Arrington v. U.S.

• Decision Date: 29 December 2006
• Docket Number: No. 05-5263.,05-5263.
• Citation: 473 F.3d 329
• Parties: Derrek E. ARRINGTON, Appellant v. UNITED STATES of America, et al., Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

473 F.3d 329

Derrek E. ARRINGTON, Appellant v. UNITED STATES of America, et al., Appellees.

No. 05-5263.

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued September 11, 2006.

Decided December 29, 2006.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 01 cv01391).

Richard H. Frankel, appointed by the court, argued the cause as amicus curiae in support of appellant. With him on the briefs were Steven H. Goldblatt, Director, and Ariana Torchin and Elizabeth Glasgow, Student Counsel.

Derrek E. Arrington, pro se, filed a brief.

Beverly M. Russell, Assistant U.S. Attorney, argued the cause for appellees. With her on the brief were Kenneth L. Wainstein, U.S. Attorney at the time the brief was filed, and Craig Lawrence, Assistant U.S. Attorney. Michael J. Ryan, Assistant U.S. Attorney, entered an appearance.

Stacy L. Anderson, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Attorney General for the District of Columbia, argued the cause for appellees. With her on the brief were Robert J. Spagnoletti, Attorney General, Todd S. Kim, Solicitor General, and Edward E. Schwab, Deputy Attorney General. Mary L. Wilson, Assistant Attorney General, entered an appearance.

Before: TATEL and BROWN, Circuit Judges, and EDWARDS, Senior Circuit Judge.

Opinion for the Court filed by Senior Circuit Judge EDWARDS.

Concurring and dissenting opinion filed by Circuit Judge BROWN.

EDWARDS, Senior Circuit Judge:

Derrek E. Arrington, appellant, filed a lawsuit in District Court seeking relief under the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA"), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671-2680 (2000), and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2000), for alleged police brutality. The District Court granted summary judgments in favor of appellees — the United States, on behalf of the United States Park Police ("USPP"), and Sergeant Rick Murray of the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department ("MPD") — and Arrington now appeals. Appellant also alleged common law tort violations against the District of Columbia. The District Court held that these claims against the District were barred by appellant's failure to file a timely D.C. CODE § 12-309 (2001) notice of intent to sue. Appellant does not challenge that judgment on appeal.

Appellant acknowledges that he inappropriately engaged police officers by fleeing from a lawful traffic stop. He claims, however, that after he was pursued by officers, and eventually captured, restrained, disarmed, and handcuffed, Murray and members of the USPP beat him severely for approximately ten minutes, in violation of District of Columbia law and his constitutional rights. Appellees do not dispute using exceptional force against appellant, but justify their actions as necessary to disarm appellant, who they believed had just shot a USPP officer.

The District Court also granted summary judgment in favor of the United States, finding that "the undisputed material facts establish that the police officers' conduct was reasonable under the circumstances." Arrington v. U.S. Park Police, No. Civ. A. 01-1391, 2005 WL 1076186, at *1 (D.D.C. May 6, 2005). And, finally, the District Court granted summary judgment in favor of Sergeant Murray, holding that he was entitled to qualified immunity. Arrington v. U.S. Park Police, No. Civ. A. 01-1391 (D.D.C. May 26, 2005).

The principal question in this case is whether the officers who inflicted bodily harm on appellant employed more force than was reasonably necessary. We find that the evidence before the District Court, viewed in the light most favorable to appellant, creates a genuine issue of material fact as to whether appellant was severely beaten by the officers after he had been captured, restrained, disarmed, and handcuffed. Obviously, if appellant was completely detained and rendered helpless before being brutally beaten, then a reasonable jury could return a verdict for him. There is a genuine issue of material fact on this matter. And because the resolution of this issue involves credibility determinations, the weighing of the evidence, and the drawing of legitimate inferences from the facts, it is inappropriate for summary judgment. We therefore reverse and remand.

