Hale v. Townley, s. 92-5208
| Decision Date | 09 February 1995 |
| Docket Number | 93-4090,Nos. 92-5208,s. 92-5208 |
| Citation | 45 F.3d 914 |
| Parties | Billy J. HALE, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Carl TOWNLEY, et al., Defendants-Appellants. Billy J. HALE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Carl TOWNLEY, et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
F. Drake Lee, Edwin L. Blewer, Jr., James R. Sterritt, Gregg A. Wilkes, Julia E. Blewer, Cooke, Yancey, King & Galloway, Shreveport, LA, for Townley.
Van B. Mathews, Spears & Spears, John M. Frazier, Peatross, Greer & Grazier, Shreveport, LA, for Fox and Stroud, in No. 92-5208.
Henry Clay Walker, Sigrid K.J. Bonner, Walker, Tooke, Perlman & Lyons, Shreveport, LA, for appellee in No. 92-5208.
Henry C. Walker, Michelle M. Andrepont, Walker, Tooke, Perlman & Lyons, Shreveport, LA, for appellant in No. 93-4090.
John M. Frazier, Asst. County Atty., Van B. Mathews, Jerald N. Jones, County Atty., Shreveport, LA, for Stroud and Fox in No. 93-4090.
Appeal from the United States District Court For the Western District of Louisiana.
Before REAVLEY and DAVIS, Circuit Judges, and ROSENTHAL, District Judge. *
Opinion on Reconsideration
This court withdraws the opinion issued in this case dated May 3, 1994, appearing at 19 F.3d 1068, and substitutes the following:
Billy J. Hale, plaintiff below, sued fifteen law enforcement officers under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, alleging conspiracy to retaliate for Hale's exercise of his right of access to the courts; unconstitutional search and seizure; and the use of excessive force during search and arrest. Each defendant filed a motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. The district court granted the motions for summary judgment for ten of the defendants and dismissed Hale's claims against them. Hale appealed from the summary dismissal of three of those ten defendants. The district court denied the motions for summary judgment as to five of the defendants, who have filed interlocutory appeals based on the qualified immunity defense.
For the reasons set out below, this court affirms the district court in part and reverses in part.
In July 1985, Hale was arrested for aggravated kidnapping. The grand jury did not return an indictment. Hale then filed a 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 lawsuit in federal court against the head of operations of the Sheriff's Department in Caddo Parish, Louisiana and against an FBI agent, alleging that the arrest had been without probable cause. In April 1988, following a trial, the district court entered judgment in favor of Hale against both officials. That judgment was affirmed on appeal. Hale v. Fish, 899 F.2d 390 (5th Cir.1990).
Hale alleges that beginning in the summer of 1988, shortly after his successful trial, he was the target of a campaign by law enforcement officers from different agencies to harass him and to implicate him in criminal activity. The allegations as to the events and players are set out in chronological order below.
Hale alleges that the Shreveport City Police Department began investigating the Sandpiper nightclub, where Hale worked as manager of the club's exotic dancers, starting in the summer of 1988. By September 1991, Shreveport police officers had issued thirty citations to Sandpiper employees for obscenity and for violations of Shreveport's drinking ordinance. With one exception, these citations were later dismissed. No other similar establishment was cited for such violations during this period. Defendants Russell Stroud ("Stroud"), E. Keith Fox ("Fox"), Larry Townley ("Larry Townley") and Tom V. Humphrey ("Humphrey") were officers with the Shreveport City Police Department.
Hale also alleges that in November 1989, the Caddo-Bossier Narcotics Task Force ("NTF") began a narcotics investigation into the Sandpiper. Defendants Carl Townley ("Carl Townley"), a deputy with the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Department, and P.M. Plummer ("Plummer"), a deputy with the Bossier Parish Sheriff's Department, were assigned to the NTF.
Hale alleges that the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Department also began investigating and harassing him during this time period. In early 1990, defendant R.M. Fant ("Fant"), a deputy with the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Department assigned to the intelligence division, allegedly requested a former Sandpiper dancer to find an underage female willing to have sex with Hale so that Hale could be arrested.
On April 10, 1990, NTF agents and Shreveport police officers raided the Sandpiper. NTF agents Carl Townley and Plummer participated in this raid. Shreveport police officers issued citations for violations of the municipal drinking ordinance, and the NTF arrested four individuals on narcotics charges. Later the same month, Hale's car was stopped by Officer Humphrey of the Shreveport City Police Department, searched, and impounded.
