Maraj v. Massachusetts
Maraj v. Massachusetts
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM
I. Introduction
This action stems from a claim brought by Plaintiff Betty Maraj, the Administratrix of the Estate of Darryl Leslie, against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Suffolk County Sheriffs Department, Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea J. Cabral, and a number of individual corrections officers employed by the Suffolk County Sheriffs Department, regarding alleged violations of Plaintiffs constitutional rights as well as violations of state statutory and common law.
II. Background
A. Factual Background
Plaintiff is the mother of a deceased inmate, Darryl Leslie, and has brought suit as administratrix of his estate.
Sergeant Fiorentino notified the building 3 supervisor, Lieutenant Jason McGrane, who, along with shift commander Captain Michael Powers, made the decision to move Decedent into segregation pending an investigation.
Decedent was restrained with handcuffs and escorted from his cell in the 3-2 unit down the hall, across the yard, toward building 1, at which time Decedent is alleged to have begun resisting.
Defendant Reed then ordered other S.E.R.T. officers — Defendants Flynn, James, Coppinger, Sciaratta, and Carbonneau — to meet the escort on the fourth floor to provide additional assistance.
Wfliile applying the upper belt around Decedent’s torso, Defendant Brock heard Decedent state that he could not breathe.
The ERBs were secured at 9:22 p.m., and Defendants Brock, Storlazzi, Flynn, and Carbonneau carried Decedent into the 1-4-2 unit.
The belt was adjusted and tightened by 9:22:42 p.m., and the officers proceeded to cell # 10 with Decedent.
Nurse Jocelyn arrived at Decedent’s cell at 9:25:50, and the door to the cell was opened at 9:26:35 so that she could conduct
While the autopsy conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner could not determine the manner of death, it determined the cause of death to be a result of a “probable onset of cardiac dysrhythmia as a result of myxomatous degeneration of mitral valve in the setting of reported acute agitation requiring restraint.”
B. Procedural Background
Plaintiff originally filed this case on December 30, 2010.
Plaintiff brings seventy-eight counts,
A. Standard of Review
The standard for evaluating a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is clear. While this court must accept all of Plaintiffs factual allegations as true, bare assertions and conclusions of law are not entitled to similar weight.
B. Claims Against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Suffolk County Sheriffs Department, Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral, and the Corrections Officers in Their Official Capacities
In Counts 1 through 15 of the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff alleges federal and state constitutional, statutory, and common law violations by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Counts 1-5), the Suffolk County Sheriffs Department (Counts 6-10), and Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral in her official capacity (Counts 11-15). Plaintiff brings the same claims against the eleven named corrections officers in both their official and individual capacities (Counts 16-70). The federal counts brought against the Commonwealth, the Sheriffs Department, and the corrections officers in their official capacities are barred by Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity and thus are DISMISSED.
Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity bars suit in federal court against unconsenting states.
The application of sovereign immunity in the present case turns on whether Defendants waived their sovereign immunity in the 2009 legislation effectuating the assumption of the Suffolk County Sheriffs Department by the Commonwealth. At the time that the events underlying the Amended Complaint occurred, the Suffolk County Sheriffs Department was a municipal agency, but effective January 1, 2010, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts assumed control of the Sheriffs Department and all of its employees.
Notwithstanding any general or specific law to the contrary, all valid liabilities and debts of the office of a transferred sheriff, which are in force on the effective date of this act, shall be obligations of the Commonwealth as of that date, except as may be otherwise provided in this act.54
This court, in Gallo v. Essex County Sheriffs Department, examined similar enabling legislation that effectuated a prior transfer of county sheriffs departments to the Commonwealth.
