O'Donnell v. Cumberland County

195 F. Supp. 3d 724, 2016 WL 3878048, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92789
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 18, 2016
Docket1:16-cv-0006
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 195 F. Supp. 3d 724 (O'Donnell v. Cumberland County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Donnell v. Cumberland County, 195 F. Supp. 3d 724, 2016 WL 3878048, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92789 (M.D. Pa. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

John E. Jones III, United States District Judge

In his Complaint (Doc. 1), Plaintiff Shawn Joseph O’Donnell (“Plaintiff’) asserts a Fourth Amendment claim to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as a Fourteenth Amendment due process claim and a supervisory and municipal liability claim, all pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and pendant state constitutional claims. (Doc. 1). This action is brought against Cumberland County, Cumberland County Adult Probation and Parole Department, Officers Darby Christlieb and Karen Rhinehart, and several unknown officers of Cumberland County and the Cumberland County Adult Probation and Parole Department. Also named as Defendants in this matter are the Cumberland County Prison, Officer Earl F. Reitz, Jr., and unknown officers of the Cumberland County Prison. Collectively, these Defendants shall be known as the “Cumberland County Defendants.” Further Defendants include the West Shore Regional Police Department, Officer Timothy Riñe, and unknown officers of the West Shore Regional Police Department (collectively, the “West Shore Defendants”).

Presently pending before the Court are two Motions to Dismiss Plaintiffs Complaint Pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, one filed by the collective Cumberland County Defendants (Doc. 15) and one filed by the collective West Shore Defendants (Doc. 18).

For the reasons that follow, the Cumberland County Defendants’ Motion shall [727]*727be denied in full. The West Shore Defendants’ Motion will be denied with respect to Plaintiffs claims alleging -Fourth Amendment violations. The -West Shore Defendants’ Motion will be granted with respect to Plaintiffs Fourteenth Amendment claims.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In accordance with the standard of review applicable to a motion to dismiss, the following facts are derived from Plaintiffs Complaint and viewed in the light most favorable to Plaintiff.

In the early hours of the afternoon on August 17, 2015, officers from the West Shore Regional Police Department, including Officer Timothy Rine, arrived at Plaintiffs place of employment. (Doc. 1, ¶¶ 10-11). Plaintiff was at that time employed as a cashier at Earns Quality Foods, located at 1023 State Street, Lemoyne, PA 17043. (Id.). Meanwhile, Plaintiffs probation officer, Officer Karen Rhinehart, waited nearby in the parking lot outside of the store. (Id., ¶ 11). Upon arrival, the officers forcibly detained ' Plaintiff and removed him from the store, to the outside parking lot while his employer and store customers looked on. (Id., ¶ 11).

Once outside, Officer Rhinehart informed Plaintiff that she “knew for a fact” that he had forged a note from a physician in order to obtain prescription medication. (Id., ¶ 12). Officer Rhinehart told Plaintiff that she had obtained this information due to a call from an “anonymous” 'tipster. (Id.). Officer Rine told Plaintiff that while he had “no idea” about the facts surrounding the anonymous tip or the reason for Plaintiffs detention, he was “just following the orders” of Officer Rhinehart to detain Plaintiff. (Id., ¶ 14). Meanwhile, Plaintiff repeatedly denied Officer Rhinehart’s allegations and explained that he had a legitimate prescription for Suboxone. (Id., ¶ 13). The officers placed Plaintiff in handcuffs and asked to search his car. (Id., ¶ 15). Though Plaintiff denied their request, the officers proceeded to search Plaintiffs car, and then transported Plaintiff to Cumberland County Prison, where he was placed in a holding cell. (Id., ¶¶ 15-16). Though Plaintiff repeatedly asked why he was being incarcerated, he was only told that he was there due to a “parole violation.” (Id., ¶ 16). Plaintiff was not, however, on parole and was in fact under probation supervision. (Id., ¶12).

At some point, Officer Rhinehart and another prison employee removed Plaintiff from his cell and told him that he was required to submit to a urine test, to which Plaintiff complied. (Id., ¶ 17). Officer Rhinehart and the other employee asked Plaintiff to admit to illegal drug- use,. or threatened to ensure that his prison sentence would be “maxed out” when' the urine test came back positive. (Id.). As of the date the Complaint in this matter was filed, Plaintiff had not received the results of that urine drug test. (Id.).

Plaintiff alleges that he remained incarcerated for an additional twenty-eight (28) days without being informed of his right to a hearing to establish whether probable cause existed for his arrest (a Gagnon I hearing). A Gagnon I hearing was never conducted during the course of Plaintiffs incarceration, nor was a parole detainer filed on the relevant docket. (Id., ¶ 18). However, approximately three, weeks into Plaintiffs detention, Officer Rhinehart demanded that Plaintiff sign a waiver of his right to a Gagnon I hearing, and indicated that if he would sign the waiver, she would take steps to have him transferred out of prison. (Id., ¶ 19). However, Plaintiff refused to sign the document. (Id.).,Plaintiff was released approximately one.week later, on September 17, 2015, (7&,.¶20).

[728]*728Following this encounter, Plaintiff was again incarcerated for an alleged probation violation. (Id., ¶21). During his second period of incarceration, Plaintiff waited approximately ten days for a Gagnon I hearing to be scheduled. (Id.). Once the hearing commenced, Plaintiff indicated that he wished to have an attorney present, and so the hearing was postponed until October 20, 2015. (Id., ¶¶21-22). When the October 20th hearing commenced, Plaintiff and his attorney were informed that the hearing would constitute a Gagnon II hearing instead of the Gagnon I hearing they had anticipated. (Id.). Plaintiff alleges that they had not been informed of this change prior to the hearing, and so were unable to appropriately prepare, or produce witnesses and other evidence relevant to the Gagnon II hearing. (Id.).

Also at the Gagnon II hearing, Officer Rhinehart stated under oath that she had placed a detainer on Plaintiff in regards to the twenty-eight day period that he was detained in August (discussed above). (Id., ¶22). However, Plaintiff alleges that no detainer exists on the relevant docket. (Id.). Further, during the same hearing, Plaintiff was made eligible for a work release program. (Id., ¶ 23). Yet Cumberland County Prison has denied Plaintiff access to the program due to “the possibility of further police action” in his case. (Id.). No further charges or allegations have been lodged against Plaintiff, however, and Plaintiff lacks information regarding the rationale for this stated “possibility.” (Id.).

Plaintiff alleges that the above-described actions and omissions were undertaken knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly, and with malice and deliberate disregard for Plaintiffs rights. (Id., ¶¶ 24, 28, 36, 41). Furthermore, Plaintiff alleges that the practices detailed are and were consistent with the institutional practices of the County, the Parole Department, the Police Department, and the Prison. (Id., ¶ 29).

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195 F. Supp. 3d 724, 2016 WL 3878048, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92789, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/odonnell-v-cumberland-county-pamd-2016.