Brown v. Coulston

• Decision Date: 29 May 2020
• Docket Number: CIVIL ACTION NO. 4:19-CV-168-SDJ
• Citation: 463 F.Supp.3d 762
• Parties: Emily BROWN, as parent and guardian of minor child, T.B. v. Eric COULSTON and the City of Denton
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Texas

463 F.Supp.3d 762

Emily BROWN, as parent and guardian of minor child, T.B.

v.Eric COULSTON and the City of Denton

CIVIL ACTION NO. 4:19-CV-168-SDJ

United States District Court, E.D. Texas, Sherman Division.

Signed May 29, 2020

Don Tittle, Roger Elliott Topham, Law Offices of Don Tittle, PLLC, Dallas, TX, for Emily Brown.

Kevin Michael Curley, Messer, Fort, McDonald, PLLC, W. Andrew Messer, Messer, Rockefeller & Fort, PLLC, Frisco, TX, for Eric Coulston.

Jerry Edward Drake, Jr., City of Denton Legal Dept., Denton, TX, for City of Denton.

MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER

SEAN D. JORDAN, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Plaintiff Emily Brown brought this action on behalf of her son, T.B., against Officer Eric Coulston and the City of Denton ("the City") for alleged violations of T.B.’s rights under the Fourth Amendment, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). (Dkt. #11). Before the Court are Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) dismissal motions filed by Officer Coulston, (Dkt. #12), and the City, (Dkt. #21). Officer Coulston asserts that he is entitled to dismissal based on qualified immunity. The City contends that it should be dismissed because Brown has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The City's motion requests, in the alternative to dismissal, that under Rule 7(a)(7) Brown be required to file a detailed reply to Officer Coulston's qualified immunity defense, and that the Court stay discovery.

After reviewing the motions, the parties’ briefing, and the applicable law, the Court concludes that the dismissal motions should be GRANTED , and that the City's alternative motion requesting relief under Rule 7(a)(7) should be DENIED as moot .

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

At the time of the events made the basis of this lawsuit, T.B. was a ten-year-old student attending the fifth grade at Alice Moore Alexander Elementary School (previously named Robert E. Lee Elementary School and referred to here as "Alexander Elementary") in Denton, Texas. He was approximately four feet tall and weighed about eighty-five pounds. T.B. had previously been diagnosed with Autism

Spectrum Disorder ("ASD"). Brown describes ASD as a developmental disability characterized by social and communication impairments and by restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. Brown asserts that ASD makes it difficult for T.B. to socialize, which he finds frustrating, and when T.B. gets upset, he sometimes needs to be alone to "reset" and calm down. (Dkt. #11 ¶ 6).

Brown's suit arises from an incident at the elementary school on April 30, 2018. In the early afternoon, Julie Mulvanny, a special education teacher, called Officer Coulston to the school.¹ She asked Officer Coulston for help with T.B., who, according to Brown, had committed "some minor infractions." Officer Coulston's body camera captured the events that followed over approximately the next two hours. Brown attached the video captured by Officer Coulston's body camera to her Second Amended Complaint, see (Dkt. #11-1, #11-2), and has asked the Court to treat the video as part of her complaint, see, e.g. , (Dkt. #23) (responding to the City's contention that she failed to make detailed factual allegations, Brown references, inter alia, Officer's Coulston's body camera video as an integral part of her description of the facts).

The Court is "entitled to consider any exhibits attached to the complaint, including video evidence. In such an instance, the court is not required to favor plaintiff's allegations over the video evidence." Hartman v. Walker , 685 F. App'x 366, 368 (5th Cir. 2017) (citations omitted) (per curiam) (citing Scott v. Harris , 550 U.S. 372, 380–81, 127 S.Ct. 1769, 167 L.Ed.2d 686 (2007) ). Here, Officer Coulston's body camera video provides the best evidence of the events at the elementary school on the afternoon of April 30, 2018. Accordingly, where Brown's allegations depart from the video, the Court will consider the video to provide the most accurate depiction of events.

As seen on the officer's body camera, T.B.’s teacher, Ms. Mulvanny, was attempting to have T.B. leave the classroom, but he would not cooperate. Instead, T.B. climbed into a wall cubby and ignored Mulvanny's instruction that he must leave the room. Mulvanny then pulled T.B. out of the cubby and attempted to lead him out of the room, but T.B. resisted. At this point, Officer Coulston asked Mulvanny if she needed help, and she assented. Initially, Officer Coulston took one of T.B.’s arms and Mulvanny took the other arm, in an attempt to remove T.B. from the classroom. But T.B. continued to resist and sat on the floor. Officer Coulston then instructed Mulvanny to let go of T.B. and Coulston made an initial, unsuccessful attempt to pick up T.B. T.B. continued to resist, wrapping his legs around a chair. Officer Coulston then successfully picked up T.B. and carried him out of the classroom, into another room down the hall with no furniture in it. In her complaint, Brown refers to this room as the "SOAR room." T.B. resisted and struggled with Officer Coulston during the time he was carried to the SOAR room, and his legs can be seen flailing in the video.

