Linbrugger v. Abercia, 02-21300.

Citation363 F.3d 537
Decision Date22 March 2004
Docket NumberNo. 02-21300.,02-21300.
PartiesWayne Michael LINBRUGGER II, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jack F. ABERCIA, Etc.; et al., Defendants, Jeff Haggard, Deputy, in his individual capacity as deputy of Harris County Constable Precinct 1, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

Beth L. Mitchell (argued), Advocacy Inc., Austin, TX, Chanita Chantaplin-McLelland, Advocacy Inc., Houston, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Fred A. Keys, Jr. (argued), Houston, TX, for Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Before GARWOOD and JONES, Circuit Judges, and ZAINEY*, District Judge.

EDITH H. JONES, Circuit Judge:

This is an interlocutory appeal of the district court's denial of a motion for summary judgment seeking qualified immunity. Wayne Michael Linbrugger filed suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that appellant Deputy Jeff Haggard, while executing a mental health warrant, unlawfully entered Linbrugger's apartment and used excessive force to effectuate a temporary commitment order. Linbrugger included an assault claim against Haggard under Texas law. The district court believed that genuine issues of material fact precluded granting Haggard's summary judgment motion. We reverse the denial of summary judgment on the unlawful entry claim, but lack jurisdiction to address the federal excessive force and state law assault and battery claims.

I. BACKGROUND

On October 24, 2000, Linbrugger, a 37-year old man living by himself, repeatedly telephoned his father and ultimately threatened to kill his sister. Linbrugger's father knew that his son, who had been hospitalized for mental illness before, needed immediate psychiatric treatment. He applied for and obtained a judicial warrant from the Harris County Psychiatric Center ("HCPC") for Linbrugger's involuntary mental health commitment. Haggard and two other mental health deputies were assigned to serve the warrant on Linbrugger that evening.

The deputies contacted Linbrugger's father to obtain background information and coordinate his assistance in serving the warrant. Linbrugger's father told them he did not believe Linbrugger was dangerous or had any weapons. The deputies met Linbrugger's father at 10:00 p.m. near the entrance to Linbrugger's apartment complex. As was customary for mental health deputies, they wore plain clothes and drove at least one unmarked patrol car.

The deputies instructed Linbrugger's father to knock on the apartment door and, when Linbrugger answered, to move aside so the deputies could state their reason for being there. Haggard and the two other deputies lined up against the outer wall of the apartment as Linbrugger's father knocked. Inside, Linbrugger testified, he heard two knocks on the door and feared he was about to be burglarized. To scare off intruders, Linbrugger picked up "The Club," an anti-theft device used on car steering wheels, and moved it back and forth to reproduce the sound of a shotgun's being cocked. Haggard, indeed, thought he heard the sound of a pump shotgun. Linbrugger then opened the door to his apartment wide enough to see who was outside, holding "The Club" as he did so. Haggard concurs: he saw Linbrugger holding a sword-like object above his head as the door opened.

From this point, the parties disagree about what occurred. What is certain is that the deputies then entered the apartment by pushing on the door. Haggard testified that he first yelled, "Drop the weapon" while stepping between Linbrugger and his father, and later yelled "Police, Harris County". However, Linbrugger does not recall the deputies identifying themselves. In addition, Haggard testified, while Linbrugger denies, that Linbrugger immediately began swinging "The Club" at him.

The parties' accounts continue to conflict over what happened in the apartment. Haggard asserts that the deputies had to subdue Linbrugger by force after his repeated attempts to hit Haggard with "The Club." Conversely, Linbrugger claims that although he placed "The Club" on the floor after the officers asked him if he intended to hit anyone with it, they nevertheless forced him to the ground. Linbrugger physically resisted the deputies' attempt to effectuate the warrant. But Linbrugger insists that Haggard went too far when he placed his knees on Linbrugger's neck, choked him, and repeatedly punched him in the face. Haggard denies using excessive force. The deputies eventually handcuffed Linbrugger and escorted him to the unmarked police car for transportation to HCPC. Linbrugger later received medical treatment for a cut above his eye, a bruised throat, and other bruises.

II. JURISDICTION AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

This court reviews the district court's denial of a summary judgment motion based on a claim of qualified immunity de novo. Hatfield v. Scott, 306 F.3d 223, 226 (5th Cir.2002).

