Blanford v. Sacramento County

• Decision Date: 06 May 2005
• Docket Number: No. 03-17146.,03-17146.
• Citation: 406 F.3d 1110
• Parties: Matthew Aaron BLANFORD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SACRAMENTO COUNTY; Lou Blanas, Sacramento County Sheriff; Brett Anderson, Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy; Todd Hengel, Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

406 F.3d 1110

Matthew Aaron BLANFORD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SACRAMENTO COUNTY; Lou Blanas, Sacramento County Sheriff; Brett Anderson, Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy; Todd Hengel, Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 03-17146.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted April 15, 2005.

Filed May 6, 2005.

Stewart Katz, John M. Poswall, for plaintiff-appellant Matthew Aaron Blanford.

Terence J. Cassidy (argued), Jennifer E. Duggan, Carl J. Calnero (on the brief), Porter, Scott, Weiberg & Delehant, for defendants-appellees County of Sacramento, Lou Blanas, Brett Anderson, and Todd Hengel.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California; Garland E. Burrell, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-01-02068-GEB/GGH.

Before: NOONAN, THOMPSON, and RYMER, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge RYMER.

Dissent by Judge NOONAN.

RYMER, Circuit Judge:

Matthew Aaron Blanford appeals the summary judgment in favor of Brett Anderson, Todd Hengel, Lou Blanas, and Sacramento County¹ in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging claims of excessive force and unreasonable seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Blanford was shot and severely injured after he ignored warnings and commands to stop and drop an edged sword that he was carrying and instead tried to enter a house in a residential area. There is no doubt that the facts of this case are tragic and that the case is a difficult one. Nevertheless, because Deputies Anderson and Hengel did not exceed constitutional limits on the use of deadly force when they shot Blanford and because, even if their actions did violate Blanford's constitutional rights, a reasonable law enforcement officer in their position at the time would not have known that shooting Blanford was a violation of clearly established law, the deputies are entitled to qualified immunity. We therefore affirm.

I

On the afternoon of November 13, 2000, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department received several reports that a man (who turned out to be Blanford) wearing a ski mask and carrying a sword was walking through a suburban residential neighborhood outside Sacramento and behaving erratically. Anderson and Hengel were dispatched to investigate these reports. During the course of their search for Blanford, Anderson and Hengel were informed by dispatch that Blanford had been seen licking the sword and that he was walking in the middle of the street. After driving down several streets where Blanford had been seen, the deputies spotted him walking down Reetey Avenue.

When the deputies arrived, they saw Blanford carrying a 2-1/2-foot-long Civil War-era cavalry saber by the handle. Blanford was wearing a green ski mask that was not covering his face, so that it appeared to be a knit cap pulled down over his ears and close to his eyes. When Anderson and Hengel came upon Blanford walking away from their position on Reetey, they got out of their vehicles, drew their guns, and Hengel called out to Blanford: "Sheriff's department, stop, drop the sword." Blanford did not heed this command but rather kept walking. As it turned out, Blanford was listening to a Discman at the highest volume using headphones which were concealed underneath his knit cap. Blanford did not hear the deputies yelling at him and did not notice them at that time.² The deputies did not realize until after Blanford was shot that he had been wearing headphones.

The deputies followed Blanford at a safe distance of 20 to 25 feet as they were trained to do for persons with edged weapons. Their guns were drawn and aimed. They were "extremely concerned that Blanford posed a significant danger to any individual who might come near him or to [themselves] if he turned and charged." Anderson and Hengel continued to shout commands at Blanford to stop and drop the sword, as well as to warn him "We'll shoot." At the corner of Reetey and Gaines Avenue, Blanford stopped, raised the sword, and made a loud growling or roaring sound.³ This increased the deputies' concern that Blanford posed a risk of physical harm to themselves or others, and the deputies considered Blanford's action to be the felony of drawing or exhibiting a deadly weapon with the intent to resist or prevent arrest or detention by a peace officer in violation of California Penal Code § 417.8 (1982).

