Opinion ID: 160557
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Summary Judgment for BCDC Appellees

Text: 38 With respect to the BCDC Appellees, Mr. Reed appeals the district court's decision on both his 1983 and false imprisonment claims.
39
40 Mr. Reed explains in his brief that [t]his lawsuit [against the BCDC Appellees] is not . . . about conditions at [the prison]. Aplt's Br. at 21 (No. 00-2216). Rather, the suit is about [Mr.] Sisneros and his staff at BCDC intentionally ignor[ing] Judge Nelson's Order [for thirty days] and intentionally ignor[ing] [his] written and verbal requests . . . for an attorney and for a hearing. Aplt's Br. at 22-23 (No. 00-2216). As noted above, we review the district court's order of summary judgment de novo, and we hold, as we did above, that Mr. Reed's claims fail because the BCDC Appellees were protected by qualified immunity. 41 We address first the significance of Judge Nelson's order. Under New Mexico law, a prisoner may be released upon the issuance of a court order: 42 Every public officer who has power to order the imprisonment of any person for violation of law shall, on making such order, transmit to the sheriff, jail administrator[,] or independent contractor of his respective county a true copy of the order so that the person imprisoned may be considered under his custody until expiration of the commitment or until further steps, as provided by law, are taken to obtain the prisoner's liberty, of which he shall, in due time, notify the sheriff, jail administrator[,] or independent contractor in writing. 43 N.M. Stat. 33-3-12(A). As Mr. Reed points out, Judge Nelson's order did grant him a writ of habeas corpus, thereby freeing him from imprisonment; however, the order only instructed that Mr. Reed be released from the TCADC, not the BCDC. See Ortiz I, 1995 WL 118952, at  (It is therefore ordered . . . [t]hat petitioner be released immediately from the Taos County [Adult] Detention Center.). 44 Given the terms of Judge Nelson's order, we fail to see how Mr. Reed had either a constitutional or statutory right to be released from the BCDC. Mr. Reed is, in essence, arguing that the BCDC Appellees should have released him on the basis of Judge Nelson's reasoning rather than the strict terms of the order. Because Mr. Reed cannot establish a constitutional or statutory right, he cannot overcome the BCDC Appellees' qualified immunity. We note that, even if Mr. Reed had a constitutional or statutory right to be released on the basis of Judge Nelson's order, it was not clearly established, at the time of Mr. Reed's incarceration, that the order was valid as to the BCDC Appellees when it did not specify the BCDC by name. 45 Mr. Reed suggests, however, that knowledge of the order should, at the very least, have prompted the BCDC Appellees to investigate the matter for example, by contacting Judge Nelson. See Aplt's App. vol. II, doc. 9, at 000475-476 (Mr. Sisneros's deposition testimony) ([W]e wouldn't release this person because obviously this isn't an order to the BCDC in the Second Judicial District. We would probably hold on to it and either contact the Court and ask them for direction as to what they wanted to do with this we have a release order, but it's not a valid one.). While we do not endorse the BCDC Appellees' failure to pursue the matter a simple phone call might have expedited resolution of Mr. Reed's case we conclude that the BCDC Appellees were not required by either the Constitution or statute to investigate independently Mr. Reed's claim that he should be released within this time frame. See Thompson v. Duke, 882 F.2d 1180, 1186 (7th Cir. 1989) (On the basis of [Baker v. McCollan, 443 U.S. 137 (1979)], Hardiman and Patrick, as mere jailers, only had a duty to determine the facial validity of the warrant under which [defendant] was held; they had no independent duty to investigate [defendant's] claims of innocence.); see also Baker, 443 U.S. at 145-46 (1979) ([W]e do not think a sheriff executing an arrest warrant is required by the Constitution to investigate independently every claim of innocence, whether the claim is based on mistaken identity or a defense such as lack of requisite intent. Nor is the official charged with maintaining custody of the accused named in the warrant required by the Constitution to perform an error-free investigation of such a claim.). Thus, once again, the BCDC Appellees are protected by qualified immunity. 46 We next address Mr. Reed's allegation that the BCDC Appellees intentionally ignored his requests for an attorney 4 and a hearing. Mr. Reed's claim here is, in essence, a reiteration of his claim against the Prosecutor Appellees: By failing to initiate extradition proceedings which would provide for appointment of counsel (if Mr. Reed qualified as indigent) and an arraignment the BCDC Appellees violated his right to extradition process. The problem with this argument is that the authority to initiate extradition proceedings lies not with the BCDC Appellees but rather with the District Attorney's office. Mr. Reed, however, suggests that the BCDC Appellees should have taken some sort of action in response to his requests, such as contacting the District Attorney's office so that it would be informed as to his situation. He stresses, in particular, Mr. Sherman's failure to communicate with the District Attorney's office, or even the court, as such communications seemed to fall within his job responsibility as caseworker. See Aplt's App. vol. II, doc. 10, at 000473 (Mr. Sisneros's deposition testimony) (It's just a mutiquasi-type [sic], counselor-type individual that would hand problems and facilitate communication or items for that inmate to the courts, to the DA, public defender, on and on.) This argument is, in effect, that the BCDC Appellees should have conducted an investigation based on Mr. Reed's requests, but, as we have already established, such action is not required of the BCDC Appellees by either the Constitution or statute, at least within this time frame. See Thompson, 882 F.2d at 1186 (holding that jailers had no independent duty to investigate). Therefore, the BCDC Appellees cannot be held liable because of qualified immunity. 47
