Miranda-Rivera v. Toledo-Davila

813 F.3d 64, 2016 WL 563070
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedFebruary 12, 2016
Docket14-1535
StatusPublished
Cited by100 cases

This text of 813 F.3d 64 (Miranda-Rivera v. Toledo-Davila) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miranda-Rivera v. Toledo-Davila, 813 F.3d 64, 2016 WL 563070 (1st Cir. 2016).

Opinion

HAWKINS, Circuit Judge.

Christopher Rojas Miranda (“Rojas”) was arrested by Puerto Rico Police Department (“PRPD”) officers for driving under the influence. Shortly after they brought him to the police station, he died in a holding cell. His family members and estate brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the arresting officers used excessive force against Rojas and denied him needed medical care. The district court granted summary judgment on these claims on insufficient evidence and qualified immunity grounds. We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

I. Background

A. Facts

At around 8:20 p.m. on April 10, 2007, PRPD officers William Pérez Ortiz (“Pér-ez”) and Orlando Rivera Lugardo (“Rivera”) observed Rojas driving at a high speed, running stoplights, and swerving. They chased him in their patrol car until he stopped at the side of the road. At their direction, Rojas exited his car and put his hands on the trunk of the car. Pérez asked Rojas if he was all right and began explaining why they stopped him. At first, Rojas did not respond, but then, keeping his hands on the trunk and looking everywhere, he began screaming that a car was following him and that someone was trying to kill him. As Rojas continued to scream and began using foul language, Pérez reached for his handcuffs. Rojas *68 turned around abruptly and knocked Rivera’s portable radio out of his hands.

There was then a brief scuffle between Pérez, Rivera, and Rojas. All three fell to the ground. Rojas hit the ground with his chest or stomach. Pérez cuffed Rojas’s hands behind his back as Rojas was prone on the ground. He then let Rojas sit up and Rojas sat calmly for a little while as Rivera radioed for assistance. As other officers came on the scene, Rojas again began screaming in foul language that someone wanted to kill him. Pérez, Rivera, and a third officer then put Rojas into Pérez’s patrol car. Rojas tried to put his legs up against the doorframe so that they could not get him in the car, so they picked up his legs to get him into the car, secured his seatbelt, and closed the door. While inside the car, Rojas continued to scream the same things.

During this encounter, according to Officers Pérez and Rivera and a bystander named José Candelaria, Rojas looked nervous, sweaty, pale, wild-eyed, had veins bulging at his temple, a purplish tint to his forehead, temples, and cheeks, and blackish lips. He did not appear injured except that, according to Candelaria, he had a small cut on his lips.

When Sergeant Miguel Rodríguez Cres-pi (“Rodriguez”) arrived on the scene, Rojas was already in the squad car, still screaming. After Pérez and Rivera explained the .situation to him, Rodriguez said they should take him to a medical facility. Rivera suggested that they take him to the police station instead, since Rojas might injure people at the medical facility. Rodriguez agreed, so Pérez and Rivera took Rojas to the police station in their patrol car. Rojas continued to shout incoherently during the drive, which lasted a few minutes. Rodriguez drove separately.

Upon arrival at the police station, Rodriguez observed Pérez and Rivera getting Rojas into the holding cell. Rojas tried to put his legs against the doorframe again, and he also started kicking, although he did not land a kick on either officer. Once they managed to get him in the cell, Pérez and Rivera decided to place him face down on the ground, still cuffed at the wrists behind his back. They put tie wraps on his ankles so he could not open his legs. While they were restraining him, Pérez did not observe any injuries or bruises on Rojas’s body. Desk officer Noelia Qui-ñones observed that, when he arrived at the police station, Rojas’s face and lips were purple, but he did not appear to have suffered any blows. While Rojas was in the cell, Quiñones did not hear a struggle between him or anyone else.

As Rojas continued to scream, Pérez and Rivera left him in the cell and closed the cell door. Pérez instructed Quiñones to call the paramedics, which she did at 9:38 p.m. After a few minutes, Rojas continued to speak incoherently, but at a lower volume. Pérez could see through the cell window that Rojas stayed on his stomach on the floor the entire time and that Rojas’s forehead and temple became more and more purple. Eventually, Rojas stopped speaking altogether. Pérez instructed Quiñones to call again. When the paramedics arrived at 9:48 p.m., Pérez hurried out to meet them because he thought Rojas was dead or dying. At 9:50 p.m., the paramedics declared that Rojas had no vital signs.

Rojas’s body was found with blood coming from his mouth; multiple lacerations, contusions, and abrasions throughout his body, including on his face, chin, shoulders, wrists, and legs; subarachnoid hemorrhage in his brain; and other injuries. The autopsy report lists the cause of death *69 as bodily trauma and cocaine intoxication; the manner of death, “accident.”

B. Procedural History

Plaintiffs filed the operative complaint, the second amended complaint, on April 9, 2012. 1 Plaintiffs alleged that Defendants, Officer Pérez, Sgt. Rodríguez, and thenPRPD Superintendent Pedro Toledo-Dávila (“Toledo”), 2 violated Rojas’s Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure, excessive use of force, and denial of urgent medical care. Plaintiffs also alleged a number of Puerto Rican law claims.

The district court granted summary judgment on Plaintiffs’ various Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment claims. It held that any claims against Defendants in their official capacity for monetary damages were barred by the Eleventh Amendment. On the merits, it held that Defendants had probable cause to stop Rojas’s car and that no reasonable jury could find that Defendants used excessive force in transporting and detaining Rojas at the police station. 3 Regarding denial of medical care, it held that there was insufficient evidence that Defendants were deliberately indifferent to a serious medical need. The court also held that there was insufficient evidence to support any supervisory liability claims against Sgt. Rodriguez or Superintendent Toledo and that Defendants were entitled to qualified immunity on the excessive force and medical care claims. After dismissing the federal claims, the district court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining Puerto Rican law claims and dismissed them without prejudice.

On appeal, Plaintiffs challenge only the district court’s decisions on the excessive force and denial of medical care claims and supervisory liability.

II. Standard of Review

A district court’s grant of summary judgment is reviewed de novo. United States ex rel. Jones v. Brigham & Women’s Hosp., 678 F.3d 72, 83 (1st Cir.2012).

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Bluebook (online)
813 F.3d 64, 2016 WL 563070, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miranda-rivera-v-toledo-davila-ca1-2016.