Ansley v. Heinrich
| Decision Date | 11 March 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 89-3468,89-3468 |
| Citation | 925 F.2d 1339 |
| Parties | Kevin H. ANSLEY, Plaintiff-Appellee, Cross-Appellant, v. Walter C. HEINRICH, in his official capacity as Sheriff of Hillsborough County, Florida, Harold E. Winsett, Gerald Onheiser, Defendants-Appellants, Cross-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
David J. Farash; George A. Vaka and Hala Mary Ayoub, Fowler, White, Gillen, Boggs, Villareal and Banker, P.A., Tampa, Fla., for defendants-appellants, cross-appellees.
Kirk M. Gibbons, John B. Gibbons and Elizabeth A. Pereira, Gibbons, Smith, Cohn & Arnett, P.A., Tampa, Fla., for plaintiff-appellee, cross-appellant.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Before HATCHETT and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges, and ESCHBACH *, Senior Circuit Judge.
In this excessive use-of-force case against law enforcement officers, we affirm the district court, but hold that a jury should seldom, if ever, be instructed on qualified immunity; the availability of a qualified immunity defense is a question of law for the court to determine.
Kevin Ansley, a security guard, lived and worked approximately twenty feet from a Circle K convenience store in Tampa, Florida. The Circle K store, which was known as a "high profile" store had been robbed several times in 1987. On June 7, 1987, following a rash of convenience store robberies in Tampa, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department conducted a large scale convenience store stake-out including the Circle K store near Ansley's home.
The sheriff's department assigned Officers Winsett and Onheiser, two homicide detectives, to stake-out this Circle K store. Before beginning the stake-out, the officers received a short oral briefing regarding the store's location and its history of robberies. Neither officer had received formal training in robbery stake-out procedures nor were they aware of the Sheriff's Department's written policies and procedures regarding stake outs. Officers Winsett and Onheiser arrived at the Circle K store on June 7 at 9 p.m. just after dark. They parked their unmarked vehicle across the street from the store, from which point they could see the store's front doors. The officers did not notify store personnel or neighbors of their presence.
At approximately 9:15 p.m., Ansley heard and saw suspicious activities in the Circle K parking lot. Ansley assumed the store was once again being robbed, so he left his apartment with his .357 magnum pistol and proceeded toward the store. Upon arriving at the store, Ansley surveyed the parking lot and saw a car with two occupants. As Ansley moved toward the store's front doors, he tucked the pistol under his arm. He then entered the store, summoned the clerk, and assured himself of her safety.
From their position across the street, Officers Winsett and Onheiser watched Ansley through binoculars as he moved toward the store's entrance with the large frame pistol pointed toward the ground. The officers also observed Ansley tuck the pistol away as he approached the store. While Ansley spent approximately thirty seconds in the store before proceeding along the alley adjacent to the Circle K store with his pistol in his right hand, hanging halfway between his thigh and knee. As Ansley neared his apartment, Officer Onheiser shouted, "Police officer, freeze" and Winsett yelled, "Sheriff's Office." Ansley turned towards the officers. The record contains conflicting evidence as to whether Ansley raised his right hand containing the pistol when the officers spoke. The officers fired two rounds. The first round hit Ansley in his left side, and the second passed through his right leg. Both officers commanded Ansley to drop his pistol, but Ansley continued staring at the officers for about ten seconds before collapsing.
Ansley was inside the store, the officers drove past the store and parked their vehicle adjacent to the building. From this new location they could no longer see what was occurring inside the store.
In June, 1988, Ansley filed a civil action for damages in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. He named Officers Winsett and Onheiser, personally, and Walter Heinrich, the Hillsborough County Sheriff, as defendants. Ansley alleged that: (1) Officers Winsett and Onheiser violated his fourth, fifth, and fourteenth amendment rights; (2) Sheriff Heinrich violated his civil rights by failing to establish, follow, or enforce proper robbery stake-out systems and procedures for his officers; (3) Officers Winsett and Onheiser negligently shot him committing a civil assault and battery; and (4) Officers Winsett and Onheiser's negligence was vicariously attributable to Sheriff Heinrich.
Officers Winsett and Onheiser filed separate answers from Sheriff Heinrich. All the answers, however, asserted several affirmative defenses including probable cause for the shooting, comparative negligence, and qualified immunity. The district court denied the officers's motions for summary judgment after finding disputed issues of fact surrounding the shooting.
