Villa v. County of San Diego et al

Filing 22

ORDER Denying Defendant County of San Diego's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint [Doc. No. 15 ]. Signed by Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo on 9/15/2020. (anh)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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MIGUEL VILLA,

Case No.: 20-CV-537-CAB-NLS
Plaintiff,

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v.

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ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT
COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO’S
MOTION TO DISMISS
PLAINTIFF’S FIRST AMENDED
COMPLAINT

COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO and RUDY
PERAZA,

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Defendants.

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[Doc. No. 15]

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Before the Court is Defendant County of San Diego’s motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s

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first amended complaint. [Doc. No. 15.] The Court finds it suitable for determination on

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the papers submitted and without oral argument. See S.D. Cal. CivLR 7.1(d)(1). For the

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reasons set forth below, Defendant County of San Diego’s motion to dismiss is denied.

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I.

BACKGROUND

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Plaintiff Miguel Villa alleges that on March 14, 2019, he was brought into San Diego

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Central Jail for booking where Defendant Deputy Rudy Peraza (“Deputy Peraza”) was
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working. [Doc. No. 13 at ¶¶ 9–13.1] While Plaintiff was in restraints Deputy Peraza

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allegedly punched Plaintiff, beat Plaintiff, and bent Plaintiff’s fingers while Plaintiff posed

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no threat to anyone. [Id. at ¶¶ 16–18.] No other deputy intervened to help, and Plaintiff

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suffered serious injuries, lacerations, and bruises. [Id. at ¶¶ 20–21.] Plaintiff alleges

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Defendant County of San Diego (“County”) maintained a de facto policy of allowing its

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deputies to use force on citizens who were in restraints. [Id. at ¶ 23.] Over the past decade,

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there have been several complaints by citizens alleging use of force by San Diego sheriff’s

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deputies on citizens who did not pose a threat to anyone. [Id. at ¶ 24.] Plaintiff alleges the

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County has maintained a custom or practice of allowing its deputies to use unnecessary

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force on individuals in handcuffs and the County was aware of several cases where similar

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allegations have been alleged. [Id. at ¶¶ 25–26.]

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On March 20, 2020, Plaintiff filed his complaint against Defendants County and

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Deputy Peraza alleging: (1) excessive force and failure to intercede pursuant to 42 U.S.C.

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§ 1983; (2) Monell violation pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983; (3) assault; (4) battery; (5)

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negligence: (6) intentional infliction of emotional distress; and (7) violation of California

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Civil Code § 52.1 (the “Bane Act”). [Doc. No. 1.] On May 7, 2020, the County and Deputy

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Peraza each filed a motion to dismiss. [Doc. Nos. 6, 7.] On June 11, 2020, the Court issued

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an Order denying Deputy Peraza’s motion to dismiss and granting the County’s motion to

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dismiss allowing Plaintiff leave to amend only the Monell claim against the County. [Doc.

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No. 12.] On June 24, 2020, Plaintiff filed his first amended complaint (“FAC”). [Doc. No.

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13.] The County moved to dismiss the FAC on July 8, 2020. [Doc. No. 15.]

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II.

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The familiar standards on a motion to dismiss apply here. To survive a motion to

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dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted

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as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S.

LEGAL STANDARD

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Document numbers and page references are to those assigned by CM/ECF for the docket entry.
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662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). Thus,

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the Court “accept[s] factual allegations in the complaint as true and construe[s] the

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pleadings in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.” Manzarek v. St. Paul Fire

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& Marine Ins. Co., 519 F.3d 1025, 1031 (9th Cir. 2008). On the other hand, the Court is

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“not bound to accept as true a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation.” Iqbal, 556

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U.S. at 678 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). Nor is the Court “required to accept as

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true allegations that contradict exhibits attached to the Complaint or matters properly

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subject to judicial notice, or allegations that are merely conclusory, unwarranted deductions

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of fact, or unreasonable inferences.” Daniels-Hall v. Nat’l Educ. Ass’n, 629 F.3d 992, 998

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(9th Cir. 2010). “In sum, for a complaint to survive a motion to dismiss, the non-conclusory

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factual content, and reasonable inferences from that content, must be plausibly suggestive

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of a claim entitling the plaintiff to relief.” Moss v. U.S. Secret Serv., 572 F.3d 962, 969

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(9th Cir. 2009) (quotation marks omitted).

