Conley v. City and County of San Francisco et al

Filing 37

Order by Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero granting in part 18 Motion to Dismiss.(jcslc3S, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 6/19/2012)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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Northern District of California

United States District Court

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CARAMAD CONLEY,
Plaintiff,

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v.

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Case No.: C-12-00454 JCS
ORDER GRANTING IN PART
DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO
DISMISS

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CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN
FRANCISCO AND PRENTICE EARL
SANDERS,
Defendants.

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I.

INTRODUCTION
Plaintiff Caramad Conley brings this civil rights action against the City and County of San

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Francisco (“City”) and former San Francisco Police Department Inspector Prentice Earl Sanders

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(“Sanders”) (collectively, “Defendants”) following a December 14, 2010 order granting Plaintiff‟s

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petition for a writ of habeas corpus and vacating his January 25, 1995 murder conviction. Plaintiff

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alleged a claim for damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Presently before the Court is Defendants‟

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Motion to Dismiss (“Motion”). A hearing on the Motion was held on June 15, 2012 at 9:30 a.m.

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For the reasons stated below, the Motion is GRANTED in part.

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II.

BACKGROUND

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A.

The Complaint

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This action arises out of events that begin with the April 9, 1989 shooting deaths of Charles

Complaint ¶ 21. Plaintiff was arrested for these crimes on November 20, 1992 and remained

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imprisoned through his trial in September 1994. Id. at ¶ 3. Plaintiff was convicted by a jury of two

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counts of first degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit first degree

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murder, and eleven counts of attempted murder. Id. On January 25, 1995, the San Francisco

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Superior Court sentenced Plaintiff to life plus 22 years in prison, without the possibility of parole.

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Id. at ¶ 4. Until the December 14, 2010 order granting his petition for writ of habeas corpus and

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“Cheap Charlie” Hughes and Roshawn Johnson in the Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco.

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vacating his conviction, Plaintiff spent 18 years in prison. Id. at ¶ 1.

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Plaintiff alleges that his wrongful conviction resulted from the misconduct of the San

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Francisco Police Department (“SFPD”) homicide investigators in charge of the case, Defendant

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Sanders and Napoleon Hendrix. Id. at ¶ 3. Specifically, Sanders assured Plaintiff‟s wrongful

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conviction by “willfully suppressing a mountain of exculpatory evidence showing that the linchpin

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witness against him, Clifford Polk, had been paid thousands of dollars and received other benefits, in

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exchange for his testimony.” Id. at ¶ 1. Sanders made a “multi-year investment” in the teenager

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Polk, offering him cash on demand, mentorship, employment, housing, and immunity from

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conviction for his recidivist drug crimes, all in exchange for Polk‟s testimony falsely implicating

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Plaintiff in the shootings. Id. at ¶ 25. These undisclosed funds came through SFPD‟s Witness

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Protection Program. Id. at ¶ 38. The Complaint further alleges that Defendants provided, and

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concealed, benefits to the prosecution‟s second most important witness, John Johnson. Id. at ¶ 1.

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Sanders procured Johnson‟s testimony against Plaintiff by arranging for Johnson, who was in prison,

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to have private sexual encounters with a female inmate. Id. Sanders‟ misconduct was made possible

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because of the City‟s official policies “enabling suppression of evidence of payments to testifying

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witnesses and their failures to train and supervise police officers regarding their constitutional

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obligations . . . .” Id. at ¶ 3.

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In addition to the suppression of exculpatory evidence, “defendants also violated clear

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constitutional requirements and denied Conley a fair trial by knowingly permitting Polk to perjure

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himself while testifying against Conley.” Id. at ¶ 7. In particular, Polk falsely testified that he was

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not under any witness protection program, despite receiving money from Sanders pursuant to such a

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program.1 Id. Sanders sat next to the prosecutor at counsel table while Polk lied. Id. at ¶ 43.

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In the Complaint‟s Claim for Relief, Plaintiff alleges that Sanders acted willfully and with

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conscious disregard for Plaintiff‟s constitutional due-process rights. Id. at ¶ 87. Sanders violated

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Plaintiff‟s clearly established due-process rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment by

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“intentionally suppressing material impeachment evidence and suborning perjured testimony.” Id. at

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¶ 88. Additionally, the City, through the SFPD‟s Witness Protection Program, followed an

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“unconstitutional unofficial custom and practice of delegating plenary authority to case investigators

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regarding the use and documentation of [Program] funds, including cash payments to testifying

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witnesses.” Id. at ¶ 92. The City also failed to train and supervise its case investigators regarding

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the constitutional uses and required documentation of witness protection funds. Id. at ¶ 93. The

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City‟s unofficial custom “effectively ensured” that potentially exculpatory evidence would not be

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revealed to criminal defendants, and resulted in Plaintiff‟s wrongful conviction and 18-year

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imprisonment. Id. at ¶ 91.

