Peete v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville

Decision Date22 May 2007
Docket NumberNo. 06-5321.,06-5321.
Citation486 F.3d 217
PartiesStephanie PEETE, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY; Nashville Tennessee Fire Department, Defendants, Michael Turner, Firefighter Captain; Malcolm Arrington, Firefighter; William Kevin West, Paramedic; David Kingsbury, Paramedic; Lloyd Crawford, EMT, Defendants-Appellants.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

ARGUED: Allison L. Bussell, Metropolitan Department of Law, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellants. Dennis J. DeCaro, Kupets & DeCaro, Chicago, Illinois, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Allison L. Bussell, Lora Barkenbus Fox, Jennifer L. Bozeman, Metropolitan Department of Law, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellants. Dennis J. DeCaro, Kupets & DeCaro, Chicago, Illinois, Culwell Edwards Ward, Ward, Derryberry & Thompson, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellee.

Before MERRITT and GRIFFIN, Circuit Judges; LAWSON, District Judge.*

OPINION

MERRITT, Circuit Judge.

In this wrongful death action, five individual defendants were sued in their individual capacities — all of whom were firefighters, paramedics and emergency medical technicians employed by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville, Tennessee — and they now appeal the district court's order denying their motion to dismiss the plaintiff's § 1983 complaint on the basis of "qualified immunity." We review the order on the pleadings de novo. The plaintiff, who is decedent's next of kin, alleges that the defendants violated decedent Frederico Becerra, Jr.'s Fourth Amendment rights in the course of administering requested medical aid during an ongoing epileptic seizure. Specifically, the plaintiff claims that defendants, who were answering a 911 call, used excessive force in restraining Becerra and refused him appropriate medical attention when he was in an unconscious epileptic state. Becerra had, according to the complaint, "fallen next to the home's refrigerator" where his "grandmother was unable to lift her grandson to his feet."

We find no case authority holding that paramedics answering a 911 emergency request for help engage in a Fourth Amendment "seizure" of the person when restraining the person while trying to render aid. Hence there is no "clearly established law" creating federal liability for a constitutional tort under these circumstances. The district court, therefore, erred in failing to grant qualified immunity to the paramedics.

We analyze claims of qualified immunity in these circumstances using a three-prong test:

First, we determine whether, based upon the applicable law, the facts viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff show that a constitutional violation has occurred.

Second, we consider whether the violation involved a clearly established constitutional right of which a reasonable person would have known.

Third, we determined whether the plaintiff has offered sufficient evidence to indicate that what the official allegedly did was objectively unreasonable in light of the clearly established constitutional rights.

Feathers v. Aey, 319 F.3d 843, 848 (6th Cir.2003). The plaintiff's case fails under all three of these prongs.

I. Facts As Alleged in Complaint

On July 15, 2004, at approximately 9:00 p.m., decedent Becerra's grandmother called 911 requesting medical attention for Becerra, who she reported was experiencing an epileptic seizure. The defendants responded to the call and briefly discussed Becerra's history of epilepsy with his grandmother. They then restrained Becerra "by using their bodies to apply weight and pressure to [Becerra's] head, neck, shoulders, arms, torso and legs in an attempt to prevent the decedent from moving." J.A. 10. In a further effort to restrain Becerra and protect themselves, they tied his hands and ankles behind his back and continued to apply pressure to Becerra while he was in a prone position. Defendants did not take any precautions to ensure that Becerra had a clear passage to breathe, and shortly after being restrained in this matter, Becerra died. There is no claim that defendants, or any of them, acted purposely to harm Becerra, but the claim is that they acted negligently or with "deliberate indifference."

The plaintiff, Becerra's personal representative, has brought a seven-count complaint alleging that defendants violated Becerra's Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Four of these counts are now before us: (1) exercising excessive force; (2) failing to provide medical attention; (3) conspiring to deprive Becerra of his Constitutional rights; and (4) failing to protect Becerra from the other emergency actions. The defendants filed a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss the claims on the grounds that the plaintiff had failed to state a claim and alternatively, that they were entitled to qualified immunity. In a brief order, the District Court denied defendant's motions to dismiss holding that the plaintiff had stated a viable claim and that the defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity because the rights at issue "are clearly established." J.A. 23-24. We do not agree.