Qualified immunity protects public officers from suit if their conduct does not violate any "clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). A two-step analysis governs whether public officials are entitled to qualified immunity. First, we must determine whether the facts, either as the plaintiff alleges or as proved without dispute, establish that the officer violated a clearly established constitutional right. Price v. Roark, 256 F.3d 364, 369 (5th Cir.2001). If no constitutional right has been violated, the inquiry ends and the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. Id. However, if the plaintiff has alleged a constitutional violation, the court must next determine whether the official's conduct was objectively unreasonable under established law. Bazan v. Hidalgo County, 246 F.3d 481, 490 (5th Cir.2001).

We have jurisdiction to consider the legal question whether, taking the plaintiff's version of the facts as true, the plaintiff has alleged a violation of clearly established constitutional law. Roe v. Tex. Dep't of Protective & Regulatory Serv., 299 F.3d 395, 400 (5th Cir.2002). However "[i]f disputed factual issues are material to qualified immunity, the denial is not appealable." Id. Materiality means that their resolution might affect the outcome of the case under governing law. Colston v. Barnhart, 146 F.3d 282, 284 (5th Cir. 1998) (on denial of rehearing en banc). We disagree with the district court's evaluation that certain factual disputes were material to Haggard's qualified immunity for the unlawful entry claim. Consequently, we resolve that claim as a matter of law. As will be seen, however, we agree that material factual disputes preclude a resolution of Haggard's qualified immunity concerning Linbrugger's other claims.

III. DISCUSSION
A. Unlawful Entry

Linbrugger asserts that Haggard unlawfully entered his apartment in violation of the Fourth Amendment's guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures. Generally, the Fourth Amendment's guarantees apply in both criminal and civil contexts. See Soldal v. Cook County, Ill., 506 U.S. 56, 113 S.Ct. 538, 121 L.Ed.2d 450 (1992); Wooley v. City of Baton Rouge, 211 F.3d 913, 925 (5th Cir. 2000). In addition, our sister circuits have held that the Fourth Amendment applies when government officials execute a mental health warrant. See Doby v. DeCrescenzo, 171 F.3d 858, 871 (3d Cir.1999); Monday v. Oullette, 118 F.3d 1099, 1102 (6th Cir.1997); Gooden v. Howard County, Md., 954 F.2d 960, 968 (4th Cir.1992). Thus, we apply Fourth Amendment standards to this case, while observing that, although it has not been timely argued here, the balance struck in the criminal context between an individual's rights and the government's law enforcement imperatives may require modification in the field of mental health activity.1

The Fourth Amendment incorporates the common-law principle that officers must knock and announce their identity and purpose before attempting forcible entry of a dwelling.2 Wilson v. Arkansas, 514 U.S. 927, 934, 115 S.Ct. 1914, 131 L.Ed.2d 976 (1995). As long as police officers do not use force, they may attempt to gain entry to a dwelling by deception. Lewis v. United States, 385 U.S. 206, 211-12, 87 S.Ct. 424, 17 L.Ed.2d 312 (1966). Thus, the recruitment of Linbrugger's father to gain entry into the apartment, if characterized as a subterfuge, did not violate the Fourth Amendment.3 Nevertheless the knock-and-announce rule continues to apply to a later forcible entry. See Richards v. Wisconsin, 520 U.S. 385, 388, 395, 117 S.Ct. 1416, 137 L.Ed.2d 615 (1997) (finding that, after a failed entry by deception, the officers' noncompliance with the knock-and-announce requirement was reasonable).

Even in the criminal law enforcement context, however, the Supreme Court holds that "[t]he Fourth Amendment's flexible requirement of reasonableness should not be read to mandate a rigid rule of announcement that ignores countervailing law enforcement interests." Wilson, 514 U.S. at 934, 115 S.Ct. 1914. Countervailing circumstances may include "a reasonable suspicion that knocking and announcing [the police] presence, under the particular circumstances, would be dangerous or futile, or that it would inhibit the effective investigation of the crime by, for example, allowing the destruction of evidence." Richards, 520 U.S. at 394, 117 S.Ct. 1416. The reasonableness of the officer's decision must be evaluated "as of the time [he] entered the [dwelling]." Id. at 395, 117 S.Ct. 1416. Significantly, "a police officer views the facts through the lens of his police experience and expertise." Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 699-700, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996). Further opining in regard to arrests pursuant to criminal warrants, this court has not required officers to demonstrate "particularized knowledge" that a suspect is armed in order to justify a...

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