Lucha Unida de Padres y Estudiantes v. Green

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedJuly 1, 2020
Docket4:18-cv-00085
StatusUnknown

This text of Lucha Unida de Padres y Estudiantes v. Green (Lucha Unida de Padres y Estudiantes v. Green) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lucha Unida de Padres y Estudiantes v. Green, (D. Ariz. 2020).

Opinion

Case 4:18-cv-00085-RM Document 65 Filed 07/01/20 Page 1 of 38

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 10 11 Lucha Unida de Padres y Estudiantes, et al., No. CV-18-00085-TUC-RM 12 Plaintiffs, ORDER 13 v. 14 Unknown Green, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Pending before the Court is Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment. (Doc. 18 48.) Plaintiffs responded in opposition (Doc. 62) and Defendants replied (Doc. 64). For 19 the following reasons, summary judgment will be granted as to Count One and denied as 20 to Counts Two, Three, and Four. The motion will also be denied as to qualified 21 immunity. 22 I. Background 23 This action arises out of a protest rally on February 16, 2017 in downtown Tucson, 24 Arizona (the “protest” or the “demonstration”). (Doc. 1 at ¶¶ 36, 39.) Plaintiff Lucha 25 Unida de Padres y Estudiantes (“LUPE”), a grassroots political and community 26 organization dedicated to immigration reform and immigrants’ rights, organized the 27 protest. (Id. at ¶ 37.) The protest began at 4:30 p.m. in front of the Federal Building; at 28 Case 4:18-cv-00085-RM Document 65 Filed 07/01/20 Page 2 of 38

1 approximately 5:50 p.m., the protestors began marching across Granada and then east on 2 Congress Street toward Armory Park on South Sixth Avenue. (Id. at ¶¶ 39, 42.) 3 The parties agree that the protestors entered the roadway of eastbound Congress as 4 part of the march. (Id. at ¶ 43; Doc. 48 at 2.) Tucson Police Department (“TPD”) officers 5 intervened to prevent the protestors from entering the roadway, and attempted to move 6 the protestors onto the sidewalk on the south side of Congress Street. (Doc. 48 at 2.) An 7 altercation then commenced between the protesters and some of the TPD officers, the 8 events of which gave rise to this lawsuit. (See Docs. 46, 48, 50, 62.) The exact details of 9 what transpired during the altercation are partially in dispute, although the evidence 10 shows, and the parties do not dispute, at least the following facts: At one point, some of 11 the protestors surrounded a police vehicle (“Tahoe” or “police vehicle”). Some of the 12 police officers deployed pepper spray1 and pushed or shoved some of the protestors. 13 Defendants admit, and the evidence corroborates, that: (1) Defendant Officer Green 14 caused an elderly female protestor to fall to the ground and deployed pepper spray 15 directly toward at least three protestors, and a TPD Office of Professional Standards 16 (“OPS”) investigation found that these actions constituted excessive and unjustified use 17 of force (Doc. 46-1 at 79-80); (2) Defendant Officer Guevara twice deployed pepper 18 spray against protestors (Doc. 46-1 at 86; Doc. 48 at 6). 19 Plaintiffs allege in their Response that a “female officer” deployed pepper spray 20 “broadly” into a group on the sidewalk. (Doc. 62 at 5-6.)2 Officer Guevara testified that 21 Defendant Officer Ewings, a female officer who was present at the protest, had her 22 pepper spray out but did not deploy it. (Doc. 46-1 at 93.) The parties provide conflicting 23 accounts of an altercation between Defendant Green and Plaintiff Joan Cichon; there is a 24 factual dispute over whether Green hit Cichon with the door of his police vehicle and 25 whether Cichon hit Green with the door. (Doc. 62 at 2-3; Doc. 48 at 8.) 26 1 Also known as OC spray, which stands for oleo capscicum, the type of pepper used in the spray. (See Doc. 46-1 at 88.) The Court uses the term “pepper spray” throughout this 27 Order. 2 Plaintiff’s Complaint alleges that Officers Green and Guevara were the only officers 28 who discharged pepper spray. (Doc. 1 at ¶ 96.)

