Brown v. City of Huntsville
| Citation | 608 F.3d 724 |
| Decision Date | 07 June 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. 09-12965.,09-12965. |
| Parties | Joi BROWN, Shaun Sonia, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, Gerald L. Norris, J. Anderson, Jimmy Anderson, Defendants-Appellees, Chris Hines, Defendant. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit) |
[Copyrighted Material Omitted]
[Copyrighted Material Omitted]
[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Henry F. Sherrod, III, Henry F. Sherrod III, PC, Florence, AL, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.
C. Gregory Burgess, Michael L. Fees, Nori D. Horton, Fees & Burgess, P.C., Huntsville, AL, for Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
Before HULL, WILSON and FARRIS,* Circuit Judges.
In this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action, Plaintiffs-Appellants Joi Brown and Shaun Sonia bring federal and state claims for false arrest and excessive force. Plaintiffs appeal the district court's grant of summary judgment to the Defendants-Appellees-the City of Huntsville, Alabama (the "City"), and two police officers-on the basis of qualified immunity and state-law immunity. After review and oral argument, we affirm in part and reverse in part.
At this juncture, we outline the Plaintiffs' version of the events.1
On June 2, 2005, at around 8:30 p.m., Plaintiff Shaun Sonia arrived in his SUV at a Wal-Mart in Huntsville, Alabama. Several other passengers were in the SUV, including Travis Jones. Plaintiff Sonia parked near the entrance of the Wal-Mart. Sonia and his passengers went into the Wal-Mart and remained inside the Wal-Mart for forty to fifty minutes.
Around 9:30 p.m., Plaintiff Brown arrived at the Wal-Mart to meet Travis Jones. Brown was driving a car actually owned by Jones. Brown admits she was playing "loud" music in the car as she arrived.2 Brown stopped her car behind Plaintiff Sonia's SUV, rolled her driver's side window halfway down, and spoke to Sonia and Jones, who were standing next to Brown's car. Brown testified that she was playing the music loud enough for it to be heard outside the car, but not loud enough to prevent conversation from the driver's side window to individuals outside the vehicle.
Around this time, members of the Madison-Morgan County Strategic Counterdrug Team (the "STAC Team"), including Defendants Sergeant Norris and Investigator Anderson, were conducting a drug bust resulting from an undercover drug buy in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The STAC Team was approximately 5-6 parking spots away from Brown's vehicle and could hear music coming from her car.
After speaking for a minute or two with Plaintiff Sonia and Travis Jones, Plaintiff Brown was told by a law enforcement officer to turn her music down. It is not clear which officer ordered Brown to turn down her music or how many times he made the request (witness accounts varied from one to three).3 Brown turned the music off completely.4 Defendant Norris approached Brown in her vehicle and informed her she could go to jail for playing music too loud. Brown replied, "I know that you can give me a ticket for this."
According to Plaintiff Brown, Norris then began yelling and acting "unprofessional[ly]" towards Brown. Brown "panicked" and started an audio recording of Norris's actions with her mobile phone. Brown informed Norris that she was recording him, stating, "[S]ir, I'm not recording your face, I'm recording the way you're talking to me, I'm a female, you don't have to talk to me like that."
Defendant Norris gave Plaintiff Brown clear instructions at least twice to step out of the vehicle, stating she was under arrest and should "get the fuck out the car." Brown initially had some trouble unlockingher car's doors because in a panic she turned off the car's engine while the car's automatic transmission was in "drive" with the doors locked, and she was unable to unlock the door while the car was turned off and still in drive. Brown testified:
Q: How many times did [Sergeant Norris] tell you to get out of the car? [Brown]: He told me to get the F out the vehicle twice, to my knowledge, and he said it like that, get the fuck out, get the fuck out, you know, back to back. And, I'm, like, you know, okay, and I tried, but the door-his-Travis' car, when you put it [in] drive, it automatically locks the doors, and once it's still in drive, you can't mash that button to unlock it. It won't unlock. Q: He tells you to get out of the car? [Brown]: Uh-huh (Nodding head). Q: Do you immediately get out? [Brown]: I can't. Q: Do you immediately get out of the car? [Brown]: I can't.
At some point during the time in which Plaintiff Brown was attempting to get out of the car, Defendant Norris reached into the car window to retrieve Brown's mobile phone, including reaching between Brown's legs, where she had placed the phone. At around the same time, Travis Jones tried to help Brown get out of his vehicle. Norris told Jones that, "if he c[ame] any further, he w[ould] arrest him." Plaintiff Brown asked Plaintiff Sonia to "use [his] phone and record" Defendant Norris's actions.
