Holding Houston Police Accountable for Alleged Hogtying and Racial Profiling of Hispanic Man
Ramos v. Erwin et al.
On July 10th, 2023, Civil Rights Corps filed a lawsuit against 5 Houston Police Department (“HPD”) officers on behalf of Houston resident Alberto Ramos. The complaint alleges that defendant HPD officers Scott Erwin, Jennifer Gilbreath, Hallie Smith, Fredrick Morrison, and Gino Dago racially profiled, hogtied, and arrested Mr. Ramos without probable cause. For 28 years, the Department of Justice has warned police departments that hogtying can be a deadly maneuver when used on vulnerable people. Between 2010 and 2021, 23 people died as a result of being hogtied by police. The complaint raises a Fourth Amendment false arrest claim and two Fourth Amendment excessive force claims against the defendant officers.
According to the complaint, a 911 dispatcher alerted defendant Erwin of an alleged assault perpetrator who was only described as “Hispanic” and “male” with no other physical descriptors like height, weight, hair color, tattoos, or clothing. Houston has a large Hispanic population, with 44.5% of Houstonians – or over 1 million people – identifying as Hispanic or Latino. The complaint alleges that defendant Erwin saw Mr. Ramos, who is a Hispanic male, on a public sidewalk. The complaint alleges that defendants Erwin and Gilbreath grabbed Mr. Ramos’ arm and tackled him to the ground within seconds of approaching him and without asking any investigative questions solely based on his identity as a Hispanic male. The complaint details defendant officers Dago, Smith, and Morrison securing Mr. Ramos in an HPD vehicle, pulling Mr. Ramos back out of the vehicle, laying him prone on the concrete, and hogtying him. The complaint alleges that defendant officers made several comments on the scene and in subsequent reports that they thought Mr. Ramos was physically and mentally vulnerable. The complaint notes that despite these observations of Mr. Ramos’ physical and mental vulnerabilities, the defendant HPD officers still unjustifiably hogtied and tackled him. According to the complaint, Mr. Ramos had trouble breathing while hogtied and needed to be hospitalized for his injuries.
Between September 27, 2023 and February 12, 2024, all named defendant HPD officers filed Motions to Dismiss Mr. Ramos’ claims. These Motions were mainly unsuccessful. Mr. Ramos’ claims largely survived the Motions to Dismiss as the District Court found that Mr. Ramos’ claims are not barred by Heck v. Humphrey or qualified immunity, and that the Complaint indeed makes facially plausible claims. The HPD officers then appealed the District Court’s ruling, to no avail. After Attorney Kiah Duggins presented a flawless oral argument, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s ruling. The case is now in the early discovery phase.
Civil Rights Corps Attorneys Brittany Francis and Destiny Planter will continue to advocate on Mr. Ramos’ behalf, in honor of Attorney Kiah Duggins.
Media Coverage:
HPD officers racially profiled and hogtied a Hispanic man during an arrest, lawsuit alleges | Houston Public Media | July 11, 2023
Lawsuit accuses HPD of using dangerous hogtying technique during illegal arrest | Houston Chronicle | July 15, 2023
Partners:
Filings:
Appellee Brief (Aug, 21, 2024)
Memorandum & Order on Motion to Dismiss (Mar 19, 2024)
Surreply in Opposition to Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (Nov 20, 2023)
Response in Opposition to Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (Nov 2, 2023)
Complaint (July 10, 2023)
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