explaining that dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) “is [not] always (if ever) the most suitable procedural setting to determine whether an official is qualifiedly immune, because immunity may depend on particular facts that a plaintiff need not plead to state a claim”
How later courts described this case
- explaining that dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) “is [not] always (if ever) the most suitable procedural setting to determine whether an official is qualifiedly immune, because immunity may depend on particular facts that a plaintiff need not plead to state a claim”
- “[Defendant]’s disagreement with the assumed context here illustrates the mismatch between the 12(b)(6) plausibility standard and the often fact-intensive nature of qualified-immunity inquiries.”
- “[B]ecause we are at the 12(b)(6) stage, the plaintiffs receive the benefit of all plausible allegations and reasonable inferences being treated as true,” so that “the set of contextual facts that are assumed for purposes of this qualified-immunity inquiry [are] broad[.]”
- “The governing standard [for claims regarding officers’ alleged inattention to serious medical needs during arrest] is the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable seizures.”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
EDWARD HIGGINS & )
ALEXANDER GARESCHE, )
)
Plaintiffs, )
) No. 22 C 4563
v. )
) Judge Ronald A. Guzmán
VILLAGE OF LYONS, THOMAS HERION, )
OFFICER J. BARAJAS, OFFICER P. )
FRENCL, LYONS JOHN DOE OFFICERS, )
PARAMEDIC JOSH, & LYONS FIRE DEPT. )
JOHN DOES, )
)
Defendants. )
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
The motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim filed by Defendants Officer J. Barajas,
Thomas Herion, and the Village of Lyons is denied for the reasons stated below.
BACKGROUND
Plaintiffs allege that, on August 28, 2021, Village of Lyons Police Officers J. Barajas and
P. Frencl, along with unknown other officers, paramedics, and fire department personnel, were
investigating a discovery of human remains within the Village of Lyons, “a newsworthy event.”
(Compl., ECF No. 1, ¶¶ 11, 12.) Plaintiff Edward Higgins, accompanied by his friend, Plaintiff
Alexander Garesche, was about one block away “in an open area they were lawfully allowed to
stand in,” while Higgins, “acting lawfully and with FAA authorization and credentials,” operated
a drone to obtain overhead images “of the investigation site.” (Id. ¶¶ 13-15.) Although “Plaintiffs
had committed no crime,” police officers detained and arrested Higgins and Garesche. Barajas
fastened them into “excessively and unreasonably tight[]” handcuffs despite their complaints of
pain and Garesche’s pre-existing shoulder injury, about which he told Barajas. Higgins also
notified Barajas of his “poor heart,” but Barajas nevertheless put the handcuffed Plaintiffs in an
unventilated and non-airconditioned Lyons police vehicle for fifteen minutes while the outdoor
temperature was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Plaintiffs fruitlessly “banged their heads against the
windows” to call the observing officials’ attention to the heat. (Id. ¶¶ 19-21, 23-31.) Plaintiffs
were then driven to the Village of Lyons Police Department, where “they were given ordinance
violation tickets for disorderly conduct.” (Id. ¶¶ 33-37.) At the court date on October 26, 2021,
Plaintiffs appeared pro se, and Village of Lyons Police Chief Thomas Herion, while testifying,
insisted that he wanted the disorderly conduct violation dismissed and replaced with a
misdemeanor obstruction charge. (Id. ¶¶ 39-42.) After a mid-hearing dispute with the prosecutor,
Chief Herion convinced the prosecutor to drop the ordinance violation charges and had the
Plaintiffs arrested and taken to the police station lockup, where he “yelled at them[,]” Plaintiffs
understood, for “put[ting] on a defense to the citations.” (Id. ¶¶ 43-52.) Plaintiffs were charged
with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and hired attorneys, who successfully moved to dismiss
those charges on grounds of double jeopardy, vindictive prosecution, and failure to state an
offense. (Id. ¶¶ 53-55.)
