Figg v. Schroeder
| Decision Date | 03 December 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 01-2331.,No. 01-2443.,No. 01-2332.,01-2331.,01-2332.,01-2443. |
| Citation | 312 F.3d 625 |
| Parties | Gayle W. FIGG, personally and as personal representative of the estate of Thomas Allen Figg, deceased; Robert L. Figg, III; John Stuart Figg; Martha Figg Williams; Wayne Attanasio, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. John A. SCHROEDER, Sergeant; Michael J. Anthony, Sergeant, Defendants-Appellants, and Thomas C. Land, Individually and in his official capacity as Sheriff's Deputy; John Does, 1-10, consisting of several unidentified Hanover County Sheriff's Deputies, individually and in their official capacities as Sheriff's Deputies; Winston R. Robertson; Douglas R. Hines; V. Stuart Cook, Individually and as Sheriff, Hanover County, Defendants. Gayle W. Figg, personally and as personal representative of the estate of Thomas Allen Figg, deceased; Robert L. Figg, III; John Stuart Figg; Martha Figg Williams; Wayne Attanasio, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. John A. Schroeder, Sergeant; Michael J. Anthony, Sergeant, Defendants-Appellants, and Thomas C. Land, Individually and in his official capacity as Sheriff's Deputy; John Does, 1-10, consisting of several unidentified Hanover County Sheriff's Deputies, individually and in their official capacities as Sheriff's Deputies; Winston R. Robertson; Douglas R. Hines; V. Stuart Cook, Individually and as Sheriff, Hanover County, Defendants. Gayle W. Figg, personally and as personal representative of the estate of Thomas Allen Figg, deceased; Robert L. Figg, III; John Stuart Figg; Martha Figg Williams; Wayne Attanasio, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. John A. Schroeder, Sergeant; Michael J. Anthony, Sergeant; Thomas C. Land, Individually and in his official capacity as Sheriff's Deputy; John Does, 1-10, consisting of several unidentified Hanover County Sheriff's Deputies, individually and in their official capacities as Sheriff's Deputies; Winston R. Robertson; Douglas R. Hines; V. Stuart Cook, Individually and as Sheriff, Hanover County, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
ARGUED: Robert A. Dybing, Shuford, Rubin & Gibney, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellants. James Mason Loots, Goldstein Loots, P.C., Washington, D.C., for Appellees. ON BRIEF: John A. Gibney, Jr., Shuford, Rubin & Gibney, Richmond, Virginia; Yvonne S. Wellford, Office of the County Attorney, Hanover, Virginia, for Appellants.
Before WILLIAMS, MOTZ, and KING, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, vacated in part, and remanded by published opinion. Judge KING wrote the opinion, in which Judge WILLIAMS and Judge MOTZ joined.
This appeal stems from a series of events surrounding the shooting death of Thomas Figg on January 7, 2000, in Hanover County, Virginia. Shortly before midnight on that evening, Deputy Sheriff Thomas C. Land pursued a pickup truck on suspicion of drunken driving. The truck, driven by Thomas Figg, eventually pulled over at the driveway of the Figg family farm, near Ashland, Virginia. What began as a routine traffic stop soon escalated into a struggle, during which Deputy Land shot and fatally wounded Thomas Figg. Three of Thomas Figg's siblings (Robert Figg, Martha Figg Williams, and John Figg) and a family friend (Wayne Attanasio) arrived on the scene; all four were then detained and held until about 2:30 a.m. on January 8, 2000, while the Hanover County Sheriff's Department investigated the incident.
The four detainees, together with the personal representative of the deceased Thomas Figg, initiated this lawsuit in the Eastern District of Virginia. They sued various members of the Sheriff's Department, alleging violations of state and federal law.1 Of relevance here, the district court awarded qualified immunity to all of the defendants on the federal claims stemming from the initial portions of the detentions, but refused to award immunity to them with respect to the later portions of the detentions. After a jury trial in September 2001, the court entered judgments against Defendants John A. Schroeder and Michael J. Anthony with respect to the detentions of Plaintiffs Martha Figg Williams and John Figg.
Defendants Schroeder and Anthony have appealed and the Plaintiffs have cross-appealed. We possess jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. As explained below, we affirm in part, reverse in part, vacate in part, and remand.
The parties are largely in agreement on the material facts underlying this case. Those facts are set out below, with notations indicating relevant points of dispute.
