Beaver v. City of Federal Way

• Decision Date: 31 August 2007
• Docket Number: No. C05-1938-JPD.,C05-1938-JPD.
• Citation: 507 F.Supp.2d 1137
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Washington
• Parties: Rickey A. BEAVER, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF FEDERAL WAY, et al., Defendants.

507 F.Supp.2d 1137

Rickey A. BEAVER, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF FEDERAL WAY, et al., Defendants.

No. C05-1938-JPD.

United States District Court, W.D. Washington, at Seattle.

August 31, 2007.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Kenneth. M. Odza, Gloria S. Hong, Stoel Rives LLP, Seattle, WA, for Plaintiff.

Robert Leslie Christie, Thomas P. Miller, Christie Law Group PLLC, Seattle, WA, Jennifer Elizabeth Snell, City of Federal Way, Federal Way, WA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JAMES P. DONOHUE, United States Magistrate Judge.

The issue presented in this case is at what point, if at all, do multiple Taser applications against a suspect constitute excessive force? After being "tased" five times during the course of his arrest for residential burglary, plaintiff Rickey Beaver sued defendants Douglas Laird and Heather Castro, two Federal Way police officers, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming that Officer Laird used excessive force in making the arrest and that Officer Castro failed to protect Mr. Beaver from such force. A three day non-jury trial took place on August 14-16, 2007. This Opinion shall constitute the findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52(a). For the reasons stated below, the Court finds that the first three firings of the Taser did not constitute excessive force by the officers. However, the Court finds that the fourth and fifth firings of the Taser violated Mr. Beaver's constitutional rights. Finally, the Court finds that the officers are not liable under the doctrine of qualified immunity.

JURISDICTION

This Court has jurisdiction to hear this matter under 28 U.S.C. § 1331, pursuant to claims made under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 73(b), the parties consented to have the undersigned Magistrate Judge hear this case. Dkt. No. 52.

BACKGROUND FACTS

1. The Arrest.

Mr. Beaver is a resident of Federal Way, Washington. During the evening of August 26 and morning of August 27, 2004, Mr. Beaver had been smoking crack cocaine and marijuana, and had been drinking alcohol. He testified that around noon, he left where he was staying and headed to the store to get something to eat. His last recollection of what transpired thereafter starts a few days later, when he was in jail. Accordingly, the account of the arrest is based largely upon the testimony of the two officers and several eyewitnesses. Immediately after the arrest, of Mr. Beaver, Officers Laird and Castro¹ filled out incident reports and use of force statements. Witness statements were also taken. To a limited extent, testimony at trial differed from the nearly-contemporaneous written statements. The Court places greater weight on the written statements than on the recollections made in court three years later.

On August 27, 2004, Federal Way police officer Douglas Laird was dispatched to investigate a report of residential burglary.² The dispatcher advised Officer Laird that no weapons had been seen on the suspect. Officer Laird testified that he is trained to assume, however, that all suspects might carry weapons, until proven otherwise. Officer Laird arrived on the scene and saw Mr. Beaver running. He recognized Mr. Beaver as someone he had previously encountered. Indeed, Officer Laird knew Mr. Beaver's first name and addressed him as Rickey when he ordered him to halt. Mr. Beaver showed no sign of comprehending Officer Laird's command and it appeared to Officer Laird that he was "under the influence" because Mr. Beaver was sweating, his veins were bulging, and he had a far-off look. Officer Laird further observed that Mr. Beaver was approximately six feet tall, heavyset, and was wearing shorts and a t-shirt that was not tucked in.

When he failed to halt, Officer Laird shot Mr. Beaver with the first of what turned out to be multiple Taser applications. There was dispute as to the actual number of applications administered. In his use-of-force report completed after the incident, Officer Laird reported that he thought he had delivered approximately six to seven Taser applications on Mr. Beaver. Ex. 2. The Taser contains a computer chip that records the date and time of each application of the Taser, up to a maximum of 585 applications, at which point the data entered begins to erase and overwrite earlier entries. The Taser includes a data-port connection that permits use information to be downloaded to a computer. On July 12, 2006, the data from Officer Laird's M-26 Taser was downloaded. See Ex. A-16. The initial attempt to download failed, but a second effort was successful. The data download indicates that Officer Laird's Taser was fired five times against Mr. Beaver on the day in question.³ The start⁴ of each five second cycle on August 27, 2004 is as set forth below:

Application 1: 13:24:32

Application 2: 13:24:53

Application 3: 13:25:00

Application 4: 13:25:15

Application 5: 13:25:42

Ex. A-16.

