Corbacho Daudinot v. Puig Valdes et al

Filing 32

REPLY to Response to Motion re 28 Defendant's MOTION to Dismiss 24 Amended Complaint,, DEFENDANTS REPLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO DISMISS SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT filed by YASIEL PUIG VALDES, MARITZA VALDES GONZALEZ. (Santini, Sean)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
MIAMI DIVISION
CASE NO.: 1:13-cv-22589-KMW
MIGUEL ANGEL CORBACHO
DAUDINOT
Plaintiff,
v.
YASIEL PUIG VALDES a/k/a
YASIEL PUIG and MARITZA
VALDES GONZALEZ,
Defendants.
__________________________/
DEFENDANTS’ REPLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF
MOTION TO DISMISS SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT
Defendants, Yasiel Puig and Maritza Valdes Gonzalez, pursuant to the Court’s
order dated December 20, 2013 (“Order”) [DE 23], submit this reply memorandum in
support of their motion to dismiss the second amended complaint [DE 28].
Argument
Plaintiffs’ response to defendants’ motion to dismiss [DE 31] fails to address the
fundamental legal issue articulated by the Court at the December 2, 2013 hearing on
defendants’ previous motion to dismiss and in its subsequent Order – namely, that in
order to state a claim for secondary liability under the Torture Victims Protection Act
(“TVPA”), plaintiff must allege with factual particularity that defendants entered into an
agreement with the Cuban government to torture plaintiff. (Order at 2.) See also In re

Chiquita Brands Int’l Alien Tort Statute and Shareholder Deriv. Litig., 792 F. Supp. 2d
1301, 1344 (S.D. Fla. 2011).
Despite plaintiff now being on the third iteration of his complaint, he still does not
allege with factual specificity that defendants entered into an agreement with the Cuban
government to torture plaintiff. Unable to point to any such allegations in his latest
complaint, plaintiff’s response in opposition to defendants’ motion to dismiss simply
rehashes his lengthy – and ultimately irrelevant – allegations about a supposed
conspiracy in which defendants agreed with the Cuban government to testify against
plaintiff and others for engaging in human trafficking.1 [DE 31 at 4.]
In so doing, plaintiff ignores what the Court required of him, (see Order at 2),
and, in effect, asks the Court to speculate that defendants must have agreed to
plaintiff’s torture at the hands of the Cuban government when they agreed to testify
against plaintiff. That does not suffice. Watts v. Fla. Int’l Univ., 495 F.3d 1289 (11th Cir.
2007), quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 545 (2007) (“factual
allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level”). As
the Court noted, vague and conclusory allegations of conspiracy with the Cuban
government are insufficient, because they do not raise the right to relief for a violation of
the TVPA above the speculative Ievel. (Order at 2.) See Sinaltrainal v. Coca-Cola Co.,

1

Because this matter is before the Court on a motion to dismiss, the second amended
complaint’s well-pled allegations must be accepted as true. That said, it bears underscoring
that defendants testified truthfully in Cuba about plaintiff’s human trafficking activities and that
this lawsuit is nothing more than a cynical effort by plaintiff to exploit the fact that defendants,
having defected from Cuba, are in no position to ask the Cuban government (defendants’
supposed co-conspirators) for details about the investigation, prosecution and incarceration of
plaintiff.

2

578 F.3d 1252, 1270 (11th Cir. 2009), abrogated on other grounds by Mohamed v.
Palestinian Authority, 132 S. Ct. 1702 (2012).
Conclusion
For these reasons, and for the reasons set forth in defendants’ motion to dismiss
plaintiff’s first amended complaint [DE 11] and defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s
second amended complaint [DE 28], plaintiff’s second amended complaint must be
dismissed, with prejudice.
Respectfully submitted,
SANTINI LAW
1001 Brickell Bay Drive, Suite 2650
Miami, Florida 33131
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]

By: /s/ Sean R. Santini
Sean R. Santini
Florida Bar No. 832898

3

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on March 13, 2014, I electronically filed the foregoing
document with the Clerk of the Court using CM/ECF. I also certify that the foregoing
document is being served this day on all counsel of record identified on the attached
Service List in the manner specified, either via transmission of Notices of Electronic
Filing generated by CM/ECF or in some other authorized manner for those counsel or
parties who are not authorized to receive electronically Notices of Electronic Filing.

/s/ Sean R. Santini
Sean R. Santini

4

SERVICE LIST

Kenia Bravo
[e-mail]
Avelino J. Gonzalez, P.A.
6780 Coral Way
Miami, FL 33155
Avelino Jose Gonzalez
[e-mail]
Avelino J. Gonzalez, P.A.
6780 Coral Way
Miami, FL 33155

5