Durruthy v. City of Miami
| Decision Date | 13 December 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 01-4155-CIV-MORENO.,01-4155-CIV-MORENO. |
| Parties | Albert DURRUTHY, Plaintiff, v. THE CITY OF MIAMI, Raul Martinez, as Chief of Police, and Officer Jennifer Pastor, individually, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida |
Alexander N. Kapetan, Jr., Wites & Kapetan, Deerfield, FL, Marc Aaron Wites, Wites & Kapeton, Deerfield Beach, FL, for plaintiff.
Warren Bittner, Miami City Attorney's Office, Miami, FL, for defendants.
Thomas Richard Julin, Dorothy Patricia Wallace, Hunton & Williams, Miami, FL, for movant.
ORDER DENYING OFFICER JENNIFER PASTOR'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Plaintiff is a television cameraman who was arrested on April 22, 2000 in Miami, FL during the protests surrounding the Elian Gonzalez affair. Plaintiff has sued the City of Miami, its Chief of Police, and the arresting officer for violations of his constitutional rights and state law assault, battery and false arrest. Before the Court is Officer Pastor's Motion for Final Summary Judgment. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is DENIED.
The relevant facts of this case are mostly undisputed, thanks in large part to a videotape that captured Plaintiff's arrest on April 22, 2000. On that day, protesters gathered in downtown Miami to voice displeasure over the United States government's decision to return Elian Gonzalez to Cuba. Government officials had removed Gonzalez from his uncle's house at approximately 5:30 a.m. that morning.
Because of the demonstrations, Flagler Street in downtown Miami was shut off to vehicular traffic and surrounded by barricades. Police officers were also attempting to move the protestors from the street to the sidewalk. By 11:00 a.m., the police had cleared the demonstrators from the street at the intersection of Flagler Street and 27th Ave.
At approximately 11:00 a.m., the police arrested cameraman Bruce Bernstein for unknown (and irrelevant) reasons near the intersection of Flagler Street and 27th Ave. After arresting and handcuffing Bernstein, the police escorted him through the middle of the cleared street towards a paddy wagon. Plaintiff, a freelance cameraman who was filming the protests on assignment, stepped into the street in an attempt to film the arrest of Bernstein. As Plaintiff approached, the police officer who was in the process of arresting Bernstein instructed Plaintiff to return to the sidewalk.1 Plaintiff immediately began walking backwards to the sidewalk. He continued to film. After he began walking backwards, the police officer who had told him to get out of the street rushed towards him and arrested him. Another officer, Jennifer Pastor, approached him from behind.
After grabbing Plaintiff, the two officers forced him to his stomach and kneeled on his back. The officers then pulled his arms behind him and secured his wrists. Plaintiff pleaded with the officers to be gentler with his arms because his shoulder was hurt. He also stated "I am going peacefully, Sir." Upon being handcuffed, the officers pulled Plaintiff to his feet by his arms. The police then removed what appears from the tape to be a gas mask.
Plaintiff's amended complaint contains four counts against the City of Miami, Chief of Police Raul Martinez in his official capacity, and Officer Pastor based on: (1) violations of Plaintiff's Fourth Amendment rights to be free from an unreasonable arrest and excessive force; (2) state law assault; (3) state law battery; and (4) state law false arrest. Pastor has moved for summary judgment on all four counts.
Summary judgment is authorized when there is no genuine issue of material fact. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The party seeking summary judgment bears the initial burden of demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970). The party opposing the motion for summary judgment may not simply rest upon mere allegations or denials of the pleadings; the non-moving party must establish the essential elements of its case on which it will bear the burden of proof at trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). The nonmovant must present more than a scintilla of evidence in support of the nonmovant's position. A jury must be able reasonably to find for the nonmovant. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 254, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).
Plaintiff has alleged that Pastor, one of the two arresting officers, violated his constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment. Pastor argues that the Court should grant summary judgment in her favor because she is entitled to qualified immunity. The Court disagrees.