In this ensuing lawsuit, Plaintiffs name as Defendants Chief Herion, Officers Barajas and
Frencl, the Village of Lyons, and unknown police officers, paramedics and fire department
personnel.1 Plaintiffs raise the following claims against the police officers and other personnel
present at the scene Higgins was filming: false arrest/failure to intervene (Count I, § 1983);
unreasonable conditions of seizure (Count II, § 1983); and unlawful prosecution (Count III, §
1983; Count V, state law). Plaintiffs both allege negligence and/or willful and wanton conduct
against the Village of Lyons (Count VI, state law). Higgins raises an additional claim against
Chief Herion for unlawful restriction of speech because Chief Herion “directed and/or encouraged
and/or ordered the arrest and prosecution of Higgins with the objective of preventing him from
exercising his right to free expression and/or with the object of punishing him for exercising his
right to free expression to film a newsworthy event and then publish that event to the larger public”
(Count IV, § 1983).
Chief Herion, Officer Barajas,2 and the Village of Lyons (hereafter, jointly referred to as
“Defendants”) move to dismiss Plaintiffs’ federal claims and malicious prosecution claim (Counts
I-V) pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6); they further ask that the Court relinquish
jurisdiction over the state-law claim (Count VI) that would remain. (ECF No. 17, Defs.’ Mot.
Dismiss.)
STANDARD
A court addressing a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6)
“accept[s] as true all well-pleaded facts in the complaint and draw[s] reasonable inferences in favor
of the plaintiff.” Kap Holdings, LLC v. Mar-Cone Appliance Parts Co., 55 F.4th 517, 523 (7th
Cir. 2022) (citing Pierce v. Zoetis, Inc., 818 F.3d 274, 277 (7th Cir. 2016)). “To survive a motion
to dismiss, the allegations in the complaint ‘must plausibly suggest . . . a right to relief, raising that
possibility above a speculative level,’ . . ., and give the defendant fair notice of what claim the
plaintiff is making and what the basis for that claim is[.]” McCray v. Wilkie, 966 F.3d 616, 620
(7th Cir. 2020) (citations omitted); Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009); Bell Atl. Corp. v.
Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). This requires merely “a short and plain statement,”
McCready v. eBay, Inc., 453 F.3d 882, 888 (7th Cir. 2006), with just enough “factual content” to
“allow[] the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct
1 Plaintiffs originally also named as Defendants Cook County, Cook County Sheriff Dart, and
unidentified Cook County Sheriff’s Officers and employees but dismissed those Defendants on
January 20, 2023. (ECF No. 34, 35.) Plaintiffs’ indemnification claim (erroneously listed as a
second Count VI) targeted only the since-dismissed Cook County.
2 Officer Frencl, who is represented by different counsel, has answered the complaint; no other
officers have yet been identified and named as Defendants.
alleged,” Kap Holdings, 55 F.4th at 524 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). The
motion may be granted, though, “if a plaintiff pleads facts which show he has no claim” or “if it
appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which
would entitle him to relief.” McCready, 453 F.3d at 888 (citations and internal quotation marks
omitted).
DISCUSSION
Defendants move to dismiss Counts I, III, IV, and V, on the ground that the false arrest,
retaliatory arrest, and unlawful prosecution claims are barred because officers had probable cause
to arrest Plaintiffs. They also argue that qualified immunity protects them against Plaintiffs’ claims
of false arrest, retaliatory arrest, and unreasonable seizure in Counts I-III because Plaintiffs’
allegations do not indicate that their clearly established rights were violated by Defendants’
conduct.
1. Probable Cause to Arrest and Prosecute
Defendants move to dismiss Counts I, III, IV, and V, on the ground that they had “probable
cause to arrest and prosecute” Plaintiffs, which they assert defeats those claims. (ECF No. 17 at
8.)
a. Counts I (False Arrest) and IV (Retaliatory Arrest)
The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable seizures. U.S. Const. amend.
IV. “[T]he reasonableness of an arrest or other seizure under the Fourth Amendment depends . . .
on when it is made [and] how it is made[.]” Abbott v. Sangamon Cnty., 705 F.3d 706, 724 (7th
Cir. 2013) (emphasis in original). A seizure occurs when one’s “freedom of movement is
terminated or restrained by intentionally applied force or submission to an assertion of authority.”
Id. at 719 (citations omitted). “Ordinarily seizures are ‘reasonable’ only when supported
by probable cause to believe an individual has committed a crime.” Matz v. Klotka, 769 F.3d 517,
522 (7th Cir. 2014). Probable cause thus “is an absolute defense to any § 1983 claim against a
police officer for false arrest[,] false imprisonment,” Abbott, 705 F.3d at 713-14, or retaliatory
arrest, Nieves v. Bartlett, 139 S. Ct. 1715, 1728 (2019).