I. BACKGROUND

In April 2000, a vehicle driven by appellant was stopped by USPP officers John Daniels and Martin Yates when they noticed that the car displayed no front license plate. After appellant was stopped, the officers saw a cellophane "ziplock" bag on the passenger side floorboard and thought that the bag might contain narcotics. Yates asked the passenger in appellant's car to hand him the bag. After the passenger complied, Yates confirmed that the bag contained cocaine. Daniels then ordered appellant to exit the vehicle. Instead of following the officer's instruction, appellant drove the car away from the scene of the stop, dragging Daniels approximately 75 yards before the officer could free himself. Once Daniels was free, he joined Yates in their vehicle and pursued appellant. While driving at a high speed, appellant lost control of his vehicle and collided with a median. Appellant quickly abandoned the disabled vehicle and ran from the pursuing officers, armed with a .380 caliber firearm.

Sergeant Rick Murray, who was heading home in a marked MPD police car, saw appellant crash his vehicle and then run, followed by Daniels, also on foot. Murray stopped his vehicle and joined the pursuit. The chase ended when Daniels caught appellant trying to climb a fence into a residential backyard. At this point, the stories diverge.

Appellant claims that Daniels caught him and slammed him against the fence, causing appellant to drop his weapon to the ground. Then, according to appellant, the officers threw him face down on the ground, handcuffed him with his hands behind his back, and proceeded to beat him about the ribs, back, and head. Appellant says that he was absolutely helpless while being beaten by several officers. He also claims that the beating inflicted on him was so severe that it caused him to drift in and out of consciousness. He allegedly awoke to the pain of a dog biting his leg. By appellant's account, the officers beat him nonstop for approximately ten minutes. Appellant disclaims shooting his weapon at officer Daniels. Rather, he maintains that the gun he was carrying accidently discharged, resulting in the officer's gunshot wound.

Appellees offer a different account of the events at issue. According to appellees, Daniels pulled appellant off of the fence and Murray punched appellant in the ribs two or three times in order to restrain and handcuff him. Before the officers could handcuff appellant, he allegedly raised his arm toward Daniels and fired his weapon, shooting Daniels in the face. Murray claims that he then tackled appellant to the ground and held him in a bear hug but could not dislodge the weapon. Yates arrived at the scene to find Daniels slumped against a fence and Murray struggling with appellant. Murray allegedly told Yates to shoot appellant, because appellant had a gun. Yates claims that instead of shooting appellant, he struck him on the head a number of times with his service weapon but still could not disarm him. USPP Officer Russell Kidd then arrived at the scene and allegedly saw appellant lying face down with both Murray and Yates on top of him. Yates claims that he told Kidd that appellant had a gun and Kidd, in yet another alleged attempt to disarm appellant, struck appellant on the head with a compressed telescopic baton. Appellees claim that, despite these continuous beatings, appellant still refused to surrender his weapon. Officer Michael Peer of the USPP Canine Unit joined the four officers already on the scene with a patrol dog. Peer allegedly instructed the dog to apply controlled bites to appellant's leg. Appellees say that it took almost ten minutes before Murray could disarm appellant.

"On May 10, 2000, Arrington was indicted on four counts of violating federal law. Count 1 charged him with using [his vehicle as] a dangerous weapon to forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, or interfere with three federal officers engaged in the performance of their duties, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111(a) and (b). Count 2 charged him with attempting to murder a federal officer, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1114. Count 3 accused Arrington of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(iii). And Count 4 charged him with unlawfully possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g) and 924(a)(2)." United States v. Arrington, 309 F.3d 40, 42 (D.C.Cir.2002). "The jury convicted Arrington on Counts 1 and 4, but deadlocked on Counts 2 and 3 — the attempted murder and discharging-a-firearm counts. The latter two counts were retried twice (along with a new, additional count), each trial ending in deadlock. After the third trial, the government dismissed the outstanding counts." Id. at 43.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Standard of Review

We review de novo a district court's decision to grant summary judgment. George v. Leavitt, 407 F.3d 405, 410 (D.C.Cir.2005); Kaempe v. Myers, 367 F.3d 958, 965 (D.C.Cir.2004). Summary judgment may be granted only if "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." FED. R.CIV.P. 56(c); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A dispute over a material fact is "genuine" if "the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. And, with respect to materiality, "the substantive law will identify which facts are material. Only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment. Factual disputes that are irrelevant or unnecessary will not be counted." Id.

Although a jury...