The language in Section 6 of the Act Transferring County Sheriffs to the Commonwealth is, at the very least, ambiguous. On its own, the language transferring “all valid liabilities and debts” could be interpreted as requiring merely the fulfillment of all contractual obligations, and not the satisfaction of any accrued causes of action. Even more detrimental to Plaintiffs argument, however, is the subsequent qualifying clause, only requiring fulfillment of the debts and liabilities “which are in force on the effective date of this act.” The assertion that a transfer of liabilities constitutes a waiver of sovereign immunity
C. Federal Civil Rights Claims Against the Corrections Officers Acting in Their Individual Capacities
Counts 16 through 70 are brought against the corrections officers both in their official and individual capacities. Although claims against the corrections officers acting in their official capacity are barred by sovereign immunity, there is still the potential for § 1983 liability for the officers acting in their individual capacities.
42 U.S.C. § 1983 creates a cause of action against individuals acting under color of state law who violate rights of another secured under the Constitution or laws of the United States.
1. Traditional Use of Excessive Force Claims
Allegations of excessive force brought by inmates against corrections officers are traditionally adjudicated under the rubric of the Eighth Amendment.
2. Excessive Force and the Fourth Amendment
Plaintiffs Complaint alleges that Defendants violated Decedent’s Fourth Amendment rights by using excessive and unnecessary force in the apprehension and restraint of Decedent.
Subsequent decisions interpreting Whitley and Graham have determined that the Fourth Amendment does not apply to claims for excessive use of force brought by inmates against corrections officers.
3. Excessive Force and the Fourteenth Amendment
The due process protection afforded by the Fourteenth Amendment protects individuals from the “arbitrary action of government.”
While the validity of a Fourteenth Amendment claim in instances where an Eighth Amendment claim would be more appropriate requires a similar analysis as was undertaken above regarding the Fourth Amendment, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment at least provides a plausible entitlement to relief for Plaintiffs claims. Although Graham held that the Fourth Amendment provides the exclusive guide for analyzing claims arising from the arrest or investigatory stop of a free citizen, the Court did not use the same exclusionary language in its discussion of the relationship between the Eighth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the 4th and 14th Amendment.
Graham does not hold that all constitutional claims relating to physically abusive government conduct must arise under either the Fourth or Eighth Amendments; rather, Graham simply requires that if a constitutional claim is covered by a specific constitutional provision, such as the Fourth or Eighth Amendment, the claim must be analyzed under the standard appropriate to that specific provision, not under the rubric of substantive due process.77
The issue remains, then, whether we can examine a Due Process Clause claim under the rubric of the Eighth Amendment where the Eighth Amendment was never plead. While this issue may be ripe for
Plaintiff has alleged sufficient factual material to alert Defendants as to the nature of the Fourteenth Amendment claims against them, namely the excessive force and delay in administering medical treatment. Plaintiff has also stated a facially plausible legal claim pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment’s substantive due process right to life.
4. Individual Defendants
In light of the dismissal of Plaintiffs federal claims against Defendants in their official capacity in Section B, we now turn to the Fourteenth Amendment claims against Defendants in their individual capacities. As noted above, there must be sufficient facts in the complaint to state a claim upon which relief can be granted as to each named defendant.
Taking all facts alleged in the Amended Complaint as true, it appears that Defendants Johnson and Glavin were no longer participating in the transfer at the time Decedent first resisted and the officers took the first responsive measures by “double locking” Decedent’s handcuffs.
Defendants Reed, Brock, Munger, Storlazzi, Flynn, Coppinger, Sciaratta, and Carbonneau, however, each either applied physical force to Decedent or were present when Decedent was unresponsive and requiring medical attention. Defendant Brock performed the initial “double lock” and “escort hold.”
D. Claims Under the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act
To establish a claim under the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act (“MCRA”)
Plaintiffs MCRA claims against the Commonwealth and its agencies (Counts 4, 9, and 14), as well as against the individual officers in their official capacities, fail on the threshold ground that the Commonwealth and its agencies cannot be sued under the MCRA. Although the MCRA authorizes suit against “persons” acting under the color of law for the violation of constitutional or statutory rights, it is well settled that the Commonwealth and its agencies are not persons within the meaning of the MCRA.