Upon arriving at the SOAR room, Mulvanny opened the door and Officer Coulston placed T.B. on the floor face down. T.B. continued to struggle and thrash about on the floor, ignoring Officer Coulston's command, reiterated several times, that he must be still. At this point, Officer Coulston used his body weight to hold T.B. down, and T.B. struggled, kicked, and screamed. Officer Coulston warned T.B. that he would be handcuffed if he did not calm down, referring to T.B. being in "the same position," i.e., having a similar episode, in recent days. T.B. continued to struggle, kick, and scream, and Officer Coulston handcuffed him. As the handcuffs were secured, T.B. screamed at Officer Coulston, "Get off me you fat bitch!" Officer Coulston told T.B. that he would stop holding him down when he became calm. For several minutes, T.B. remained unable to calm down, and continued to kick, scream, and thrash about while pulling against the handcuffs. During this time, Officer Coulston repeatedly told T.B. that he must calm down, and that when T.B. did calm down, Coulston would stop holding T.B. against the floor and "give him some space." After about five minutes in handcuffs, T.B. began to calm down and Officer Coulston stopped holding him down with his body weight. A few minutes later, T.B. had become calm enough that Officer Coulston placed him in a sitting position against the wall.

As T.B. sat against the wall in handcuffs, he had stopped screaming but remained visibly agitated and angry and continued to pull against the handcuffs. Officer Coulston warned T.B. not to pull against the handcuffs, as he could hurt himself. T.B., however, only became more agitated and upset. T.B. then stood up and attempted to pull his handcuffed hands through his legs. Officer Coulston again warned T.B. that he would hurt himself and that T.B. had to sit back down or he would once again be placed on the floor. T.B. heeded the warning and sat down but remained very upset and continued to yell at Officer Coulston, who advised T.B. that he was being recorded and his parents would see his behavior. In response, T.B. spat at Officer Coulston.

After T.B. spat at him, Officer Coulston placed T.B. back on the ground face down, and T.B. began kicking, screaming, thrashing, and pulling at the handcuffs. Officer Coulston again used his body weight to hold T.B. down, however, at this time T.B. also began banging his head violently against the floor. Officer Coulston repeatedly told T.B. to "stop" and to "calm down," and that he would hurt himself. T.B. screamed and cursed at Officer Coulston, continued to struggle and kick, and could not calm down. T.B. also continued to try to bang his head against the floor. Ms. Mulvanny assisted Officer Coulston by holding T.B.’s head so that he did not hit it against the floor. Mulvanny also repeatedly urged T.B. to stop trying to hit his head and to calm down.

After several minutes had passed during which T.B. struggled, screamed, kicked, and attempted to hit his head on the floor, he gradually began to calm down. Officer Coulston again placed T.B. in a sitting position against the wall. At this time, T.B. had been handcuffed for approximately fifteen minutes. Although he was no longer screaming, cursing, struggling, and attempting to hit his head, T.B. remained agitated and breathing heavily. Officer Coulston advised T.B. that when his breathing slowed and he could calmly ask for the handcuffs to be removed, Coulston would remove the handcuffs. Over the ensuing eight minutes, T.B. calmed down to the point where he asked to have the handcuffs removed, and Officer Coulston took off the handcuffs. T.B. had been handcuffed for about twenty-five minutes during this time.

Shortly before the handcuffs were removed, Matt Nelson, a DISD behavioral specialist, arrived to assist in working with T.B. From this point forward Nelson primarily communicated with T.B., although both Officer Coulston and Ms. Mulvanny remained in the SOAR room. Nelson began by asking T.B. if he could sit calmly against the wall and if he needed any tissues. Mulvanny gave T.B. a box of tissues and T.B. then proceeded to tear up all of the tissues as well as the box itself. During this time T.B. remained agitated, breathing heavily and throwing the torn-up tissue, including at Mulvanny. Over approximately the next fifteen minutes, Nelson repeatedly warned T.B. that he needed to remain sitting against the wall calmly and not move about the room throwing the tissue at people. T.B. did not comply. Instead, he repeatedly moved away from the wall during this period, throwing torn-up tissue at Mulvanny, Nelson, and Officer Coulston, breathing heavily, occasionally screaming at Nelson, and grunting in anger. Nelson and Officer Coulston...