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Sanchez v. Pereira-Castillo

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico
Apr 18, 2008
CIVIL NO. 07-1618 (JAG) (D.P.R. Apr. 18, 2008)

Opinion

CIVIL NO. 07-1618 (JAG).

April 18, 2008

ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFF: Guillermo J. Ramos-Luina, UPR Station, San Juan, PR.

ATTORNEY FOR DEFENDANTS: Jose J. Gueits-Ortiz, Department of Justice of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR.

Julio Nigaglioni-Arrache, Lopez Mulero, Colon Rodriguez Nigaglioni Law Office, San Juan, PR.

Jose J. Gueits-Ortiz, Department of Justice of Puerto Rico, Office of General Litigation Unit VII, San Juan, PR.


MEMORANDUM AND ORDER


Pending before the Court is Plaintiff Angel Luis Sanchez's ("Plaintiff") "Motion for Reconsideration and for Leave to File Amended Complaint." (Docket No. 27). For the reasons set forth below, the Court DENIES Plaintiff's Motion.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On July 2006, Plaintiff an inmate in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Administration of Corrections ("AOC") was suspected of having a cellular phone in his rectum. As a result, the staff of the AOC subjected him to several strip searches, and an x-ray exam. Plaintiff was then transferred to the Rio Piedras Medical Center ("Medical Center") where two rectal exams and an exploratory surgery was performed by the staff of the Medical Center.

On July 10, 2007, Plaintiff filed the present complaint against Defendants Miguel A. Pereira-Castillo ("Pereira"), Hector Fontanez-Rivera ("Fontanez"), Ramon Diaz-Correa ("Diaz"), Gilberto Negron-Falcon ("Negron"), Walter Soto-Hernandez ("Soto"), Miguel Caban-Rosados ("Caban") (collectively "Defendants"), all staff members of the AOC, and Sandra I. Deniz Rocafort's ("Deniz"), the physician that performed the exploratory surgery, requesting money damages under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and under Article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31 § 5141. Additionally, Plaintiff has a medical battery and medical malpractice claim. (Docket No. 1).

On October 22, 2007, Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss, (Docket No. 20), which was subsequently opposed by Plaintiff. (Docket No. 23). On January 22, 2008, Deniz also filed a Motion to Dismiss. (Docket No. 24). Plaintiff did not oppose Deniz's Motion.

On March 19, 2008, this Court issued an Opinion and Order granting the pending Motions to Dismiss. This Court among other things determined that Defendants, who are all employees of the AOC, could not be held liable for an exploratory surgery and two rectal exams performed on Plaintiff. Namely, this Court found that the rectal exams and the exploratory surgery were not done "under color of law" because the decisions to perform said procedures were made exclusively by the Medical Staff of the Medical Center. In reaching this conclusion, we noted that state officials, such as Defendants, should not be at risk of liability under section 1983 for medical decisions made exclusively by physicians. (Docket No. 25).

On March 24, 2008, Plaintiff filed the pending Motion for Reconsideration in which he alleges that our decision to dismiss on the grounds that Defendants could not be held responsible for the physicians' decision to perform the surgery constituted a sua sponte dismissal. Plaintiff contends that this Court should set aside its Opinion and Order because sua sponte dismissal was improper and, accordingly, accept an Amended Complaint.

Plaintiff further alleges that this Court overlooked that in the complaint he specifically alleged that a correctional officer of the AOC pressured the personnel of the Medical Center to perform the surgery. Moreover, Plaintiff reiterates that the rectal exams and the exploratory surgery performed on him violated his constitutional rights. According to Plaintiff, both procedures were done to obtain evidence and not to respond to health needs. Plaintiff also contends that the fact that the surgery and rectal exams were performed by physicians from the Medical Center and not from staff from the AOC is of no importance to the constitutional analysis performed by this Court. Additionally, Plaintiff alleges that the exploratory surgery and the rectal exams were encouraged by a member of the AOC personnel and, as such, liability for the damages that resulted from said procedures is attributable to the named Defendants in this case. For the aforementioned reasons, Plaintiff requests that this Court set aside its dismissal of the case at bar and accept an Amended Complaint. (Docket No. 27). Defendants and Deniz opposed Plaintiff's Motion. (Docket Nos. 28 and 29).

DISCUSSION

1. Sua Sponte Dismissal

Plaintiff claims that our Opinion and Order constituted a sua sponte dismissal. Defendants disagree with Plaintiff's position. According to Defendants, the basis for granting dismissal in the Opinion and Order was exactly the same as that proffered by them in their Motion to Dismiss, to wit, that the decision to perform the surgery on Plaintiff was made by the staff of the Medical Center and not by members of the AOC.