Blanford then turned onto Gaines Avenue and began angling his walk toward 8679 Gaines, which turned out to be his parents' home where he lived. The deputies did not know this. Blanford testified that he first became aware of the deputies' presence behind him as he was passing his next door neighbor's house, but despite his awareness that the deputies might be there for him, he continued walking at the same pace toward 8679. The deputies considered whether Blanford might be mentally disturbed or under the influence of narcotics, but believed they "had to secure the weapon before doing anything else in order to protect the public." As it turned out, Blanford had just taken a dose of antipsychotic medication for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder for which he was being treated. Blanford walked up the lawn of 8679 to the front door, where he searched his pockets for his keys but realized he did not have them. He knocked on the door, but no one answered. Blanford then started walking down the walkway that led in front of the house, past the driveway and garage, and around to the side where there was a gate that led alongside the garage to the back yard. As he turned onto the walkway, Blanford caught a glimpse of the deputies, believed that they were police officers, and heard them shout "Drop the sword." He did not do so. Blanford thought he told the deputies that he was going to go put the sword in the back and come up and talk to them afterwards. Both deputies testified that they never heard any such thing, though even if they had, it would not have alleviated their reasonable concern that Blanford posed an imminent threat as he did not drop the sword.

Neither deputy believed that Blanaford should be allowed to get out of sight into the back of the house due to the danger he presented to anyone in the yard or the house. Both fired as Blanford rounded the corner of the house to the gate ("the first volley"). Blanford was hit by at least one shot. Nevertheless, he went through the gate, and it closed behind him. Anderson kicked the gate open and saw Blanford about ten feet away trying to open a door into the garage through which entrance could be gained into the residence. Anderson ordered him to drop the sword again. When Blanford did not drop the sword, or stop trying to push the door open, Anderson fired again, hitting Blanford in the right wrist ("the second volley").⁴ He did so out of concern that Blanford would be able to get into the residence and cause death or injury to people inside. Blanford then turned away, still holding the sword, and walked toward the back yard.⁵ Anderson continued firing ("the third volley"). One of the bullets severed Blanford's spine, causing him to fall to the ground and rendering him a paraplegic. The entire encounter lasted about two minutes. Approximately fourteen seconds passed between the first and last shots.

Blanford filed this action against Anderson, Hengel, Sacramento County Sheriff Lou Blanas (in both his individual and official capacities), and Sacramento County and its Sheriff's Department, asserting claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for excessive force and unreasonable seizure and false arrest in violation of the Fourth Amendment, including a claim of Monell⁶ liability against the County. Blanford also asserted state-law claims for battery and assault against all the defendants, as well as state-law claims for negligence and for negligent hiring, training, and supervision against the County.⁷

After discovery, cross-motions for summary judgment were filed on all claims. The district court analyzed each of the three volleys separately under Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989), and Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 105 S.Ct. 1694, 85 L.Ed.2d 1 (1985). The court concluded that Anderson and Hengel acted in an objectively reasonable manner in firing each volley, because a reasonable officer in their position at the time would have believed that Blanford presented an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to persons inside the house or yard of 8679 Gaines, or to themselves. The district court also granted summary judgment on Blanford's wrongful arrest claim, finding that the deputies had probable cause to arrest Blanford for violating California Penal Code § 417.8. It further held that, even if Anderson's or Hengel's actions violated Blanford's Fourth Amendment rights, the deputies were entitled to qualified immunity because a reasonable officer in their position at the time would not have known that their actions were unlawful.⁸

Blanford timely appealed.

II

Our review on appeal from entry of a summary judgment is de novo. Deorle v. Rutherford, 272 F.3d 1272, 1278 (9th Cir.2001) (as amended). Under the approach for evaluating claims of qualified immunity adopted by the Supreme Court in Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001), we must first ask whether, "[t]aken in the light most favorable to [Blanford], . . . the facts alleged show [the deputies'] conduct violated a constitutional right?" Id. at 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151. Only if this question is answered in the affirmative must the court address "the next, sequential step" in the inquiry, namely, whether the constitutional right at issue was clearly established at the time the deputies shot Blanford in November 2000, such that a reasonable officer in the deputies' position at the time would have known that shooting Blanford was a violation of his Fourth Amendment right to be free from excessive force. Id. at 201-02, 121 S.Ct. 2151. As the Court...