Opinion ID: 866546
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sheriff Rivera

Text: The allegations in the complaint as to Sheriff Rivera are similar to those against Warden Chavez. The complaint alleges Sheriff Rivera “established a policy or custom of allowing officers to arrest people and wait before filing charges;” that “[i]n some circumstances this policy or custom resulted in the arrest and detention of citizens with charges never being filed;” that Sheriff Rivera was deliberately indifferent to the ongoing constitutional violations which -20- occurred under his supervision and due to his failure to adequately train his employees; that the “routine warrantless arrest and incarceration of citizens without charges being filed amounted to a policy or custom of VCSO which was set forth by [Sheriff] Rivera,” and that such policy was “a significant moving force behind [Wilson’s] illegal detention.” As with Warden Chavez, these allegations, if proven, are sufficient to establish Sheriff Rivera’s individual liability for Wilson’s unconstitutional detention under Dodds, and the district court did not err in denying the motion to dismiss as to Sheriff Rivera. D. Additional Arguments 1. Magistrate Court Rules Notwithstanding the numerous New Mexico statutes which spell out in detail the duties of the arresting officers, warden, and sheriff as they relate to providing citizens with a prompt post-arrest probable cause determination, appellants cite to several provisions of New Mexico’s Rules for Magistrate Courts in an attempt to argue it is unclear who has the responsibility for ensuring an arrestee ensures a prompt probable cause determination. See N.M.R.A. 6-201(D) (“If the court is not open at the time the copy of the complaint is given to the defendant, and the defendant remains in custody, the complaint shall be filed the next business day of the court.”); N.M.R.A. 6-203(A) (“The probable cause determination shall be made by a magistrate, metropolitan or district court judge promptly, but in any event within forty-eight (48) hours after custody commences -21- and no later than the first appearance of the defendant whichever occurs earlier.”) Appellants take the position that, because these provisions do not explicitly assign responsibility for ensuring a prompt probable cause determination is made to one particular party (e.g. the sheriff, warden, arresting officer, or court), it cannot be clearly established that any of them violated Wilson’s constitutional rights. This argument is unavailing. The rules cited by appellants are not inconsistent with the numerous New Mexico statutes, discussed supra Part III.C, which delineate the duties of the arresting officers, sheriff, and warden to ensure an arrestee receives a timely post-arrest probable cause determination. Thus, they do not undermine the conclusion that officials in the positions of Montano, Warden Chavez, or Sheriff Rivera would have known their actions violated Wilson’s constitutional rights. See Anderson, 483 U.S. at 640. 8 8 Similarly unavailing is appellants’ reliance on a memo from the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts discussing the requirements of Rule 6-203 and the importance of the magistrate courts establishing procedures to ensure arrestees receive a timely probable cause determination. The memo’s silence on the duties of parties other than the magistrate courts is wholly unremarkable, as the memo was promulgated by the administrative arm of the New Mexico judiciary and concerns the rules of procedure for New Mexico courts. Moreover, nothing in the memo, or the rule it interprets, suggests a magistrate’s independent obligation to make a probable cause determination within forty-eight hours of arrest somehow relieves other parties of their respective duties to ensure such a determination is possible. -22- 2. N.M. Stat. Ann. § 33-3-12(B) Finally, appellants argue it would have been impossible to provide Wilson with the relief he sought due to operation of N.M. Stat. Ann. § 33-3-12(B), which provides: “Any jailer who deliberately and knowingly releases a prisoner without an order of release . . . except upon expiration of the prisoner’s term of commitment, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be removed from office.” Before the district court, appellants argued the existence of § 33-3-12(B) amounted to an extraordinary circumstance which “so prevented [them] from knowing that [their] actions were unconstitutional that [they] should not be imputed with knowledge of a clearly established right.” Shero, 510 F.3d at 1204. Before this court, appellants argue simply that § 33-3-12(B) contributes to a lack of clarity under New Mexico law as to which party is responsible for ensuring a prompt probable cause determination. In either case, this argument is unpersuasive. Wilson does not argue appellants had an obligation to release him. Rather, he argues they had a duty to provide him with a prompt probable cause determination. Those appellants with a duty to ensure Wilson received a prompt probable cause determination could have done so without releasing him in contravention of § 33-3-12. Thus, § 33-3-12 does not constitute an “extraordinary circumstance” which excuses appellants’ violation of Wilson’s constitutional rights, nor does it undermine the conclusion that those rights were clearly established. -23-