Plaintiffs claims against Defendants in their individual capacity also fail. While Plaintiff fulfills her burden of pleading a constitutional violation sufficient to support a § 1983 claim as to some Defendants, Plaintiff fails to fulfill the MCRA pleading requirement of alleging that Defendants threatened, intimidated, or
E. Common Law Negligence and Wrongful Death
As some federal claims discussed above survive dismissal, this Court maintains jurisdiction over pendent state law claims.
As a preliminary matter, the MTCA categorically protects public employees acting within the scope of their employment from liability for “personal injury or death” caused by their individual negligence.
The Commonwealth and the Suffolk County Sheriffs Department are also immune from suit because Plaintiff failed to satisfy the MTCA’s threshold presentment requirement. Under the MTCA, “[a] civil action shall not be instituted ... unless the claimant shall have first presented his claim in writing to the executive officer of such public employer....”
Here, presentment was not properly made. Plaintiff sent her presentment letter to the Massachusetts Attorney General, with copies sent to Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral and Boston City Mayor Thomas Menino.
F. Common Law Assault and Battery Claims
In Massachusetts, assault and battery may be established under either of two theories: (1) “the intentional and unjustified use of force upon the person of another, however slight”; or (2) “the intentional commission of a wanton or reckless act (something more than gross negligence) causing physical or bodily injury to another.”
Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss the assault and battery claims against Defendants Brock, Griffin, Flynn, Sciaratta, Storlazzi, and Carbonneau fail because Plaintiff properly alleged that their contact with Decedent amounted to excessive force. Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the assault and battery counts against Defendants Johnson, Glavin, Coppinger, and Munger, however, are allowed because they are not alleged to have had any physical contact with Decedent nor to have intentionally induced or encouraged the alleged excessive force. As to Defendant Reed, without embarking on a review of supervisor liability, Plaintiffs Motion to Dismiss the assault and battery claim will be denied as it is properly alleged that he instructed the use of excessive force, which provides a potential grounds for liability.
IV. Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss [#21] is ALLOWED as to all counts against Defendants Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Suffolk County Sheriffs Department, Suffolk
As to the Federal Civil Rights Fourteenth Amendment claims against the corrections officers in their individual capacity, the Motion to Dismiss [# 21] is DENIED as to Defendants Melvin Reed, Daniel Brock, Keith Storlazzi, Joseph Munger, Thomas Flynn, James Copping-er, Edward Sciaratta, and Michael Carbonneau, and is ALLOWED as to Defendants Dana Johnson, James Glavin, and Michael Griffin.
The Motion to Dismiss [# 21] is ALLOWED as to Plaintiffs wrongful death and negligence claims. It is DENIED as to the assault and battery claims against Defendants Melvin Reed, Daniel Brock, Keith Storlazzi, Thomas Flynn, Edward Sciaratta, and Michael Carbonneau, and ALLOWED as to the assault and battery claims against Defendants Joseph Munger and James Coppinger.
AN ORDER HAS BEEN ISSUED.
. Plaintiff also brought several claims against Defendants Prison Health Services, Inc. and Barbara Jocelyn. By an order dated November 3, 2011, These Defendants’ Motion for Referral to a Medical Malpractice Tribunal [# 27] was ALLOWED.
. Because the issues analyzed here arise in the context of a Motion to Dismiss, this court presents the facts as they are related in Plaintiff’s complaint, see Trans-Spec Truck Serv., Inc. v. Caterpillar, Inc., 524 F.3d 315, 321 (1st Cir. 2008), and construes those facts in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, see Pettengill v. Curtis, 584 F.Supp.2d 348, 362 (D.Mass. 2008) (quoting Rodriguez-Ortiz v. Margo Caribe, Inc., 490 F.3d 92, 96 (1st Cir. 2007)).