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III.

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As a preliminary matter, the County requests the Court take judicial notice of various

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docket reports from cases mentioned by Plaintiff in his FAC. [Doc. No. 15-2.] Plaintiff

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requests the Court take judicial notice of a settlement agreement and orders issued in some

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of the cases mentioned in his FAC. [Doc. No. 17-2.]

REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE

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Facts proper for judicial notice are those not subject to reasonable dispute and either

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“generally known” in the community or “capable of accurate and ready determination” by

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reference to sources whose accuracy cannot be reasonably questioned. Fed. R. Evid. 201.

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Here, the Court is aware that some of the mentioned cases in Plaintiff’s FAC are ongoing

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and contain disputed facts. The Court may however take judicial notice of the ECF docket

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report, orders, and other pleadings limited to their existence as matters of public record.

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Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s and the County’s requests for judicial notice.

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See Reyna Pasta Bella, LLC v. Visa USA, Inc., 442 F.3d 741, 746 n.6 (9th Cir. 2006)

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(explaining that it is appropriate to take judicial notice of court filings and other matters of

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public record, such as pleadings in related litigation).
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IV.

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The County moves to dismiss Plaintiff’s FAC contending it again fails to state facts

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sufficient to support a Monell claim and fails to comply with the instructions the Court

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gave in its previous Order granting the County’s motion to dismiss. Specifically, the

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County points to the Court’s instruction that “Plaintiff is instructed to . . . conduct any

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necessary investigation and inquiry, such that if Plaintiff elects to re-present a claim based

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on municipal liability, such claim shall not be based merely on bare conclusory allegations

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that do not put the County on notice of the specific policies, acts, omissions, customs or

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alleged deficiencies in training that he may allege to have been the cause of the alleged

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DISCUSSION

constitutional violation at issue.” [Doc. No. 12 at 10.]
A. Existence of a Policy or Custom

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Following Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978), “it is well-

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settled that in claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, municipalities are liable only for

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constitutional violations resulting from an official ‘policy or custom.’” Fed’n of African

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Am. Contractors v. City of Oakland, 96 F.3d 1204, 1216 (9th Cir. 1996) (quoting Monell,

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436 U.S. at 694). “[A] municipality cannot be held liable solely because it employs a

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tortfeasor—or, in other words, a municipality cannot be held liable under § 1983 on a

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respondeat superior theory.” Monell, 436 U.S. at 691 (emphasis in original). “Where a

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court fails to adhere to rigorous requirements of culpability and causation, municipal

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liability collapses into respondeat superior liability.” Bd. of Cty. Comm’rs v. Brown, 520

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U.S. 397, 415 (1997). Put differently, “a municipality sued under § 1983 is not subject to

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vicarious liability for the acts of its agents.” Duvall v. Cty. of Kitsap, 260 F.3d 1124, 1141

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(9th Cir. 2001).

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“The ‘first inquiry in any case alleging municipal liability under § 1983 is the

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question whether there is a direct causal link between a municipal policy or custom and the

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alleged constitutional deprivation.’” Castro v. Cty. of Los Angeles, 833 F.3d 1060, 1075

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(9th Cir. 2016) (en banc) (quoting City of Canton, Ohio v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 392

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(1989)). “[I]t is not enough for a § 1983 plaintiff to merely identify conduct properly
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attributable to the municipality. The plaintiff must also demonstrate that, through its

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deliberate conduct, the municipality was the ‘moving force’ behind the injury alleged.”

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Brown, 520 U.S. at 404. “A plaintiff cannot prove the existence of a municipal policy or

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custom based solely on the occurrence of a single incident of unconstitutional action by a

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non-policymaking employee.” Davis v. City of Ellensburg, 869 F.2d 1230, 1233-34 (9th

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Cir. 1989); see also City of Canton, 489 U.S. at 391 (“[A]dequately trained officers

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occasionally make mistakes; the fact that they do says little about the training program or

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the legal basis for holding the city liable.”).

