Wilson v. Montano

715 F.3d 847, 2013 WL 1848138, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 9055
Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit·Decided May 3, 2013·No. 12-2051·Published·Cited by 227 cases

Opinion

MURPHY, Circuit Judge.

I. Introduction

Appellants seek reversal of the district court’s order denying their motion to dismiss claims asserted against them by Michael Wilson, Sr. under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Wilson alleges he was unlawfully detained and deprived of his constitutional right to a prompt probable cause determination. Appellants claim they are entitled to qualified immunity. The district court concluded Wilson’s complaint alleged sufficient facts to state a plausible claim against each of the appellants for violating his Fourth Amendment rights. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court affirms in part and reverses in part.

II. Background 1

On December 18, 2010, Wilson was arrested without a warrant by Lawrence Montano, a deputy with the Valencia County Sheriffs Office (“VCSO”) in New Mexico. Montano asked Deputy Fred Torres to transport Wilson to the Valencia County Detention Center (“VCDC”). Pri- or to booking Wilson into the VCDC, Mon-tano prepared a criminal complaint listing the charge against Wilson as a misdemean- or offense. Neither Montano nor Torres ever filed the criminal complaint in a court with jurisdiction or brought Wilson before a judicial officer for a probable cause determination during the time he was held at the VCDC. On December 29, 2010, eleven days after his arrest, Wilson was released from the VCDC by order of a magistrate judge. In the order, the magistrate noted no complaint had been filed. On January 4, 2010, after Wilson was released, Monta-no filed the misdemeanor criminal charge in an appropriate court. On April 11, 2011, the district attorney’s office dismissed the charge due to insufficient evidence.

Wilson brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. His complaint named as defendants Deputies Montano and Torres; Joe Chavez, the warden of VCDC; and Rene Rivera, the Valencia County Sheriff during the time of Wilson’s detention. Chavez and Rivera were named in both their individual and official capacities. Count I of the complaint alleged the defendants engaged in “Illegal and Unreasonable Detention in Violation of the Fourth Amend *851 ment.” Counts III and IV alleged Warden Chavez and Sheriff Rivera, respectively, were liable for establishing an unconstitutional policy or custom and deliberate indifference. 2 Wilson alleged the deputies deliberately detained him without filing a criminal complaint or bringing him before a judicial officer for a probable cause determination. He further asserted that, prior to his detention, there were numerous incidents in which VCDC held individuals without filing criminal charges or otherwise allowing them to appear before a magistrate judge. Wilson thus alleged his detention was the result of a policy established by Warden Chavez in which individuals were routinely held without the filing of criminal charges until they were released by sua sponte court orders, and that Warden Chavez trained his staff to accept inmates without the filing of charges. Wilson also asserted Warden Chavez was deliberately indifferent to the unconstitutional policy of incarcerating citizens without pending charges.

Wilson made substantially similar claims against Sheriff Rivera. He alleged there were numerous prior incidents in which VCSO deputies arrested individuals without a warrant and thereafter failed to file criminal complaints or provide prompt probable cause determinations. He asserted these 'illegal detentions, including his own, were the result of a policy or custom- established by Sheriff Rivera. He also alleged Sheriff Rivera failed to train his staff, which resulted in the routine incarceration of individuals without legal process. In addition, Wilson alleged Sheriff Rivera was deliberately indifferent to the constitutional violations which resulted from his policies, customs, and/or failure to train.his employees. 3 '

Appellants jointly filed a'motion to dismiss Wilson’s claims, arguing, inter alia, Wilson’s complaint failed to state a claim against any of the defendants in their individual capacities 4 and each of the defendants was entitled to qualified immunity. The district court denied the motion, and this appeal followed. 5

*852 III. Discussion

A. Jurisdiction and Standard of Review

Although an order denying a motion to dismiss based on' qualified immunity is not a final judgment, this court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 to review the order “to the extent that it turns on an issue of law.” Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 611, 530, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). This court reviews the district court’s denial of a motion to dismiss based on qualified immunity de novo, accepting as true all well-pleaded factual allegations in the complaint and viewing the allegations in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Brown v. Montoya, 662 F.3d 1152, 1162 (10th Cir.2011). The Supreme Court recently articulated in detail the standard for evaluating a motion to dismiss based on qualified immunity:

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.” 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. The plausibility standard is not akin to a “probability requirement,” but it asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully. Where a complaint pleads facts that are “merely consistent with” a defendant’s liability, it “stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of ‘entitlement to relief.’ ”

Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (citations omitted) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555-57, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). In the context of a § 1983 action against multiple individual governmental actors, “it is particularly important ... that the complaint make clear exactly who is alleged to have done what to whom,, to provide each individual with fair notice as to the basis of the claims against him or her.” Robbins v. Oklahoma, 519 F.3d 1242, 1250 (10th Cir. 2008).

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Wilson v. Montano, 715 F.3d 847, 2013 WL 1848138, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 9055 (10th Cir. 2013).

715 F.3d 847 (Wilson v. Montano) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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