Baynes v. Cleland

Citation799 F.3d 600
Decision Date24 August 2015
Docket NumberNo. 14–2235.,14–2235.
PartiesAlan BAYNES, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. Brandon CLELAND, Macomb County Sheriff Deputy; Frank Maiorana, Macomb County Sheriff Deputy; Macomb County, Defendants–Appellees.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)

ON BRIEF:Christina D. Davis, Romano Law, P.L.L.C., Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, for Appellant. Hilary A. Ballentine, Plunkett Cooney, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, for Appellees.

Before KEITH and CLAY, Circuit Judges; MARBLEY, District Judge.*

OPINION

MARBLEY, District Judge.

PlaintiffAppellant Alan Baynes appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment to Defendants Deputy Brandon Cleland, Deputy Frank Maiorana, and Macomb County on his claims of excessive force and deliberate indifference to a serious medical need under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. We hold that Defendants Cleland and Maiorana are not entitled to qualified immunity for Baynes' claim of excessive force. Accordingly, the district court's judgment on Baynes' excessive force claim is hereby REVERSED and REMANDED for trial. We further hold that Baynes' claim of deliberate indifference to a serious medical need is insufficient to withstand summary judgment, and hereby AFFIRM the district court's judgment on that claim.

I. BACKGROUND
A. Factual Background

On July 5, 2010, at approximately 8:30 p.m., an unknown motorist called the police dispatch and reported seeing a male passenger in a white Chevrolet Impala repeatedly striking the female driver on Interstate 94, in Harrison Township, Michigan. The witness also reported the license plate number. The police dispatch communicated this information to Macomb County Sheriff Deputies Brandon Cleland and Frank Maiorana. Both Deputy Cleland and Deputy Maiorana, who were driving in separate patrol vehicles at the time, responded to the call.

Deputy Cleland located the suspect vehicle and initiated a traffic stop at I–94 and Harper. Deputy Maiorana provided back up. The Deputies claim they approached the passenger side of the vehicle together and instructed the passenger, later identified as Baynes, to exit the car. Deputy Maiorana then conducted a pat-search for weapons, handcuffed Baynes, and placed him in the back of Deputy Cleland's patrol vehicle. Deputy Maiorana claims that he checked the handcuffs as he placed them on Baynes to ensure they were not too tight. Baynes and Deputies Cleland and Maiorana generally agree that Baynes was cooperative with the officers' instructions and that he was placed in custody without incident.

After handcuffing Baynes, Deputy Cleland claims that he spoke with the driver of the vehicle, identified as Mary Yee, Baynes' girlfriend of six years. Deputy Cleland claimed that Yee first denied having any problems with Baynes; but, after hearing the witness's police report, she admitted that Baynes had hit her and grabbed her arm while she was driving. Yee claimed Baynes was upset because he did not want to leave a party they were attending. Both Deputy Cleland and Deputy Maiorana observed Yee's right arm where they saw a six to seven-inch long bruise from her elbow to shoulder and observed that the same area was swollen and red, with light scratches. No photographs of Yee's injuries were taken.

Deputy Cleland then spoke to Baynes, who was in the back of the police car, about the incident and ultimately transported Baynes to the Macomb County Jail. The exact time it took for Deputy Cleland to transport Baynes to the jail is unclear. The district court took judicial notice, however, that the distance between the location of the traffic stop, at I–94 and Harper, and the Macomb County Jail is seven miles. The district court also concluded that even if Deputy Cleland were traveling at 25 miles per hour, he would have reached the jail in less than 20 minutes. Once at the jail, Deputy Cleland claims he filled out a booking card, and then handed Baynes over to the booking staff.

During his deposition, Baynes testified that he complained to the deputies that the handcuffs were too tight. He specifically recalled that during the car ride to the police station, he asked the officer who transported him to “loosen up the cuffs.” Baynes could not recall the exact response he received, but believed one of the deputies said “something like they're not too tight’ or that ‘if [I] loosen[ed] them up, you'll be able to get out of them’ or something like that.” According to Baynes, once he arrived at the jail, he remained in handcuffs while he was searched by jail personnel and for some period of time during the intake process that followed. Baynes indicated that the handcuffs were removed only once he was placed in a cell. He was unable to recall with specificity the amount of time that he was in handcuffs. Neither deputy testified as to the amount of time that Baynes spent in handcuffs.