. Am. Compl. ¶ 5[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 1[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 22-23[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 25 — 26[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 28[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 29-31[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 32[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 33[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 34-35[# 4]. Plaintiff states in FN 1 to paragraph 35 that the allegation of resistence was made in the Suffolk County Department of Correction’s Official Reports, but that Plaintiff does not concede such fact.
. Am. Compl. ¶ 36[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 38[# 4], Defendants Johnson and Glavin are no longer mentioned as participating in the escort.
.Am. Compl. ¶ 39[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 40-41[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 42[# 4],
. Am. Compl. V 43 [# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 44[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 45-46[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 47-48[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 49-50[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 51[# 4].
. Id.
. Am. Compl. ¶ 51 [# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 54[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 55 — 56[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 57[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 62[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 58 — 59[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 61 [# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 62[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 63 — 66[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 64-65[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 68-69[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 69[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 70[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 71-74[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 77-78[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 79-80[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 81 [# 4],
. Compl. [# 1],
. Am. Compl. [# 4],
. Am. Compl. [# 4].
. Order [# 49], granting Defendants Prison Health Services, Inc. and Barbara Jocelyn's Partial Motion to Dismiss [# 24], dismissed Counts 71, 74, 75 and 78, alleging state and federal civil rights claims against those two Defendants.
. Special Situations Fund III, L.P. v. Am. Dental Partners, Inc., 775 F.Supp.2d 227, 237 (D.Mass., 2011).
. Id. at 237.
. Rodriguez-Ortiz v. Margo Caribe, Inc., 490 F.3d 92, 95 (1st Cir. 2007).
. Ocasio-Hernandez v. Fortuno-Burset, 640 F.3d 1, 16 (1st Cir. 2011).
. Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida, 517 U.S. 44, 54, 116 S.Ct. 1114, 134 L.Ed.2d 252 (1996) ("For over a century we have reaffirmed that federal jurisdiction over suits against unconsenting States 'was not contemplated by the Constitution when establishing the judicial power of the United States.’ ’’) (quoting Hans v. Louisiana, 134 U.S. 1, 15, 10 S.Ct. 504, 33 L.Ed. 842 (1890)).
. Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp. v. Feeney, 495 U.S. 299, 305, 110 S.Ct. 1868, 109 L.Ed.2d 264 (1990) (alteration in original) (citation omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted).
. Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Zur Forderung Der Wissenschaften E.V. v. Whitehead Inst. for Biomedical Research, — F.Supp.2d -, -, 2011 WL 487828, *12 (D.Mass. Feb. 7, 2011) (alteration in original) (citation omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted) (holding that Chapter 93A does not waive sovereign immunity despite permitting suit against a person, the definition of which includes "any other legal entity”).
. Id.
. Mass. St. 2009, c. 61 (effective January 1, 2010) (transferring Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk Sheriffs and their employees to the Commonwealth).
. Mass. St.2009, c. 61, § 6.
. Gallo v. Essex County Sheriff’s Dept., 2011 WL 1155385, *6 (D.Mass. March 24, 2011)
. Id.
. Id. (citing Maysonet-Robles v. Cabrero, 323 F.3d 43, 51 (1st Cir. 2003)).
. Id.
. Id. This Court in Gallo also underwent an analysis of whether the Essex County Sheriffs Department was as an arm-of-the-state after the transfer took effect, and thus whether sovereign immunity applied even after the transfer. Here, Plaintiff did not challenge that the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department is immune from suit for causes of action accruing after January 1, 2010, the date of the transfer.
. Erwin Chemerinsky, Federal Jurisdiction 464 (4th ed. 2003).
. Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 231, 129 S.Ct. 808, 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009) (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982)) (internal quotation marks omitted).
. Id. at 232, 129 S.Ct. 808. In Pearson, the Supreme Court grappled with a previously established two-step approach to determine whether qualified immunity bars suit. The court must decide: (1) whether the facts that a plaintiff has alleged (appropriate for a motion to dismiss) or shown (appropriate for summary judgment) made out a violation of a constitutional right and (2) whether, if a constitutional right has been violated, the right at issue was “clearly established” at the time of the defendant’s alleged misconduct. The case currently before the court only implicates the first step as the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights at issue were clearly established when this cause of action accrued.
