Santiago v. Keyes

890 F. Supp. 2d 149, 2012 WL 3596968, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117704
District Court, D. Massachusetts·Decided August 21, 2012·No. Civil Action No. 11-30248-KPN·Published·Cited by 32 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER REGARDING DEFENDANTS KEYES AND RIVERA’S MOTIONS TO DISMISS (Document Nos. 29 and 19)

NEIMAN, United States Magistrate Judge.

Jerry Luis Santiago (“Plaintiff’) claims that he was arrested and detained because [152] he was wrongfully, and without justification, believed to be the subject of a New York arrest warrant. Asserting violations of both federal and state law, Plaintiff originally filed this action in state court against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of State Police (“Department of State Police”), the arresting state trooper Christopher Keyes (“Keyes”), and two unidentified defendants, John Doe, a state trooper who allegedly interrogated him following his arrest, and Richard Roe, an assistant district attorney who allegedly made misrepresentations regarding his identity in state court. Plaintiff has since amended his complaint to identify Carlos Rivera (“Rivera”) as the state trooper who allegedly interrogated him.

On November 8, 2011, Keyes removed the action to this court because it raised, among other claims, a federal question pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1381. In a prior memorandum and order, the court denied Plaintiffs motion to remand and dismissed certain claims against the Department of State Police. (See Document No. 15.) Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), Keyes now moves to dismiss Plaintiffs Massachusetts Civil Rights Act (“MCRA”) claim against him in its entirety as well as all claims asserted against him in his official capacity; other claims against him go unchallenged. For his part, Rivera moves to dismiss all of Plaintiffs claims against him pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).

The parties have consented to have the undersigned decide all matters in this case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) and Fed. R.Civ.P. 73. For the reasons that follow, the court will allow Keyes’ motion to dismiss in full and Rivera’s motion in part.

I. Background

The following facts come directly from the complaint and are stated in a light most favorable to Plaintiff, the party opposing dismissal. Young v. Lepone, 305 F.3d 1, 8 (1st Cir.2002).1

On or about August 20, 2008, Plaintiff, a Massachusetts resident who hails from Puerto Rico, was a passenger in a motor vehicle driven by a friend. (Complaint ¶¶ 8-9.) The vehicle was stopped by officers of the Department of State Police and Plaintiff was asked for identification. Plaintiff provided the officers with his Massachusetts driver’s license, which contained his photograph and correct birth date. (Id. ¶ 9.) Ostensibly believing Plaintiff was the subject of an outstanding New York arrest warrant, the officers instructed Plaintiff to exit the vehicle and lie face down on the ground, and then searched him and handcuffed him. (Id.)

Upon being arrested, Plaintiff was taken to a state police barracks in Springfield, Massachusetts. (Id. ¶ 10.) At the barracks, Plaintiff informed an officer that he is deaf and does not speak English; as a result, he was interrogated by Rivera, a Spanish-speaking State Trooper. (Id.) Plaintiff explained to Rivera that his wallet containing identification and motor vehicle license had been stolen from him while he was in Puerto Rico some time before and that he was the victim of identity theft and could not be the subject of the arrest warrant. (Id.)

Plaintiff was thereafter arraigned in Chicopee District Court. (Id. ¶ 13.) At Plaintiffs arraignment, the judge allegedly questioned the Assistant District Attorney (“ADA”), an unidentified defendant, as to [153] whether Plaintiff had been correctly identified as the subject of the arrest warrant. It is not clear if the ADA provided an answer at the arraignment, but the ADA appears to have asked the Department of State Police if Plaintiffs fingerprints matched those that it had received from New York and was (mis)informed that they did. (Id.)

Plaintiff was placed in custody until August 28, 2008, when he was brought back to the Chicopee District Court. Plaintiff asserts that, at that time, the ADA, based on information he had received from the Department of State Police, misrepresented to the court that Plaintiffs fingerprints matched those of the subject of the New York arrest warrant and that Plaintiff had been correctly identified as the subject of that warrant. (Id. ¶ 14.) Plaintiff was thereafter extradited to New York State. (Id. ¶ 15.) On September 19, 2008, a justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York determined that Plaintiff was not the proper subject of the arrest warrant. (Id.)

In total, Plaintiff spent thirty-two days in custody. (Id. ¶ 11.) It is Plaintiffs contention that, given the discrepancies between his appearance and the description and photograph of the proper target of the warrant as well as the fact that his fingerprints did not match those of the target of the warrant, he should not have been arrested and his protests of mistaken identity did not produce an adequate or competent investigation by either the Department of State Police or the District Attorney’s Office. (Id. ¶ 12.) It is Plaintiffs belief that, had such an investigation taken place, he would have been released from custody far sooner than he was. (Id.)

Plaintiffs complaint contains five counts, three of which apply to both Keyes and Rivera: (1) claims of conspiracy to violate, as well as violation of, the Federal Civil Rights Act pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985 (Count I), (2) intentional infliction of emotional distress (Count II), and (3) violation of the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act (Count V).

II. Discussion

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Santiago v. Keyes, 890 F. Supp. 2d 149, 2012 WL 3596968, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117704 (D. Mass. 2012).

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