Muñoz v. Dávila

954 F. Supp. 455, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1351, 1997 WL 57233
District Court, D. Puerto Rico·Decided February 5, 1997·No. Civil No. 96-1525 (JP)·Published

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

PIERAS, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

The Court has before it codefendant Toledo Dávila’s motion for a judgment as a matter of law made under Rule 50(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Court finds that the motion is well taken and is hereby GRANTED.

The plaintiffs, Ricardo Avila Muñoz and his mother, Dalia Iris Muñoz, have brought this action , under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the defendants violated Avila’s constitutional rights. Specifically, .the plaintiffs argue that Avila’s right to be free from excessive force was violated when police officer Luis Sotomayor beat him with a pool cue and a pistol at the El Criollito bar in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, on July 15,1995.

' The plaintiffs initially sued both Sotomayor and a group of several governmental defendants, including Governor Pedro Rosselló, Justice Secretary Pedro Pierluisi, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico itself, and Police Superintendent Pedro Toledo Dávila. The claims against Governor Rosselló and Secretary Pierluisi were dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The case against the Commonwealth was dismissed on Eleventh Amendment grounds. Although a witness in this trial, Sotomayor has never made an appearance and is presently in default. The case against codefendant Toledo Dávila went to trial, and the plaintiffs have concluded their case-in-chief.

Toledo Dávila has moved for judgment under Rule 50(a), arguing that the plaintiffs have not presented evidence from which a reasonable jury could find Toledo Dávila liable under § 1983. Specifically, the eodefendant argues that the plaintiffs have not provided any evidence from which a reasonable jury could determine that Toledo Dávila knew or should have known that Luis Soto-mayor presented a danger to the constitutional rights of any individuals. Therefore, codefendant argues, no reasonable jury could find that his failure to identify Sotomayor as a threat to protected personal liberties, from among approximately 15,000 officers under his supervision, constituted deliberate, reckless, or callous disregard or gross negligence, given that during Toledo Dávila’s tenure no complaints were filed against Sotomayor that would have brought Sotomayor’s record to Toledo Dávila’s attention.

II. STANDARD FOR JUDGMENT AS A MATTER OF LAW

The standard for granting a judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50(a) has been spelled out time and again by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the First Circuit:

“[The Court must consider] the evidence and the inferences reasonably drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the non-movant. The Court must not consider the credibility of witnesses, resolve [457]*457conflicts in testimony, or evaluate the weight of the evidence. A verdict may be directed only if the evidence, viewed from this perspective, would not permit a reasonable jury to find in favor of the plaintiff on any permissible claim or theory.”

Andrade v. Jamestown Housing Authority, 82 F.3d 1179, 1186 (1st Cir.1996) (internal quotations and citations omitted).

III. FACTS

This action stems from events that transpired at the El Criollito bar in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, on the morning of July 15, 1995. We briefly relate that incident based on the testimony of coplaintiff Avila. The coplaintiff went to the El Criollito bar with some friends, where he got into a heated exchange with another patron of the bar. Codefendant Luis Sotomayor, who was a police officer in the Puerto Rico Police Department at that time, joined the fray. Eventually, Avila was beaten severely at the hands of Sotomayor. Sotomayor has testified that he was acting as a police officer during the incident at the El Criollito, that he identified himself as such, and that he displayed his badge. Avila testified that, as a result of the beating, he sustained fractured facial bones, several lacerations, pain and suffering, and emotional injuries. He was hospitalized immediately following the incident, and underwent reconstructive surgery two weeks afterward. Coplaintiff Dalia Iris Muñoz testified that she endured emotional pain and suffering as a result of her son’s injuries.

The relevant inquiry now before the Court does not concern the events at the El Criollito. Instead, the issue we now face regards eodefendant Toledo Dávila’s involvement in this action, and whether he was on actual or constructive notice that Sotomayor’s actions at the El Criollito were probable, such that Toledo Dávila’s failure to control Sotomayor constituted deliberate indifference to constitutionally protected individual rights. The only evidence the plaintiffs presented concerning that issue was the testimony of Soto-mayor himself.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, the facts relevant to this issue are as follows. Luis Sotomayor joined the police department in July 1983. As a result of the incident at the El Criollito, Sotomayor was dismissed from the police force, in 1996. According to Sotomayor’s testimony, eight complaints (other than the one stemming from the episode at the El Criollito) were filed against him during the course of his fourteen years on the force. According to his testimony, these complaints were levelled as follows:

1. In 1987 or 1988, a woman who did not agree with the propriety of a traffic ■ ticket given to her by Sotomayor filed a complaint. After further investigation, the ticket was upheld and the complaint dismissed.
2. In 1988, another officer filed a complaint against Sotomayor alleging that Sotomayor assaulted a prisoner, who was in custody because he had robbed and threatened to kill Sotomayor. After investigation, it was determined that this complaint was unfounded and was dismissed.
3. In 1989, Sotomayor was cited for failing to file a report regarding a breathalyzer test. That complaint was also dismissed.
4. In 1990, a complaint was filed alleging that Sotomayor failed to request sick leave according to proper administrative procedures.
5/6. In 1990 or 1991, two complaints were levelled by an attorney stemming from another officer’s intervention, at which Sotomayor was present. The attorney threatened to sue the intervening officer, who in turn filed a complaint against Sotomayor listing him as a witness. The notice of intent to sue was also placed in Soto-mayor’s record, because he was named as a witness.
7. In 1991, a complaint was filed against Sotomayor for failing to follow administrative procedures with respect to a speeding ticket. After a hearing, the ticket was found to be in order and the complaint was dismissed.
8. In 1991, a complaint was filed against Sotomayor for not following proper ad[458]*458ministrative procedures with respect to sick leave. The complaint was dismissed.

No further complaints were filed against Sotomayor until the one resulting from the events at the El Criollito.

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Muñoz v. Dávila, 954 F. Supp. 455, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1351, 1997 WL 57233 (prd 1997).

954 F. Supp. 455 (Muñoz v. Dávila) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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