Ruiz-Rivera v. United States
Ruiz-Rivera v. United States
Opinion of the Court
ORDER
Before the Court is the Motion to Dismiss the Complaint filed by the United States of America, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and FBI Agent John Doe on September 24, 2014 (D.E. 34) and the opposition filed by plaintiff José Ruiz-Rivera on November 3, 2014 (D.E. 37).
In his opposition, plaintiff makes reference to efforts made to obtain the identity of the FBI Agent, all of which were done after the complaint had already been filed. See Opposition, at pp. 3-5. He bases his opposition to dismissal on three main arguments: (1) the United States has no standing to present a motion to dismiss on behalf of a defendant it does not represent, (2) the United States waived the statute of limitations and qualified immunity defenses by failing to include those defenses in its answer to the complaint and (3) dismissal of the action against John Doe on statute of limitations grounds would be inappropriate since resolution of that issue purportedly requires a factual determination on plaintiffs due diligence in attempting to ascertain John Doe’s identity. None of plaintiffs arguments in opposition have any merit. As to his first argument, suffice it to say that the Motion to Dismiss the Complaint was submitted “as to FBI Agent John Doe based on the applicable statute of limitations for Plaintiffs Bivens claim and the doctrine of qualified immunity.” Motion to Dismiss (D.E. 34), at p. 1. The only defendant seeking dismissal advancing grounds in support thereof is FBI Agent John Doe. As to the second argument, it must be stressed that Agent John Doe has still not answered the complaint, so any waiver of affirmative defenses made by the United States may not be imputed to him. We now address in detail his third contention: that the statute of limitations issue is based on controverted facts which may not be adjudicated by way of a dismissal motion. We conclude that the limitations question is not a controverted matter. Our explanation follows.
We begin by recapping what is apodictic. The applicable statute of limitations for section 1983 cases brought in this District is one year. See Altair Corp. v. Pesquera de Busquets, 769 F.2d 30, 31 (1st Cir. 1985) (citing 31 L.P.R.A. § 5298(2)). This period starts to run “from the time the aggrieved person had knowledge [of the injury].” Iff To have knowledge of the injury, a plaintiff must have both “notice of the injury” and “notice of the person who caused it,” even if he does not know the name of the person who caused the injury. Torres v. E.I. Dupont, 219 F.3d 13, 18 (1st Cir. 2000) (quoting Colon Prieto v. Geigel, 115 D.P.R. 232, 244 (1984)). “The key inquiry ... is whether plaintiff knew or with the degree of diligence required by law would have known whom to sue.” Jff
As noted above, the events on which the complaint filed in this case are based took place on April 26, 2012, therefore the statute of limitations for the Bivens action brought against defendant “Agent John Doe” expired on April 26, 2013. And, it bears repeating that the complaint against him was not filed until March 12, 2014. The issue is, thus, whether plaintiff was put on notice within the year after the April 26, 2012 events of the “someone” who caused his injuries, even if he lacked his precise identity. The burden is on him to prove that he did not.
We are convinced that he was. For one, plaintiff admits as much in his Opposition, as he there remarks that “[i]t is abundantly clear not only from the complaint itself, but also from the motions before the court, that ... at some point after his injuries, plaintiff José Ríos [sic] (plaintiffs true name is José Ruiz-Rivera) became aware of the fact that it was an FBI agent who caused the damage ...” Opposition (D.E. 37), at p. 11, ¶ 7.6.
For the reasons stated, the Motion to Dismiss the Complaint filed by FBI Agent John Doe on September 24, 2014 (D.E. 34) is GRANTED on statute of limitations grounds.
SO ORDERED.
. The United States Motion for Leave to File Reply and For An Extension of Time filed on November 7, 2014 (D.E. 41) is DENIED since the self-imposed deadline of November 19, 2014 to submit said reply elapsed without it being tendered.
. Plaintiffs Second Request for Extension of Time to Identify John Doe Defendants (D.E.
. In any event, a quick Google search with the key Spanish words "Plaza Rio Hondo," "Banco Popular,” "asalto,” "abril 2012” results in multiple hits to 2012 news reports on the events described in the Complaint, all of which mention the involvement in the incident of an FBI agent. See e.g.:
http://www.telemundopr.com/telenoticias/ puerto-rico/Denuncia-federal-contra-asaltante-del-Banco-Popular-de-Rio-Hondo-153043245.html?m=y&smobile=y http ://www.primerahora. com/noticias/ policia-tribunales/nota/fbiarrestaasospechos oderoboydispararcontraagentefederal-650718/
. Thus, we need not address movant’s alternative grounds for dismissal invoking the defense of qualified immunity.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jose RUIZ-RIVERA v. UNITED STATES of America Agent John Doe DDR Rio Hondo LLC, a/k/a Centro Comercial Plaza Rio Hondo Banco Popular de Puerto Rico G4S Secure Services Inc. Ace Insurance Company Ace Insurance Group Ltd. Universal Insurance Company
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published