Nino v. United States
Nino v. United States
Opinion of the Court
The matter before the Court is the Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 84) filed by Defendant United States of America.
I. Background
On May 11, 2016, Plaintiffs Mayra Paredes Nino ("Nino"), JY, and RY filed the Third Amended Complaint (the "TAC") (ECF No. 67) against Defendant United States of America. The TAC brings claims for wrongful death and emotional distress stemming from an incident during which Border Patrol Agent Dorian Diaz shot and killed Jesus Alfredo Yañez Reyes ("Yañez") near the border of the United States and Mexico. TAC at ¶¶ 64-73.
On October 16, 2017, the United States filed the Motion for Summary Judgment and Exclusionary Sanctions (ECF No. 84) along with a Separate Statement of Undisputed Facts (ECF No. 84-2). On November 6, 2017, Plaintiffs filed a Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Opposition to Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment and Motion for Exclusionary Sanctions (ECF No. 87) along with a Response to the Separate Statement of Facts (ECF No. 87-15). On November 13, 2017, the United States filed a Reply Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment and Motion for Exclusionary Sanctions. (ECF No. 88).
On March 9, 2018, the Court issued an order (1) excluding the expert reports of David E. Balash and Jack Smith, (2) denying the motion to exclude in all other respects, and (3) ordering the parties to "submit supplemental briefing on whether the United States is entitled to summary judgment based on the evidence in the record in this case." (ECF No. 91 at 7). On March 30, 2018, the United States filed a Supplemental Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of the Motion for Summary Judgment. (ECF No. 94). On April 23, 2018, Plaintiffs filed a Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Supplemental Opposition to Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 95) along with a second Response to the Separate Statement of Facts (ECF No. 95-1). On April 30, 2018, the United States filed a Reply to Plaintiffs' Supplemental Opposition. (ECF No. 99).
II. Facts
On June 21, 2011, Yañez and Nino were together with their young son on the south side of a four-lane highway that runs along the Mexican side of the border between the United States and Mexico. Deposition of Mayra Paredes Nino, ECF No. 95-4, at 10-11. Nino was pregnant at the time. Id. at 8. Yañez left Nino and their son and headed towards the fence along the border between the United States and Mexico. Id. at 10.
*1111Yañez and Jose Ibarra-Murietta ("Murietta") crossed the border into the United States through a hole in the primary border fence. Plaintiffs' Second Response to Separate Statement of Facts in Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment ("RSSF"), ECF No. 95-1, at ¶¶ 10, 12, 14, 15.
Diaz exited his patrol vehicle in order to pursue the Yañez and Murietta. RSSF at ¶ 18. Immediately after Diaz exited his patrol vehicle, Yañez crawled back though the hole in the primary border fence onto the Mexican side of the fence. Id. Murietta remained in the United States and started climbing a pole that leads up to a catwalk. Id. at ¶ 19. Diaz ran to the top of the catwalk in order to cut Murietta off, while Nelson stayed on the ground. Id. at ¶ 20. Diaz's actions caused Murietta to slide back down the pole. Id. at ¶ 22.
After Murietta was back on the ground, he ran east along the United States side of the primary border fence. Id. at ¶ 26. Nelson chased Murietta and yelled at him in Spanish to stop and give him his hands. Id. at ¶ 28. Murietta did not comply with Nelson's commands. Id. at ¶ 29. Murietta eventually tripped. Id. at ¶ 30. Nelson caught up to Murietta, at which point they engaged in a physical struggle on the ground during which Murietta resisted Nelson's attempt to control him. Id. at ¶ 36. This struggle occurred within fifteen feet of the primary border fence. Diaz Depo. at 16.
Yañez reappeared on the south side of the primary border fence near where Nelson and Murietta were struggling and threw one or two rocks at Nelson. Id. at ¶¶ 36-38.
Nelson, meanwhile, continued struggling with Murietta and managed to get one handcuff on Murietta. Id. at ¶ 45. Nelson was not able to handcuff Murietta's other hand due to Murietta's continued resistance. Id. Diaz approached the struggle and began hitting Murietta in an attempt to get Murietta under control. Id. at ¶ 52.
Diaz anticipated that Yañez might reappear on the primary border fence and continue to throw objects. Id. at ¶ 58. With Nelson still struggling with Murietta, Diaz walked slightly west in an attempt to surprise Yañez in the event he reappeared on the primary border fence. Id. at ¶ 59. Diaz then observed Yañez look over top of the primary border fence. Id. at ¶ 61. Yañez was visible from the chest up. Id. Yañez cocked his hand back as if to throw something at Nelson, at which point Diaz shot Yañez. Id. at ¶ 65.
