Flinchum v. City of Beattyville

224 F. Supp. 3d 536, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165647, 2016 WL 7030436
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Kentucky
DecidedDecember 1, 2016
DocketCivil Action No. 5:15-253-DCR
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 224 F. Supp. 3d 536 (Flinchum v. City of Beattyville) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Flinchum v. City of Beattyville, 224 F. Supp. 3d 536, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165647, 2016 WL 7030436 (E.D. Ky. 2016).

Opinion

[540]*540MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Danny C. Reeves, United States District Judge

Plaintiffs Timothy Flinchum, Vanessa Flinchum, and J.M.F.F. allege that the defendants violated their constitutional rights by failing to properly investigate the death of a family member, Jordan Flineh-um, and by failing prosecute the individual who caused his death. [Record No. 1] They also assert state law claims arising out of the same alleged misconduct. [Id.] This matter is pending for consideration of the motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, for judgment on the pleadings filed by Defendants City of Beattyville, City of Beattyville Police Department, Greg Brandenburg, and John Smith. [Record No. 20] The defendants argue that they did not owe the plaintiffs a duty to investigate the underlying incident, and that the state law tort claims lack merit. For the reasons outlined below, the defendants’ motion will be granted.

I.

Jordan Flinchum was killed in a collision on a Kentucky highway on February 14, 2014. [Record No. 1, ¶ 11, 19] Defendant Greg Brandenburg, Chief of Police for the City of Beattyville, responded to the accident call and investigated the incident. [Id. at ¶ 19] The plaintiffs allege that the driver of the vehicle that struck Flinchum (Luke Phillips) was under the influence of intoxicating substances, had no driver’s license or insurance, and was driving recklessly at the time of the collision. [Id. at ¶ 12]

The plaintiffs also allege that Brandenburg failed to properly “investigate and report the circumstances of the crash causing [FlinChum’s] death.... ” [Id. at ¶ 21] They further suggest that Brandenburg failed to properly preserve evidence relating to the crime. [Id. at ¶ 19] Additionally, the plaintiffs contend that Brandenburg “failed to bring proper legal proceedings against Luke Phillips after discovering that he had violated Kentucky law in the course of the crash and had oxycodone in his blood at the time of the crash.... ” [Id. at ¶ 21] Regarding the other defendants, the plaintiffs assert that Brandenburg lacked the necessary training and that the defendants “failed to take preventative and remedial measures to guard against the effects of deficient training.” [Id. at ¶ 25]

II.

Motions to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) and motions for judgment on the pleadings under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(c) are reviewed in the same manner. Vickers v. Fairfield Med. Ctr., 453 F.3d 757, 761 (6th Cir. 2006). Because the classification of the motion has no legal effect, the Court will evaluate the pleading as a motion to dismiss.1

When evaluating a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Court must determine whether the complaint alleges “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). The plausibility standard is met “when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. [541]*5411955). Although a complaint need not contain “detailed factual allegations” to survive a motion to dismiss, the “plaintiff’s obligation to, provide the grounds of his entitlement to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

Further, in considering a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the Court is required to “accept all of plaintiffs factual allegations as true and determine whether any set of facts consistent with the allegations would entitle the plaintiff to relief.” G.M. Eng’rs & Assoc., Inc. v. W. Bloomfield Twp., 922 F.2d 328, 330 (6th Cir. 1990). However, the Court need not accept as true legal conclusions cast in the form of factual allegations if those conclusions cannot be plausibly drawn from the facts as alleged. See Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (“[T]he tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions.”); see also Papasan v. Allain, 478 U.S. 265, 286, 106 S.Ct. 2932, 92 L.Ed.2d 209 (1986) (noting that, in reviewing a motion to dismiss, the district court “must take all the factual allegations in the complaint as true,” but that the court is “not bound to accept as true a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation”). Thus, Rule 12(b)(6) essentially “allows the Court to dismiss, on the basis of a dispositive issue of law, meritless cases which would otherwise waste judicial resources and result in unnecessary discovery.” Glassman, Edwards, Wade & Wyatt, P.C. v. Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz, LLP, 601 F.Supp.2d 991, 997 (W.D. Tenn. 2009).

III.

A. 1983 Claims

To state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must establish that a person acting under color of state law deprived him or her of a right secured by the Constitution or the laws of the United States. Flagg Bros., Inc. v. Brooks, 436 U.S. 149, 155, 98 S.Ct. 1729, 56 L.Ed.2d 185 (1978). When a plaintiff brings a claim against an entity defendant, the plaintiff must establish the violation of a constitutional right and that “the municipality’s policy or custom led to the violation.” Robertson v. Lucas, 753 F.3d 606, 622 (6th Cir. 2014). Accordingly, regardless of whether the claim is against an individual state actor or a governmental entity, the plaintiff must establish the violation of a constitutional right or a right created by federal law. Because the Plaintiffs attempts to establish the violation of a constitutional right are unsuccessful, their claims fail with respect to all defendants.

1. Equal Protection Claim

The plaintiffs allege in the first count that the defendants’ failure to investigate the accident amounted to a “deprivation of their constitutional right to equal protection of the law as guaranteed by the various provisions of the Constitution.... ” [Record No. 1, ¶ 31] They seem to argue that the defendants’ failure to conduct a proper investigation deprived them of the equal protection of K.R.S.

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224 F. Supp. 3d 536, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165647, 2016 WL 7030436, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/flinchum-v-city-of-beattyville-kyed-2016.