Chappell v. City of Cleveland
| Citation | 585 F.3d 901 |
| Decision Date | 04 November 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 08-4456.,08-4456. |
| Parties | Dorothy CHAPPELL, Administratrix of the Estate of Deceased Brandon McCloud, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CITY OF CLEVELAND, Defendant, Phillip Habeeb, Badge No. 381, Cleveland Police Department; John Kraynik, Badge No. 1517, Cleveland Police Department, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit) |
Gilbert, Gordon S. Friedman, Friedman & Gilbert, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellee.
Before: DAUGHTREY, SUTTON, and McKEAGUE, Circuit Judges.
This action arises from the tragic shooting by police officers of a fifteen-year old boy, Brandon McCloud, in his own bedroom. While conducting a protective sweep of a home in the early-morning darkness prior to executing a search warrant, the officers encountered a male suspect hiding in a bedroom closet. When they ordered him to come out and show his hands, the suspect came toward the officers with a knife upheld. When he ignored their commands to drop the knife and continued to move toward the officers in close quarters, they opened fire, killing him instantly.
The administratrix of McCloud's estate brought action against the officers under federal and state law, alleging the use of deadly force was excessive as the officers were not under imminent threat of serious bodily harm. The district court denied the officers' motion for summary judgment, holding that they are not entitled to qualified immunity because there are genuine issues of material fact that preclude ruling, as a matter of law, that the officers' conduct was objectively reasonable. Specifically, the court determined there is a factual dispute about the nature of the threat posed by McCloud, rendering it impossible to rule whether the officers' reaction was objectively reasonable.
We find the district court's reasoning, albeit thorough and well-articulated, to be erroneous in its ultimate conclusion. Our review of the record convinces us that the material facts are not genuinely disputed. Based on the record evidence, we conclude as a matter of law that the officers' conduct is not shown to have been objectively unreasonable. For the reasons that follow, the denial of qualified immunity is reversed.
On August 31, 2005, City of Cleveland Police Detectives Philip Habeeb and John Kraynik were investigating an armed robbery of a pizza-delivery person that had occurred that evening. Upon learning about the circumstances of the robbery, the detectives immediately suspected Brandon McCloud, who lived in the vicinity of the robbery and had admitted committing 10-12 similar armed robberies in an interview with them some three months earlier. Once he had used a handgun, but in all other cases, he had used knives. In fact, McCloud had been formally adjudicated a delinquent in connection with one of the robberies and had been sentenced to a short period of home detention, followed by probation.
After discovering physical evidence near the scene of the robbery suggestive of the same modus operandi McCloud had admitted using in the earlier robberies, the detectives obtained a warrant at about 3:00 a.m. on September 1, 2005, to search the home where McCloud lived with his grandmother, Dorothy Chappell, and uncle, Melvin Chappell. The warrant authorized a search of the premises for evidence of the armed robbery, such as stolen property, weapons, and articles of disguise. At about 5:00 a.m., after observing activity in the Chappell house, the detectives knocked on the front door, advised Melvin Chappell that they had a search warrant, and proceeded to conduct a protective sweep of the residence. Chappell told the detectives that his mother was in the house getting ready for work, but he did not mention nephew Brandon McCloud.
The house was still dark; the detectives proceeded from one room to another with flashlights, firearms drawn. While the detectives say they announced themselves several times as "Cleveland Police," others present at the house did not recall hearing this. As the detectives approached what turned out to be McCloud's bedroom on the second floor, they found the door closed. They barged into the small bedroom, each taking a position inside the room on either side of the "fatal funnel" formed by the opening into the room. Across the dark room, they spotted McCloud hiding in the closet. Their flashlights and firearms trained on him, they ordered him to come out of the closet and show his hands. After first hesitating, McCloud turned and came out of the closet, holding a knife in his right hand with the blade pointing upward. Ignoring their commands to drop the knife, McCloud continued to move quickly toward the detectives. Believing they were threatened with imminent serious bodily harm, both detectives simultaneously opened fire, each striking McCloud with several shots, killing him instantly. The entire encounter transpired in a matter of seconds.