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B.

The Motion to Dismiss

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Defendants‟ Motion contends that the Complaint presents two bases of liability in regards to

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Sanders‟ alleged conduct: 1) his alleged failure to inform the prosecutor that Polk was receiving

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benefits from the SFPD; and 2) his “failure to stand up in court during Plaintiff‟s murder trial and

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„correct‟ false testimony from Polk.” Motion at 1-2. Defendants‟ Motion seeks dismissal of only

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the second basis for Plaintiff‟s claim. Id. at 2. Defendants argue that Sanders cannot be held liable

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under § 1983 for suborning perjury because correcting false testimony is a prosecutorial function,

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entitling Sanders to absolute immunity, and, at the very least, he is entitled to qualified immunity

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On December 13, 2005, Polk executed a declaration under penalty of perjury in which he
recanted his testimony implicating Conley in the murders and explained that Sanders and Hendrix
pressured him into testifying falsely. Id. at ¶ 68.

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since it was not clearly established that Sanders had a duty to correct Polk‟s testimony during trial

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proceedings.

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In response, Plaintiff argues that Defendants‟ Motion is based on a misreading of his

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Complaint and should be denied. Plaintiff‟s Opposition to Defendants‟ Motion to Dismiss

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(“Opposition”), 1. Contrary to Defendants‟ interpretation, Plaintiff does not intend to argue that

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“Sanders‟ failure to correct Polk‟s false testimony in front of the jury provides a separate or stand-

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alone basis for liability under § 1983.” Opposition at 1. Instead, Plaintiff maintains, this allegation

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is simply “an important piece of evidence that speaks directly to a number of issues in the case,

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including Sanders‟ state of mind and wrongful intent; Polk‟s complicity in Sanders‟ scheme to

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suppress evidence of the payments to Polk; the prosecutor‟s ignorance of the benefits given to Polk .

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. . ; and the fact that both Conley and his trial counsel never received any of the exculpatory

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evidence . . . .” Id. Plaintiff contends that denying the Motion is appropriate because rather than

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seeking dismissal of the sole claim asserted in the Complaint, Defendants seek to “dismiss” a legal

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theory Plaintiff has not asserted and does not intend to assert. Id. at 9. Furthermore, to the extent

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Defendants seek to challenge specific allegations within the claim, the use of a Rule 12(b)(6) motion

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is improper and any motion to strike under Rule 12(f) would be meritless given the centrality of the

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allegations to Plaintiff‟s claim. Id. at 9-10 (citing Thompson v. Paul, 657 F. Supp. 2d 1113, 1129 (D.

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Az. 2009)).

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In their reply, Defendants reject Plaintiff‟s insistence that the Complaint does not present a

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suborning perjury claim. Defendants‟ Reply in Support of Motion to Dismiss (“Reply”), 1.

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Defendants point to specific language in the Complaint they contend make it “crystal clear” that

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Plaintiff is alleging Sanders violated his right to due process in two distinct ways—by suppressing

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exculpatory evidence and by presenting false evidence to the jury. Reply at 2 (citing Complaint at

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¶¶ 83, 88). Defendants further contend that a Rule 12(b)(6) motion is proper where, as here, a party

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presents a single cause of action that presents multiple theories of liability. Id. at 3 (citing Nelson v.

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Am. Power & Light, 2010 WL 3219498 (S.D. Ohio Aug. 12, 2010); Bayview Loan Servicing, LLC v.

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Law Firm of Richard M. Squire & Assocs., 2010 WL 5122003 (E.D. Pa. Dec. 14, 2010)).

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III.

ANALYSIS
Whether or not Plaintiff‟s Complaint can be read to present a § 1983 claim based on Sanders‟

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failure to correct Polk‟s testimony in front of the jury, Plaintiff unambiguously states that he does

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not assert, and does not intend to assert, such a claim. The Court need not parse the language in the

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Complaint given this concession in Plaintiff‟s Opposition. Accordingly, to the extent the Complaint

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states a stand-alone § 1983 claim based on Sanders‟ failure to correct Polk‟s testimony in front of the

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jury, that claim is dismissed. Additionally, the Court declines to strike the language in the

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Complaint cited by Defendants as problematic because they have not shown, and the Court cannot

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conclude, that such language is “redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous.” Fed. R. Civ. P.

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12(f).

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IV.

CONCLUSION

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For the reasons stated above, Defendants‟ Motion is GRANTED in part.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: June 19, 2012
_________________________________

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JOSEPH C. SPERO

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United States Magistrate Judge

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