Sweiha v. County of Alameda

District Court, N.D. California·Decided October 1, 2019·No. 3:19-cv-03098·Unknown

Opinion

San Francisco Division ABRAAM SWEIHA, Case No. 19-cv-03098-LB

Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ v. PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS

COUNTY OF ALAMEDA et al., Re: ECF No. 9 Defendants. Plaintiff Abraam Sweiha, who has bipolar disorder, sued Alameda County deputies and Alameda County after the deputies responded to a 911 call, found him barricaded in his bedridden priest’s bedroom, broke down the door, and deployed their police canine, who injured Mr. Sweiha’s arm.1 Thereafter, the deputies allegedly denied him appropriate treatment for his mental illness, which caused his condition to worsen and, among other things, resulted in his confinement for a week in the County jail, where he tried to commit suicide and was placed in a safety cell.2 In his complaint, Mr. Sweiha claims (1) excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (claim one), (2) unlawful policies and practices for treating mental-health 1 Compl. – ECF No. 1 at 2 (¶¶ 1–3), 4 (¶¶ 17–19). Citations refer to material in the Electronic Case File (“ECF”); pinpoint citations are to the ECF-generated page numbers at the top of documents. issues, in violation of § 1983 and Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978), and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (the “ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12132 (claims two and four), and (3) deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and § 1983 (claim three).3 The defendants moved to dismiss Mr. Sweiha’s Monell and ADA claims.4 The court can decide the motion without oral argument, N.D. Cal. Civ. L.R. 7-1(b), and grants the defendants’ partial motion to dismiss without prejudice and with leave to amend (except that the court dismisses the ADA claims against the individual defendants with prejudice). 1. The Incident In July 2017, plaintiff Abraam Sweiha, who has bipolar disorder, had an unspecified mental- health crisis while visiting his bedridden priest at the priest’s home in Hayward, California.5 After Mr. Sweiha locked himself in the bathroom for over an hour, his family friends called “emergency personnel” for help.6 Mr. Sweiha subsequently moved to the priest’s bedroom.7 Alameda County Sheriff Deputies Jeffrey Edwards, Russel Armstrong, Robert Garrigan, Payam Shannon, and Erich Marapao responded to the call.8 Mr. Sweiha’s family friend told the deputies that Mr. Sweiha “suffered from a mental illness, was weeping and locked himself in the bathroom for several hours, but was not violent or threatening anyone.”9 Inside the bedroom, Mr. Sweiha was “holding a cross and praying, afraid to face the Deputies in fear they were going to hurt him.”10 Moments later, “without any efforts to de-escalate the situation or coax Sweiha from

3 Id. at 5–12 (¶¶ 23–47). 4 Mot. – ECF No. 9. 5 Compl. – ECF No. 1 at 2 (¶¶ 1–3), 4 (¶ 17). 6 Id. at 4 (¶ 17). 7 Id. (¶ 18). 8 Id. (¶ 17). 9 Id. 10 Id. (¶ 18). the room, Deputies Edwards, Armstrong, Garrigan, Shannon and Marapao broke down [the door] and set a canine on Sweiha.”11 The dog “immediately attacked Sweiha, biting him several times on his arm causing severe wounds even after the Deputies handcuffed him.”12 Only one deputy had his body camera on, but it malfunctioned, so there is no video footage.13 The deputies took Mr. Sweiha to the hospital, but “he was not treated for his mental illness or put on a [California Welfare and Institutions Code §] 5150 hold.”14 After the hospital discharged Mr. Sweiha, the deputies took him to the County jail, where — despite jail personnel’s knowledge of his mental illness — his mental illness was not treated and worsened.15 He spent a week at the jail, tried to commit suicide, was stripped naked (presumably because he was put in a safety cell), covered himself in his own feces and urine, refused to eat, was placed in a straitjacket, and ultimately was transferred to a psychiatric facility.16 2. Other Incidents Mr. Sweiha’s complaint sets forth the following allegations about the County’s alleged wrongdoing: a. in 2010, Alameda Deputies were sued and settled a case where the accused deputy, along with other Alameda County deputies, piled on top of John Wayne McGee suffocating in a jail and suffocated him to death. (Case 3:12-cv-04286- JST). The same deputy was also sued again for a 2014 incident where he used a baton to savagely beat an unarmed woman causing a huge gash in her head that required eight staples. (Case 3:16-cv-05132-WHO).17

11 Id. 12 Id. 13 Id. at 6 (¶ 28). 14 Id. at 4 (¶ 19). 15 Id. 16 Id. (¶¶ 19–20). 17 Id. at 6–7 (¶ 28(a)). b. In January 2018, an Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputy was arrested for retaliating against an inmate by ensuring that six other inmates had the opportunity and means to savagely beat the victim inmate.18 c. Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputies Sarah Krause and Stephen Sarcos have also been recently charged and arrested for “a series of incidents in which deputies pushed an inmate to throw feces and urine onto other prisoners in November 2016.”19 d. Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputies Justin Linn and Erik McDermott also have recently been arrested and face “charges of felony assault under the color of authority, witness intimidation and conspiracy to obstruct justice.”20 e. In 2017, Alameda County had to pay $5.5 million dollars when two Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputies were caught on video striking a man, who was attempting to surrender, with batons more than 40 times.21 3. Procedural History On June 4, 2019, Mr. Sweiha filed his complaint asserting the following claims: (1) excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (against the deputies); (2) an unconstitutional custom or policy under § 1983 and Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978) (against the County and unnamed Doe officials); (3) deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and § 1983 (against the deputies and unnamed Doe personnel); and (4) a violation of the Title II of ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12132, for failing to treat his mental-health crisis (against the individual defendants) and for failing to train (against the County and unnamed Doe officials).22 The defendants moved to dismiss Mr. Sweiha’s Monell and ADA claims.23 All parties have consented to the undersigned’s jurisdiction.24

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Sweiha v. County of Alameda, (N.D. Cal. 2019).

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