III. Legal Standard
"A party may move for summary judgment, identifying each claim or defense-or the part of each claim or defense-on which summary judgment is sought." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). "Summary judgment is appropriate only if, taking the evidence and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Torres v. City of Madera ,
The moving party has the initial burden of demonstrating that summary judgment is proper. See Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co. ,
IV. Jurisdiction
A. Wrongful Death
The United States contends that the foreign country exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act (the "FTCA") bars Plaintiffs' wrongful death claims because "Yañez's legs landed on U.S. soil when he died, and his upper body landed on Mexican soil." (ECF No. 94 at 17). Plaintiffs contend that Yañez died when his body was entirely within the United States. (ECF No. 95 at 5). Plaintiffs also contend that, even if Yañez did die with his legs in the United States and his upper body in Mexico, the foreign country exception would not bar Plaintiffs' wrongful death claims. Id. at 6.
Under the FTCA,
the district courts ... have exclusive jurisdiction of civil actions on claims against the United States ... for injury or loss of property, or personal injury or death caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of any employee of the Government while acting within the scope of his office or employment, under circumstances where the United States, if a private person, would be liable to the claimant in accordance with the law of the place where the act or omission occurred.
As the Court concluded in its March 16, 2016 Order, for the purposes of determining whether the foreign country exception bars Plaintiffs' claims for emotional distress, the relevant injury was suffered at "the location of Yañez at the time of his *1114death." (ECF No. 61 at 9). Consequently, if Yañez died while his body was entirely in the United States, the foreign country exception would not bar Plaintiffs' wrongful death claims. Conversely, if Yañez died while his body was entirely in Mexico, the foreign country exception would bar Plaintiffs' wrongful death claims. The question currently before the Court is whether the foreign country exception would bar Plaintiffs' wrongful death claims if Yañez died while his body was located partly in the United States and partly in Mexico.
The Court concludes that it would not. The injury at issue in a wrongful death claim is the "loss of a relative." Horwich v. Superior Court ,
B. Infliction of Emotional Distress
The United States contends that the foreign country exception bars Plaintiffs' claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress because "[i]t is now undisputed by Plaintiff Nino herself that neither she nor her children were located on U.S. soil at the time of the shooting or at any time." (ECF No. 94 at 25). Plaintiffs contend that whether or not Plaintiffs "were actually standing on United States soil" at the time of Yañez's death "is irrelevant." (ECF No. 95 at 9).
As the Court concluded in its March 16, 2016 Order, for the purposes of determining whether the foreign country exception bars Plaintiffs' claims for emotional distress, the relevant injury is "Plaintiffs' alleged severe emotional distress resulting from observing Yañez's injury, and occurring at the time of Yañez's injury." (ECF No. 61 at 13-14). In that Order, the Court denied the United States' motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' emotional distress claims after concluding that Plaintiffs had presented "sufficient evidence to support a finding that the foreign country exception does not bar Plaintiffs' emotional distress claim." Id. at 15. The evidence that the Court found supported that conclusion included Nino's statement that she and her son "were always against the border fence at the time [they] witnessed the killing" and an expert report stating that the relevant portion of the primary border fence is located approximately two feet into the United States. Id. at 14-15 (citing ECF No. 48-1 at 2-3).
At her deposition, Nino stated that she and her son were actually standing in Mexico when Yañez was shot. Nino Depo. at 11 ("Q. And [when you heard gunfire] you were still standing on the other side of the freeway or highway farthest from the fence? A. Yes."). Plaintiffs no longer dispute that they were located in Mexico at the time of Yañez's death. See ECF No. 95 at 8-9 (acknowledging "the fact that Plaintiff Nino was on the Mexican side of the border with her two children" at the time of Yañez's death). Consequently, the relevant injury for the purposes of the foreign country exception-Plaintiffs' alleged distress resulting from perceiving Yañez's death-was suffered in Mexico, and the foreign country exception bars Plaintiffs'
*1115emotional distress claims. See Sosa ,
V. Wrongful Death
The United States contends that the Plaintiffs' wrongful death claims fail because Diaz's actions were not negligent. (ECF No. 94 at 26). Plaintiffs contend that Diaz's actions were negligent. See ECF No. 95 at 7 ("The testimony of Murietta, the officers and [Nino] can establish the unreasonableness of the killing.").