Following his release from Macomb County Jail, Baynes was treated by Dr. Samson Samuel for injuries to his wrists

and diagnosed with “bilateral radial sensory neuropathy from handcuffs.” Baynes also indicated that he was prescribed wrist guards by Dr. Samuel related to his wrist injuries, which he wears periodically. During his deposition, Deputy Cleland acknowledged that he had received training on how quickly and safely to apply handcuffs and recognized health concerns that may arise when handcuffs are placed too tightly, such as loss of blood circulation. Similarly, Deputy Maiorana acknowledged during his testimony that he knew that handcuffing a person too tightly could cause nerve damage.

At some point prior to this incident, Baynes began experiencing memory loss, chronic fatigue, and severe breathing problems. Baynes believes that these issues were caused by exposure to toxic mold while living in a condominium in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, from 2004 to 2009. Baynes testified that he takes fifteen medications for his medical issues, including pills and inhalers. Because of his illness, the Social Security Administration has determined that he is disabled and, as a result, he has not worked since 2008. Baynes claims he suffers from memory loss, chronic fatigue, and severe breathing problems that may be triggered by a variety of things, such as perfume and automobile exhaust.

Baynes contends that, at some point during his interaction with the deputies, as he was being taken into custody, he told the officers that he needed his medication. He claims that during intake procedures at the jail, he also told the intake officer that he needed his medication. Baynes claims he received responses of “not now” or “don't worry about it.” During the intake procedures, jail personnel searched and found a small plastic bag containing some of Baynes' medication. Baynes initially testified that the jail personnel did not want to allow him to take the medication, but later recalled being allowed to take the pill with a glass of water. During his deposition, Baynes also briefly mentioned that, during his stay in the jail, he “told the people that [he] was having a hard time breathing” and they told me it was all in my head.” Baynes testified that he later learned that there had been mold in the jail.

During his deposition, when asked about the effect of not having his medications in Macomb County Jail, Baynes claimed that his “condition worsened,” resulting in symptoms including memory loss, fatigue, and constipation. He also testified that after his stay at Macomb County jail, his sensitivity to things like automobile exhaust and perfume was heightened. Baynes further indicated that the exposure to mold in the jail exacerbated his medical conditions. Baynes submitted blood tests performed on July 15, 2010, at the request of Dr. Michael Harbut which showed abnormal levels of various types of mold.

Baynes was released from the Macomb County jail at approximately 6:00 p.m. on July 6, 2010, the day after the incident took place. He was arraigned that same day and charged with domestic violence, to which he pleaded not guilty. The charges were dismissed on September 4, 2010, when Yee failed to appear for trial.

B. Procedural Background

On or around September 26, 2012, Baynes commenced this action in the Eastern District of Michigan against Macomb County Sheriff Deputies Cleland and Maiorana and Macomb County, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Baynes first claimed that Deputies Cleland and Maiorana violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights through use of excessive force by handcuffing him too tightly, causing severe and permanent injuries. Second, he alleged that Defendants exacerbated his asthmatic condition by failing to provide him with his medications and by exposing him to mold while he was in jail, which the district court construed as a claim of deliberate indifference to a serious medical need. Baynes' complaint also alleged that Macomb County had a custom and practice of failing to train properly its officers.

Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment to which Baynes timely responded. The district court held a hearing on the motion and subsequently issued its Opinion and Order granting Defendants' motion, dismissing the case, and entering Judgment in favor of Defendants. Baynes v. Cleland, No. 12–cv–14289, 2014 WL 4373755 (E.D.Mich. Sept.3, 2014) (slip op.).

On Baynes' excessive force claim, the district court concluded that Defendant Cleland was entitled to qualified immunity because there was “no evidence suggesting that Deputy Maiorana did not follow proper handcuffing procedures when he handcuffed [Baynes]; Baynes complained only once about the tightness of his handcuffs and thus “the absence of any egregious, abusive or malicious conduct supports the reasonableness of the deputy's conduct”; and once Baynes and Cleland arrived at the jail, “Deputy Cleland turned over [Baynes] to the booking officer.” Id. at *6.

On the deliberate indifference claim, the district court determined that although Baynes established a “sufficiently serious” medical need where...

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