Rojero v. El Paso County

226 F. Supp. 3d 768, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 183293, 2016 WL 8138801
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Texas
DecidedApril 28, 2016
DocketEP-16-CV-19-PRM
StatusPublished

This text of 226 F. Supp. 3d 768 (Rojero v. El Paso County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rojero v. El Paso County, 226 F. Supp. 3d 768, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 183293, 2016 WL 8138801 (W.D. Tex. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS TO DISMISS

PHILIP R. MARTINEZ, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

On this day, the Court considered Defendants El Pa'so County, Texas (“Defendant County”); El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles; and El Paso County Sheriff’s Department’s Unknown Deputies’ (“Unknown Deputies”) “Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim and Brief in Support” (ECF No. 17) [hereinafter “Motion”], filed on March 21, 2016, and Plaintiff Armando Rojero’s “Response to Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim and Brief in Support” (ECF No. 21) [hereinafter “Response”], filed on April 12, 2016, in the above-captioned cause. After due consideration, the Court is of the opinion that Defendants’ Motion should be granted in part and denied in part for the reasons that follow.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

This case arises out of an arrest involving a purported mistaken identity. Plaintiff alleges that on December 26, 2013, Unknown Deputies arrested him for an outstanding warrant. PL’s Am. ,Compl. 3, Mar. 10, 2016, ECF No. 13 [hereinafter “Complaint”]. Plaintiff further alleges that this outstanding warrant “should have been recalled” because it “had been dismissed.”1 Compl. 3. According to Plaintiff, the outstanding warrant was issued “for a different defendant having the same name as Plaintiff.” Id. Plaintiff further claims that this , other individual (“Plaintiffs Half-Brother”) shares not only the same father with Plaintiff, but also the same name. Id. [772]*772Plaintiffs Half-Brother “is believed to have stolen Plaintiffs identity.” Id.

Once at the jail, Plaintiff claims that he repeatedly requested that the Unknown Deputies verify that his fingerprints and photo identification did not correspond with Plaintiffs Half-Brother. Id. Plaintiff avers that the El Paso County Sheriffs Department possessed Plaintiffs Half-Brother’s fingerprints and mug shot. Id. Despite his efforts, Plaintiff asserts that the Unknown Deputies ignored his assertions that he was not Plaintiffs Half-Brother. Id. at 3-4.

Finally, Plaintiff avers that he “was detained in jail unlawfully for several hours until he posted bond.” Id. at 4.

Plaintiff subsequently filed his original petition in Texas state court on December 18, 2015. See Notice of Removal Ex. A, Jan. 15, 2016, EOF No. 1. Because Plaintiff alleged that Defendants violated the Constitution, Defendants removed the instant action to federal court. Id. After amending his pleading, Plaintiff raises twenty counts based on 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Texas Tort Claims Act (“TTCA”), and common law claims:

• Counts One and Two: violation of constitutional rights with demands for compensatory and exemplary damages;
• Count Three: violation of “statutory civil rights” with a demand for damages;
• Counts Four through Six: intentional inflection of emotional distress with demands for general, compensatory, and exemplary damages;
• Counts Seven through Ten: respon-deat superior liability against the three named Defendants and El Paso Sheriffs Department;2
• Counts Eleven through Thirteen: negligence;
• Count Fourteen: negligent implementation of policy, training, and supervision;
• Counts Fifteen through Eighteen: involve false arrest or false imprisonment claims, e.g., malicious abuse of process, willful detention, lack of consent, absence of justification; and
• Counts Nineteen through Twenty: actual and exemplary damages.

For ease of clarity, the Court will address Plaintiffs counts in the following order:

• Constitutional violations (Counts One through Three);
• Negligent training (Count Fourteen);
• Intentional infliction of emotional distress (Counts Four through Six);
• Negligence (Counts Eleven through Thirteen); and
• False imprisonment (Counts Fifteen through Eighteen).3

II. LEGAL STANDARD

A. Motion to Dismiss Standard of Review

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) authorizes the dismissal of a complaint for “failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” “To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Davila v. United States, 713 F.3d 248, 255 (5th Cir. 2013) (quoting Ashcroft [773]*773v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009)) (internal quotation marks omitted). While a complaint need not contain “detailed factual allegations” to survive a motion to dismiss, Cuvillier v. Taylor, 503 F.3d 397, 401 (5th Cir. 2007) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)) (internal quotation marks omitted), it must state “more than labels and conclusions”: “formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. “Nor does a complaint suffice if it tenders ‘naked assertion[s]’ devoid of ‘further factual enhancement.’ ” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955). Thus, at this stage, the Court must determine whether the well-pleaded facts in Plaintiffs Complaint, taken as true and viewed in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, are sufficient to “move [his] claim ‘across the line from conceivable to plausible.’ ” Leal v. McHugh, 731 F.3d 405, 410 (5th Cir. 2013) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955).

B. Section 1983

A plaintiff can establish a prima facie case under § 1983 for the deprivation of civil rights by demonstrating: (1) a violation of a federal constitutional or statutory right; and (2) that the violation was committed by an individual acting under the color of state law. Doe v. Rains Cnty. Indep. Sch. Dist., 66 F.3d 1402, 1406 (5th Cir. 1995). Section 1983 creates no substantive rights but merely provides remedies for deprivations of rights created under federal law. Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 393-94, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989).

Plaintiffs lawsuit asserts violations of the constitutional rights protecting against false arrest, false imprisonment, excessive force, and failure to provide due process. See Compl. 1-4.

III. DISCUSSION

A. Unknown Deputies

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Bluebook (online)
226 F. Supp. 3d 768, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 183293, 2016 WL 8138801, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rojero-v-el-paso-county-txwd-2016.