Davenport v. Causey

• Citation: 521 F.3d 544
• Decision Date: 04 April 2008
• Docket Number: No. 07-5215.,No. 07-5168.,07-5168.,07-5215.
• Parties: Austin DAVENPORT; Kendra Davenport, Individually and as Co-Executors of the Estate of Ben Davenport, deceased, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Sam CAUSEY, Individually and in his official capacity as a police officer for the City of Crossville, Tennessee (07-5168); City of Crossville, Tennessee (07-5215), Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

521 F.3d 544

Austin DAVENPORT; Kendra Davenport, Individually and as Co-Executors of the Estate of Ben Davenport, deceased, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Sam CAUSEY, Individually and in his official capacity as a police officer for the City of Crossville, Tennessee (07-5168); City of Crossville, Tennessee (07-5215), Defendants-Appellants.

No. 07-5168.

No. 07-5215.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: October 26, 2007.

Decided and Filed: April 4, 2008.

ARGUED: Robert H. Watson, Jr., Watson, Roach, Batson, Rowell & Lauderback, Knoxville, Tennessee, Daniel H. Rader, III, Moore, Rader, Clift and Fitzpatrick, P.C., Cookeville, Tennessee, for Appellants. Amy V. Hollars, Livingston, Tennessee, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Robert H. Watson, Jr., Watson, Roach, Batson, Rowell & Lauderback, Knoxville, Tennessee, Daniel H. Rader, III, Moore, Rader, Clift and Fitzpatrick, P.C., Cookeville, Tennessee, for Appellants. Amy V. Hollars, Livingston, Tennessee, Jon E. Jones, Law Office of Jon E. Jones, Cookeville, Tennessee, for Appellees.

Before: BOGGS, Chief Judge; KENNEDY, Circuit Judge; JORDAN, District Judge.^*

OPINION

KENNEDY, Circuit Judge.

Officer Samuel E. Causey and the City of Crossville, Tennessee ("defendants") appeal the decision of the district court denying them qualified immunity and therefore denying them summary judgment. Mr. Ben Davenport, the father of Austin and Kendra Davenport ("plaintiffs"), was shot by Officer Causey during an attempted arrest following a routine traffic stop. Plaintiffs sued,¹ claiming that Officer Causey had used excessive force, and that the City of Crossville inadequately trained its officers on the constitutional use of force. Both defendants moved for summary judgment based on the qualified immunity of Officer Causey. The district court denied their motions, holding that there were genuine issues of material fact. Upon our review of the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, we conclude that the force used was constitutionally reasonable and, therefore, that plaintiffs have failed to establish a constitutional violation. We accordingly reverse the district court's judgment and remand with instructions to enter summary judgment for the defendants on the plaintiffs' § 1983 claims.

BACKGROUND

I. Procedural Background

Austin and Kendra Davenport sued both Officer Causey and the City of Crossville, his employer. The plaintiffs alleged that Officer Causey used excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment and that he was therefore liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2006). The plaintiffs also alleged that the City of Crossville, was liable under § 1983 for failing to train its police officers on the proper, constitutional use of force. The plaintiffs additionally asserted state law claims against both Officer Causey and the City of Crossville. Both defendants, Officer Causey and the city, moved for summary judgment on all the plaintiffs' claims. Officer Causey based his motion on qualified immunity, arguing that his actions did not violate the Constitution and that even if they did, it was not clearly established that such actions would violate the Constitution. The city joined in the argument that Officer Causey's actions did not violate the Constitution, and therefore asserted that it too was entitled to summary judgment. The district court denied summary judgment to both defendants, and both appealed.

II. Factual Background

The traffic stop that gave rise to this cause of action began on June 16, 2005 at 7:58:43 AM. and ended with Mr. Davenport shot at 7:59:51 AM. Thus, the events occurred in just over a minute. Because this is an appeal from the denial of summary judgment for the defendants, we recite the undisputed facts and the disputed facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs. See Williams v. City of Grosse Pointe Park, 496 F.3d 482, 485 (6th Cir.2007). Because the district court did not identify what facts it found in dispute when it denied Officer Causey qualified immunity, we have to engage in "a cumbersome review of the record to determine what facts the district court, in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, likely assumed." Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304, 319, 115 S.Ct. 2151, 132 L.Ed.2d 238 (1995). The facts in the record come from the deposition testimonies of Officer Causey and Officer Larry Pugh, and from a video produced by Officer Causey's vehicle's dash camera, which started when Officer Causey activated the lights on his marked police car and which displays, without sound,² all but three seconds of Officer Causey's, Officer Pugh's, and Mr. Davenport's pertinent movements after the traffic stop was initiated.

