Jackson v. Pena

28 F. Supp. 3d 423, 2014 WL 2803993, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83298
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedJune 19, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. WMN-14-516
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 28 F. Supp. 3d 423 (Jackson v. Pena) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jackson v. Pena, 28 F. Supp. 3d 423, 2014 WL 2803993, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83298 (D. Md. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

WILLIAM M. NICKERSON, Senior District Judge.

Pending before the Court are three motions to dismiss, filed by Defendants the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, ECF No. 5, the Baltimore Police Department, ECF No. 13, and Officers Lester Manuyag and Alejandro Pena, ECF No. 15. For the reasons stated, the Court determines that no hearing is necessary, Local Rule 105.6. The motions filed by Officers Manuyag and Pena and the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore will be granted. The Motion filed by the Baltimore Police Department will be granted in part and denied in part.

. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

This case arises out of the police-involved shooting of Plaintiff, Guy Jackson, a resident of Baltimore City. Plaintiff alleges that, on April 22, 2013, he was approached by two individuals on Winchester Street in Baltimore City, Larry Hooker and Rickey Dixon. Hooker and Dixon “brandished handguns [and] ordered Plaintiff into a silver Mercedes automobile with them and ordered him to drive the vehicle to the corner of North Dukeland Street and Edmondson Avenue ...” Compl. ¶ 8. Hooker and Dixon ordered Plaintiff to remain in the car while they exited and confronted two unknown individuals outside of the car. Shots were fired between Hooker and Dixon and the unknown individuals.

As Hooker and Dixon attempted to reenter the vehicle, two police officers— Defendant Officers Lester Manuyag and Alejandro Pena — arrived at the scene and allegedly “recklessly, wantonly, with disregard to the safety of others, and without legal justification, began discharging their weapons into the silver Mercedes despite Plaintiff obviously being in the vehicle.” Compl. ¶ 10. Plaintiff was struck multiple times by the gunfire, in the arms, body, and head.

[427]*427Following the shooting, Plaintiff was transported to University of Maryland Shock Trauma and was placed under arrest while being treated for his injuries. Approximately six days later, Defendant Detective Min of the Baltimore Police Department removed Plaintiff from hospital care, against medical advice, “under the guise of having Plaintiff transported to the Baltimore City Jail Medical Facility.” Compl. ¶ 12. Rather than being transported to a medical facility, Plaintiff was transported to the Baltimore Police Department and interrogated.

At the conclusion of the interrogation, Plaintiff alleges that Detective Min ejected him from the Police Department onto the streets of Baltimore, rather than transporting him to the Jail Medical Facility or returning him to Shock Trauma. At the time, Plaintiff was wearing only his hospital gown and still had a feeding tube inserted. Ultimately, members of his family returned him to the hospital.

Plaintiff filed a twelve-count Complaint in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, which was removed to this Court. Named as Defendants are the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, the Baltimore Police Department, Officer Pena, Officer Manu-yag, and Detective Min. Jackson alleges violations of Articles 24 and 26 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, excessive force and seizure under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and state law claims for battery, assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He seeks to hold not only the individual officers1 liable for the constitutional violations, but also the Baltimore Police Department and the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore. All Defendants, save Detective Min (who simply answered the Complaint), have filed a motion to dismiss.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

A motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) tests the legal sufficiency of a complaint. Edwards v. City of Goldsboro, 178 F.3d 231, 243 (4th Cir.1999). To survive a 12(b)(6) challenge, a complaint need only present sufficient factual content to render its claims “plausible on [their] face” and enable the court to “draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009).

Although a court must generally “accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint,” legal conclusions are not entitled to the assumption of truth, nor are “threadbare recitals of a cause of action’s elements, supported by mere conclusory statements.” Id. A complaint need not contain detailed factual allegations, but “a plaintiffs 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.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (quotation marks and citations omitted). Rather, “[f]actual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Id. “When there are well-pleaded factual allegations, a court should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

[428]*428III. ANALYSIS

A. Motion to Dismiss Filed by Mayor & City Council of Baltimore City

The Mayor and City Council of Baltimore (“the City”) contends that it should be dismissed as a Defendant. The City argues, among other things, that the Complaint fails to allege any conduct taken by the City specifically, and that it is not legally responsible for the actions of the Baltimore Police Department or its officers.

At the outset, the Court notes that the Complaint is plainly deficient, as it does not allege any conduct on the part of the City. To the contrary, aside from a general theory of liability spelled out in paragraph five of the Complaint, the City appears only in the wherefore clauses of Counts III, IV, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, and XII. Nowhere are any facts as to the City’s actions or inactions alleged. Nonetheless, Plaintiffs appear to seek inclusion of the City on the theory that it is liable, as a supervisory agency or pursuant to Monell v. Dept. of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), for the actions, inactions, policies, or customs of the Baltimore Police Department.

Even assuming that the Complaint’s scarcity of factual allegations as to the City was sufficient, the Court would nonetheless dismiss those allegations as they pertain to the City’s supposed responsibility for the actions or inactions of the Baltimore Police Department.2 As the Court of Appeals of Maryland has noted “consistently] and unequivocally],” the Baltimore Police Department is an agency of state government, not of Baltimore City. See Mayor & City Council of Balt. v. Clark, 404 Md. 13, 944 A.2d 1122, 1128-30 (2008). Accordingly, Maryland courts have held that the Baltimore Police Department is not an agent of Baltimore City, id., nor is Baltimore City the employer of Baltimore City police officers for tort liability purposes. Clea v.

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Bluebook (online)
28 F. Supp. 3d 423, 2014 WL 2803993, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83298, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jackson-v-pena-mdd-2014.