Quetglas Law Firm, PSC

27/07/2023

The Quetglas Law Firm specializes in personal injury claims and complex litigation. Learn more about the firm's practice below.

The Quetglas Law Firm specializes in personal injury and complex litigation and its practice focuses upon claims involving harm to one’s person, property or reputation caused by the negligence or wrongful act or omission of another; as well as class actions or consolidated claims wherein negligent...

29/04/2017

Quetglas Law Firm, PSC offers litigation services in civil and criminal cases, including jury trails, in federal and local courts.

29/03/2016

The ending of the opinion Judge Fusté rendered today in Wal-Mart v. Zaragoza admirably and responsibly paints the picture of our current economic crisis and points to the only way out of this calamity:

“For years now, the Commonwealth has been running away from the truth about its fiscal health. The deep-seated refusal of several Administrations to own up to and correct the structural imbalances in our economy has brought us to the point of crisis. … [G]overnment transparency is critical to maintaining a functional democratic polity, where the people have the information needed to check public corruption, hold government leaders accountable, and elect leaders who will carry out their preferred policies. . . . .

The Commonwealth is in dire need of more transparency. The people of Puerto Rico must no longer be kept in the dark. Those who are aware of the situation we are in must no longer hide from it. The people deserve to know the truth about how we got to where we are, and we can go from here. The residents of the island most affected by this crisis deserve the very transparency whose absence helped caused the crisis. All of us, but especially those in a position of public trust, must be honest about the situation we are in and the mistakes that each of us has made, so that we can move forward to a brighter future. Only then can we ‘embrace the best of all of the alternatives’ that present themselves.

Only a rededication to competency in government, honesty in administration, and absolute transparency in our affairs can carry us forward. Otherwise, Puerto Rico, like a ship in a storm with a hull already buckling, cannot be salvaged in any known manner or form. The analogy to a sinking ship is appropriate. If the ship is lost, disaster will follow for those on board. So, quite simply, our ship cannot and will not be lost. This is what every member of our society should work, as a team, to achieve. The journey ahead will be difficult, but, together, we can weather the storm."

Wal-Mart Puerto Rico, Inc., v. Juan C. Zaragoza-Gomez, Civil No. 15-3018, at pp. 107-109 (PRDC March 28, 2016) (Opinon of Judge José Antonio Fusté)

27/03/2016

ANOTHER TRIUMPH FOR THE POOR AND HELPLESS

We recently prevailed on appeal in Norma Iris Miranda-Rivera, et al., v. Pedro Toledo-Dávila, et al., Case No. 14-1535, where the First Circuit reversed the District Court and sustained our contention that police officers must provide immediate medical care to persons who appear to be intoxicated by drugs or alcohol when apprehended by the police. Police officers cannot apply force that is objective unreasonable to a detainee during his arrest, transportation and detention in a holding cell.

Two PRPD officers observed Christopher Rojas driving at a high speed, running stoplights, and swerving. The officers chased him in their patrol car until he stopped the car at the side of the road and then arrested him for driving under the influence, handcuffing him behind his back. Rojas looked nervous, sweaty, pale, wild-eyed, had veins bulging at his temple, a purplish tint to his forehead, temples, and cheeks, and blackish lips. Rojas was also delusional, yelling incoherently and appeared paranoid. “Based on these physical symptoms,” the Appellate Court found that a rational jury could conclude that, “Rojas’s need for medical attention was so obvious that even a layperson would have easily recognized it.” However, the policemen failed to take Rojas to a hospital; instead, they took him to the police station.

Rojas was not physically injured at the arrest site. The arresting officers admitted that they used physical force to get Rojas into the patrol car and, later on at the police station, to get him inside the holding cell. The First Circuit found that, “during the entire time period in which the officers are alleged to have applied excessive force to Rojas, … Rojas was handcuffed and did not pose a great physical threat to the officers. Reacting to a 911 call, paramedics arrived at the precinct and found Rojas dead in the holding cell with blood coming from his mouth; multiple lacerations, contusions, and abrasions throughout his body, including on his face, chin, shoulders, wrists, and legs; subarachnoid hemorrhage in his brain; and other injuries.” The First Circuit Circuit found that any jury could reasonably conclude that the bodily trauma was the result of the arresting officers using excessive force against Rojas; and also, that the Sergeant, who admitted watching these officers use force to get Rojas inside the prison cell, failed to intervene to protect him from the excessive use of force by the officers.