“The existence of probable cause . . . depends, in the first instance, on the elements of the
predicate criminal offense(s) as defined by state law[,]” but “an arrest can be supported by probable
cause that the arrestee committed any crime, regardless of the officer’s belief as to which crime
was at issue.” Abbott, 705 F.3d at 715. The “common-sense inquiry” for probable cause
“requir[es] only a probability of criminal activity[,]” which “exists whenever an officer . . . has
enough information to warrant a prudent person to believe criminal conduct has occurred.” Young
v. City of Chi., 987 F.3d 641, 644 (7th Cir. 2021) (quotation marks and citations omitted). The
officer’s belief must be “‘reasonable,’” not “‘correct or even more likely true than false.’” Gaddis
v. DeMattei, 30 F.4th 625, 630-31 (7th Cir. 2022) (quoting Fleming v. Livingston Cnty., 674 F.3d
874, 879 (7th Cir. 2012)).
That Plaintiffs were seized is uncontested for present purposes, but Defendants argue that,
at the time of the seizures, they had probable cause to arrest Plaintiffs for disorderly conduct, which
“is described as an individual doing ‘any act in such unreasonable manner as to alarm or disturb
another and provoke a breach of the peace.’” (ECF No. 17 at 9-10 (quoting Gaddis, 30 F.4th at
631; 720 ILCS 5/26-1(a)(1)).) Defendants in essence contend that Plaintiffs have pleaded
themselves out of court—they assert that flying a drone “into a crime scene investigation
concerning human remains discovered in a backyard of a private residence” to take “photographs”
to “distribute[] to news media” provides probable cause for an arrest because the Seventh Circuit
has observed that, “[c]ertainly, a person can photograph and videotape in a sufficiently disruptive
way that it would not be unconstitutional to arrest the individual for disorderly conduct.” (Id. at
10 (quoting Spiegel v. McClintic, 916 F.3d 611, 618 (7th Cir. 2019).)
Plaintiffs respond that the allegations of the complaint do not suggest disruptive conduct
or any breach of the peace by Higgins and that Garesche is alleged merely to have been standing
near Higgins, such that any probable cause to arrest Higgins would not necessarily automatically
extend to Garesche. (ECF No. 29, Pls.’ Resp. Mot. Dismiss, at 7-12.)
Construing the complaint in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs, with all reasonable
inferences in their favor, Plaintiffs have not pleaded themselves out of court on the issue of
probable cause. Plaintiffs’ factual allegations indicate that neither their physical location nor
Higgins’ act of flying a drone were inherently unlawful. That Higgins guided the drone over and
captured images of a crime scene on private property is insufficient, without more, to indicate that
officers could reasonably have believed that his conduct (or Garesche’s) was disorderly, i.e., that
either was acting “in such an unreasonable manner as to alarm or disturb another and provoke a
breach of the peace.” See Gaddis, 30 F.4th at 631 (affirming summary judgment because the
arresting officer “could have reasonably believed probable cause existed to arrest [arrestee] for
disorderly conduct” where the undisputed facts showed a report of a disturbance and arrestee’s
increasing aggression that posed a potential risk to others). The Seventh Circuit’s bare posit (in
the context of an otherwise inapposite facial challenge to a Wilmette, Illinois ordinance) that a
disruptive recording could be sufficiently disruptive to qualify as disorderly conduct, Spiegel, 916
F.3d at 618, does not otherwise indicate that officers would reasonably have believed that
Plaintiffs’ conduct, here, constituted disorderly conduct.
Defendants ultimately may be able to establish that they reasonably believed that they had
probable cause to arrest one or both of the Plaintiffs, but their motion on that ground is premature
and is denied. See Jordan v. Bonano, No. 22 C 725, 2022 WL 13916597, at *4 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 24,
2022) (denying motion to dismiss unlawful seizure claim where Plaintiff “plausibly alleged facts
that suggest that the Troopers ‘consciously disregard[ed] information’ that would have clarified
the situation and negated probable cause”) (quoting Dean v. City of Chi., 896 F. Supp. 2d 699, 704
(N.D. Ill. 2012)); Romando v. City of Naperville, No. 20 C 2701, 2021 WL 1853304, at *3 (N.D.