A. Applicable Law
The elements of a wrongful death claim "include (1) a 'wrongful act or neglect' on the part of one or more persons that (2) 'cause[s]' (3) the 'death of [another] person.' " Norgart v. Upjohn Co. ,
The Fourth Amendment permits law enforcement officers to use force " 'objectively reasonable' in light of the facts and circumstances confronting them." Graham v. Connor ,
"The 'reasonableness' of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight," and "must embody allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments-in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving-about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation." Graham ,
B. Discussion
The Court must determine whether, viewing the facts in the light most *1116favorable to Plaintiffs, a reasonable jury could find that Diaz did not reasonably "perceive[ ] an immediate threat of death or serious physical injury at the time he shot [Yañez]" Gonzalez ,
In this case, Diaz observed Yañez and Murietta on the north side of the primary border fence. RSSF at ¶¶ 14, 15. After Diaz exited his patrol car to pursue Yañez and Murietta, Yañez retreated back to the Mexican side of the primary border fence. Id. at ¶ 18; see S.B. v. Cty. of San Diego ,
In light of these facts, the Court finds that the United States has carried its initial burden of demonstrating that summary judgment is proper. Accordingly, to avoid summary judgment, Plaintiffs must to provide admissible evidence showing that summary judgment is not appropriate. See Anderson , 477 U.S. at 256,
VI. Conclusion
The Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 84) is GRANTED. The Clerk of the Court shall enter judgment in favor of the United States and against the Plaintiffs as to all claims in this action.
Plaintiffs contend that this fact is disputed because Nino states that she never saw Yañez cross the primary border fence. RSSF at ¶ 15. However, Nino stated that she did not observe Yañez for some period of time after he left her because her attention was focused on her crying baby son. Nino Depo. at 10. Nino's statement that she did not observe Yañez cross the fence does not create a genuine issue of fact as to whether Yañez crossed the fence.
Plaintiffs' initial Response to the Separate Statement of Facts (ECF No. 87-15) cites the Deposition of Murietta (ECF No. 87-2). Plaintiffs second Response to the Separate Statement of Facts (ECF No. 95-1) removes all citations to the Deposition of Murietta. In his Deposition, Murietta was asked "Did you at any point see Mr. Yañez throw anything?" and answered "No. He would have hit me." (ECF No. 87-2 at 29). The Court finds that Murietta's statement that he did not see Yañez throw anything does not create a genuine dispute of fact as to whether Yañez threw anything. The Court also finds that the fact that any projectiles thrown by Yañez may have hit Murietta instead of Nelson does not create a genuine dispute of fact as to whether Yañez threw any projectiles.
Plaintiffs contend that Diaz "d[id] not state that 'Yañez cocked his hand back to throw another object.[']" In his deposition, Diaz stated
I move over, and I see Mr. Yanez come back up, maybe from-maybe the chest-chest up, maybe from the nipples up. And I see him cock back as to throw something. He had a fist in his hand, and he goes back to throw something. He's looking down at Nelson. He's looking down at Mr. Murietta to throw something down. As I go to draw my weapon and yell, I just take one shot right at him.
(ECF No. 84-5 at 18).
Plaintiffs contend that a number of these facts are disputed because,
according to [Nino's] timeline of events, it would have been near impossible for Yanez to have departed from her position across [ ]the four lane highway[ ] on the Mexico side of the fence, enter the US, depart the US, taunt the agents through the fence with a table leg, then climb the tree on the Mexico side of the fence with either A) multiple items with which the agents claim Yanez threw at them or B) climb up and down the tree at least twice to gather those items separately, all before she heard gunshots.
RSSF at ¶ 1. However, Nino stated in her deposition that "not even several minutes" elapsed from the time Yañez left Nino until Nino heard gunfire. Nino Depo. at 7. The Court finds that Nino's statement that "not even several minutes" elapsed from the time Yañez left Nino until Nino heard gunfire does not raise any genuine issues of fact concerning the interactions between Diaz, Nelson, Murietta, and Yañez.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Mayra Paredes NINO, individually and as wife of decedent Jose Alfredo Yanez Reyes and JY and RY, minors, by Mayra Paredes Nino, their guardian ad litem v. United States
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published