DiMatteo v. New Castle County Police Station et al

Filing 11

MEMORANDUM. Signed by Judge Sue L. Robinson on 1/30/2015. (nmfn)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
DEBORAH K. DIMATTEO,

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Plaintiff,

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V.

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) Civ. No.14-1521-SLR

NEW CASTLE COUNTY POLICE
STATION, et al.,
Defendants.

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MEMORANDUM
1. Introduction. Plaintiff Deborah K. DiMatteo Smith ("plaintiff'') proceeds pro
se and has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis. She filed this lawsuit on
December 29, 2014 alleging harassment. When the complaint was filed, plaintiff moved
to place the file under seal, and the motion was granted. (D.I. 1, 3) The court has
reviewed the entire file and concludes that it is not necessary to place this case under
seal. Therefore, the Clerk of Court will be directed to unseal this case.
2. Standard of Review. A federal court may properly dismiss an action sua
sponte under the screening provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) if "the action is
frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks
monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief." Ball v. Famiglio, 726
F.3d 448, 452 (3d Cir. 2013). The court must accept all factual allegations in a
complaint as true and take them in the light most favorable to a pro se plaintiff. Phillips
v. County of Allegheny, 515 F.3d 224, 229 (3d Cir. 2008); Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S.
89, 93 (2007). Because plaintiff proceeds prose, her pleading is liberally construed and
her complaint, "however inartfully pleaded, must be held to less stringent standards than

formal pleadings drafted by lawyers." Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. at 94 (citations
omitted).
3. An action is frivolous if it "lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact."
Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989). Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i), a
court may dismiss a complaint as frivolous if it is "based on an indisputably meritless
legal theory" or a "clearly baseless" or "fantastic or delusional" factual scenario.
Neitzke, 490 at 327-28; Wilson v. Rackmill, 878 F.2d 772, 774 (3d Cir. 1989); see, e.g.,
Deutsch v. United States, 67 F.3d 1080, 1091-92 (3d Cir. 1995).
4. The legal standard for dismissing a complaint for failure to state a claim
pursuant to§ 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) is identical to the legal standard used when ruling on
Rule 12(b)(6) motions. Tourscher v. McCullough, 184 F.3d 236, 240 (3d Cir. 1999)
(applying Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) standard to dismissal for failure to state a claim under
§ 1915(e)(2)(B)). However, before dismissing a complaint or claims for failure to state a
claim upon which relief may be granted pursuant to the screening provisions of 28
U.S.C. § 1915, the court must grant plaintiff leave to amend her complaint unless
amendment would be inequitable or futile. See Grayson v. Mayview State Hosp., 293
F.3d 103, 114 (3d Cir. 2002).
5. A well-pleaded complaint must contain more than mere labels and
conclusions. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009); Bell At/. Corp. v. Twombly,
550 U.S. 544 (2007). The assumption of truth is inapplicable to legal conclusions or to
"[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action supported by mere conclusory
statements." Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. When determining whether dismissal is
appropriate, the court must take three steps: "(1) identify[] the elements of the claim, (2)
review[] the complaint to strike conclusory allegations, and then (3) look[] at the well-

