Wiggins v. Quesenberry

222 F. Supp. 3d 490, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 185142, 2016 WL 8504779
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedDecember 6, 2016
DocketCivil No. 4:16cv34
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 222 F. Supp. 3d 490 (Wiggins v. Quesenberry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wiggins v. Quesenberry, 222 F. Supp. 3d 490, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 185142, 2016 WL 8504779 (E.D. Va. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ORDER

Mark S. Davis, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter comes before the Court on a motion to dismiss filed by Defendant Officer Marc A. Ramirez, ECF No, 15, and a motion to dismiss filed by Defendant Special Officer Quesenberry, ECF No. 18. In his Second Amended, Complaint,1 Plaintiff Andre L. Wiggins alleges that Defendants2 violated his constitutional rights when Defendant Ramirez used excessive force in searching his person. 2d Am. Compl., ECF No. 27. Plaintiff alleges, as to both Defendant Ramirez and Defendant Quesenberry, two claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (one claim under the Fourth Amendment and, alternatively, one claim under the Fourteenth Amendment) and one claim of gross negligence under Virginia law. Id. at ¶¶ 39-40. Plaintiff further alleges that Defendant Ramirez committed the Virginia common law tort of assault and battery. Id. at ¶ 42(b). Plaintiff seeks ten million dollars ($10,000,00.00) as compensatory and punitive damages. Id. at 7.

I.

Plaintiff Andrew L. Wiggins is a resident of Hampton, Virginia. 2d Am. Compl. ¶ 1. At all relevant times, Defendant Ques-enberry and Defendant Ramirez were police officers employed by the City of Hampton. Id. at ¶¶ 4-5. The facts, as alleged by Plaintiff and assumed to be true for the purpose of a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b), Kensington Volunteer Fire Dep’t v. Montgomery Cty., 684 F.3d 462, 467 (4th Cir. 2012), show the following.

On May 14, 2015, at approximately 2:00 a.m., Plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped by police on suspicion that the driver was operating the vehicle with a suspended license. 2d Am. Compl. ¶¶ 8-9. Sergeant Snyder, Defendant Ques-enberry, and Defendant Ramirez responded to the scene. Id. at ¶ 16. Plaintiff was moved to the rear of the vehicle while the officers investigated the driver. Id. at ¶ 10. Plaintiff was “chatting amiably” with Sergeant Snyder in the back of the vehicle when, according to Plaintiff, Defendant Ramirez “yanked” Plaintiff out of the vehicle “by the crotch,” id. at ¶¶ 11-12, causing Plaintiff “a lasting groin injury,” id. at ¶ 13.

Defendant Ramirez then handcuffed Plaintiffs hands behind Plaintiffs back in order to search him. Id. at ¶ 17. While Plaintiff was handcuffed, Defendant Ramirez placed Plaintiff against the vehicle door and “ripped [Plaintiffs] foot from the ground” in order to search inside Plaintiffs boot. Id. at ¶¶ 18-19. Plaintiff “repeatedly” told Defendant Ramirez “not to let him fall.” Id. at ¶20. At some point, Plaintiff fell to the pavement. Id. at ¶ 21. This fall resulted in a mandibular fracture of Plaintiffs jaw and “other injuries,” including the loss of several teeth. Id. at ¶¶ 21-22. Plaintiff had multiple surgeries to treat these injuries and “had his jaw wired shut for weeks at a time on three [495]*495separate occasions.” Id. at ¶ 22. Plaintiffs total medical costs have been over one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, with additional bills and procedures still pending. Id. at ¶ 23.

Plaintiff filed the instant lawsuit on May 13, 2016, alleging a Section 1983 claim as to all defendants for a violation of his constitutional rights grounded in Defendant Ramirez’s use of excessive force (under the Fourth Amendment, and alternatively, under the Fourteenth Amendment), a Virginia law claim of gross negligence as to all defendants, and a claim against Defendant Ramirez for assault and battery under Virginia law.3 See generally Compl., ECF No. 1. Defendant Ramirez filed an answer on June 21, 2016. ECF No. 4. On June 22, 2016, Defendant Quesenberry4 filed a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. ECF No. 11. Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint under Rule 15(a) on July 1, 2016. ECF No. 13.

On July 13, 2016, Defendant Ramirez filed a motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint under Rule 12(b)(6), ECF No. 15, and filed an answer to the Amended Complaint, ECF No. 17. On July 15, 2016, Defendant Quesenberry filed a motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint under Rule (12) (b) (6). ECF No. 18. On July 22, 2016, Plaintiff filed a motion for leave to amend the complaint a second time and filed a response to the pending motions to dismiss. ECF Nos. 22-23. Defendant Ques-enberry filed a rebuttal brief on July 28, 2016. ECF No. 24. On August 8, 2016, the Court granted the motion for leave to amend and ordered the filing of the Second Amended Complaint, with all of Defendants’ previous pleadings deemed responsive to Plaintiffs Second Amended Complaint. ECF No. 26. The Second Amended Complaint was filed the same day. ECF No. 27. Thus, before the Court is the motion to dismiss filed by Defendant Ramirez, ECF No. 15, and the motion to dismiss filed by Defendant Quesenberry, ECF No. 18. Having been fully briefed, this matter is ripe for review.

II.

A complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a) (2), A motion to dismiss may be granted when a complaint fails “to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). A complaint fails to state a claim if it does not allege “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). Though a complaint need not be . detailed, the “[fjactual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Id. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955; see Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). The plausibility requirement is “not akin to a ‘probability requirement,’ but it asks for [496]*496more than a sheer possibility” that a defendant is liable. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955). In other words, “[a] claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. at 663, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

A motion to dismiss tests the sufficiency of a complaint without resolving factual disputes, and a district court “‘must accept as trae all of the factual allegations contained in the complaint’ and ‘draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff.’ ” Kensington Volunteer Fire Dep’t, 684 F.3d at 467 (quoting E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Kolon Indus., Inc., 637 F.3d 435, 440 (4th Cir. 2011)). Accordingly, “ ‘Rule 12(b)(6) does not countenance ... dismissals based on a judge’s disbelief of a complaint’s factual allegations.’” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (quoting Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 327, 109 S.Ct. 1827, 104 L.Ed.2d 338 (1989)) (omission in original).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
222 F. Supp. 3d 490, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 185142, 2016 WL 8504779, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wiggins-v-quesenberry-vaed-2016.