II. Qualified Immunity

In the vast majority of these Fourth Amendment cases, courts analyze the conduct of police officers toward persons they have arrested or otherwise detained, but courts have held that the protection extends to actions by other government officials. E.g., Michigan v. Tyler, 436 U.S. 499, 506, 98 S.Ct. 1942, 56 L.Ed.2d 486 (1978) (holding that the Fourth Amendment applied to firefighters investigating the cause of a fire); Doe v. Heck, 327 F.3d 492, 510 (7th Cir.2003) (applying the Fourth Amendment to a child welfare caseworker who, accompanied by a police officer, removed a child from class to question him about circumstances in his home). But there are no cases applying the Fourth Amendment to paramedics coming to the aid of an unconscious individual as a result of a 911 call by a family member. The result must turn on the specific purpose and the particular nature of the conduct alleged in the complaint. The question whether a seizure has occurred within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment is an objective one. Brigham City, Utah v. Stuart, ___ U.S. ___, 126 S.Ct. 1943, 1948, 164 L.Ed.2d 650 (2006). The various definitions of "seizure" contained in the precedents connote an intentional interference with a person's liberty by physical force or a show of authority that would cause a reasonable person consciously to submit. See Scott v. Harris, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 1769, 1776, ___ L.Ed.2d ___ (2007) (holding that "a Fourth Amendment seizure [occurs] . . . when there is a governmental termination of freedom of movement through means intentionally applied") (citing Brower v. County of Inyo, 489 U.S. 593, 596-597, 109 S.Ct. 1378, 103 L.Ed.2d 628 (1989)); United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109, 114 n. 5, 104 S.Ct. 1652, 80 L.Ed.2d 85 (1984) (referencing the Court's "oft-repeated definition of the `seizure' of a person within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment — meaningful interference however brief, with an individual's freedom of movement"); Bennett v. City of Eastpointe, 410 F.3d 810, 833 (6th Cir.2005) ("This rationale comports with California v. Hodari D., 499 U.S. 621, 626, 111 S.Ct. 1547, 113 L.Ed.2d 690 (1991), which held that a Fourth Amendment seizure occurs when there is (1) a show of authority, and (2) submission to a show of authority."); United States v. Richardson, 385 F.3d 625, 629 (6th Cir.2004) (holding that an "[u]nlawful seizure occurs when an officer, without reasonable suspicion, `by means of physical force or show of authority ... in some way restrain[s] the liberty of a citizen.' Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19 n. 16, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). One's liberty is restrained when a reasonable person would not feel free to walk away and ignore the officer's request"). The plaintiff did not allege any of these components in her complaint, nor is it likely that she could since Becerra was unconscious at the time of his encounter with the defendants and could not perceive any restraint on his liberty or otherwise feel compelled to submit to a governmental show of force. Finally, where the purpose is to render solicited aid in an emergency rather than to enforce the law, punish, deter, or incarcerate, there is no federal case authority creating a constitutional liability for the negligence, deliberate indifference, and incompetence alleged in the instant case. The Eighth Amendment "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" Clause raising a "deliberate indifference" standard does not apply here because Becerra was not incarcerated and the purpose of the alleged wrong was not punishment.

Plaintiff cites a recent Second Circuit case where a non-verbal individual who could communicate by blinking his eyes and using a computer was brought to the hospital by emergency medical workers even though he communicated that he did not want to receive any further treatment. Green v. City of New York, 465 F.3d 65 (2d Cir.2006). In the course of transporting the wheelchair-bound plaintiff, who suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease, to the hospital, the paramedics allegedly inflicted numerous bruises and lacerations on the victim by callously transporting him down several flights of stairs in his apartment building. The Second Circuit held that this conduct constituted a clearly established "seizure" of the person under the Fourth Amendment, i.e.: for a government official knowingly to transport a competent adult for medical treatment over his announced objection unless the person was a danger to himself or others. Thus, the Court denied the motion for qualified immunity and remanded the case for trial on whether or not the force used to seize and transport the plaintiff was unreasonable. Unlike the instant case, the individual in the Green case was conscious and competent and objected to being taken into custody.

The conclusion reached by the Second Circuit...

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