Orona v. Board of Commissioners for Bernalillo County

CourtDistrict Court, D. New Mexico
DecidedFebruary 21, 2020
Docket1:17-cv-01239
StatusUnknown

This text of Orona v. Board of Commissioners for Bernalillo County (Orona v. Board of Commissioners for Bernalillo County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Mexico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Orona v. Board of Commissioners for Bernalillo County, (D.N.M. 2020).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO ______________________

ANA ORONA, and MARY SHAW,

Plaintiffs,

vs. Case No. 1:17-cv-01239 KWR/LF

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR BERNALILLO COUNTY, and ANGELA SENA1,

Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

THIS MATTER comes before the Court upon Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment, filed on June 26, 2018 (Doc. 22). Having reviewed the parties’ pleadings and the applicable law, the Court finds that Defendants’ motion is well-taken and, therefore, is GRANTED. BACKGROUND This case arises out of a use of force incident between Plaintiffs (detention officers) and an inmate at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center. Plaintiffs were injured in the incident and filed injury reports. Plaintiffs allege that Defendants violated their constitutional right to privacy by disclosing their personal and medical information to third parties. Defendants moved for summary judgment in June 2018. The Court notes that this case is an unusual procedural posture. This case was transferred to the undersigned on January 8, 2020. Before this case was transferred, the Court held a summary judgment hearing in September 2018

1 Defendant’s correct name is Angela Sena-Henderson. Doc. 22 at 1. and issued an order granting this Motion for Summary Judgment on March 15, 2019. Doc. 40. In that order, the Court stated it would issue a Memorandum Opinion and Order at a later time. Id. This is not the practice of the undersigned, as I only issue one order or opinion granting or denying a motion and generally do not hold hearings on summary judgment motions. In reviewing the order, the Court concludes that further reasoning was necessary. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a) (“The

court should state on the record the reasons for granting or denying the motion.”). The previous order is vacated, and this opinion will constitute the sole reasoning of the Court in granting the motion. The Court has reviewed all briefing, the record, and the September 13, 2018 summary judgment hearing. LEGAL STANDARD A motion for summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue of material fact, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 330 (1986). “[T]he mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary

judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48 (1986). As the Tenth Circuit has explained, “mere assertions and conjecture are not enough to survive summary judgment.” York v. AT&T, 95 F.3d 948, 955 (10th Cir. 1996). To avoid summary judgment, a party “must produce specific facts showing that there remains a genuine issue for trial and evidence significantly probative as to any [material] fact claimed to be disputed.” Branson v. Price River Coal Co., 853 F.2d 768, 771-72 (10th Cir. 1988) (quotation marks and citations omitted). UNDISPUTED MATERIAL FACTS As explained below, for qualified immunity, the Court generally considers Plaintiffs’ version of the facts that are well-supported by citations to the record. Because Plaintiffs did not submit their own version of the facts, but supplemented Defendants’ facts, the Court will consider the parties’ facts together. Plaintiffs are current or former detention officers at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center (“MDC”). On October 19, 2015, Plaintiffs were involved

in a use of force incident with a detainee. As a result of the altercation, Plaintiffs were injured. Defendant Sena-Henderson formerly worked at MDC as a lieutenant until her retirement in July 2017. As the supervisor on duty, she was tasked with compiling and completing the first report of the incident and the use of force report. Per policy, the first report of injury for staff members is to be completed by the supervisor. Doc. 22, Ex. D. As part of her duties, Sena- Henderson obtained written reports from the detention officer participants, including Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs completed accident and injury reports. Defendant Sena-Henderson prepared the supervisor’s report of injury forms. These forms contained the injured employee’s name, address, social security number, date of birth and phone number.

Sena-Henderson was placed on routine administrative leave with pay while she was completing the use-of-force report, because of her involvement in the incident. Sena-Henderson was allowed to come back and complete the use-of-force report, and then went back on leave. Sena-Henderson then provided the use of force report with attachments to the MDC Civil Litigation department. This included the supervisor’s report of injury forms. Plaintiffs assert that Sena-Henderson should not have submitted the report directly to MDC Civil Litigation. Rather, Sena-Henderson should have submitted the use of force report, without the injury report, to her supervisor Captain Alvarado. Captain Alvarado would then send it to MDC Civil Litigation. Plaintiffs assert that the injury report should only be sent to the MDC Risk Management department. Doc. 32 at ¶ 19. Following submission of the use of force report, it is inputted into the internal computer system. Sena-Henderson did not input the use of force report and attachments into the internal computer system. She also did not provide the use of force report or injury report, or the Plaintiffs’

personal or medical information, to any third party, but only to MDC Civil Litigation. Sena-Henderson had no involvement in responding to requests for MDC records made under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act or in the disclosure of personal and medical information to anyone except the MDC Civil Litigation Department. As a lieutenant at MDC, Sena-Henderson was not a policymaker. IPRA requests at the time were handled by Nataura Powdrell-Moore, the MDC Public Information Officer and custodian of public records. On or about March 11, 2016, MDC Sgt. Cavis made a written IPRA request to MDC including all documentation pertaining to the use of force incident. This included the use of force report and injury report completed by Sena-

Henderson. Ms. Powdrell Moore received a burnt disc with the requested documents from MDC Civil Litigation. Ms. Powdrell-Moore did not review the burnt disk because the IPRA request was made by an MDC staff member. Ms. Powdrell-Moore made the documents responsive to the IPRA request, including the use of force report with the injury report, available for Sgt. Cavis. Sena-Henderson had no involvement in responding to the IPRA request and she was not Ms. Powdrell-Moore’s supervisor. At all times, Bernalillo County did not have a policy to intentionally release information to the public regarding incidents between MDC officers and MDC inmates. DISCUSSION I. Defendant Sena-Henderson is entitled to qualified immunity. A. Qualified Immunity Standard. Defendant Sena-Henderson has asserted the defense of qualified immunity, which shields government officials from liability for civil damages “insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have

known.” Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 231 (2009); Romero v.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Davis v. Scherer
468 U.S. 183 (Supreme Court, 1984)
City of Los Angeles v. Heller
475 U.S. 796 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
477 U.S. 242 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Pearson v. Callahan
555 U.S. 223 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Thomas v. Durastanti
607 F.3d 655 (Tenth Circuit, 2010)
Dodds v. Richardson
614 F.3d 1185 (Tenth Circuit, 2010)
Herring v. Keenan
218 F.3d 1171 (Tenth Circuit, 2000)
Medina v. Cram
252 F.3d 1124 (Tenth Circuit, 2001)
Graves v. Thomas
450 F.3d 1215 (Tenth Circuit, 2006)
Martinez v. Carr
479 F.3d 1292 (Tenth Circuit, 2007)
Hinton v. City Of Elwood
997 F.2d 774 (Tenth Circuit, 1993)
Koch v. City of Del City
660 F.3d 1228 (Tenth Circuit, 2011)
Romero v. Storey
672 F.3d 880 (Tenth Circuit, 2012)
Gray v. University of Colorado Hospital Authority
672 F.3d 909 (Tenth Circuit, 2012)
Gomez v. Martin
593 F. App'x 756 (Tenth Circuit, 2014)
Cox v. Glanz
800 F.3d 1231 (Tenth Circuit, 2015)
Martin v. County of Santa Fe
626 F. App'x 736 (Tenth Circuit, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Orona v. Board of Commissioners for Bernalillo County, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/orona-v-board-of-commissioners-for-bernalillo-county-nmd-2020.