Officer Causey testified that Mr. Davenport became belligerent following a routine traffic stop. On the morning of June 16, Officer Causey activated his lights and siren on his marked police car to initiate a traffic stop of Mr. Davenport for speeding. Both Officer Causey and Mr. Davenport pulled their vehicles to the side of the road. Mr. Davenport then exited his car and walked to its rear. Officer Causey similarly exited his vehicle and walked toward Mr. Davenport. Officer Causey testified that he repeatedly instructed Mr. Davenport to return to his vehicle in a firm voice that did not amount to shouting. Mr. Davenport failed to comply with Officer Causey's repeated instruction. Despite repeated commands to reenter his vehicle, Mr. Davenport only moved toward the side of his car and leaned against it with his arms folded. Officer Causey at this point considered Mr. Davenport to be noncompliant, and Officer Causey therefore requested backup. Officer Causey testified that Mr. Davenport then asked if Officer Causey "was going to write him a damn ticket," to which Officer Causey responded affirmatively while reiterating that Mr. Davenport needed to return to his car. Officer Causey took this statement and Mr. Davenport's body language as acts of aggression, and considered himself to be in danger because Mr. Davenport did the opposite of what Officer Causey was requesting.

Officer Causey decided it was time to place Mr. Davenport in custody. Mr. Davenport stood' five feet, nine inches tall, weighed 277 pounds, and was forty-four years old at the time. Officer Causey was five feet, eight-and-a-half inches tall, weighed 200 pounds, and was thirty-four years old. The video shows that when Officer Causey reached for Mr. Davenport, Mr. Davenport brushed Officer Causey's hand away. Officer Causey considered this action to be aggressive, particularly combined with his failure to comply with Officer Causey's requests to return to his vehicle. Officer Causey testified that this was the first moment that he became afraid of Mr. Davenport.

"Given how [Mr. Davenport] had been acting and the totality of the circumstances [at] that point, [Officer Causey] made the decision that [he] needed to deploy the Taser." Officer Causey had stepped out of range of the video camera and removed his Taser from the pocket. At the time Officer Causey drew his Taser, Mr. Davenport said "`don't you even.'" Forty-six seconds after the traffic stop was initiated, Officer Causey deployed his Taser, the prongs of which, it appears from the video, strike and stick in Mr. Davenport's chest. Mr. Davenport grabbed the wires for a split second, and then he charged toward the source of the wires, out of range of the video camera. Officer Causey believed that the Taser did not work, and was surprised that it failed, because Mr. Davenport did not respond the way Officer Causey had expected, which was to fall to the ground incapacitated.³

The two left camera range at 7:59:30, and Mr. Davenport returned three seconds later, at 7:59:33. Officer Causey maintained that Mr. Davenport struck him during this time. He asserted that Mr. Davenport came within arm's reach, "[c]lose enough to land a blow." Officer Causey only remembered "the sensation of being hit as [Mr. Davenport] came and swung [with his fist]...."

When Mr. Davenport returns to the camera range, he had started pulling the Taser away from Officer Causey. He reentered the range of the video camera walking backward facing the direction of the source of the wires, pulling on the wires, and wrapping the slack around his hand. At this point, Officer Pugh arrived. Officer Pugh saw the wires, and saw that Mr. Davenport "was fooling with them." Mr. Davenport then stopped walking backward roughly at the front passenger side door of his vehicle as he continued to pull and wrap the Taser wires. Officer Causey was worried that he was about to lose control of his Taser due to Mr. Davenport's pulling.

As Mr. Davenport continued to wrap the wires around his hand, Officer Causey decided to approach him again, and to now use the Taser in "drive stun format⁴ to hopefully bring compliance and place [Mr. Davenport] in custody." Officer Causey approached Mr. Davenport intending to arrest him.

Mr. Davenport began assaulting Officer Causey as Officer Causey reached for Mr. Davenport with his Taser, which, according to Officer Causey, "did appear that it was delivering a shock." The video shows that Mr. Davenport's first blow hit Officer Causey in the shoulder, near Officer Causey's head. Mr. Davenport's second blow, delivered within the same second as the first, hit Officer Causey "[t]owards the abdomen and the right arm." This blow caused Officer Causey to lose control of and drop the Taser. Mr. Davenport's third blow hit Officer Causey on the side of his head, more toward the base of the neck, and caused Officer Causey to fall to the ground.

While Officer Causey was mid-fall, Officer Pugh had approached from the rear of Mr. Davenport's car and began reaching for Mr. Davenport to place Mr. Davenport under arrest. Mr. Davenport turned his attention to Officer Pugh and began assaulting him in the same manner as he had Officer Causey. Officer Pugh was sixty years old, and appeared to be roughly the same...