At trial, the district court gave the jury separate instructions on each claim. The jury found Officers Winsett and Onheiser each 20 percent liable for the negligence claim and found Sheriff Heinrich 10 percent liable on the negligence claim. The jury further found Ansley 50 percent negligent and reduced his initial $100,000 damage award to $50,000. Additionally, the jury found in the officers' and the sheriff's favor on the constitutional claims and the assault and battery allegations. The district court denied the officers' motions for directed verdicts and judgments notwithstanding the verdict. The officers appeal and Ansley cross-appeals.
The officers contend that the district court erred in denying their motions for directed verdicts and judgments notwithstanding the verdict on Ansley's negligence claim. Specifically, the officers contend that Ansley did not establish a prima facie case of negligence because he failed to prove that the officers owed him a duty to refrain from using deadly force during the attempted arrest.
In response, Ansley contends that the facts presented amply supported the jury's verdict on the negligence claim. On cross appeal, Ansley contends that the district court erred in instructing the jury that negligent conduct alone could not be the basis of a section 1983 action and that the district court erred in instructing the jury on qualified immunity.
We address the following issue on appeal: (1) whether the district court erred in denying the officers' motions for directed verdict and judgment notwithstanding the verdict; and (2) whether the district court erred in instructing the jury on negligent conduct and qualified immunity.
The officers contend that Ansley did not prove the duty prong of his negligence A law enforcement officer or any person whom he has summoned or directed to assist him need not retreat or desist from efforts to make a lawful arrest because of resistance or threatened resistance to the arrest. He is justified in the use of any force which he reasonably believes to be necessary to defend himself or another from bodily harm while making the arrest or when necessarily committed in retaking felons who have escaped or when necessarily committed in arresting felons fleeing from justice.
claim. They argue that under Florida law an officer does not owe a suspect a duty to refrain from discharging a weapon during an attempted arrest. The officers rely on Fla.Stat. Sec. 776.05 which states in pertinent part:
According to the officers, if an officer is entitled to use force and does so during an arrest, then the officer has breached no duty. Consequently, the officers assert that the district court erred in allowing the jury to consider Ansley's negligence claim because the duty owed to Ansley was a question of law to be determined by the court.
We review the district court's denial of motions for directed verdict or judgment notwithstanding the verdict
in the light and with all reasonable inferences most favorable to the party opposed to the motion.... [I]f there is substantial evidence opposed to the motions, that is, evidence of such quality and weight that reasonable and fair minded men in the exercise of impartial judgment might reach different conclusions, the motions should be denied, and the case submitted to the jury.... [I]t is the function of the jury as the traditional finder of facts, and not the Court, to weigh conflicting evidence and inferences, and determine the credibility of witnesses.
Gregg v. U.S. Industries, Inc., 887 F.2d 1462, 1468-69 (11th Cir.1989) (quoting Boeing Co. v. Shipman, 411 F.2d 365, 374-75 (5th Cir.1969) (en banc)).
The district court denied the officers' motions for directed verdict and judgment notwithstanding the verdict after noting that the evidence presented in the case amply supported the jury's verdict. The principal issue regarding Ansley's negligence claim was whether Officers Winsett and Onheiser had a duty not to discharge their weapon upon confronting him. At trial, both officers testified that Ansley initially approached the store with his pistol pointed toward the ground, and later tucked the pistol away before entering the store. The officers also testified that they did not see Ansley take anything from the store; they could not see Ansley while he was in the store; they heard no sounds from the store indicating that it was being robbed; and Ansley did not leave the store in a hurried manner. Furthermore, the officers testified that Ansley exhibited no show of force. According to the officers, their main reason for shooting Ansley was the fact that he raised his right hand as he turned to face them after they yelled "police, freeze."
...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Wallace v. City of Montgomery
...at 1563 (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2738, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982)); see also Ansley v. Heinrich, 925 F.2d 1339, 1348 (11th Cir.1991). Qualified immunity protects "all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law." Malley v. Briggs, 4......
-
Gorman v. Roberts
...at 1563 (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2738, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982)); see also Ansley v. Heinrich, 925 F.2d 1339, 1348 (11th Cir.1991). According to the Court in Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 106 S.Ct. 1092, 89 L.Ed.2d 271 (1986), qualified immunity prote......
-
Dowdell v. Chapman, Civ. No. 95-D-1073-E.
...at 1563 (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2738, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982)); see also Ansley v. Heinrich, 925 F.2d 1339, 1348 (11th Cir.1991). Qualified immunity protects "all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law." Malley v. Briggs, 4......
-
Schultz v. Amick
...conduct, as such conduct does not "rise to the level of conduct that would be actionable under § 1983"); accord Ansley v. Heinrich, 925 F.2d 1339, 1344 (11th Cir.1991) (holding that a district court did not err when it charged a jury in a Fourth Amendment excessive force case that "negligen......