Aldini v. Johnson, 09-3183

Citation609 F.3d 858
Decision Date29 June 2010
Docket Number09-3258.,No. 09-3183,09-3183
PartiesLouis ALDINI, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Dustin L. JOHNSON and Troy E. Bodine, Defendants-Appellants.Louis Aldini, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellant,v.Dustin L. Johnson and Troy E. Bodine, Defendants,Joshua Paul Kaczmarek and Steven R. Leopold, Defendants-Appellees.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)

ARGUED: Victoria E. Watson, Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office, Dayton, Ohio, for Defendants. Jennifer L. Branch, Gerhardstein & Branch Co. LPA, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Plaintiff. ON BRIEF: Victoria E. Watson, John A. Cumming, Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office, Dayton, Ohio, for Defendants.

Jennifer L. Branch, Alphonse A. Gerhardstein, Gerhardstein & Branch Co. LPA, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Plaintiff.

Before MARTIN, BOGGS, and COLE, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

BOYCE F. MARTIN, JR., Circuit Judge.

This is a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 excessive force case brought against four corrections officers at the Montgomery County, Ohio jail. Louis Aldini, Jr. was beaten and repeatedly tased by several officers, allegedly including Officers Steven Leopold, Joshua Kaczmarek, and Dustin Johnson and Sgt. Troy Bodine. The beating occurred while Aldini was being held in the booking room pending a completion of the booking process but after he had been surrendered to the jailers by his arresting officer. After discovery, all four defendant officers moved for summary judgment on the bases of qualified immunity and on the substance of the claims. The district court determined that Aldini's claims, and thus the officers' claims of qualified immunity, should be analyzed under the Fourteenth Amendment. The court applied the Fourteenth Amendment's “shocks-the-conscience” standard rather than the Fourth Amendment's reasonableness standard because Aldini was no longer in the custody of the arresting officer at the time of the beating. Using that standard, the court determined that Officer Johnson was not entitled to qualified immunity, that Officers Leopold and Kaczmarek were entitled to qualified immunity, and that it was for a jury to determine whether Sgt. Bodine was entitled to qualified immunity.

The most important question before us is whether the Fourth or the Fourteenth Amendment applies to pre-trial detainees in the process of booking but after they are no longer in the custody of the arresting officer. The Supreme Court has deliberately left the question of what law protects these post-arrest, pre-conviction detainees vague, and we have never addressed this precise question. We find that the Fourth Amendment protects pre-trial detainees arrested without a warrant through the completion of their probable-cause hearings and thus find that the district court erred in applying the Fourteenth Amendment.

This error was harmless in the case of Officer Johnson because actions that violate the Fourteenth Amendment necessarily violate the Fourth Amendment. However, we cannot say that the error was harmless for the remaining defendants because, although the qualified immunity decisions may remain the same under the Fourth Amendment analysis as they were under the Fourteenth Amendment analysis, some are likely to vary.

We therefore AFFIRM the district court's decision as to Officer Johnson, but we VACATE the district court's decision as to the remaining defendants and REMAND their cases for analysis under the Fourth Amendment.

I.
A. Factual Background

Aldini was a twenty-four year-old Air Force First Lieutenant based at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Montgomery County, Ohio in 2006. After midnight on May 13, 2006, Aldini was asked to leave Hammerjax, a Dayton, Ohio bar, where he was celebrating his birthday with friends. He kicked the door on his way out, breaking the glass. He claims that he apologized and offered to pay for the damage, but that the bouncers nevertheless took him to the ground. He was arrested for “criminal damaging” and disorderly conduct by Dayton police officers who were nearby. Officer Chad Jones, an arresting officer, testified that Aldini was screaming and fighting during the arrest.

Aldini arrived at the Montgomery County Jail at 2:11 a.m. for booking and detention. The booking process could not be completed until Aldini's photograph was taken. Officer Johnson, a civilian detention officer, was tasked with taking Aldini's photograph. Aldini was told to wait in the booking area, a large room with telephones where detainees waiting to be booked are on one side and detainees who have been booked are on the other side. While Aldini was in the booking area waiting to be photographed, he repeatedly asked for a phone call so he could ask his friends to post bond. Aldini testified that he must have “pushed their buttons” and “got on their nerves” because he had asked too many times for his phone call; however, it does not appear that he yelled, swore, or became abusive. He was told to go into cell 134, one of the cells lining the back wall of the booking room, and Aldini complied. The cell door was not closed on Aldini, and no other detainee was in the cell.