. The § 1983 claims asserting violations of Decedent's Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by the individual Defendants begins at Am. Compl. ¶ 158 and continue through the end of the Complaint.
. See Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 395 n. 10, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989) (quoting Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312, 327, 106 S.Ct. 1078, 89 L.Ed.2d 251 (1986)).
. Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312, 327, 106 S.Ct. 1078, 89 L.Ed.2d 251 (1986).
. Nowhere in the 78 Count Amended Complaint [# 4] does the Plaintiff pen the words "Eighth Amendment.” Instead, the Eighth Amendment makes its first appearance in this case in Defendants' Memorandum in Support of Their Motion to Dismiss [# 22], and is then addressed in Plaintiff's Memorandum in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss [# 30], It is unclear whether a federal court, in the post-Twombly and Iqbal context, may consider plausible legal theories that are not raised in the complaint but which would be supported by the facts plead. Compare New Jersey Carpenters Pension & Annuity Funds v. Biogen IDEC Inc., 537 F.3d 35, 57 (1st Cir. 2008) (holding that a "district court would have acted well within its discretion in declining to permit advancement of [a] new theory” where a plaintiff raised a legal theory of relief for the first time in response to a motion to dismiss in the context of the heightened pleading standards required by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995), with Williams v. Willits, 853 F.2d 586, 588 (8th Cir. 1988) ("[T]he district court is under a duty to examine the complaint to determine if the allegations provide for relief on any possible theory.”).
. Am. Compl. ¶ 16, 21, 26, 31, 36, 41, 46, 51, 56, 61, 66[#4], Plaintiff also alleges that Defendants denied Decedent proper medical care. The crux of the argument, however, is that excessive force was used, so we will examine the Fourth Amendment claim from that perspective.
. Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 395, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989) (finding that the Fourth Amendment, not the Fourteenth Amendment, is the proper rubric under which to analyze the use of force during an arrest).
. Id. at 395 n. 10, 109 S.Ct. 1865.
. Id.
. See e.g., Cornwell v. Dahlberg, 963 F.2d 912, 915-16 (2d Cir. 1992) ("[W]e hold that
. County of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U.S. 833, 846, 118 S.Ct. 1708, 140 L.Ed.2d 1043 (1998) (quoting Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 558, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974)).
. Id. (citing Rochin v. California, 342 U.S. 165, 172-73, 72 S.Ct. 205, 96 L.Ed. 183 (1952)).
. Whitley, 475 U.S. at 327, 106 S.Ct. 1078.
. Graham, 490 U.S. at 394-95, 109 S.Ct. 1865.
. Graham, 490 U.S. at 395 n. 10, 109 S.Ct. 1865 (citing Whitley, 475 U.S. at 327, 106 S.Ct. 1078).
. United States v. Lanier, 520 U.S. 259, 272 n. 7, 117 S.Ct. 1219, 137 L.Ed.2d 432 (1997)
. See Ocasio-Hernandez, 640 F.3d at 12 (distilling the Twombly and Iqbal principles into the conclusion that "an adequate complaint must provide fair notice to the defendants and state a facially plausible legal claim.”); see also Evicci v. Baker, 190 F.Supp.2d 233, 240 (D.Mass. 2002) ("The record establishes an adequate evidentiary basis to support a jury finding that [the prisoner] was beaten. If he was beaten, [the prisoner] has a valid due process claim.”).
. Ocasio-Hernandez, 640 F.3d at 16.
. Am. Compl. ¶ 33-37[# 4].
. Am. Compl. ¶ 35-40[# 4].
. Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007).
. Am. Compl. ¶ 36[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 47-50[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 43 — 61 [# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 55-56[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 51, 60[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 53[# 4],
. Am. Compl. ¶ 41-43, 61 — 62[# 4],
. M.G.L. c. 12, § 11H (2006).