Ill. May 10, 2021) (deeming it “too early to determine the issue” of probable cause, where plaintiff
alleged she had not committed the crimes or acts of which she was accused); Frobe v. Vill. of
Lindenhurst, No. 11 C 1722, 2014 WL 902878, at *4 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 7, 2014) (denying motion to
dismiss false arrest claim because, read “in the light most favorable to” the plaintiff, his allegations
“adequately denied that he was speeding”).
b. Counts III (Manuel Unlawful Prosecution) and V (State-Law Malicious
Prosecution)
Defendants next conclusorily assert that the probable cause that they contend existed for
Plaintiffs’ seizures also defeats their claims for unlawful prosecution in Counts III3 and V. Setting
aside that such claims typically address probable cause after (rather than during) an initial seizure,
see Manuel v. City of Joliet, 580 U.S. 357, 370, 368-69 (2017); Vaughn v. Chapman, 662 F. App’x
464, 467 (7th Cir. 2016), the Court’s rejection of the premise that Plaintiffs pleaded probable cause
for their seizures clears the way for them to proceed on Counts III and V.
2. Qualified Immunity
Defendants also argue that they are entitled to qualified immunity as to Plaintiffs’ federal
claims in Counts I-IV. “Governmental actors performing discretionary functions are entitled to
qualified immunity from suits for damages ‘insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly
established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have
known.’” Abbott, 705 F.3d at 713 (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818 (1982)).
Although qualified immunity is meant to guard its beneficiaries as much as possible against
the costs of discovery and trial, it is rarely appropriately resolved at the motion-to-dismiss stage.
See, e.g., Hanson v. LeVan, 967 F.3d 584, 589-90 (7th Cir. 2020) (explaining that dismissal under
Rule 12(b)(6) “is [not] always (if ever) the most suitable procedural setting to determine whether
an official is qualifiedly immune, because immunity may depend on particular facts that a plaintiff
need not plead to state a claim”). “[B]y raising the defense at the motion-to-dismiss stage rather
than at summary judgment,” defendants “assume[] [a] more challenging standard.”4 Sayed v.
Virginia, 744 F. App’x 542, 546 (10th Cir. 2018); see also Reed v. Palmer, 906 F.3d 540, 548-49
(7th Cir. 2018) (same) (citations omitted). At the motion-to-dismiss stage, “‘it is the defendant’s
conduct as alleged in the complaint that is scrutinized for “objective legal reasonableness.”’”
Reed, 906 F.3d at 548-49 (emphasis in original) (quoting and citing Behrens v. Pelletier, 516 U.S.
299, 309 (1996)); see also Hanson, 967 F.3d at 596 (“[B]ecause we are at the 12(b)(6) stage, the
plaintiffs receive the benefit of all plausible allegations and reasonable inferences being treated as
true,” so that “the set of contextual facts that are assumed for purposes of this qualified-immunity
inquiry [are] broad[.]”).
3 Plaintiffs root their claim in their “subject[ion] to the restrictions of and obligations imposed by
the [c]ourts on persons released on bond.” (ECF No. 1 ¶ 70); see Artman v. Gualandri, No. 20 C
4501, 2021 WL 2254961, at *4 (N.D. Ill. June 3, 2021).
4 Defendants refer to the proper motion-to-dismiss standard in their opening brief but in their reply
improperly rely on the burden-shifting analysis that would be appropriate for summary judgment
briefing. (Defs.’ Reply, ECF No. 31, at 3); see Sayed, 744 F. App’x at 546 (“The flaw in this
argument . . . is that it employs the summary judgment standard for analyzing the qualified
immunity defense.”).
a. Counts I (False Arrest), III (Manuel), IV (Retaliatory Arrest)
Defendants argue that they are entitled to qualified immunity on Plaintiffs’ unreasonable
and retaliatory seizure claims and Manuel unlawful prosecution claim because Plaintiffs had no
“clearly established constitutional right to fly a drone over a crime scene investigation and
photograph human remains.” (ECF No. 17 at 4-7.) Plaintiffs dispute Defendants’ characterization
of the right at issue, identifying the apt issue as “whether the Defendants reasonably, albeit possibly
mistakenly, believed that probable cause existed to arrest a plaintiff[.]’” (See ECF No. 29 at 9
(quoting Hoeppner v. Billeb, No. 17-cv-430-bbc, 2018 WL 5282898, at *10 (W.D. Wis. Oct. 23,
2018)).)