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The County argues the FAC fails to state a Monell claim because the cases listed in

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the FAC do not show a pattern of constitutional violations sufficient to demonstrate the

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existence of a policy or custom that could have been a moving force behind Plaintiff’s

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alleged injuries. In Plaintiff’s FAC, he alleges the County “maintained a de facto policy

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of allowing its deputies to use force on citizens who were in restraints” and “maintained a

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well-settled custom or practice of allowing its deputies to use unnecessary force on

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individuals in handcuffs.” [Doc. No. 13 at ¶¶ 23, 25.] Plaintiff also alleges the County

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was specifically aware of such policies by inter alia, citizen complaints, newspaper articles,

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lawsuits, settlements, and a federal investigation. [Id. at ¶¶ 33–36.] Finally, Plaintiff

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alleges it was “this history of permitting the use of force on restrained individuals that was

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the moving force behind Defendant Peraza punching Mr. Villa in the face and bending Mr.

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Villa’s fingers back.” [Id. at ¶ 39.]

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To support his allegation of a de facto policy and a custom or practice of allowing

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deputies to use unnecessary force on restrained individuals, Plaintiff references several

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complaints against the County that include allegations of similar misconduct by deputies

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on restrained individuals to Plaintiff’s case. The County spends a significant portion of its

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opposition to show that a review of the docket reports in these cases results in only one

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finding of excessive force, two defense verdicts, five ongoing cases with no factual

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findings, and five dismissals without any factual findings. At this time, the Court will not

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delve into the specifics of each of these cases or construe any settled cases in favor of either
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party. Unlike Plaintiff’s original complaint containing conclusory allegations of multiple

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generalized policies, the FAC provides additional factual support that frames the existence

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of a specific custom or practice that was the moving force behind Plaintiff’s alleged

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injuries. Construing the allegations in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, at this stage of

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the proceedings, the Court finds that Plaintiff has alleged facts to show the County has a

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custom or practice of allowing unnecessary force on restrained individuals, the County was

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on notice of this custom, and the custom was the moving force behind Plaintiff’s alleged

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injuries. Accordingly, the County’s motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s Monell claim for failure

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to demonstrate the existence of a policy or custom that could have been a moving force

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behind Plaintiff’s alleged injuries is DENIED.
B. Failure to Train, Supervise, or Discipline

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Defendant notes Plaintiff’s FAC also includes a Monell claim based on a failure to

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train theory but argues this theory is not viable. “[A]s to a municipality, ‘the inadequacy

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of police training may serve as the basis for 1983 liability only where the failure to train

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amounts to deliberate indifference to the rights of persons with whom the police come into

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contact.’” Flores v. County of Los Angeles, 758 F.3d 1154, 1158 (9th Cir. 2014) (quoting

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City of Canton, 489 U.S. at 388 (1989)). This means Plaintiff “‘must demonstrate a

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conscious or deliberate choice on the part of a municipality in order to prevail on a failure

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to train claim.’” Id. (quoting Price v. Sery, 513 F.3d 962, 973 (9th Cir. 2008)) (internal

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quotation marks omitted). “Under this standard, [Plaintiff] must allege facts to show that

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the County ‘disregarded the known or obvious consequence that a particular omission in

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their training program would cause [municipal] employees to violate citizens’

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constitutional rights.’” Id. at 1159 (quoting Connick v. Thompson, 563 U.S. 51 (2011)).

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In the failure to train context, additional instances of misconduct are usually required to

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show deliberate indifference, however, a narrow range of possibilities exist where the need

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for training is so “obvious” as to be satisfied by a single incident. Connick, 563 U.S. at 64.

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As discussed above, according to the FAC what Plaintiff experienced is not an

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isolated incident and Plaintiff references several cases with allegations of excessive force
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used on restrained individuals. Plaintiff also alleged that the County was on actual or

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constructive notice from repeated incidents that the County’s training on the use of force

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on restrained individuals was inadequate. Therefore, Plaintiff has provided enough facts

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such that the County will be able to defend Plaintiff’s Monell claim based on a failure to

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train. Accordingly, the County’s motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s Monell claim based on a

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failure to train theory is DENIED.

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V.

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For the reasons set forth above, the County’s motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s FAC is

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CONCLUSION

DENIED.

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It is SO ORDERED.

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Dated: September 15, 2020

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