48 Under the New Mexico Tort Claims Act, [a] governmental entity and any public employee while acting within the scope of duty are granted immunity from liability for any tort except as waived. N.M. Stat. 41-4-4(A). The immunity granted, however, does not apply to false imprisonment when caused by law enforcement officers while acting within the scope of their duties. 5 See N.M. Stat. 41-4-12. Because immunity principles do not resolve this issue, we apply the traditional standard of review for summary judgment, in which the moving party bears the initial burden of making a prima facie demonstration of the absence of a genuine issue of material fact and entitlement to judgment as a matter of law. See Mitchell v. City of Moore, 218 F.3d 1190, 1197 (10th Cir. 2000). [A] material fact is 'genuine' . . . if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986). 49 If the movant carries this initial burden, the burden shifts to the nonmovant to go beyond the pleadings and set forth specific facts from which a rational trier of fact could find for the nonmovant. Mitchell, 218 F.3d at 1197. If the nonmovant fails to establish a genuine issue of material fact, then we determine whether the substantive law was applied correctly, and in so doing we examine the factual record and reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Sealock v. Colorado, 218 F.3d 1205, 1209 (10th Cir. 2000). 50 We determine that summary judgment was properly awarded to the BCDC Appellees because Mr. Reed failed to set forth specific facts from which a rational trier of fact could find in his favor. To prove a claim of false imprisonment, Mr. Reed was required to show that (1) the BCDC Appellees intentionally confined or restrained him without his consent and (2) the BCDC Appellees knew that they had no lawful authority to do so. See Diaz v. Lockheed Electronics, 618 P.2d 372, 376 (N.M. Ct. App. 1980). Mr. Reed cannot satisfy the second element. The BCDC Appellees believed they had the lawful authority to imprison Mr. Reed based on the NCIC hit, cf. United States v. Hines, 564 F.2d 925, 927 (10th Cir. 1997) (noting that information received from the NCIC computer bank has been routinely accepted in establishing probable cause for a valid arrest), and, as discussed above, nothing including Judge Nelson's order affected this belief. The BCDC Appellees' knowledge of Judge Nelson's order cannot, as Mr. Reed would have it, be equated with a knowledge of an unlawful detention.
51 Mr. Reed also suggests he has claims pursuant to 1983 and the New Mexico Tort Claims Act because, after Judge Murdoch ordered his release, a BCDC employee detained him one hour longer than the other prisoners for being a sniffler. As a preliminary matter, we note that none of the BCDC Appellees was involved in the delay. Consequently, Mr. Reed has no 1983 claims against the BCDC Appellees, regardless of the lawfulness of the detention. See Foote v. Spiegel, 118 F.3d 1416, 1423 (10th Cir. 1997) (holding that [i]ndividual liability under 1983 must be based on personal involvement in the alleged constitutional violation). 52 As for claims of false imprisonment, neither Mr. Gutierrez nor Mr. Sherman can be held liable because, once again, neither was involved in the prolonged detention of Mr. Reed. As for Mr. Sisneros, the situation might be different due to his position as Director of the BCDC. The question we must address is whether Mr. Sisneros, as the Director of the BCDC, can be held vicariously liable for the purported intentional tort committed by the BCDC employee. 53 The definition of vicarious liability is indirect legal responsibility. . . . Vicarious liability is based on a relationship between the parties, irrespective of participation, either by act or omission, of the one vicariously liable, under which it has been determined as a matter of policy that one person should be liable for the act of the other. Its true basis is largely one of public or social policy under which it has been determined that, irrespective of fault, a party should be held to respond for the acts of another. 54 Kinetics, Inc. v. El Paso Prods. Co., 653 P.2d 522, 527 (N.M. Ct. App. 1982) (citations omitted). Under the principles of agency and respondeat superior, vicarious liability may be imposed on a principal or employer for the acts of an agent or employee. See Silva v. State, 745 P.2d 380, 385 (N.M. 1987) (noting that doctrine of respondeat superior applies under Tort Claims Act); see also Restatement (Second) of Agency 2 (naming respondeat superior as a type of agency relationship). 55 We determine that, under the circumstances, Mr. Sisneros cannot be held vicariously liable: Nothing in the record discloses the nature of the relationship between Mr. Sisneros and the BCDC employee; furthermore, Mr. Sisneros's supervisory position does not, by itself, establish him as principal/master and the BCDC employee as agent/servant. See, e.g., Yorston v. Pennell, 153 A.2d 255, 259-60 (Pa. 1959) (In determining whether a person is the servant of another it is necessary that he not only be subject to the latter's control or right of control with regard to the work to be done and the manner of performing it but that this work is to be performed on the business of the master or for his benefit. . . . On the other hand, the right to supervise, even as to the work and the manner of performance, is not sufficient; otherwise a supervisory employee would be liable for the negligent act of another employee though he would not be the superior or master of that employee in the sense the law means it.); Connell v. Hayden, 443 N.Y.S.2d 383, 397 (1981) (The doctrine of respondeat superior does not apply to impose vicarious liability upon supervisors. . . . This does not mean that a supervisor may not be liable for the injuries caused by the conduct of one of his subordinates. It does mean that his liability is not vicarious, that is, without fault on his part.) (citations omitted).