
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Mexico
DecidedMarch 16, 2015
DocketNo. CV 14-00058 WJ/WPL
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 166 F. Supp. 3d 1230 (Estrada ex rel. Estate of Estrada v. Cook) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Mexico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estrada ex rel. Estate of Estrada v. Cook, 166 F. Supp. 3d 1230, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177501, 2015 WL 10606951 (D.N.M. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

William P. Johnson, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS MATTER comes before the Court upon the Motion and Supporting Memorandum for Qualified Immunity and Summary Judgment, (Doc. 14), filed August 6, 2014, by Defendants City of Las Cruces (“City”) and Officers Erik Cook, Erick Guerra, and Richard Garcia. Having re[1234]*1234viewed the parties’ briefs and applicable law, the Court finds that the motion is well taken with respect to Plaintiffs federal claims. Therefore, the motion is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART, in that Plaintiffs federal claims are dismissed with prejudice, and Plaintiffs state-law claims are dismissed without prejudice.

Factual Background

The following facts are taken from audio or video recordings of the incident in question or are otherwise undisputed except where noted. On the afternoon of July 2, 2013, a woman called the Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority (“MVRDA”) and, according to audio recordings, reported that a man in a white shirt was “walking around ... with a rifle” in a trailer park near the intersection of Bronco Way and Branding Iron Circle in Las Cruces, New Mexico. See (Doc. 14 Ex. 2), Audio at 15:35:55. The dispatcher contacted City police officers Garcia and Cook, gave them the location reported by the caller, and advised them that there was “a male subject with a rifle [who] looks like he’s pointing it at someone.” See id., Audio at 15:36:31.

Almost simultaneously, another caller to MVRDA reported a domestic dispute on Branding Iron Circle, stating that her neighbor was armed with a bat and that another man was armed with a pellet gun that looked like a rifle. A dispatcher passed on this information to officers. A third caller also reported that “a guy over here with a gun ... came into my house” saying that the caller needed to help hide the armed man because the cops were looking for him. The caller said that the armed man was intoxicated, and he clarified that the gun “look[ed] like a machine gun” but was in fact a pellet gun.

Garcia arrived on the scene first, which the third caller to MVRDA reported to dispatch. In a sworn affidavit, Garcia states that he approached a witness who told him that a man with either a gun or a pellet gun had pointed the firearm at the witness and told the witness to hide him. See (Doc. 14 Ex. 3), Affidavit. The witness also told Garcia that the weapon looked “just like” the AR-15 rifle that Garcia himself was holding. See id. Plaintiff disputes that Garcia was told the man might have a real rifle but provides no evidence to the contrary.' The witness pointed out the armed man’s trailer to Garcia just as Cook arrived.

Garcia shared his information with Cook, and the two officers proceeded to the armed man’s trailer. As they did so, other witnesses pointed out Decedent Jose Estrada, who at this time was standing outside the trailer in question, and they informed the officers that Estrada was the man who had been walking around with a weapon.

In their affidavits, Garcia and Cook say that Estrada, now shirtless and unarmed, returned inside his trailer. The officers took cover behind a nearby shed and attempted to communicate with Estrada, who they now say yelled at the officers in an agitated state and continued to walk in and out of his trailer. The officers also say that three minor females were in Estrada’s trailer and that he repeatedly yelled at them and pushed them back into the home whenever they attempted to leave. See (Doc. 14 Exs. 3 & 4), Affidavits. Although Plaintiff claims that “video camera footage taken at the scene clearly shows that Mr. Estrada did not go back into his mobile home after he was confronted by the officers” and did not yell at or force the girls back into the house, the video he cites does not appear to cover the time in question.

As other officers arrived at the scene, Garcia requested that they set up a perimeter and told them that Estrada was [1235]*1235armed. He informed the officers that people were “saying it’s a pellet gun, but it looks just like our rifles.” (Doc. 14 Ex. 2), Audio at 15:42:17. One of the officers who arrived at that time was Guerra, who had been monitoring the dispatch calls. Garcia requested that Guerra move his vehicle into the trailer park so that the officers could use it for cover. When Guerra arrived, either Garcia or Cook asked him to arm himself with his bean-bag shotgun instead of his standard-issue AR-15.

The three officers moved closer, stopping about thirty-five yards from Estrada’s home and positioning themselves behind the driver’s-side door of Guerra’s vehicle. The video clip from Garcia’s lapel camera, (Doc. 14 Ex. 7), Video, begins around this time and depicts Estrada halfway out his front door, two girls on the front porch facing him, and one girl around the back of the building. Nine seconds into the video, as the officers discuss moving closer, the camera swings back and shows Estrada on his front porch facing the third girl while the other two reenter the trailer. The officers state in their affidavits that Estrada had forced the other two girls to go back into the trailer, though Plaintiff disputes this. At this time, Garcia shouts, “Step over here!” Twenty-two seconds into the video, Garcia radios dispatch to report that Estrada would not stop yelling, that he made a girl go back inside, and that he would not step all the way out the door. Four seconds later, Estrada is no longer on the front porch and his front door is closed.

About forty-two seconds into the lapel video clip, a creaking sound can be heard, movement can be seen in the shadows of Estrada’s front porch, and an officer reports movement at the door. Garcia again shouts, “Come here! Step over here!” while Estrada can be heard repeatedly responding, “Go back!” and “Get the fuck out of here!” See id.; see also (Doc. 14 Ex. 8), Affidavit. At one minute five seconds, the front door appears to be half-open with Estrada not visible on the porch. Shortly thereafter, an officer can be heard saying, “I can hit him from here, but it won’t be effective”; in his uncontroverted affidavit, Guerra says he was discussing the effective range of his bean-bag shotgun at this time. The officers discuss moving closer to Estrada’s trailer at this time. As they do so, another officer instructed the girl who was outside the trailer to jump over the property’s perimeter wall, and it appeared to him that she was going to do so. See (Doc. 14 Ex. 5), Affidavit; see also (Doc. 14 Ex. 2), Audio at 15:48:19.

At one minute twenty-seven seconds into the video, the camera swings to show Estrada reentering his trailer as the officers shout, “Step out! We just want to talk about what happened!” Almost ten seconds later, the video depicts the officers motioning to someone and shouting, “Hurry!” as the camera pans to show one of the girls running from the front door of the trailer toward the officers. At one minute forty-one seconds, as the girl moves closer to the officers’ car, Estrada is not present on the porch, though his front door is halfway open.

At one minute forty-seven seconds, Guerra says, “He’s got a rifle,” and the girl screams. Four seconds later, a man is heard yelling “Get back!” In their affidavits, the officers each state that Estrada had exited the trailer and aimed what appeared to be a rifle at them. One second later, the video records the sound of four gunshots.

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Bluebook (online)
166 F. Supp. 3d 1230, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177501, 2015 WL 10606951, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estrada-ex-rel-estate-of-estrada-v-cook-nmd-2015.