. Bally v. Northeastern University, 403 Mass. 713, 532 N.E.2d 49, 51-52 (1989) (quoting M.G.L. c. 12, § 11H).
. Batchelder v. Allied Stores Corp., 393 Mass. 819, 473 N.E.2d 1128, 1131 (1985). The only difference is that the remedy provided by the MCRA is not restricted to state action, while § 1983 is limited to state action. See Williams v. O'Brien, 78 Mass.App.Ct. 169, 936 N.E.2d 1, 4 (2010) (“It is well established that the MCRA incorporates the standard of immunity for public officials developed under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and accordingly public officials are not liable under the [MCRA] for their discretionary acts, unless they have violated a right under Federal or State constitutional or statutory law that was clearly established at the time.”) (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted).
. Bally, 532 N.E.2d at 52.
. Freeman v. Planning Bd. of West Boylston, 419 Mass. 548, 646 N.E.2d 139, 149 (1995).
. Williams, 936 N.E.2d at 4 (“The judge correctly dismissed this claim against the Commonwealth ... because the Commonwealth, including its agencies, is not a 'person' subject to suit pursuant to G.L. c. 12, § 11H.”)
. See, e.g., Am. Compl. ¶ 99-102[# 4],
. See 28 U.S.C. § 1367 (2006).
. Counts 2, 3, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 22, 23, 27, 28, 32, 33, 37, 38, 42, 43, 47, 48, 52, 53, 57, 58, 62, 63, 67, and 68.
. M.G.L. c. 258 § 2 (2006).
. Vining v. Commonwealth, 63 Mass.App. Ct. 690, 828 N.E.2d 576, 579 (2005).
. M.G.L. c. 258 at §§ 1 and 2; see Vining, 828 N.E.2d at 579.
. Id. at § 2 ("[N]o such public employee or the estate of such public employee shall be liable for any injury or loss of property or personal injury or death caused by his negligent or wrongful act or omission while acting within the scope of his office or employment. ...”).
. Id. at § 4.
. Id. at§ 1.
. M.G.L. c. 34 § 4 (2006).
. M.G.L. c. 258 § 4.
. Garcia v. Essex County Sheriffs Dept., 65 Mass.App.Ct. 104, 837 N.E.2d 284, 287 (2005) (internal quotation marks omitted) (citations omitted); see also Gilmore v. Commonwealth, 417 Mass. 718, 632 N.E.2d 838, 840 (1994); Baptiste v. Sheriff of Bristol County, 35 Mass.App.Ct. 119, 617 N.E.2d 641, 645 (1993); Weaver v. Commonwealth, 387 Mass. 43, 438 N.E.2d 831, 834 (1982).
. Exhibit 1 to Plaintiffs Memorandum in Opposition to the Suffolk Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss [# 30].
. Thore v. Howe, 466 F.3d 173, 175-76 (1st Cir. 2006).
. See Evicci v. Baker, 190 F.Supp.2d 233, 239-40 (D.Mass. 2002) (holding that summary judgment was inappropriate because the plaintiff alleged a “classic battery” where corrections officers "began punching Plaintiff's back, causing pain and injury that lasted for weeks”).
. See Alberts v. Devine, 395 Mass. 59, 479 N.E.2d 113, 121 (1985) ("a plaintiff may hold liable one who intentionally induces another to commit any tortious act that results in damage to the plaintiff”).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Betty MARAJ, Administratrix of the Estate of Darryl Leslie v. Commonwealth of MASSACHUSETTS Suffolk County Sheriffs Department Andrea J. Cabral, Suffolk County Sheriff Melvin Reed Daniel Brock Michael Griffin Dana Johnson James Glavin Keith Storlazzi Joseph Munger Thomas Flynn James Coppinger Edward Sciaratta Michael Carbonneau Barbara Jocelyn and Prison Health Services, Inc.
- Cited By
- 16 cases
- Status
- Published