We recognize that "[s]ua sponte dismissal should be used sparingly, but is appropriate if it is `crystal clear that the plaintiff cannot prevail and that amending the complaint would be futile.'" TMTV Corp. v. Pegasus Broad. of San Juan, 490 F. Supp. 2d 228, 236 (D.P.R. 2007) (citing Chute v. Walker, 281 F.3d 314, 319 (1st Cir. 2002)). This Court has a duty to make sure that the allegations proffered by the parties are adequate. Moreover, the Court cannot be chained to the authorities cited by the parties. "There comes a point when the question arises who is running the court counsel, or the judge. To this there can be but one answer." Higuera v. Pueblo International, Inc., 585 F.2d 555, 557 (1st Cir. 1978).

The allegations made by Defendants in their Motion to Dismiss, (Docket No. 20), led this Court to determine that dismissal was proper because the decision to perform the exploratory surgery and rectal exams could not be attributed to Defendants. Furthermore, to address the complicated issues that are present in the case at bar, this Court fulfilled its responsibility and performed an independent research and analysis of the case at bar. Thus, our Opinion and Order did not amount to a sua sponte dismissal because our conclusion was the result of our independent research and analysis of Defendants' and Deniz's allegations. Since there is no sua sponte dismissal here, we reject Plaintiff's Amended Complaint.

This Court examined Plaintiff's amended complaint and finds that it would not change this Court's ruling.

2. Defendants' Liability

Plaintiff avers that in our Opinion and Order we did not give sufficient importance to the fact he alleged that a member of the AOC pressured the doctors of the Medical Center to conduct the surgery. With regard to this contention, it is important to stress that we specifically mentioned in our Opinion and Order that this "Court recognizes that Plaintiff alleges that, at the Medical Center, the AOC's personnel insisted that Plaintiff had a foreign object inside his rectum. However, the decision to perform the rectal exams and the exploratory surgery was that of the medical staff of the Medical Center."

(Docket No. 25, n. 8)

This Court finds that the decision to perform both procedures was taken by educated and trained professionals, who have sole responsibility for the medical decisions they take. We find that no amount of encouragement or persuasion on the part of a correctional officer, a lay person, changes the fact that the decisions were made solely by the educated and trained professionals of the Medical Center. Moreover, Plaintiff's contention that the surgery and rectal exams were performed in order to obtain evidence or for medical reasons does not sway this Court to overturn its ruling. Said allegations could be important in determining Deniz's liability. However, it has no bearing on who ultimately made the decision, which is what this Court finds is essential in determining whether Defendants can be liable for the alleged damages suffered by Plaintiff.

This Court recognizes that a "State normally can be held responsible for a private decision only when it has exercised coercive power or has provided such significant encouragement, either overt or covert, that the choice must in law be deemed to be that of the State." Blum v. Yaretsky, 457 U.S. 991, 1004 (1982). However, Plaintiff's claims were not dismissed because of lack of state action. Both Defendants and Deniz are employees of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

3. Deniz and the Medical Center's Staff Liability

Deniz was the physician that performed the exploratory surgery on Plaintiff. At the time, she was working for the Medical Center and not for the AOC. The Medical Center is run by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico but is a separate entity and not part of the AOC.

We interestingly note that "[m]edical malpractice does not become a constitutional violation merely because the victim is a prisoner." Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 333 (1986) (internal citations and quotations omitted). "Where a government official's act causing injury to life, liberty, or property is merely negligent, no procedure for compensation is constitutionally required." Id. State tort law offers an adequate mechanism for redressing injuries inflicted by a negligent doctor. See id.

This Court finds that the manner in which the rectal exams and the exploratory surgery were performed could be classified as merely negligent acts. As such, whether the aforementioned procedures were performed to produce evidence or for health needs does not change the fact that Deniz and the rest of the medical staff could only be merely negligent. Moreover, even though Deniz works for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, she acted exclusively as a physician and not as an AOC official under color of law. Thus, we find no constitutional violation on the part of Deniz or the staff of the Medical Center. The state law tort statute should offer Plaintiff adequate redress for the alleged negligent acts committed by Deniz and the Medical Center's staff.

As such, we find that in the case at bar, Plaintiff may have a malpractice claim against Deniz and the rest of the Medical Center's staff, who were involved in the rectal exam and exploratory surgery. Said claim should be filed solely under Article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31 § 5141. However, this Court will not exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiff's state law claim. Moreover, as mentioned in the Opinion and Order, it is important to stress that we certainly express no opinion on the merits of such a potential claim nor should this opinion and order be construed as favoring such a claim on the merits.

CONCLUSION

For the reasons stated above, the Court hereby DENIES Plaintiff's "Motion for Reconsideration and for Leave to File Amended Complaint." (Docket No. 27).

IT IS SO ORDERED.


Summaries of

Sanchez v. Pereira-Castillo

United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico
Apr 18, 2008
CIVIL NO. 07-1618 (JAG) (D.P.R. Apr. 18, 2008)
Case details for

Sanchez v. Pereira-Castillo

Case Details

Full title:ANGEL LUIS SANCHEZ, Plaintiff v. MIGUEL A. PEREIRA-CASTILLO, et al.…

Court:United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico

Date published: Apr 18, 2008

Citations

CIVIL NO. 07-1618 (JAG) (D.P.R. Apr. 18, 2008)