The Court agrees that Defendants have fatally (for the purposes of their motion to dismiss)
misidentified the right at issue. Whether Higgins had a clearly established right to use his drone
as he did does not answer whether both Plaintiffs’ seizures and prosecutions were constitutionally
infirm as Plaintiffs allege in Counts I, III, and IV. In other words, even if Higgins had no “right”
to fly the drone as he did, it does not necessarily follow that Higgins’ particular drone usage
rendered both his and Garesche’s seizures and prosecutions reasonable. See, e.g., Pierner-Lytge
v. Hobbs, 601 F. Supp. 3d 404, 411-12 (E.D. Wis. May 5, 2022) (in qualified-immunity analysis
on false-arrest claim, addressing not whether the arrestee had a right to be in the park with a
bayonet but whether the officers reasonably could have believed that plaintiff violated the
Wisconsin disorderly-conduct law by being in the park with a bayonet); Brown v. Robinett, No.
119CV02336SEBMJD, 2021 WL 663378, at *9-10 (S.D. Ind. Feb. 19, 2021) (in qualified-
immunity analysis as to retaliatory-arrest claim, addressing not whether plaintiff was properly
exercising a right to record police activity but whether “the officer had arguable probable cause
for the arrest”).
Because Defendants did not correctly frame the issue, their analysis is flawed and does not
demonstrate that the officers “did not violate a clearly established right” of Plaintiffs through their
arrests and prosecutions as alleged in Counts I, III and IV. They also assume without factual
predicate in the complaint that the officers merely took “reasonable steps” “to secure a crime
scene” or “protect the integrity and confidentiality of the investigation.” (ECF No. 17 at 7.) These
considerations, like most qualified-immunity determinations, require fact-specific analyses
particularly inappropriate for resolution before summary judgment,5 see Hanson, 967 F.3d at 597
(“[Defendant]’s disagreement with the assumed context here illustrates the mismatch between the
12(b)(6) plausibility standard and the often fact-intensive nature of qualified-immunity
inquiries.”). Accordingly, in light of Defendants’ incorrect framing of the issue and the standard
applicable to the motion to dismiss, Defendants’ motion to dismiss Counts I, III, and IV on the
ground of qualified immunity is denied.
5 Defendants argue that federal and state laws, regulations, and cases demonstrate that Plaintiffs
lacked the “right” to film a crime scene with a drone, but they do not develop a probable-cause (or
arguable probable-cause) analysis as to those laws, regulations, and cases to suggest that the
officers might have acted reasonably in arresting or causing the prosecution of both Plaintiffs under
those laws, regulations, or statutes.
b. Count II (Unreasonable Conditions of Seizure)
Defendants finally argue that the post-arrest conditions Plaintiffs challenge could not
constitute a violation of their rights. (ECF No. 17 at 7-8 (“Defendants did not violate any clearly
established constitutional right by placing Defendants [sic] in a squad car for a short duration on a
warm day.”).) Plaintiffs argue that “excessive handcuffing and the purposeful placement of
Plaintiffs in an extremely hot, unventilated car, especially given Plaintiffs’ physical infirmities”
was unreasonable. (ECF No. 29 at 13-15.)
The manner in which a seizure is effected must be reasonable. See Sides v. Champaign,
496 F.3d 820, 827-28 (7th Cir. 2007) (“The governing standard [for claims regarding officers’
alleged inattention to serious medical needs during arrest] is the Fourth Amendment’s ban on
unreasonable seizures.”) (citing Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 394-95 (1989)). “[T]he
Constitution does not require arrests to be conducted in comfort,” id. at 828, and permits “[a]n
officer who has the right to arrest an individual . . . to use some degree of physical force or threat
to effectuate the arrest,” Stainback v. Dixon, 569 F.3d 767, 772 (7th Cir. 2009) (emphasis added)
(citing Graham, 490 U.S. at 396). That said, if it is “clear from the nature of the act itself” that it
“will cause pain or injury” or it “become[s] clear to an arresting officer, that, although a particular
action would not ordinarily harm an arrestee, the action would nevertheless cause pain or injury to
the particular individual being placed under arrest,” the “officer’s otherwise reasonable conduct
may be objectively unreasonable.” Id. at 772. This determination depends on what the officers
“knew at the time of the incident.” Howell v. Smith, 853 F.3d 892, 899 (7th Cir. 2017); see
Kapernekas v. Vill. of Stone Park, No. 17 C 6040, 2019 WL 1543261, at *3-4 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 9,
2019) (analyzing the totality of the circumstances by considering factors such as the age of arrestee,
officers’ knowledge, and the conditions and length of the challenged confinement).
