Draper v. Reynolds, No. 03-14745.

Decision Date17 May 2004
Docket NumberNo. 03-14745.
Citation369 F.3d 1270
PartiesStacy Allen DRAPER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Clinton D. REYNOLDS, Deputy, Defendant-Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Millard C. Farmer, Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Christopher Dean Balch, Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers, Atlanta, GA, for Defendant-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Before EDMONDSON, Chief Judge, HULL, Circuit Judge, and EDENFIELD*, District Judge.

HULL, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff Stacy Allen Draper sued Defendant Deputy Sheriff Clinton D. Reynolds, individually, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law, for civil rights violations arising out of a traffic stop and arrest. The district court granted summary judgment for Reynolds on the federal claims and remanded the state law claims to state court. We affirm.

I. Background
A. The Traffic Stop

At approximately 11:30 p.m. on July 19, 2001, Deputy Sheriff Clinton D. Reynolds ("Reynolds") stopped a tractor trailer truck (the "truck") driven by Plaintiff Stacy Allen Draper ("Draper"). While on patrol for the Sheriff's Office of Coweta County, Georgia, Reynolds observed Draper's truck traveling northbound on I-85 and stopped the truck allegedly because its tag light was not appropriately illuminated under Georgia law.

After Draper pulled his truck to the side of the interstate, Reynolds stopped his patrol car directly behind the truck. Reynolds on foot approached the passenger side of the truck cab, as was his practice in all roadside stops. When Reynolds reached the truck cab, the engine was running, the passenger window was closed, and the cab was illuminated briefly by an interior light but then became dark. Draper observed Reynolds at the passenger side and believed that Reynolds was performing an inspection of the vehicle. From the passenger side, Reynolds shined his flashlight at the truck cab twice.

For summary judgment purposes, we accept Draper's version of what happened.1 Draper was blinded by the flashlight the second time Reynolds shined it in the cab. Draper rolled down the passenger window and politely asked Reynolds to stop shining the flashlight at him. Reynolds then "said something like god dammit, you don't worry about what I'm doing over here." Draper again politely asked Reynolds to stop shining the light at him. Reynolds replied, "I told you to get your fucking ass over here two times." Draper then told Reynolds to get his "god darn flashlight" out of his eyes.

Reynolds then instructed Draper to meet him behind the truck, a location in view of a police camera that Reynolds had activated in his patrol car.2 Reynolds also unholstered his TASER International ADVANCED TASER M26 ("taser gun"),3 which he kept in his hand through the remainder of the encounter. Draper got out of the truck cab and walked to the back of the truck.

The video camera in the patrol car recorded Draper's and Reynolds's speech and actions behind the truck.4 Upon arrival behind the truck, Draper immediately began shouting and complaining about Reynolds's shining the flashlight in his face. Reynolds calmly asked Draper for his driver's license, but Draper continued to complain about Reynolds's prior use of the flashlight. Draper also insisted that he had done nothing wrong. During the encounter, Draper was belligerent, gestured animatedly, continuously paced, appeared very excited, and spoke loudly.

Reynolds repeatedly asked Draper to stop yelling and informed Draper that he would be taken to jail if he continued to yell. Reynolds told Draper that he also needed Draper's log book and bill of lading. Draper began to walk toward the truck cab while asking Reynolds if he needed anything else, but then turned around and loudly accused Reynolds of harassing him. Reynolds replied that he needed Draper's license and insurance.

Draper handed his license to Reynolds and again began walking to the truck cab, but turned around when Reynolds told him for the second time to retrieve his bill of lading, proof of insurance, and log book. Draper still did not go to the truck cab but instead walked back toward Reynolds and accused him again of harassment.

For the third time, Reynolds told Draper to get the requested items, and Draper responded by exclaiming, "How `bout you just go ahead and take me to fucking jail, then, man, you know, because I'm not going to kiss your damn ass because you're a police officer." Reynolds instructed Draper to calm down, but Draper protested loudly that he was calm. Reynolds explained that he believed Draper's actions were "threatening" and "putting [Reynolds] on the defensive."

For the fourth time, Reynolds told Draper to retrieve the requested documents. Draper did not move to the truck cab to get them and loudly complained that Reynolds was treating him like a "child" and disrespecting him. Reynolds replied that he had not disrespected Draper, and then he signaled to his back up, which had just arrived, with his flashlight. Draper continued to yell and accuse Reynolds of disrespecting him.