The defense of qualified immunity shields a government official from § 1983 liability for harms arising from the official's discretionary acts, so long as the discretionary acts do not violate clearly established federal statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. Vinyard v. Wilson, 311 F.3d 1340, 1346-47 (11th Cir.2002). This defense attempts to strike a balance between the need for a remedy to protect the rights of citizens and the need for government officials to be able to carry out their discretionary functions without fear of constant litigation. GJR Investments, Inc. v. County of Escambia, Fla., 132 F.3d 1359, 1366 (11th Cir.1998).
In order to receive qualified immunity, a defendant must first prove that he was acting within the scope of his discretionary authority. Lee v. Ferraro, 284 F.3d 1188, 1194 (11th Cir.2002). Once the defendant establishes that he was acting within his discretion, the burden shifts to the plaintiff to show that qualified immunity should not be applied. Id. To do so, the plaintiff must satisfy a two-part test. First, the court must ask whether the defendant violated plaintiff's constitutional rights under the plaintiff's version of the facts. Vinyard, 311 F.3d 1340 (). If the plaintiff can establish a violation, the court must determine whether the constitutional rights were "clearly established" under the law at the time of the incident. Id. In making the determination of whether the law was clearly established, "the salient question" is whether the law provided the official with sufficient warning that her alleged actions were unconstitutional. Hope, ___ U.S. ____, 122 S.Ct. at 2516; Vinyard, 311 F.3d at 1349.
In this case, Plaintiff does not dispute that Pastor was acting within her discretion. Plaintiff argues that Pastor violated his clearly established constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment by arresting him without probable cause and by subjecting him to excessive force. Thus, the Court must consider, first, whether Plaintiff's rights were violated. If the Court finds a violation, the Court then considers whether the law was clearly established at the time of the arrest so as to put Pastor on notice that her conduct violated Plaintiff's rights.
Plaintiff argues that Pastor violated his constitutional rights by arresting him without probable cause. An arrest without probable cause violates the right to be free from unreasonable searches under the Fourth Amendment. Redd v. City of Enterprise, 140 F.3d 1378, 1382 (11th Cir.1998). Probable cause exists where an arrest is objectively reasonable based on the totality of the circumstances. Rankin v. Evans, 133 F.3d 1425, 1435 (11th Cir. 1998). This standard is met when the facts and circumstances presented to an officer "would cause a prudent person to believe, under the circumstances shown, that the suspect has committed, is committing or is about to commit an offense." Id. (quoting Williamson v. Mills, 65 F.3d 155, 158 (11th Cir.1995).
To raise a valid qualified immunity defense, however, a police officer need only have had arguable probable cause to arrest the plaintiff. Jones v. Cannon, 174 F.3d 1271, 1283 (11th Cir.1999). Arguable probable cause means that a reasonable police officer in the defendant's position could have believed that probable cause existed. Lee, 284 F.3d at 1194. It is the plaintiff's burden to prove the absence of arguable probable cause. Rankin, 133 F.3d at 1436. Thus, to show that his rights have been violated, Plaintiff must prove that no reasonable police officer in the position of Pastor could have believed that there was probable cause to arrest Plaintiff.
According to Pastor, arguable probable cause existed because Plaintiff interfered with the police by walking out into the street while the police were trying to clear the street. This conduct, explains Pastor, clearly violated § 843.02, Fla. Stat., which makes it a misdemeanor to "resist, obstruct, or oppose any officer ... without offering or doing violence to the person of the officer ...." Under both Florida and federal law, committing a misdemeanor in the presence of a police officer creates probable cause for arrest. Lee, 284 F.3d at 1196 (); see also Post v. City of Ft. Lauderdale, 7 F.3d 1552, 1559 (11th Cir. 1993) ().
After being arrested, Plaintiff was charged with violating § 843.02. However, so long as Pastor had probable cause to arrest P...
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Durruthy v. Pastor
...the court found that there was no probable cause, or even arguable probable cause, to arrest Durruthy. See Durruthy v. City of Miami, 235 F.Supp.2d 1291, 1297-98 (S.D.Fla.2002). The court rejected Pastor's proffered bases for probable cause, determining that Fla. Stat. § 843.02, Fla. Stat. ......