Plaintiffs allege that they told the officers of preexisting health conditions, including a
shoulder injury and “poor heart,” before they were overly-tightly handcuffed, then placed in an
unairconditioned car, with the windows rolled up, for fifteen minutes when outside temperatures
exceeded 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Officers then ignored Plaintiffs literally banging their heads on
the car windows to draw attention to the heat inside the car. These allegations permit a reasonable
inference that the officers’ conduct was objectively unreasonable.
In arguing otherwise, Defendants stray from the 12(b)(6) standard, reframing and
overlooking pertinent alleged facts (in their analysis, “hot” becomes “warm” and preexisting
conditions are ignored), and relying on factually and procedurally inapt cases.6 Compare Sims v.
Olszewski, No. 17 C 0079, 2017 WL 1903121, at *5-6 (N.D. Ill. May 9, 2017) (denying motion to
dismiss for failure to state a claim where pretrial detainee plaintiff alleged that he told defendants
6 For example, although the Seventh Circuit has, as Defendants note, observed that “90 [degrees
Fahrenheit] is hot, but . . . not disabling,” the court expressly referred to the temperature of a
ventilated vehicle on a nearly 90-degree day, Giddeon v. Flynn, 830 F.3d 719, 721 (7th Cir. 2016),
not the potentially much higher temperature of a car that was neither ventilated nor air-
conditioned in 90-degree heat, as Plaintiffs here allege. Defendants also rely upon cases with more
developed records, like Chagolla v. City of Chi., No. 07 C 4557, 2012 WL 403920, at *3 (N.D. Ill.
Feb. 8, 2012) (summary-judgment stage).
that he was in wet undergarments and ill-fitting lightweight clothing and was extremely cold and
losing feeling in his feet, but that officers made him shuffle through slushy ice water with outside
temperatures below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and refused to turn on the heat until just before arriving
at the police station, where he was placed in a cold cell), with Stainback, 569 F.3d at 773 (affirming
summary judgment because the arresting officers’ actions were reasonable where the record did
not indicate that they knew of infirmities but only that the arrestee did not want to be handcuffed
due to a fear of pain and made only general complaints after being handcuffed); Sides, 496 F.3d at
828 (holding on summary judgment that officers’ behavior in having detainee who refused to
answer their questions stand against a running car in 90-degree weather in an asphalt parking lot
for about an hour, despite his complaints of feeling dizzy and dehydrated, was not objectively
unreasonable because the officers would not have perceived a need for medical attention under the
circumstances); Kapernekas, 2019 WL 1543261, at *4-5 (holding at summary-judgment stage that
it was not unreasonable to detain 85-year-old man, handcuffed, in squad car, with a window open
and the air conditioning on, for less than 15 minutes, where the officers did not know his age or
relevant health conditions). Accordingly, Defendants’ motion is denied on this ground.
CONCLUSION
Defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint [17] is denied in its entirety. Defendants shall
answer the complaint by 3/31/2023. The parties are directed to confer no later than 3/28/2023 to
discuss the nature and basis of their claims and defenses and the possibilities for a prompt
settlement or resolution of the case, and they shall also discuss deadlines for any Rule 26(a)(1)
disclosures that have not already been exchanged and a proposed discovery plan. Plaintiff is
responsible for initiating such a conference, and all lead counsel for all parties must participate. In
lieu of an initial status hearing, the parties shall file a joint written initial status report and proposed
discovery plan by 4/3/2023. Failure or refusal to participate in such a conference or to cooperate
in the preparation of the written report may constitute a basis for sanctions. After the Court receives
the parties’ written report, it will issue an order setting a discovery schedule.
DATE: March 10, 2023
Homa Lk mae
Hon. Ronald A. Guzman
United States District Judge