Baker v. City of Hamilton, Ohio

• Decision Date: 18 December 2006
• Docket Number: No. 05-4390.,05-4390.
• Citation: 471 F.3d 601
• Parties: Troy BAKER, and Glenn Snader, as Father and Next Friend of Jesse Snader, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CITY OF HAMILTON, OHIO, and Eric Taylor, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

471 F.3d 601

Troy BAKER, and Glenn Snader, as Father and Next Friend of Jesse Snader, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CITY OF HAMILTON, OHIO, and Eric Taylor, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 05-4390.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: October 30, 2006.

Decided and Filed: December 18, 2006.

ARGUED: Christopher J. Pagan, Repper, Powers & Pagan, Middletown, Ohio, for Appellants. Jay D. Patton, Schroeder, Maundrell, Barbiere & Powers, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Christopher J. Pagan, Repper, Powers & Pagan, Middletown, Ohio, for Appellants. Jay D. Patton, Schroeder, Maundrell, Barbiere & Powers, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Appellees.

Before: SILER, GILMAN, and GRIFFIN, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

GRIFFIN, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs Troy Baker and Jesse Snader¹ appeal an order of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of defendants Eric Taylor and the City of Hamilton on plaintiffs' constitutional claims of excessive force and Ohio common-law claim for assault and battery.² On appeal, plaintiffs have abandoned their claims against the City of Hamilton and argue only that the district court erred in concluding that Officer Taylor did not violate their constitutional rights, in holding that Officer Taylor is entitled to qualified immunity from plaintiffs' claims, and in dismissing their claims of assault and battery against Officer Taylor. For the reasons below, we reverse the district court's entry of summary judgment in favor of defendant Taylor and remand for further consideration. We affirm the summary judgment entered in favor of defendant City of Hamilton.

I.

The parties dispute many of the underlying facts that led to plaintiffs' claims. Because plaintiffs appeal the district court's entry of summary judgment in favor of defendants, the court must "view the evidence and draw all reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the non-moving party." Little v. BP Exploration & Oil Co., 265 F.3d 357, 361 (6th Cir.2001).

This case and appeal regards separate incidents involving Officer Taylor and plaintiffs Baker and Snader.

A.

On December 15, 2002, Troy Baker spent the day drinking and smoking crack cocaine with friends in Hamilton, Ohio. After drinking approximately six beers and smoking more than one rock of crack while at his friend's house, Baker went to the Village Bar in Hamilton to continue drinking. Baker drank four or five more beers at the Village Bar before leaving. After leaving the bar, Baker encountered a drug dealer from whom Baker had previously purchased drugs. The dealer offered to sell Baker crack, but Baker declined because he was already in possession of enough crack.

During Baker's conversation with the drug dealer, Hamilton Police Officer Eric Taylor and his partner passed by in a police cruiser. After noticing the cruiser, Baker continued to walk down the street. Officer Taylor pulled up next to Baker and asked him to stop, but Baker kept walking. When Officer Taylor opened his car door, Baker took off running. Baker ran for approximately two blocks before hiding in bushes. What happened next is disputed by the parties and is the basis of Baker's complaint.

According to Baker, when Officer Taylor discovered where he was hiding, Baker stood out from the bushes with his arms straight up to indicate that he had surrendered. Officer Taylor then hit Baker in the left side of his head with his asp (i.e., baton), knocking Baker down and opening a wound that eventually required stitches. When Baker asked why Officer Taylor had struck him, Officer Taylor responded by striking Baker across the knees and yelling "[t]hat's for running from me." Officer Taylor then subdued Baker, handcuffed him, placed him under arrest, and escorted Baker to the hospital. Officer Taylor discovered a crack pipe and three crack rocks on Baker. Baker later pled guilty to possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia, obstruction of official business, and resisting arrest in connection with this incident.

B.

On October 23, 2003, at 3:30 a.m., seventeen-year-old Jesse Snader was visiting his friend's house in Hamilton, Ohio. While he and two other companions waited to receive permission to spend the night at the friend's home, the group walked around the block. At approximately 3:50 a.m., Hamilton City Police Officer Schuster, on patrol, spotted the group crossing the street in an area where several cars had recently been broken into. Officer Schuster stopped the group, told them that they had been stopped because of the recent break-ins, asked each person for identification, and inquired why Snader and his friends were out at that late hour.