As Officer Johnson 1 started to walk away from the cell, Aldini raised his voice and said, “hey,” and demanded to make a call. Officers Johnson and Kaczmarek testified that Aldini was standing in the door at this time. Officer Johnson became irritated with Aldini's persistent demands to use the phone. Officer Johnson turned around, said “that's it” and moved towards Aldini. Johnson entered the cell and started running toward Aldini. Aldini, thinking he was about to be cuffed, backed up, placed his hands behind his head, and said “I'm not resisting.” Officer Johnson pushed Aldini up against the back wall of the cell and brought Aldini's hands down. Aldini testified that he did not think that this behavior was excessively forceful and thought that he probably deserved this treatment. Officer Kaczmarek stated that he heard yelling and that Aldini was preventing Officer Johnson from closing the door to cell 134. However, Officer Johnson stated at his deposition that, when he decided to close the door on Aldini's cell, Officer Johnson was in the doorway and Aldini was five to six feet away and the doorway could easily have been closed.

At this point, other officers, including Sgt. Bodine, Officer Kaczmarek, and Officer Steven Leopold, arrived in the cell. Aldini testified that he was then spun around, taken to the ground, and “viciously beat[en] and kicked. Aldini stated that he never resisted, constantly said he was not resisting, was in a submissive position, and repeatedly said “cuff me.” The officers held his body-face down and elevated above the floor-with a person holding each leg and arm in a crucifix or Vitruvian Man position. The officers punched and kicked him and said “how do you like taking these orders officer.” 2 Aldini screamed for help but no one came to stop the beating, which continued for several minutes. Then, the officers brought in the taser.

Aldini testifies that Sgt. Bodine said nothing before he tased Aldini at least twice over a span of 10 minutes. Sgt. Bodine states that he only tased Aldini twice, at 2:51 a.m. for nine seconds and at 2:55 a.m. for five seconds. Aldini screamed for them to stop. Aldini testified that someone said that Aldini was going to die in the jail that night and that the officers asked him why he did not just pass out and what kind of drugs he was on. Aldini said “just kill me” because he felt like he was being tortured, but the officers, who may have numbered between five and seven, laughed. When the officers were finished, around 3 a.m.,3 Aldini was bleeding profusely, with blood coating his face, and asked for help.

In response, they took him to another cell, put a hood or mask on him, and restrained him in a chair. Aldini testified that he was scared and was afraid they would beat him again once he was tied down. Officer Jones, the arresting officer, testified that, while he was waiting to get his handcuffs back after surrendering Aldini to the custody of the jail, he heard Aldini yelling and screaming in the booking room and saw many corrections officers there with him.

Sometime later, the officers brought Aldini to the desk to sign papers and then returned him to the restraint chair, which they had moved to a different room. This second session in the restraint chair was preserved on videotape, which started recording Aldini in the restraint chair at 4:05 a.m. According to the video, Aldini appears calm and submissive while he was restrained. The jail took photographs of Aldini's injuries while the hood or mask was on his face. These photographs clearly show Aldini's injuries from the beating.

Aldini's friend and girlfriend paid his bond. After he was released from the restraints at 6:00 a.m., he was ordered to clean his face to remove the blood for his booking photo. Soon after he cleaned his face, he was photographed and released. Aldini's friends then took him to Miami Valley Hospital where he was treated. Medical records indicate that he had a 3 cm laceration over his left eye and a 1 cm laceration on his face, requiring a total of six sutures. He had at least six twin taser marks on his back. His head showed signs of trauma including multiple areas of swelling and bruising. He also had bruising on his back and skin irritation on his wrists. Aldini's whole body was in pain, including the side of his head, his nose, neck, and back. Aldini admitted that he had been drinking that night but denied the use of any drugs. A negative drug test confirmed this statement. The Dayton Police arrived and photographed Aldini and took his statement. However, although Dayton Police have searched for them, the statement and photographs have disappeared.

B. Procedural Background

Aldini brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Officers Johnson, Kaczmarek, and Leopold, Sgt. Bodine, and two other officers 4 on May 11, 2007, claiming that he was ...

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