Eight days later, during the Cleveland Police Department's investigation of the deadly force incident, both Detective Habeeb and Detective Kraynik stated that McCloud moved quickly or "lunged" toward them. They both thought McCloud was attempting to attack them and that they were in imminent peril of death or serious injury. Both believed McCloud would have stabbed one or both of them if they had not defended themselves. Twenty months later both detectives gave deposition testimony substantially consistent with their earlier statements.
This action was commenced in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas and removed to the District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on September 5, 2006. Dorothy Chappell, McCloud's grandmother and administratrix of his estate, asserted claims against the City of Cleveland and both detectives under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violation of McCloud's Fourth Amendment rights (unreasonable seizure), and under state law for wrongful death, assault and battery, and willful, wanton and reckless conduct resulting in death. After completion of discovery, defendants moved for summary judgment. All claims against the City of Cleveland were voluntarily dismissed with prejudice. Subsequently, the district court issued a 54-page opinion denying Habeeb's and Kraynik's motion for summary judgment, concluding they are not entitled to qualified immunity on either the federal or state law claims because there are outstanding questions of fact. This appeal timely followed.
A threshold question we must answer is whether the court has jurisdiction to hear this appeal. Ordinarily, the denial of a motion for summary judgment is an interlocutory ruling, not a "final order," and is not subject to immediate appeal. 28 U.S.C. § 1291; Harrison v. Ash, 539 F.3d 510, 521 (6th Cir.2008). Yet, it is well-established that an order denying qualified immunity to a public official is immediately appealable pursuant to the "collateral order" doctrine. Harrison, 539 F.3d at 521; Leary v. Livingston County, 528 F.3d 438, 447 (6th Cir.2008). This exception is narrow, however. Appellate jurisdiction exists "only to the extent that a summary judgment order denies qualified immunity based on a pure issue of law." Leary, 528 F.3d at 447-48 (quoting Gregory v. City of Louisville, 444 F.3d 725, 742 (6th Cir. 2006)).
Plaintiff Chappell correctly points out that the district court's denial of qualified immunity is not based on a pure question of law, but on two clearly identified factual issues. Yet, the district court's characterization of the basis for its ruling does not necessarily dictate the availability of appellate review. Livermore ex rel. Rohm v. Lubelan, 476 F.3d 397, 402-03 (6th Cir.2007); Estate of Carter v. City of Detroit, 408 F.3d 305, 309 (6th Cir.2005). If, apart from impermissible arguments regarding disputes of fact, defendants raise purely legal issues bearing on their entitlement to qualified immunity, then there are issues properly subject to appellate review. Livermore, 476 F.3d at 403; Estate of Carter, 408 F.3d at 310. Hence, the district court's determination that there is a factual dispute does not necessarily preclude appellate review where, as defendants here contend, the ruling also hinges on legal errors as to whether the factual disputes (a) are genuine and (b) concern material facts. See Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 378-80, 127 S.Ct. 1769, 167 L.Ed.2d 686 (2007) ().
In Scott, the Eleventh Circuit was held to have erred by accepting the plaintiff's version of the facts as true even though that version was so conclusively contradicted by the record that no reasonable jury could believe it. Id. at 380-81. In other words, the court is not obliged to, and indeed should not, rely on the nonmovant's version where it is "so utterly discredited by the record" as to be rendered a "visible fiction." Id. The court's duty to view the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmovant does not require or permit the court to accept mere allegations that are not supported by factual evidence. Leary, 528 F.3d at 443-44. This is so because the nonmovant, in response to a properly made and supported motion for summary judgment, cannot rely merely on allegations but must set out specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial. Id. at 444.
Defendants Habeeb and Kraynik contend that the district court committed legal error not unlike the error committed by the Eleventh Circuit in Scott. Specifically, they argue the district court erred as a matter of law (a) by...
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