Once an application or cycle begins, it continues for a full five seconds. Accordingly, to determine the amount of time between the end of one application and the beginning of the next application, five seconds must be deducted from the differences in the times. Thus, the time involved in the incident, from the first application of the Taser through the end of the last application, was 1 minute and 15 seconds.

When Mr. Beaver was initially "tased," the darts of the Taser struck plaintiff in his right shoulder and lower back. The electrical pulses caused Mr. Beaver's muscles to contract involuntarily and he fell to the ground. However, Mr. Beaver then attempted to get up and succeeded in propping himself up on his elbows before Officer Laird fired his Taser again, sixteen seconds after the first "tasing." Mr. Beaver again fell to the ground. Before the second and after each firing of his Taser, Officer Laird commanded Mr. Beaver in a loud voice to lie on his stomach and extend his arms out to his sides. An eyewitness, Melvin Smith, testified credibly that during the incident, he heard Mr. Beaver say repeatedly "I can't" in response to Officer Laird's commands.⁵

After the second tasing, Mr. Beaver did not immediately comply with Officer Laird's commands and was on his back. Officer Laird tased Mr. Beaver a third time, only two seconds after the end of the second tasing. After this third tasing, Officer Castro arrived on the scene. She observed Mr. Beaver on his side, slowly rolling and resting on one elbow. Contrary to Officer Laird's command to lie on his stomach, Officer Castro issued a conflicting order to Mr. Beaver, telling him to get on his back. Officer Laird immediately countermanded that order and told Mr. Beaver to get on his stomach. Officer Castro also directed Officer Laird to tase Mr. Beaver again, which he did, ten seconds after the end of the third tasing.

After the fourth tasing, Mr. Beaver lay on his stomach, as directed by Officer Laird, but his arms were curled under his chest, not extended out to his side. Twenty-two seconds elapsed before Officer Laird fired the Taser a fifth and final time. At that point, Mr. Beaver extended his hands out over his head and Officer Laird kicked them down to his side. Officer Castro grabbed one arm, which Mr. Beaver tensed and then released. Officer Castro was then able to handcuff Mr. Beaver and the two officers assisted Mr. Beaver to a patrol car. No weapons were found on Mr. Beaver. Medical staff removed the Taser's prongs from his body. Mr. Beaver was transported to the hospital for treatment of the cuts to his eye and leg that he sustained when he fell after being tased.

2. Background on the Taser.

At this point, it is necessary to provide some background information on the Taser, which is manufactured and sold by Taser International. Expert testimony about the Taser was offered on behalf of the defendants by Officer Chris Myers of the Seattle Police Department. He trains Seattle police officers on the use of force, and specifically on the use of Tasers.⁶

The Taser is a weapon that can deliver a maximum of 50,000 volts to a target, but does so at very low amperage. Upon activation, the Taser fires two darts attached by electrical-conducting wires into the target. If both darts make contact, a circuit is completed and a five-second electrical charge cycle is initiated. The cycle is not a continuous flow of electrical current. Instead, the charge is delivered in the form of electrical pulses. There are about twelve pulses per second, or approximately sixty pulses per each five-second cycle. If the darts remain in the target, additional cycles can be delivered by simply resqueezing the trigger. The M26 model Taser used by Officer Laird delivered full five-second cycles each time it was activated.

The Taser is not designed to use pain as a principal motivator. Instead, the pulses cause a break in the body's central nervous system signaling, resulting in involuntary muscle contractions. This will generally result in the target falling, if standing, or in preventing a target on the ground from standing. The effect is generally temporary. Although infliction of pain as a motivator is not the primary function of a properly deployed Taser, pain is a necessary byproduct of its use. However, it is also a very useful tool for law enforcement, as it is considered to inflict considerably less pain on a suspect than other forms of force available to an officer. Moreover, the. Taser is a valuable tool for protecting law enforcement officers by providing an enlarged safety zone around the police officer when confronting a suspect.

LEGAL DISCUSSION

42 U.S.C. § 1983 provides a cause of action against persons acting under color of state law who have violated rights guaranteed by the Constitution or federal statutes. Buckley v. City of Redding, 66 F.3d 188, 190 (9th Cir.1995). In this case, the parties have stipulated that the...