Estate of Sandra Lee Harmon v. County of San Mateo

Background

Defendants moved to dismiss two of the four remaining claims. One was a Fourteenth Amendment claim for loss of familial association. The other was a Monell claim, meaning a claim against a local government under the legal doctrine associated with Monell. The opinion does not describe all four claims.

The complaint alleged that Sandra Lee Harmon left an RV carrying a shotgun and fired two rounds into the air. Deputy Dominguez allegedly shot Harmon in the back while she held the shotgun above her head. Plaintiffs’ counsel clarified at the hearing that this shot was alleged to have been the primary cause of Harmon’s death. The complaint also alleged that Deputy Baba fired later shots while Harmon was reaching for the shotgun.

Court’s Analysis

The court held that the deputies’ conduct had to be evaluated under the standard for situations requiring quick judgments, because deliberation was not practical during the escalating incident. Under that standard, the complaint had to plausibly allege that a deputy acted with a purpose to harm unrelated to a legitimate law-enforcement objective. The court said that Deputy Dominguez’s earlier choices, whatever they were, did not change which standard applied.

Taking the complaint’s allegations as true at the dismissal stage, the court found that the alleged shot by Dominguez plausibly showed a purpose to harm unrelated to a legitimate law-enforcement objective. The court described the alleged use of force as potentially so grossly and unreasonably excessive that it could, by itself, show that purpose.

The court reached a different conclusion concerning Deputy Baba. Because the complaint alleged that Baba fired while Harmon was reaching for the shotgun, it did not plausibly allege that Baba acted with a purpose to harm unrelated to officer and public safety.

Ruling

The motion to dismiss the Fourteenth Amendment loss-of-familial-association claim was granted in part and denied in part. The claim based on Dominguez’s alleged shooting was not dismissed. The claim against Baba was dismissed without leave to amend. The court noted that if discovery produced different information supporting a Fourteenth Amendment claim against Baba, plaintiffs could seek permission to add such a claim at the appropriate time.

The court denied the motion to dismiss the Monell claim and stayed that claim pending adjudication of the individual constitutional claims. Defendants may file a renewed motion to dismiss the Monell claim at that time. Judge Vince Chhabria signed the order.