Barton v. Norrod

• Decision Date: 31 March 1997
• Docket Number: No. 95-5976,95-5976
• Citation: 106 F.3d 1289
• Parties: Anthony W. BARTON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Mark NORROD and Randy Pack, Individually, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 1289

106 F.3d 1289

Anthony W. BARTON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Mark NORROD and Randy Pack, Individually, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 95-5976.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued Sept. 30, 1996.

Decided Feb. 13, 1997.

Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc Denied March

31, 1997.

Joseph Howell Johnston (argued and briefed), Nashville, TN, J. Patrick Kilgore (briefed), Lewis, King, Krieg, Waldrop & Catron, Bowling Green, KY, for plaintiff-appellant.

Hal D. Hardin (argued), Nashville, TN, Henry B. Brennenstuhl (briefed), Campbell, Kerrick & Grise, Bowling Green, KY, for defendants-appellees.

Before: BOGGS and SILER, Circuit Judges, and McCALLA, District Judge. ^*

BOGGS, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff Anthony Barton appeals the district court's order that defendant Mark Norrod is entitled to qualified immunity on Barton's § 1983 claim that his constitutional rights were violated when he was transported from Kentucky to Tennessee without formal extradition procedures. He also appeals the court's order granting defendant Randy Pack's motion for directed verdict. We affirm both district court orders. This court's previous decision in Stockwell v. Friberg, 272 F.2d 386 (6th Cir.1959), entitles Norrod to qualified immunity. Additionally, Pack was entitled to a directed verdict on all claims against him because his liability was directly linked to Norrod's.

I

On the night of January 29, 1991, Barton, a Franklin, Kentucky resident, had a fight with his wife, and the local police were called. They took Barton from his home to the home of friends, Pat and Joe Coffee, to cool off. He didn't stay there long, however. From his friends' house, he went to the service station where his wife's car was sitting for sale. The station owner refused to give the keys to Barton, because he had apparently been drinking. Barton simply hot-wired the car and then proceeded to drive to Nashville, Tennessee. While in Nashville, he purchased beer after selling his wife's gun and then drove around the city. He also recalls visiting a Harley-Davidson motorcycle show and a nightclub called the Stagecoach, where he continued to drink. After going to the Stagecoach, Barton decided to drive home.

As he was driving north on Gallatin Road, he encountered a Nashville Metropolitan police officer, who was heading south. Because Barton noticed the police officer had put on his brakes, he decided to turn into a parking lot in order to avoid the officer. After the patrol car had passed, Barton pulled out of the parking lot and started heading in the opposite direction. Barton was unsuccessful in his attempt to evade detection by the officer, and a police pursuit ensued. By the end of the pursuit, members of the Nashville and Goodlettsville City Police Departments were involved.

Defendants Pack and Norrod, Tennessee Highway Patrol Officers, were patrolling in separate vehicles at the time and heard the radio report regarding Barton. Both joined the pursuit when Barton reached Interstate 65 and proceeded north.

As Barton approached the Kentucky state line, his car began having engine trouble and finally stopped approximately 100 feet into Kentucky. Barton was apprehended there after a struggle. He was then handcuffed and placed in the back seat of Norrod's patrol car. Around this time, Officer Johnny Patterson of the Franklin, Kentucky, Police Department arrived on the scene. Barton, recognizing Patterson, called out to him from the back of the patrol car and asked Patterson to take him to the Simpson County Jail, in Kentucky. Patterson refused and told Barton that there was nothing he could do. At trial, Patterson testified: "[H]e wanted to know if I would help ... take him over into Simpson County. I said you already in Simpson County. I done recognized him then. I said, Tony, nothing I can do, I said whatever took place took place in Tennessee, I said they got you now." Barton then began to kick the door of the patrol car, at which point Norrod re-entered the back seat. Barton claims that during this encounter Norrod beat him, hitting him several times in the back of the head. After this encounter, Barton was placed in flexcuffs and both his hands and feet were bound.