For the fifth time, Reynolds told Draper to retrieve the documents and then promptly discharged his taser gun at Draper's chest. Draper fell to the ground out of the police camera's view. Reynolds told Draper to stay on the ground and threatened to discharge the taser gun again if Draper did not comply. Reynolds then yelled to his back-up officer who had just arrived: "Handcuff this son of a bitch." Draper was handcuffed, searched, and placed in the back of the police car.5 The police also searched Draper's truck at the arrest site.

After the other officers arrived and Draper was arrested, Reynolds stated to the officers that he thought Draper was going "to fight me" and that he pulled Draper over for a tag light violation. At the end of the video, the police camera focused on the area of the tag, while Reynolds again explained that he pulled Draper over for a tag light violation. Draper properly points out that at the end of the video, all of his truck's rear lights were turned off and were not shining, and thus the video does not establish conclusively that his tag light was out.

As noted in his incident report, Reynolds charged Draper with obstruction of an officer, in violation of Ga.Code Ann. § 16-10-24, and with having an improperly illuminated taillight, in violation of Ga.Code Ann. § 40-8-23.

B. Procedural History

Draper filed suit against Reynolds individually in the State Court of Coweta County, Georgia under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law. Draper's complaint contends that Reynolds improperly stopped him, falsely arrested him, and used excessive force in his arrest, all in violation of his constitutional rights and state law. Reynolds removed the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Draper then filed a "Motion to Disqualify United States District Court Judge Jack T. Camp as Judge in This Case," which the district court denied. Reynolds moved for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. The district court granted Reynolds's motion for summary judgment with regard to the federal claims. The district court remanded the state law claims to state court. Draper appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment and its denial of his disqualification motion.

II. Standard of Review

We review de novo a district court's grant of summary judgment based on qualified immunity and apply the same legal standards as the district court. Durruthy v. Pastor, 351 F.3d 1080, 1084 (11th Cir.2003). "We resolve all issues of material fact in favor of the plaintiff, and then determine the legal question of whether the defendant is entitled to qualified immunity under that version of the facts." Id.

We review for an abuse of discretion the district court's denial of a recusal motion. Byrne v. Nezhat, 261 F.3d 1075, 1100 (11th Cir.2001); Jaffree v. Wallace, 837 F.2d 1461, 1465 (11th Cir.1988).

III. Discussion
A. Qualified Immunity

To determine whether Reynolds is entitled to qualified immunity, we apply a two-part inquiry. First, applying the facts in the light most favorable to Draper, we must ascertain whether Reynolds violated Draper's constitutional rights. See Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 200, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 2155, 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001); Vinyard v. Wilson, 311 F.3d 1340, 1346-47 (11th Cir.2002); Lee v. Ferraro, 284 F.3d 1188, 1194 (11th Cir.2002). Second, if we decide that a constitutional violation occurred, we then must determine whether the rights violated were "clearly established." Vinyard, 311 F.3d at 1346; Lee, 284 F.3d at 1194. We thus begin by analyzing whether Reynolds violated Draper's constitutional rights.

B. Probable Cause for Traffic Stop

Draper sues Reynolds for stopping his truck in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Draper contends that Reynolds's reason for stopping Draper — that the tag light on Draper's truck was not adequately illuminated — was pretextual. According to Draper, Reynolds stopped his truck because Draper was African American and Reynolds wanted to search vehicles for drugs with the hope of having vehicles forfeited to the Sheriff of Coweta County.

As the district court correctly noted, the Supreme Court and this Court previously rejected the use of such pretextual-stop analysis and concluded that ulterior motives will not invalidate police conduct based on probable cause to believe a violation of the law occurred. Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 812-13, 116 S.Ct. 1769, 1774, 135 L.Ed.2d 89 (1996); United States v. Holloman, 113 F.3d 192, 194 (11th Cir.1997). Indeed, this Court in Holloman rejected a very similar pretextual-stop argument. 113 F.3d at 194. In Holloman, a St. Petersburg, Florida detective stopped Holloman's pickup truck because the truck's tag light was not properly illuminated under Florida law. Id. at 193. Under the St. Petersburg police department's drug interdiction...

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