Martin v. Heideman
| Decision Date | 29 April 1997 |
| Docket Number | 95-5860,95-5162 and 95-5170,Nos. 95-5145,s. 95-5145 |
| Parties | Donald MARTIN, Plaintiff-Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. Robert HEIDEMAN; Robert Heckle; Boone County, Kentucky, Defendants-Appellees/Cross-Appellants, Roger Paul; City of Walton, Kentucky, Defendants-Appellees/Cross-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
D. Craig Dance (argued and briefed), Breeding, McIntyre & Cunningham, Lexingtin, KY, for Donald Martin.
W. Kenneth Nevitt, C. Thomas Hectus (argued and briefed), Williams & Wagoner, Louisville, KY, Steven J. Franzen, for Robert Heideman, Robert Heckle, Boone County, Kentucky in Nos. 95-5145, 95-5162 and 95-5170.
MaryAnn Stewart (argued and briefed), Condit, McDermott & Stewart, Covington, KY, for Roger Paul, City of Walton, Kentucky.
W. Kenneth Nevitt, C. Thomas Hectus (argued), Williams & Wagoner, Louisville, KY, Steven J. Franzen, for Robert Heideman, Robert Heckle, Kentucky in No. 95-5860.
W. Kenneth Nevitt, C. Thomas Hectus (argued), Williams & Wagoner, Louisville, KY, Larry J. Crigler, Larry J. Crigler, P.S.C., Burlington, KY, for Boone County in No. 95-5860.
Before: KRUPANSKY, DAUGHTREY, and MOORE, Circuit Judges.
DAUGHTREY, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which MOORE, J., joined. KRUPANSKY, J. (pp. 1313-33), delivered a separate dissenting opinion.
In this civil rights action, brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the plaintiff alleged that three Kentucky police officers used excessive force when arresting him. After the district court bifurcated the trial in order to try the liability and damages issues separately, a jury found that the defendants had not used excessive force against the plaintiff and returned a verdict in their favor. On appeal, the plaintiff challenges the district court's exclusion of certain evidence bearing on the extent of his injuries. Because the court excluded significant evidence of the severity of the plaintiff's injuries, impairing the plaintiff's ability to prove that the defendants used excessive force, we find it necessary to reverse and remand the case for a new trial. In doing so, we also reverse the trial court's directed verdict in favor of defendant Paul, on qualified immunity grounds, for his forceful handcuffing of the plaintiff.
The plaintiff, Donald Martin, brought this action against three police officers and their two Kentucky employers, the City of Walton and Boone County, alleging that the officers used excessive force when arresting him. The complaint alleged that while the officers were arresting the plaintiff for a misdemeanor offense, they subjected him to "unlawful, harmful, unprivileged, and offensive conduct, including but not limited to, forcibly pushing him over a guard rail, pushing him to the ground, repeatedly thrusting his head and face against the pavement, twisting, pulling, and contorting his right hand, neck and head, and otherwise physically abusing him and subjecting his body to unnecessary force." Martin alleged injuries that included a fractured right clavicle; bruises and abrasions to the head, face, neck, shoulder; and permanent injuries to his right arm, elbow, hand, and shoulder. He sought damages pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, as well as several state law provisions.
After the district court denied the defendants qualified immunity in a decision later upheld by this court, the district judge held a status conference at which he decided to bifurcate the trial, trying the issue of liability first, and reserving the issue of damages for a later trial if necessary. The plaintiff objected to bifurcation and, after the conference, moved to vacate the bifurcation order, asking the court either to enlarge the number of trial days or to permit certain medical evidence at the first stage of trial. In response to the motion, the court upheld the bifurcation order and refused to allow Martin to present the testimony of Dr. Rettay, a chiropractor, or the testimony of two psychologists, Drs. Ganshirt and Bley, who suggested that Martin had post-traumatic stress disorder.
Several months later, the district court held another status conference, at which the bifurcation order was again discussed. The court stated that "[w]e're not going to put on doctors or anything, but if [the plaintiff] can show from the hospital records that he had a fractured skull or something, then we can determine the amount of force used." The judge indicated that he did not The plaintiff indicated that medical testimony about his subsequent treatment and surgeries would corroborate his account of the force used during the arrest. Finally, after considerable discussion about how many doctors would be allowed to testify by deposition, the court instructed the plaintiff to "[s]tick to causation only as far as what's going to be read at trial."