Neither Snader nor his companions were able to provide Officer Schuster with any identification. Officer Schuster patted down each individual, finding no weapons, drugs, or evidence of criminal behavior. Officer Schuster then asked for Snader's name; Snader provided the false name "Tom Bellamy" and gave a false birth date so that he would appear to be eighteen years old.³ As Officer Schuster was taking down each person's name, a second officer — later identified as Officer Alatore — appeared and performed another pat-down. After Officer Schuster took each person's name, he escorted Snader's two companions to the back seat of the police cruiser. Snader then ran away from the cruiser and Officers Schuster and Alatore. Officer Schuster gave chase.

After Snader ran two streets away from the cruiser, he believed that he had lost Officer Schuster and began walking. Snader then spotted several police officers, including Officer Taylor. Officer Taylor and his partner, Officer Kiep, had received word through radio traffic that Officer Schuster was chasing a fleeing suspect who had been stopped and questioned about possible break-ins. After spotting the officers, Snader started to run again and the officers, including Officer Eric Taylor, gave chase. After Officer Taylor yelled "Stop or I'll shoot," Snader responded by slowing down and screamed "I'm stopping[,] I'm stopping." According to Snader, Officer Taylor then hit Snader on the back of his head with his asp, tackled him, and sat on his back, keeping Snader still with a choke hold. Other unidentified officers then caught up and began hitting Snader in his legs with their batons. Snader was then handcuffed and taken to the hospital, and later transported to the Juvenile Detention Center where he was detained for ten days.

In connection with these incidents, Baker and Snader filed a complaint against Officer Taylor and the City of Hamilton in federal court on December 12, 2003. Baker and Snader allege that Officer Taylor used excessive force in conducting their respective arrests, in violation of their Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, and is liable for assault and battery under Ohio law. On October 5, 2005, the district court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment, dismissing all of plaintiffs' claims.

This timely appeal followed.

II.

This court reviews de novo the district court's entry of summary judgment. Brainard v. Am. Skandia Life Assur. Corp., 432 F.3d 655, 660 (6th Cir.2005). Summary judgment is proper when there are no genuine issues of material fact in dispute and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. FED.R.CIV.P. 56(c). A genuine issue for trial exists only when there is sufficient "evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). In deciding a motion for summary judgment, "the court must view the evidence and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party." Brainard, 432 F.3d at 661 (citing Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986)).

III.

Defendants argue that, as a matter of law, Officer Taylor did not use excessive force in arresting Baker and Snader. Defendants argue further that, assuming arguendo that Officer Taylor did use excessive force, he is protected from liability by qualified immunity because his actions arose in the course of performing his official duties.

A. Qualified Immunity

"Through the use of qualified immunity, the law shields `governmental officials performing discretionary functions . . . from civil damages liability as long as their actions could reasonably have been thought consistent with the rights they are alleged to have violated.'" Solomon v. Auburn Hills Police Dep't, 389 F.3d 167, 172 (6th Cir.2004) (quoting Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 638, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987)). The Supreme Court instructs lower courts to perform a two-tiered inquiry to determine whether a defendant is entitled to qualified immunity. Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001). Courts should first determine whether "the facts alleged show the officer's conduct violated a constitutional right." Id. If the plaintiff establishes that a constitutional violation occurred, a court must next consider "whether the right was clearly established." Id. When a defendant raises a defense of qualified immunity, the plaintiff bears the burden of demonstrating that the defendant is not entitled to qualified immunity. Silberstein v. City of Dayton, 440 F.3d 306, 311 (6th Cir.2006).

The Court has emphasized that the qualified immunity analysis "must be undertaken in light of the specific context of the case, not as a broad general proposition." Saucier, 533 U.S. at 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151. Thus, in the excessive force context, it is not enough that a plaintiff establishes that the defendant's use of force was excessive under the Fourth Amendment; to defeat qualified immunity, the plaintiff must show that the defendant had notice that the manner in which the force was used had been previously proscribed:

[T]here is no doubt that [precedent] clearly establishes the general proposition that...