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1 Defendant Green was the subject of an internal TPD investigation arising from the 2 same events giving rise to this case. (Doc. 63-1.) As part of the investigation, a Critical 3 Incident Review Board (“CIRB”) report found that Defendant Green’s use of force in 4 three instances was “unjustified” and “out of policy.” (Id.) Following are some excerpts 5 from the CIRB Chain of Command Review, in which Defendant Green’s conduct was 6 reviewed by superior-ranking TPD officers: 7 Officer Green displayed extremely poor judgment repeatedly. . . His poor judgment was compounded by his lack of regard 8 for community members. He proceeded as if the protestors were objects to be overcome, not people exercising their First 9 Amendment rights. This approach is antithetical to the calling of police work[.] 10 Officer Green’s conduct falls into the red range, as severe 11 misconduct, because his actions in this case demonstrate an abuse of his authority as a police officer, comprised of 12 repetitive misconduct. Together his actions serve to undermine trust, public safety, and the professional image of 13 the Tucson Police Department. 14 His poor decision-making. . . carried over into his interactions with the protestors. He over-reacted and used force out of 15 proportion to the conduct of the protestors he was dealing with. Several protestors Officer Green dealt with responded 16 poorly, even defiantly, to direction they were given. That said, Officer Green’s decisions to knock them to the ground 17 or spray them in the face with [pepper spray] were unwarranted and inconsistent with both departmental policy 18 and training. 19 (Id.) Defendant Green’s conduct was found to be “severe misconduct” providing 20 justification for termination. (Id.) 21 II. Plaintiff’s Claims 22 The sixteen named Plaintiffs seek damages pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Count 23 One seeks damages “against all Defendants for violating [Plaintiffs’] civil rights under 24 color of state law.” (Doc. 1 at 25.) In Count Two, Plaintiffs LUPE, Livier, E. Cott, S. 25 Cott, Archuleta, and Fitzgerald seek damages for violations of their First Amendment 26 rights to peaceful assembly and free speech. (Id. at 26.) 27 In Count Three, Plaintiffs Reynolds-Stenson, Rothman, Redgrave, Baker, Cichon, 28 Wyckoff, Dunlap, and Grugan seek damages for violations of their Fourth Amendment

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1 rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. (Id.) These Plaintiffs (except 2 Plaintiff Redgrave)3 allege that Defendants Green and Guevara4 used excessive force by 3 deploying pepper spray against them when they posed no harm to the officers or 4 members of the public. (Id.) Plaintiff Cichon also alleges that Defendant Green’s act of 5 intentionally striking her with the door of his police vehicle constituted excessive force. 6 (Id.) 7 In Count Four, the state-law claims, Plaintiffs Reynolds-Stenson, Rothman, 8 Redgrave, Baker, Cichon, Wyckoff, Dunlap, and Grugan seek damages for battery 9 pursuant to Arizona state law. (Id. at 26-27.) Plaintiff Cichon seeks damages for 10 Defendant Green’s alleged act of striking her with the door of his police vehicle. (Id. at 11 27.) Plaintiff Cichon also alleges that Defendant Green falsely accused her of assaulting 12 him on February 16, 2017. (Id.) She claims that as a result of these false and malicious 13 allegations, she was charged with the felony offense of aggravated assault and placed into 14 custody at the Pima County Jail. (Id.) She claims the charges were dismissed by the Pima 15 County Attorney’s Office, and she seeks damages for false arrest and false imprisonment. 16 (Id. at 27-28.) 17 III. Deposition Testimony 18 a. Defendant TPD Officer Eric Hatch #51940 19 Defendant Officer Hatch testified that he directed protestors to move to the 20 sidewalk after they entered the street and that several obeyed the command and others 21 ignored it. (Doc.

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Bluebook (online)
Lucha Unida de Padres y Estudiantes v. Green, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lucha-unida-de-padres-y-estudiantes-v-green-azd-2020.