Shortly thereafter, Sergeant George Dittfurth, Pack's and Norrod's commanding officer, arrived on the scene. Kentucky State Police Trooper Tommy Smith also arrived on the scene. Sergeant Dittfurth asked Smith whether Kentucky would accept custody of Barton and take him before a magistrate. Smith conferred by radio with his commanding officer and then advised Sergeant Dittfurth that Kentucky did not want to take custody of Barton. Smith then told Sergeant Dittfurth that his commanding officer had instructed him that, if the Tennessee authorities wanted to take Barton, he was to let them take him back to Tennessee.

Sergeant Dittfurth asked Smith to transport Barton across the state line into Tennessee. Smith and Norrod then removed Barton from Norrod's patrol car and placed him in Smith's patrol car. Smith then transported Barton across the state line to a nearby Tennessee visitor's center, where Smith and Norrod moved Barton back into Norrod's patrol car. Norrod then took Barton to a local Tennessee hospital for treatment before taking him to the Robertson County Jail.

Although Pack did not directly participate in the transport of Barton across state lines, he was present during the entire episode.

Barton and his wife filed a complaint on January 30, 1992, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. The complaint alleged that on January 30, 1991, Norrod and Pack deprived Barton of his civil rights under color of law, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Barton claimed damages for the injuries he sustained as a result of alleged excessive force used by appellees in arresting him, in violation of his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable seizure. He also alleged that he had been deprived of his civil rights guaranteed under ARTICLE IV, § 2, CL. 2, OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION¹ and 18 U.S.C. § 3182: ² "Defendant Norrod breached the duty to protect and preserve Plaintiff's extradition rights by illegally transporting Plaintiff Barton from the State of Kentucky to the State of Tennessee in an effort to conceal from Kentucky authorities the fact that Plaintiff had been the victim of excessive force during the course of his apprehension and arrest by Defendant Norrod." Plaintiff's Amended Complaint at 3. Ms. Barton alleged a loss of her husband's services.

The case was set for trial on April 17, 1995. At the beginning of the trial, Ms. Barton orally moved to dismiss her claim. Her motion was granted.

At the close of Barton's proof, appellees moved to dismiss on the grounds that (1) there was no proof that Pack had personally used excessive force against Barton; (2) there was no clearly established right under the Constitution or federal laws protecting an individual against movement across state lines without complying with extradition procedures; and (3) Pack and Norrod had been sued in their official capacity only. Barton then moved to amend his complaint to conform to the proof pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12 to correct any defect caused by the failure of the pleadings to state clearly that appellees were being sued in their individual capacities. ³ The court granted Barton's motion. The court also granted a directed verdict in favor of Pack on the ground that there was insufficient evidence that he had used excessive force or that he had deprived Barton of any right under the Extradition Clause and statutes. The court reserved Norrod's motion for directed verdict.

At the close of all the proof, Barton moved for a directed verdict against Norrod on the claim that he had deprived Barton of his constitutional right to formal extradition procedures. The court denied this motion and granted Norrod's motion for directed verdict on the extradition claim because the court found that Norrod was protected by qualified immunity since no clearly established right exists in the Sixth Circuit to have officials comply with extradition procedures. The judge then denied Norrod's motion for a directed verdict on the Fourth Amendment claim, finding there was sufficient evidence for the jury to consider the issue. A jury returned a verdict in favor of Norrod, and judgment was entered in favor of Norrod and Pack on April 26, 1995.

On appeal, Barton claims that the district court erred in finding that Norrod was entitled to qualified immunity. He also argues that the district court erred in granting a directed verdict in favor of Pack.

II

In determining whether the district court erred in granting Norrod qualified immunity on the extradition claim, we note that application of the doctrine of qualified immunity is purely a question of law. Therefore, we review the district court's determination de novo. Cagle v. Gilley, 957 F.2d 1347, 1348 (6th Cir.1992). In Harlow v. Fitzgerald, the Supreme Court articulated the standard to be applied when determining whether an official is entitled to qualified immunity:

[G]overnment officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.

457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2738, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). A determination of whether an official is entitled to qualified immunity focuses on the objective legal reasonableness of the official's action in light of clearly established law. Ibid. "[I]f officers of reasonable competence could disagree on this issue, immunity should be recognized." Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 341, 106 S.Ct. 1092, 1096, 89 L.Ed.2d 271 (1986). Additionally, the contours of the right must be sufficiently clear. It is not necessary that the very action have been previously held unlawful but, given...