Shortly before midnight on the chilly night of January 7, 2000, Deputy Land attempted to stop Thomas Figg on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. Deputy Land turned on the blue light of his patrol car, but Mr. Figg continued on, turning into the driveway of Round Top Farm, the Figg family residence in Hanover County. Deputy Land followed and chirped his siren, and Thomas Figg stopped. As Deputy Land walked to the truck, he smelled alcohol on Mr. Figg; he also saw two unknown men approaching down the farm's dark driveway, carrying a flashlight.2
When the two approaching men (Robert Figg and Wayne Attanasio) were approximately forty feet away from him, Deputy Land asked them what they were doing; one (Robert Figg) responded only by asking Deputy Land what he was doing with his brother. Deputy Land directed the men to leave, but Robert Figg said he owned the land and that he was not going anywhere. Deputy Land then ordered the men to hold out their arms so that he could determine whether they had weapons; both complied, but they still refused to leave.
Thomas Figg then suddenly got out of his truck. Deputy Land interpreted this act as a threat and radioed for backup support. Sergeant Michael Anthony, as well as two other Hanover County deputies, headed for Round Top Farm. As they did so, numerous members of the County Sheriff's Department, recognizing the address, discussed via radio the Figgs' reputation for fighting and drunkenness.
After leaving his truck, Thomas Figg refused to permit Deputy Land to perform field sobriety tests on him, but he offered his hands to be handcuffed. Deputy Land, not wanting to turn his back on Robert Figg and Wayne Attanasio, ordered Thomas Figg to his knees. Thomas Figg refused, however, and Deputy Land promptly informed him that he was under arrest. Thomas Figg began to walk away, but then turned suddenly toward Deputy Land; Deputy Land sprayed him with pepper spray and Thomas Figg ran into the woods. Deputy Land radioed that he was in foot pursuit, and eleven officers, including Sergeant Schroeder, responded. Deputy Land pursued and caught up to Thomas Figg. The two struggled, and Deputy Land shot Thomas Figg three times, fatally wounding him.
Robert Figg, standing nearby, heard the shots. He yelled to Deputy Land, "Motherfucker, I'm going to kill you," and then ran to the Figg house and called 911. In his 911 call, Robert Figg made additional threats and used profanity, and he requested that someone come and restrain Deputy Land. When other officers began to arrive on the scene, Deputy Land told them only that shots had been fired; they did not know that Land was the only shooter.
Still on the scene, Wayne Attanasio was immediately handcuffed and placed on the ground by Deputy Land. When a car suddenly appeared, heading down the driveway from the Figg house, Deputy Land placed Mr. Attanasio in a patrol car with another deputy. Deputies testified that Mr. Attanasio was loud and obnoxious, smelled of alcohol, and seemed to be drunk; he concedes that he had had several drinks that night.
The approaching car was driven by Martha Figg Williams, who had been awakened by her brother Robert Figg's 911 call. Barefoot and in nightclothes, she drove the quarter-mile from the Figg house to where Thomas Figg's pickup truck was parked on the farm road. When Ms. Williams arrived on the scene, a deputy ordered her to stay in her car, but she disobeyed, and she got out of her car yelling and cursing. Ms. Williams was ordered to return to her car, but she refused. Sergeant Anthony then placed her face-front against the car and attempted to handcuff her. Ms. Williams struggled, but she was handcuffed.
Immediately after Ms. Williams had been handcuffed, Robert Figg approached the deputies on foot, returning from the Figg house after making his 911 call. The deputies testified that he was yelling; and Sergeant Anthony heard Robert Figg say that "he could get his AK-47 and kill us all." Robert Figg, by contrast, testified that he was walking with his hands outstretched to show he was unarmed, calling out that he had no gun. The officers took cover and drew their weapons. At Sergeant Anthony's direction, Robert Figg was frisked and handcuffed. The officers testified that Robert Figg cursed, yelled, and threatened them, and there was evidence that he attempted to incite Mr. Attanasio to fight the deputies. Again disputing this account, Robert Figg claims that he was merely begging the deputies to help his brother Tom, and that instead of going to his brother's aid, the deputies ordered him to lie on the freezing ground. It is undisputed that Robert Figg had been drinking.
Just after Robert Figg was handcuffed, a pickup truck sped down the road from the direction of the Figg house. The deputies took cover again and barricaded the road with a police car. The truck stopped and the driver, John Figg, was apprehended, obviously upset and apparently quite drunk. Sergeant Anthony recognized John Figg, having previously arrested him for a felony. At Sergeant Anthony's direction, John Figg was searched, handcuffed, and placed in a patrol car. It is undisputed that he was, by this point, cooperative.
Sergeant Schroeder gave a deputy...
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