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pleaded components of the complaint and evaluat[e] whether all of the elements
identified in part one of the inquiry are sufficiently alleged." Malleus v. George, 641 F.3d
560, 563 (3d Cir. 2011). Elements are sufficiently alleged when the facts in the
complaint "show" that the plaintiff is entitled to relief. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679 (quoting
Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2)). Deciding whether a claim is plausible will be a "context-specific
task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common
sense." Id.
6. Discussion. The original complaint was filed on December 29, 2014 with the
New Castle County Police Station ("NCCPS") as the sole defendant. (D.I. 3) On
January 5, 2015, plaintiff amended her complaint and added several defendants. (D.I.
5) These defendants were added because plaintiff "followed the proper procedures" as
directed by the NCCPS and the chain of command, and she "had recently, and had
been, harassed by some of [the] officials and their employees." The additional parties
were also named because of "their position of responsibilities."
7. Plaintiff alleges that on March 14, 2012, she went to the NCCPS to file a
report. The desk clerk told plaintiff to wait in the lobby for a responding officer to arrive.
Officer Miller ("Miller") was the responding officer but, after speaking to plaintiff for five
to ten minutes, he would not allow her to file a claim. Miller waited for plaintiff at the exit
and motioned her to his police car that was parked in front of the police station. Plaintiff
was asked to sit in his car.
8. In September 2013, plaintiff saw Miller at the NCCPS. They spoke to each
other and plaintiff was "humiliated." On either May 14 or May 24, 2014, plaintiff was
driving on Old Airport Road and a New Castle County police car was driving in the
opposite direction with no lights or siren. Plaintiff was startled and had to swerve her

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car. Plaintiff sought help in identifying the officer and spoke to Lt. Treadwell
("Treadwell") in the Professional Standards Unit. Treadwell told plaintiff he would
investigate but she did not hear from either Treadwell or the Professional Standards
Unit. Because plaintiff had not heard from Treadwell, she called Tom Gordon's
("Gordon") scheduling secretary who advised her to call Treadwell. Plaintiff called
Treadwell during the third week of June 2014, and he told her to submit her complaint
by email or through the U.S. mail. Plaintiff emailed two complaints to Treadwell with
copies going to Gordon. Plaintiff obtained copies of her emails and states that the dates
on the emails are not the correct dates. She concludes that her personal email account
has been hacked.
9. Plaintiff alleges that she called the NCCPS to schedule an appointment with a
sergeant. On the scheduled day in early July 2014, a New Castle County sergeant
arrived at her residence at approximately 7 PM. The sergeant who arrived was not the
individual with whom plaintiff had made the appointment. He did not have a name
badge or identification badge on his uniform. Plaintiff wished to lodge a complaint
against two New Castle County Police officers, but the sergeant would not take her
complaint and he left her residence. Plaintiff alleges that she was personally humiliated
and that her rights were violated.
10. On January 9, 2016, plaintiff filed a document stating that the instant case is
a sexual harassment and harassment case involving a New Castle County policeman.
(D.I. 8) She seeks justice so that other Delaware citizens "will never experience this
unjustice ever again by an officer." (D.I. 3,

1J VI)

11. Pleading deficiency. The complaint fails to meet the pleading requirements
of Iqbal and Twombly. For example, the complaint does not provide adequate facts to

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allow the court to discern the specific events or circumstances giving rise to plaintiff's
claims. Plaintiff recently indicated that this is a sexual harassment case, but none of the
facts as alleged point to sexual harassment. Nor do the facts point to harassment by
any defendant. Instead, plaintiff complains that individuals did not respond to her
complaints and she had an incident with a police car that caused her to swerve and it
frightened her. Having carefully reviewed plaintiff's allegations, the court finds her
claims frivolous, fanciful, and without any basis in law. 1 See Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 325.
12. As a general rule, a district court should not dismiss a prose complaint
without granting leave to amend. See Grayson v. Mayview State Hosp., 293 F.3d 103,
supra. However, the court finds that granting leave to amend the proposed complaint
would be futile.
13. Conclusion. For the above reasons, the court will dismiss the complaint as
frivolous pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i). The court finds amendment futile. A
separate order shall issue.

UNITED STATSDiSTRICT JUDGE
Date: January jo , 2015

1
Plaintiff recently advised the court that she has a criminal case pending in the Delaware State Court and
that she intended to file a complaint because there is a "federal pedophile/torture mind controlling
organization" which a judge in state court "has some part in." (D.I. 7) On January 21, 2015, plaintiff
initiated a new lawsuit in this court, DiMatteo v. Raymond, Civ. No. 15-66 (D. Del.).

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