Lucia v. City of Peabody

971 F. Supp. 2d 153, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12491, 2013 WL 394870
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedJanuary 30, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. 10-11228-FDS
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 971 F. Supp. 2d 153 (Lucia v. City of Peabody) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lucia v. City of Peabody, 971 F. Supp. 2d 153, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12491, 2013 WL 394870 (D. Mass. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

SAYLOR, District Judge.

This is a suit to recover damages for the allegedly wrongful death of John W. Lucia while in the custody of the Peabody Police Department. Plaintiff Katelyn Lucia, is the decedent’s daughter and the administrator of his estate. Defendants include the City of Peabody and its mayor, as well as the Peabody Police Department, its chief, and four other individual officers.

The complaint alleges claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of the Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and claims of negligence and false imprisonment under state law. Defendants have now moved for summary judgment as to all claims. For the reasons set forth below, the Court will grant the motion.

I. Background

A. Lucia’s Death

John W. Lucia was a chronic alcoholic who resided in Peabody, Massachusetts. During the period of approximately twenty years before his death, the Peabody police officers responded to more than twenty documented instances involving Lucia’s intoxication by alcohol. The night of his death began with such an episode.

Around 10:00 p.m. on April 26, 2008, Officers Justin Cecil and Nancy Hart of the Peabody Police Department responded to a call about a disturbance on Lynnfield Street. They observed two men, one of whom was Lucia, acting extremely intoxicated. Cecil decided to take the individuals into protective custody. Hart, who was familiar with Lucia, transported him to the station in her cruiser without placing him in handcuffs.

Upon arriving at the station, Lucia got out of the cruiser and was escorted to the booking area. He was then partially booked by Officer Gregory Pickering before being given a blanket and led to a holding cell. During the booking process, the officer-in-charge, Sergeant Arthur Yeo, observed that Lucia was unsteady on his feet and slow and lethargic in his movements, but nonetheless able to understand and communicate with the officers. Sergeant Yeo was familiar with Lucia and knew that he had an alcohol problem, but did not know him to be a user of illegal drugs. Yeo did not contact, and did not instruct any of the other officers to contact, a detoxification treatment facility in the area to determine if there was space available for Lucia.

Pickering did not complete the booking process when Lucia first arrived at the station, because there had been an influx of other arrestees. When Pickering was ultimately ready to complete the booking of Lucia, he discovered that he had fallen asleep in his holding cell. Pickering decided to let him be.

At midnight, Lieutenant Scott Wlasuk took over as the officer-in-charge and Officer Richard Kenney, Jr., took over as the booking officer. Yeo informed Wlasuk that Lucia was partially booked and in protective custody. During their shift, neither Wlasuk nor Kenney made an effort to determine the availability of a detoxification treatment facility for Lucia.

During the course of the night, officers Pickering and Kenney observed Lucia on a [158]*158closed-circuit television and through an acrylic window during visual cell checks, which occurred every thirty minutes. The officers observed him sleeping, breathing, and snoring loudly, but made no attempt to wake him or communicate with him.1

Around 7:10 a.m. on April 27, Kenney entered Lucia’s cell with the intention of releasing him from protective custody. Kenney observed, however, that Lucia was not breathing, was cold to the touch, and had a “blotchiness” to his face. Kenney immediately returned to the control room to call an ambulance.

Although an ambulance arrived at the station, and paramedics performed CPR, their efforts were not successful. Lucia was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.

An autopsy concluded the cause of Lucia’s death was acute and chronic substance abuse — specifically, acute methadone intoxication, acute opiate intoxication, acute ethanol intoxication, and recent cocaine intoxication.

B. The Massachusetts Protective Custody Statute

Massachusetts General Laws ch. 111B, § 8 gives police officers the authority to place intoxicated individuals in protective custody. It provides, in relevant part, as follows:

Any person who is incapacitated may be assisted by a police officer with or without his consent to his residence, to a facility or to a police station. To determine for purposes of this chapter only, whether or not such person is intoxicated, the police officer may request the person to submit to reasonable tests of coordination, coherency of speech, and breath.
If any incapacitated person is assisted to a police station, the officer in charge or his designee shall notify forthwith the nearest facility that the person is being held in protective custody. If suitable treatment services are available at a facility, the department shall thereupon arrange for the transportation of the person to the facility.
No person assisted to a police station pursuant to this section shall be held in protective custody against his will; provided, however, that if suitable treatment at a facility is not available, an incapacitated person may be held in protective custody at a police station until he is no longer incapacitated or for a period of not longer than twelve hours, whichever is shorter.

A “facility” is defined as “any public or private place, or portion thereof, providing services especially designed for the detoxification of intoxicated persons or alcoholics.” Mass. Gen. Laws ch. Ill B, § 3.

C. The Peabody Police Department Policy and Internal Investigation

Chapter 55.0 of the Peabody Police Department Manual concerns the lockup and holding facility. It states in part: “[t]he Booking Officer or other assigned officer shall make a .physical check of the holding facility at least once every thirty minutes whenever there is a prisoner or prisoners [159]*159held. Any prisoner having special or unusual circumstances of custody may have to be checked more frequently or may require continuous monitoring. Special attention should also be paid to individuals who have apparent medical or physical difficulties.”

Chapter 100.0 of the Manual is the department’s Protective Custody Policy. It is consistent with Mass. Gen Laws ch. 111B, § 8. It limits the use of protective custody only to those individuals who are incapacitated from consuming alcohol (not drugs alone). It further states in part:

If the situation does not warrant an arrest, but action is necessary, a police officer has the authority to assist an incapacitated person, with or without his consent, to his residence, to a treatment facility, or to the police station.
If an incapacitated person is assisted to the police station, the Officer-in-Charge or his designee shall notify forthwith the nearest treatment facility that such person is being held under protective custody.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
971 F. Supp. 2d 153, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12491, 2013 WL 394870, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lucia-v-city-of-peabody-mad-2013.