Hamilton v. United States of America

CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJuly 6, 2021
DocketCivil Action No. 2019-1105
StatusPublished

This text of Hamilton v. United States of America (Hamilton v. United States of America) 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
Hamilton v. United States of America, (D.D.C. 2021).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

DEANDRE LAMONT HAMILTON,

Plaintiff,

v. Civil Action No. 19-1105 (RDM)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA et al.,

Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

On May 19, 2016, Wayne Wright, a criminal defendant out on pretrial release, murdered

Dana Hamilton. Although Wright was prosecuted for the crime, Plaintiff DeAndre Hamilton, as

the personal representative of Dana Hamilton’s estate, alleges in this case that the United States

government bears some responsibility for not preventing the killing. At the time Wright shot

Dana Hamilton, the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (“CSOSA”) was supposed

to be tracking Wright’s whereabouts using a GPS monitor. But the government contractor

responsible for attaching the tracking device to Wright’s body, Sentinel Offender Services, LLC

(“Sentinel”), mistakenly fastened it to Wright’s prosthetic leg. Leaving the tracked prosthesis at

home, Wright traveled undetected to an area he was under a court order to avoid and, there,

murdered Dana Hamilton.

In his original complaint, Plaintiff asserted claims against the United States, CSOSA,

Sentinel, and John Does 1–5 for negligently installing the tracking device and thereby causing

Dana Hamilton’s death. Dkt. 1. The United States and CSOSA moved to dismiss on several

grounds. Dkt. 11. In an earlier opinion, the Court granted the federal Defendants’ motion to

dismiss because sovereign immunity barred suit against those Defendants. Hamilton v. United

1 States, 502 F. Supp. 3d 266 (D.D.C. 2020) (“Hamilton I”). The Court held, in particular, that the

limited waiver of sovereign immunity contained in the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) did

not permit Plaintiff’s claims against CSOSA because the FTCA does not waive sovereign

immunity for suits against federal agencies. Likewise, the FTCA did not permit Plaintiff’s

claims against the United States because, although the FTCA allows certain claims against the

United States, it does not waive sovereign immunity for claims premised on the negligence of

independent contractors.

Following the Court’s decision, Plaintiff sought leave to amend his complaint to allege

that the United States was directly negligent in its decisions to hire and retain Sentinel. 1 Dkt. 27.

With the parties’ consent, the Court granted the motion to amend and construed the

government’s opposition to that motion, Dkt. 30, as a renewed motion to dismiss. Because

Plaintiff’s new claim again falls within an exception to the FTCA—this time, the discretionary-

function exception—the Court will GRANT the government’s motion and will DISMISS

Plaintiff’s claims against the United States.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual and Procedural Background

The Court detailed the tragic series of events that led to this lawsuit in its prior opinion.

See Hamilton I, 502 F. Supp. 3d at 270–71. In short, on April 30, 2016, Wright, also known as

Quincy Green, was charged in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia with unlawful

possession of a firearm. Dkt. 33 at 6 (Am. Compl. ¶ 25). A few days later, the Superior Court

released Wright pending trial while imposing certain conditions. Id. (Am. Compl. ¶ 26). As

relevant here, the court ordered a component of CSOSA, known as the Pretrial Services Agency

1 The proposed amended complaint also dropped Plaintiff’s claims against CSOSA. 2 (“PSA”), to attach a GPS monitoring device to Wright so that PSA could track his location. Id.

And the court prohibited Wright from visiting the 800 block of Chesapeake Street S.E. in the

District of Columbia. Id. Under a contract between PSA and Sentinel, it was Sentinel’s job to

secure the GPS device to Wright’s leg. Id. at 6–7 (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 27–28). Wright has one

natural leg and one detachable prosthetic leg. Id. at 7 (Am. Compl. ¶ 29). Sentinel’s agents

(named in the amended complaint as John Does 1–5) attached the GPS to Wright’s prosthetic

leg. Id. (Am. Compl. ¶ 30). Wright then circumvented the tracking device by replacing the

tracked prosthesis with a spare one, traveled in violation of the stay-away order to the 800 block

of Chesapeake Street S.E., and shot and killed Dana Hamilton. Id. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 31–32).

Within a week, Wright was charged with second-degree murder. Id. (Am. Compl. ¶ 32).

Plaintiff originally filed this lawsuit on April 18, 2019, against the United States,

CSOSA, Sentinel, and John Does 1–5. Dkt. 1. The federal Defendants moved to dismiss on

several grounds. Dkt. 11; Dkt. 13. On November 16, 2020, the Court granted the federal

Defendants’ motion. Hamilton I, 502 F. Supp. 3d at 278. The Court dismissed Plaintiff’s claims

against CSOSA because federal agencies, unlike the United States itself, are not subject to suit

under the FTCA—and CSOSA “is an independent executive branch agency.” Id. at 273–74; see

also D.C. Code § 24-133(a) (establishing CSOSA “within the executive branch of the Federal

Government”); Dkt. 1 at 3 (Compl. ¶ 6) (referring to CSOSA as “a government agency operating

under the laws of the United States”). The Court dismissed Plaintiff’s claims against the United

States, in turn, pursuant to the independent-contractor exception to the FTCA. Hamilton I, 502

F. Supp. 3d at 274–77. Based on an analysis of the contract between PSA and Sentinel, the

Court concluded that the government did not exert control over Sentinel with respect to the

installation of GPS tracking devices. Id. Accordingly, the United States could not be held liable

3 for Sentinel’s alleged negligence. Id. at 277. The Court also noted that, in opposing the motion

to dismiss, Plaintiff had asserted that “the United States was negligent for hiring Sentinel in the

first place, a claim that would not be subject to the FTCA’s independent contractor exception.”

Id. But Plaintiff’s argument suffered from a glaring problem—“the complaint ma[de] no

mention of this separate cause of action and d[id] not allege any facts to support it.” Id. at 278.

That argument thus could not save the original complaint from dismissal. Id. But the Court

permitted Plaintiff to “file a motion seeking leave to amend his complaint within twenty-one

days” of its decision, to the extent “Plaintiff ha[d] a good-faith basis . . . to allege that the United

States was negligent for hiring Sentinel given known concerns about the company’s

competence.” Id.

On December 7, 2020, Plaintiff filed a motion to amend, dropping his claims against

CSOSA while seeking to add a new claim alleging that the United States was negligent in its

decisions to retain Sentinel. 2 Dkt. 27. The United States opposed the motion to amend on the

ground that the new claim would be barred by additional exceptions to the FTCA and that, in any

event, the new claim failed on the merits. Dkt. 30. At a hearing on that motion, the Court (with

the parties’ consent) granted the motion to amend but construed the government’s opposition as a

motion to dismiss. Minute Entry (Feb. 5, 2021). In a new Count IV, the amended complaint

asserts that the United States “had or should have had knowledge of Defendant Sentinel’s

unfitness to perform its contractually obligated duties,” in light of the company’s “history of

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