The Estate of Paul Silva v. City of San Diego

District Court, S.D. California·Decided December 16, 2022·No. 3:18-cv-02282·Unknown

Opinion

THE ESTATE OF PAUL SILVA, by and ) Case No. 18cv02282 L (MSB) through it's successors-in-interest ) LESLIE ALLEN and The Estate of ) ORDER GRANTING IN PART MANUEL SILVA et al, ) AND DENYING IN PART ) DEFENDANT CITY OF SAN Plaintiffs, ) DIEGO’S MOTION FOR ) SUMMARY JUDGEMENT OR v. ) SUMMARY ADJUDICATION ) [ECF NO. 199] CITY OF SAN DIEGO, et al, ) ) Defendants. ) ) ) Pending before the Court is Officer Andrew Murrow, Officer Thomas Derisio, Sgt. Louis Maggi, and City of San Diego (“City Defendants”) motion for summary judgment. Plaintiffs opposed the motion and Defendants replied. The Court decides the matter on the papers submitted and without oral argument. See Civ. L. R. 7.1(d.1). For the reasons stated below, Defendants’ motion is granted in part and denied in part. A. Factual Allegations This action arises out of the contact, arrest, booking, and subsequent death of Plaintiffs’ son, Paul Silva (“Paul” or “Decedent”). Silva suffered from schizophrenia. (First Am. Compl. “FAC” ¶¶ 32, 51 [ECF. No. 79]). Although he was 39 years old, he lived with his father, Manuel Silva, and visited his mother, Leslie Allen, each morning. (Id. ¶ 33). On February 19, 2018, while visiting Allen, Silva acted out and refused to go home. (Id. ¶ 34). Allen called the San Diego Police Department’s Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (“PERT”) and requested assistance for a mental health emergency, also known as a California Welfare and Institution’s Code § 5150 psychiatric hold (“5150 hold”). (Id. ¶¶ 35, 39). Allen had called PERT to assist Paul in the past. On each prior occasion, “a PERT officer would speak to Paul calmly, and Paul would comply with all of their requests.” (Id. ¶ 38). However, due to the President’s Day holiday on February 19, 2018, PERT was unavailable. (Id. ¶ 35). On February 20, 2018, Allen again called the San Diego Police Department (“SDPD”) to request PERT assistance for Silva. (Id.) In the dispatch log, the call was classified as a “5150 Mental Case” and the type of call was “CW-CHECK THE WELFARE.” (Id. at 39). During this call, Allen told dispatch that Silva was cooperative with police because he was scared of officers. (Id. at ¶ 40). After three hours, Allen called SDPD again, telling them that Silva needed to go to the hospital because he was having a schizophrenic breakdown and was “running around between cars in the middle of the street.” (Id. at ¶ 42). Silva’s behavior became increasingly concerning, so a half an hour later, Allen contacted SDPD again, reporting that Silva was getting worse and that he needed to go to the hospital. (Id. at ¶ 43). San Diego police officers Derisio, Murrow, and Maggi responded to Allen’s 5150 call without PERT personnel. (Id. ¶ 45). Allen informed Derisio that Paul (1) did not use illicit drugs, (2) required hospitalization to treat his schizophrenia, and (3) was not taking his psychiatric medication. (Id. ¶ 44). Despite Allen’s statements that Silva was having a schizophrenic episode because he was off his medication, and that he was not on drugs, the officers decided that Silva must have used narcotics. (Id. at ¶ 45). Officer Murrow administered a field sobriety test, and Murrow concluded that Silva failed the test. (Id. ¶ 45). After arresting Silva, Murrow transported him first to SDPD headquarters, then to the Central Jail, a County-owned facility, to be booked. (FAC ¶ 49). Murrow did not inform County personnel of Paul’s psychiatric condition. (Id. ¶ 55). Registered nurse Anthony Adraneda conducted Paul’s intake interview at the Central Jail at approximately 11:21 AM on February 20, 2018. Paul informed Adraneda that he suffered from diabetes and schizophrenia and had been previously hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital. (Id. at 51). Adraneda reviewed Paul’s medical records in the Central Jail’s information management system and saw that his records showed a history of schizophrenia and self-reported psychiatric