Green v. Baca

306 F. Supp. 2d 903, 2004 WL 406361
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedFebruary 20, 2004
DocketCV 02-04744 MMM (MANx)
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 306 F. Supp. 2d 903 (Green v. Baca) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Green v. Baca, 306 F. Supp. 2d 903, 2004 WL 406361 (C.D. Cal. 2004).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

MORROW, District Judge.

This action concerns plaintiffs alleged overdetention at the Los Angeles County Jail for a period of seven and a half days in July 2001. Defendant Leroy Baca is the Los Angeles County Sheriff, and has exclusive responsibility for running the County Jail. 1 Plaintiff Billie Earl Green was arrested by his parole officer, Sebastian Minjarez, on June 4, 2001, for violating his parole. He was released from jail in the early morning hours of July 14, 2001. Plaintiff alleges that defendant knew he was entitled to release on July 6, 2001, but, pursuant to Sheriffs Department policy, did not release him until July 14, 2001. Plaintiff brings a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violation of his federal constitutional rights, and seeks to hold Baca liable pursuant to Monell v. Dep’t of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). Before the court is defendant’s motion for summary judgment or, alternatively, for partial summary judgment on certain issues.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND 2

On June 4, 2001, plaintiff was arrested by his parole agent, Sebastian Minjarez, for failing to register as a sex offender. 3 He was booked into the custody of the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department (“LASD”), and housed in the Los Angeles County Jail. 4 Sometime in the morning or early afternoon of July 6, 2001, 5 a hearing was held inside the jail before the Board of Prison Terms (“BPT”), regarding possible revocation of plaintiffs parole. 6 A BPT hearing officer declined to revoke plain *905 tiffs parole, finding that there was insufficient evidence that he had violated his parole. 7 A report of the revocation hearing, signed by the hearing officer, indicates that plaintiffs parole hold was to be released “no later than 7-6-2001.” 8 It is the responsibility of the Department of Corrections to notify the LASD that a parolee is to be released. 9

On July 6, 2001, the Department of Corrections sent a teletype to LACJ-HPI/III, Attn. Jailer, authorizing plaintiffs release. 10 Plaintiffs parole officer, Minjarez, testified that, where the BPT directs that a parole hold be released, it is his usual practice to fax a message to the Department of Corrections following the hearing advising of this fact. 11 He stated that the Department of Corrections then informs the agency holding the parolee of the release order by sending a teletype. 12 Rebecca Hernandez, Minjarez’s supervisor at the time of plaintiffs overdetention, explained this process somewhat further. She testified that after a parole hold is released, the parole agent faxes a release form to “Teletype,” which “send[s] the release” to the supervisor. If it is in order, the supervisor signs the release, and the parole agent then faxes it to headquarters. 13 Thereafter, Hernandez stated, a teletype authorizing the release of the parole hold is sent to the county jail on the CLETS system. 14 A parolee is supposed to report to the parole office within twenty-four hours after release from jail. 15 If the parolee does not report, the parole agent contacts the jail to ensure that the parolee has been released; if he has not, the agent completes another release form and sends it to the jail. 16

As noted, plaintiff was ordered released on July 6, 2001. The following day, he was still in jail, and advised the watch sergeant that he had been ordered released. 17 The watch sergeant said he would check on whether plaintiffs parole hold had been released, and told plaintiff that “it takes a while to catch up with the system.” 18 Plaintiff also called his parole officer on July 7, 2001, and was told he had been released. 19 Every day thereafter until his release, plaintiff called his parole officer. 20 Each time, plaintiff told the parole officer he was still in jail, and the parole officer responded that the parole office had “released” him. 21 Plaintiff asserts that he also completed, a grievance form addressed to “classification” inquiring why he had not been released. 22 No copy of the form is in the record, however. 23 Plaintiff further *906 contends he told two LASD deputies that the parole office had released his hold. 24

On July 13, 2003, at 12:44 p.m., Rebecca Marbra, a supervising clerk at the Inmate Reception Center (“IRC”) of the Los An-geles County Jail, received a facsimile that incorporated a teletype message releasing the hold on plaintiffs parole. 25 That same day, Marbra contacted plaintiffs parole agent, Sebastian Minjarez, to confirm that plaintiffs release was authorized. 26 Minja-rez confirmed that plaintiff should be released, 27 and Marbra made a handwritten notation on the facsimile to this effect. 28 Plaintiff was released approximately twelve and one half hours after IRC received the facsimile authorizing his release on July 13, 2001. 29

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard Governing Motions For Summary Judgment

A motion for summary judgment must be granted when “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.CivPROC. 56(c). A party seeking summary judgment bears the initial burden of informing the court of the basis for its motion and of identifying those portions of the pleadings and discovery responses which demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
306 F. Supp. 2d 903, 2004 WL 406361, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/green-v-baca-cacd-2004.