In January 1991, Hale applied for and received an official permit for a private Super Bowl party at the Sandpiper. On January 27, 1991, during the party, Shreveport police officers raided the Sandpiper and cited Hale for allowing gambling on the premises. After the citation was issued, Shreveport police officers Stroud and Fox, accompanied by sheriff's deputy Fant, summoned Hale outside the Sandpiper. Hale alleges that after an exchange of words, Fox beat Hale while searching him for weapons. Hale alleges that Stroud and Fant stood by and laughed, making no effort to stop the illegal force.
Hale alleges that the following day, NTF representative Carl Townley attempted to use an individual to set Hale up to purchase some marijuana, but was unsuccessful.
On March 15, 1991, the Sandpiper was raided by approximately fifteen Shreveport police officers, including Stroud, for license violations. Hale arrived at the club with a video camera and began filming the raid. Hale alleges that after he entered the Sandpiper, several officers, including Stroud, accosted Hale; arrested him; handcuffed him; beat his head against a table inside the bar; forcibly jerked the handcuffs upward behind his back, injuring his hand, wrists, and thumb; and took him outside, where the officers beat his head against the hood of a truck.
Hale alleges that during many of these incidents, various defendants made statements that Hale was the target of these activities because of his prior lawsuit.
On March 27, 1991, Hale filed this section 1983 civil rights action. Hale's complaint alleges that the Sandpiper investigation was a conspiracy to retaliate against Hale for his successful prior lawsuit; that some of the defendants unconstitutionally searched and seized him; and that some of the defendants used excessive force against Hale on two occasions.
Each of the defendants filed a motion for summary judgment. The district court dismissed Hale's claims against the following ten defendants: Steve Prator, Tom Humphrey, Kenneth Weaver, Ted Cox, H.A. Lawson, R.W. Vanni, Robert Schaver, Larry Townley, R.E. Scaife, and C.A. Lewis. The district court denied Carl Townley and Plummer's motions for summary judgment dismissing the retaliation and conspiracy claims; denied Fox's and Stroud's motions for judgment dismissing the excessive force and conspiracy claims; and denied Fant's motion for summary dismissal of all the claims against him. These five defendants appeal the district court's denial of their motions for summary judgment based on qualified immunity.
Hale filed a motion to alter or amend judgment, seeking to reinstate his claims against defendants Larry Townley, Scaife, and Lewis. The district court denied that motion. The district court then entered a final judgment, pursuant to Rule 54(b), regarding the ten officers dismissed with prejudice. Hale has appealed the dismissal of the excessive force claims against Larry Townley, Scaife, and Lewis, and the dismissal of the conspiracy claim against Lewis.
Because this case is on appeal from a summary judgment motion, we review the record de novo, examining the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Pfannstiel v. City of Marion, 918 F.2d 1178, 1183 (5th Cir.1990). Appellants will prevail if they have demonstrated that there were no genuine issues of material fact and that they are entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-49, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).
The qualified immunity analysis is a familiar one. The first step is to determine whether the plaintiff has alleged the violation of a constitutional right. Siegert v. Gilley, 500 U.S. 226, 231-33, 111 S.Ct. 1789, 1793, 114 L.Ed.2d 277 (1991); White v. Taylor, 959 F.2d 539 (5th Cir.1992). If plaintiff has alleged a constitutional violation, the next step is to decide if the right was clearly established at the time the challenged conduct occurred and whether the defendant's conduct was objectively reasonable. Brewer v. Wilkinson, 3 F.3d 816, 820 (5th Cir.1993); Spann v. Rainey, 987 F.2d 1110, 1114 (5th Cir.1993).
The denial of summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity is within the small class of cases subject to interlocutory appeal. Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 526-28, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 2816, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). An appellate court has jurisdiction to review an interlocutory denial of qualified immunity only to the extent that it "turns on an issue of law." Id. Factual allegations are examined to determine whether they would be sufficient, if proven, to establish a violation of clearly established law. Lampkin v. City of Nacogdoches, 7 F.3d 430, 431 (5th Cir.1993). If disputed factual issues material to qualified immunity are present, the district court's denial of summary judgment sought on the basis of qualified immunity is not appealable. Feagley v. Waddill, 868 F.2d 1437, 1439 (5th Cir.1989); Geter v. Fortenberry, 882 F.2d 167, 169 (5th Cir.1989).
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