At trial, the witnesses had different accounts of the facts. Donald Martin and his friend, Michael Serra, both testified that they had collided in an automobile accident several weeks before the February 5, 1991, encounter with the defendant officers. Although Martin's car was damaged, the men agreed not to call the police because Serra was intoxicated and promised to pay Martin for the damages he caused. However, when the damage to Martin's car was more than Serra could pay, the two realized that they would have to file an insurance claim. Believing that the insurance company would require a police report, the two decided to recreate the accident. They staged the accident in the middle of the night on February 5, called the police, and acted as if the accident had just occurred. When Officer Roger Paul of the City of Walton arrived and suggested that the accident appeared to have been staged, he called for back-up and separated the two men. Officers Robert Heideman and Robert Heckle of Boone County soon arrived.
Martin testified that when he admitted to Officer Paul that the accident was staged, Officer Heideman began to shout at him profanely. Martin said that he backed up until he reached the guardrail, and finally yelled back at Heideman, prompting all three officers to jump on him. Martin alleged that he grabbed a nearby pole to avoid injuring himself, pushed the officers away, and fell to the ground. Officers Paul and Heideman allegedly pushed and shoved Martin's arms into his back, while Heckle placed his knee over Martin's neck and jaw. Finally, the officers allegedly handcuffed him too tightly despite his complaints that his hands were becoming numb. Martin insists that he again complained to Officer Paul in the cruiser that his hands were numb and swelling. After Martin was driven about 20 minutes to jail and after he waited another 15 minutes in a holding cell, Officer Paul finally loosened the handcuffs.
The officers' stories diverged. Officer Paul testified that after Martin admitted staging the accident, Paul decided to arrest him. Martin resisted arrest, and, according to Paul, it required three officers to arrest him. Paul's testimony at Martin's criminal trial had indicated, more specifically, that after being instructed to bring his hands down from behind his head in order to be handcuffed, Martin refused to do so and started "scuffing around."
Officer Heideman, on the other hand, testified that when he told Martin that he would be arrested, Martin became angry, started shouting profanities at him, and began moving towards him. Heideman tried to arrest him, but Martin resisted. They both fell over the guardrail, Heideman landing on top of Martin. Heideman testified that he then handcuffed Martin without assistance. Officer Heckle's story basically supported Heideman's version of the facts.
The district court limited the amount of medical evidence allowed more severely than it had indicated before trial. The court allowed the jury to hear the deposition testimony of Dr. Markesbery, Martin's family physician, about Martin's emergency room records on the day after the incident. The records showed that Martin had been diagnosed with contusions of the right arm and elbow, and a sore wrist. Two days later, Martin went to Dr. Markesbery's office and received pain medication for multiple contusions and strains. Although the jury was permitted to hear Markesbery's testimony about Martin's condition immediately after the incident, it did not hear deposition testimony about his subsequent visits to the doctor for tendinitis in the right elbow, although Markesbery speculated that trauma could cause tendinitis. The court also excluded Markesbery's testimony about previous injuries to Martin's right arm, neck, and right hand, and his conclusion that Martin's recent pain was unrelated to those injuries.
The court excluded the deposition testimony of Dr. Sommerkamp, an orthopedic surgeon who had diagnosed Martin as having posterior osseous nerve entrapment neuropathy, or a pinched nerve in the right elbow. Sommerkamp had testified in his deposition that it was "plausible, could even be considered probable" that the officers' conduct caused Martin's right elbow injury and that it was possible, although not probable, that they caused injury to Martin's shoulder and rotator cuff. Dr. Sommerkamp explained that it could take weeks or months from the date of an incident causing hyper-pronation for any symptoms such as Martin's to appear. During a mid-trial conference, the plaintiff proffered the deposition testimony of Dr. Sommerkamp, as well as Drs. Markesbery, Ganshirt, and Bley.
At the end of trial, the court directed a verdict in favor of Officer Paul, on the basis of qualified immunity, solely on the plaintiff's claim that Paul had...
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