hospitalizations. (Id. at 52). Adraneda was aware that Paul had been prescribed psychiatric medication and had not been taking it. (Id.) Although Paul was a “book and release” inmate, Adraneda informed him he would refer him to a psychiatric doctor. (Id. at 52). “Book and release” inmates are arrested and booked for being under the influence of a controlled substance and are placed in “sobering cells” to be monitored for a maximum of 8 hours. (See id. ¶¶ 58, 69). Paul remained in County custody for the next 36 hours. During his 36 hours in the Central Jail, Sheriff’s deputies saw Paul running around his cell, throwing himself to the ground, yelling incoherently, staring out the window with his mouth wide open, holding his arms out pointing toward the window and walls, and crawling and rolling on the floor. (Id. ¶ 210). Paul was not placed in a sobering cell, as required for book-and-release inmates, but was instead moved from temporary holding cell to temporary holding cell with “no shower, no toilet paper, no soap, no toothbrush, no clean clothes, and no bed [or blankets].” (Id. ¶ 61). He was not given a medical referral or treatment for diabetes or his schizophrenia. (Id. at ¶ 67). “When Paul arrived at the hospital, he was hypoglycemic with his blood sugar level at 30.”). At 7:46 p.m., approximately 9 hours after Paul had been booked, Paul was exhibiting symptoms of decompensation but was not offered any medical assistance. (Id. ¶¶ 76). At 1:35 AM on February 21, 2018, a “cell check” was conducted by a deputy who looked in but Paul was still not offered any medical assistance. (Id. ¶ 77). At 2:28 AM, Lieutenant Laura Coyne reviewed the Central Jail log after Paul had been in temporary holding cells for 16 hours. Coyne did not take action to release him or request medical care. (Id. ¶ 78). At 8:07 AM, Sergeants Ceballos and Navarro went into Paul’s cell when he was placing items under the door and moving them around. Paul had been held for approximately 22 hours without sleep. Ceballos and Navarro did not assist him. (Id. ¶ 79). At 2:16 PM, Ceballos was the supervisor on the floor and knew that Paul had been denied access to adequate resources for over 28 hours. He still did not act. (Id. ¶ 81). Between 7:41 PM and 7:51 PM, 33 hours after Paul was booked, Deputy Julio Rodriguez, Deputy Ryan Seabron, and Deputy Suarez visited him to complete the required book-and-release paperwork. (Id. ¶ 84). Silva complied with Deputy Rodriguez’s instructions, but when Rodriguez reached for his handcuffs, Silva ran to the back of his cell. (Id.) Rodriguez, Seabron, and Suarez did not release him, provide medical care, or move him to a cell more suitable for long-term stays. (Id. ¶ 84). By 10:55 PM, Silva was running from wall to wall in his cell and placing his body against the walls and on the floor. (Id. at ¶ 85). Sergeant Lawson told Silva to come to the door of the cell to be placed in handcuffs, but Silva did not respond. (Id.) At 10:59 PM, Sergeant Michael Lawson instructed Seabron to use pepper spray to force Paul to comply. (Id. ¶ 86). Because the pepper spray did not affect him, Silva continued to pace in his cell. (Id.) Lawson and Sergeant John Douthitt concluded Paul was suffering from excited delirium and proposed a tactical team extraction. Coyne, the watch commander on duty, agreed. (Id ¶ 87). None of them reviewed Paul’s medical history before deciding to use a tactical team to extract Paul from his cell. (Id.) Nurse practitioner Keri Cavallo evaluated Paul immediately before the extraction. (Id. at ¶ 89). Without looking at his medical history or requesting that a physician or psychiatrist evaluate him, Cavallo agreed with Lawson that Paul was experiencing excited delirium and should be taken to the hospital. (Id.). Cavallo did not request that Silva be admitted into the jail’s internal hospital for a psychiatric or medical evaluation. (Id. at 91). The tactical team tasked with extracting Paul was led by Douthitt and included Rodriguez and Deputies Seabron, Charles DelaCruz, Diego Lopez, Aa

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