Brown also told Norris that, "if you'll let me out of the vehicle-if you'll let me turn the car on, put it in park, I will get out of the vehicle." According to Brown, Norris then "paused for a minute." Brown eventually turned on the car's electrical system, put the car in park, and opened the door.5 In her testimony, Brown maintains that she did not restart the car's engine, but merely turned the key to "on" to power up the car's electronics.
Plaintiff Brown put her foot and arm outside the car door, trying to get out of the vehicle.6 Defendant Norris then "slam[med] the door back" and yelled, "[S]he's trying to run, she's trying to run[.]" Brown screamed, "[N]o, I'm not, no, I'm not."
Defendant Norris then sprayed Plaintiff Brown with pepper spray in her mouth,eyes, and face. It is unclear how long Norris used pepper spray; accounts range from a half second to three seconds. Brown testified that Norris sprayed her with pepper spray as he was pushing her back in to the car and yelling that she was trying to run.7 Norris threw Brown out of the vehicle while holding her arm and hair and slammed her onto the ground. Defendant Anderson, who was nearby during Norris's exchange with Brown, assisted Norris in removing Brown from the car by grabbing one of Brown's arms, pulling her out of the car, and placing her face-down on the ground. Norris and Anderson handcuffed Brown's hands behind her back while she was on the ground.
Plaintiff Brown's phone was broken during this scuffle. Sonia and Brown both testified that Norris broke Brown's phone. Defendant Anderson testified that Brown held the phone in her hands under her body as she was placed face-down on the ground. Defendant Norris grabbed at the phone as he was trying to place handcuffs on Brown, and the phone snapped into two pieces. Sonia testified that he saw Norris take Brown's broken phone, put it in a bag with Sonia's phone, and place the bag on top of a car. According to Brown, an audio recording of her exchanges with Norris was saved to her cell phone. Brown was later told by someone in the police department that her phone was being held in evidence. The phone, including its recordings, was not returned to her.
Brown sustained burns to her face from the pepper spray and scrapes to her knee and elbows. Brown did not seek medical treatment for her injuries.
Defendant Norris arrested Plaintiff Brown for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest and transported her to jail. Brown was found guilty in the District Court of Madison County, Alabama of resisting arrest but not guilty of disorderly conduct. Brown appealed her conviction to the Circuit Court of Madison County. On November 29, 2006, while on appeal, state prosecutors nolle prossed Brown's resisting arrest charge.
Plaintiff Sonia also was arrested and claims his arrest violated his constitutional rights. Sonia walked out of Wal-Mart around 9:10 p.m. and noticed the STAC team conducting an undercover drug bust. Police Investigator Hudson, the agent in charge of the undercover drug buy, believed that the arrested drug suspects' supplier would be nearby. Sonia was standing near Brown's car when Defendant Norris told Brown to get out of the car.
Brown instructed Plaintiff Sonia to record what Defendant Norris was doing to her. Sonia complied by recording three 10-second video clips on his mobile phone. Investigator Hudson approached Sonia and requested the phone. Sonia told Hudson that he could not have his phone. Hudson then told Sonia he was under arrest and handcuffed him. Sonia asked why he was under arrest, and Hudson replied that Sonia had yelled in the parking lot, which Sonia denies.8 Hudson took Sonia's phone during the arrest.
Sonia does not dispute that Investigator Hudson was the one who told Sonia he was under arrest and that Hudson handcuffed Sonia. Travis Jones testified that, prior to Sonia's arrest, he saw Norris point at Sonia and say, "Arrest him, too." Sonia heard Norris state that both Sonia and Brown were "going to jail[.]" Sonia also testified, however, that he did not have any information suggesting that Norris knew at the time of the arrest that Sonia was being arrested.
Defendants Norris and Anderson both deny involvement in the decision to arrest Plaintiff Sonia. Norris contends he was focused on arresting Brown and was unaware of what was said between Sonia and Investigator Hudson.9 Defendant Anderson testified that he was unaware of what happened between Sonia and Investigator Hudson.10 Neither Defendants Norris nor Anderson were supervisors at the time of Sonia's arrest. The record evidence does not reflect that Norris or Anderson had authority to direct the actions of Investigator Hudson, who made the arrest of Sonia.
Plaintiff Sonia claims Norris, Anderson, or Hudson deleted video evidence from his cell phone after it was taken during the arrest. Neither Defendants Norris nor Anderson...
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