Burns v. City

• Citation: 737 F.Supp.2d 1047
• Decision Date: 25 August 2010
• Docket Number: No. C 08-2995 RS,C 08-2995 RS
• Parties: Douglas BURNS, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF REDWOOD CITY, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of California

737 F.Supp.2d 1047

Douglas BURNS, Plaintiff,

v.CITY OF REDWOOD CITY, et al., Defendants.

No. C 08-2995 RS.

United States District Court,

N.D. California,

San Francisco Division.

Aug. 25, 2010.

Michael J. Haddad, Julia Sherwin, Haddad & Sherwin, Oakland, CA, Donald L. Galine, Law Offices of Donald L. Galine, San Mateo, CA, for Plaintiff.

Joseph C. Howard, Jr., Howard Rome Martin & Ridley, Redwood City, CA.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

RICHARD SEEBORG, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

On April 1, 2007, plaintiff Douglas Burns had the misfortune of suffering a diabeticemergency in a very public setting. Several police officers apparently mistook his confused and erratic behavior for symptoms of intoxication and, ultimately, five officers wrestled him forcibly to the ground. Before the struggle ended with Burns bleeding and in handcuffs, the officers deployed pepper spray, nunchakus and a steel baton. The officers cited Burns for battery of a police officer and resisting arrest. An emergency medical technician who arrived at the scene to address any burns or irritation from the spray verified that Burns was in fact suffering from diabetic shock and administered treatment. This lawsuit arises out of that incident and seeks redress for the injuries Burns sustained. He advances several claims for relief against the officers in their individual capacities, as well as against Redwood City (the "City") and the Redwood City Police Department (the "Department"). The municipal defendants and individual police officers Jamie Mateo, David Gough and Ramiro Perez move for summary judgment on all plaintiff's claims.¹ For the reasons stated below, Officer Perez is entitled to summary judgment on all claims asserted against him under both federal and state law. Burns has not presented any material, disputed facts to support either his Monell claim against the municipal defendants or his unlawful arrest claim and these are also resolved at summary judgment in defendants' favor. All other defense motions for summary judgment are denied.

II. RELEVANT FACTS

Douglas Burns is a professional body-builder. In the spring of 2007, he was forty-six years old, five feet, nine inches tall and weighed somewhere between 192 and 197 pounds. Sixth months prior to the incident, Burns earned the title "Mr. Natural Universe," which he represents reflects the highest echelon in drug-free men's body building. Burns also suffers from Type I diabetes, a chronic condition diagnosed at the age of seven. Burns advocates for diabetes education and is the co-author of The Diabetes Antidote: An Exercise Prescription to Prevent Type 2, to Combat Type 1.

Burns depends on insulin injections to regulate his blood sugar. If blood sugar levels drop below the normal range, any diabetic can experience hypoglycemia, or insulin shock. Apparently, a non-diabetic who experiences hypoglycemia will sense obvious alarms in response to the body's production of stress hormones. According to the plaintiff, a long-term sufferer can experience something called "hypoglycemia unawareness," where the body gradually stops producing stress hormones. In such a case, the person may not become aware of a problem until blood sugar levels plummet to a dangerous level. Severe symptoms often closely mimic the effects of intoxication by drugs or alcohol. The basic training required of all police cadets in California lists the following indicators of diabetic emergency: aggressiveness, combativeness, uncooperative behavior, confusion, a dazed appearance, decreased level of consciousness, and impaired motor skills.

On the evening of April 7, 2007, Burns planned to catch the 7:00 screening of a film at the Century 20 Theater in Redwood City. In the parking lot, sometime between 6:15 and 6:30, Burns injected insulin into his arm in preparation for the theater popcorn he expected to eat. En route to the ticket counter, Burns bumped into severalpeople he knew (first, a group of teens who knew of and admired his athletic pursuits and asked for training advice and, second, a couple with whom he was friendly) and chatted with each. He testified that by the time he reached the front of the ticket line, his blood sugar had begun to plummet and that he could no longer remember what film he came to see or even clearly read the print listing the available screenings. Eventually, he was able with some prompting to articulate his choice. He purchased a ticket and headed upstairs to the candy counter. By the time he reached the front of that line, he was only able to explain that he needed sugar. His request confused the sales clerk at the counter and she turned him away. Burns then maneuvered toward a soda fountain, where he proceeded to fill a paper cup partially with soda, pour it out, and repeat the process.

A theater employee asked a security guard to check on Burns. The guard, Mikhail Burlyga, testified that when he asked if anything was wrong, Burns did not respond but seemed to sway slightly from side to side. Burlyga assumed Burns was intoxicated and so escorted him down the stairs, returned the seven dollars Burns had paid for his ticket, and led him out the theater's exit doors. Concerned Burns might attempt to drive, Burlyga attracted the attention of a uniformed police officer, Jamie Mateo, standing nearby. At roughly the same time, a second theater employee telephoned the police to report Burns' strange behavior. When the dispatcher asked what Burns had done, the employee replied, "Nothing really. He basically just looks like he's on something. He can barely stand on his own." The dispatcher then alerted local officers that a man was loitering outside the theater. Officer Mateo also received this information via radio.

According to Mateo, Burns was staggering about in circles, counting the loose dollar bills he held in his hands. Mateo also noted something strange about Burns' stride: his steps were quite pronounced and high. As Mateo approached Burns, Mateo distinctly noted that he could not smell alcohol on Burns' breath but did think that Burns otherwise appeared to be under the influence of some sort of substance. Mateo asked Burns, "Sir, how can I help you?" He did not directly ask if Burns was ill or in need of medical assistance. Then, Mateo asserts that Burns unexpectedly "kind of" lunged toward him and uttered an expletive, along with several other incomprehensible phrases. Plaintiff notes that no mention of the profanity or the lunge appeared in Mateo's police report.

Although the area in front of the theater was crowded with onlookers, no other witness saw Burns lunge toward Mateo or heard him swear. Mateo avers he "felt threatened by Burns' behavior and hulking physique." Within a matter of minutes, Sergeant Gough arrived. Gough also testified that, as he approached the theater, Burns was disoriented, agitated and struggling to stand. Gough says he levied a series of questions at Burns: "What's the matter? What's your name? How can we help you?" Burns did not answer but instead parroted Gough's questions back to him. Gough later testified that it crossed his mind Burns might be under the influence of drugs or in the midst of a diabetic or other medical emergency. He did not, though, ask about Burns' medical needs. Because Burns' movements appeared generally directed toward the theater's entryway, Gough positioned himself between Burns and the door. Although the testimony of each officer differs somewhat, they collectively attest that Mateo stood somewhere between five and fifteen feet away from Gough.

According to the officers, Burns walked directly toward Gough, as if in an attempt to reenter the theater. Although Burns cannot actually remember much of the incident after his blood sugar levels dipped, he speculates that he presumably wanted to return to the area where sugar was available. Gough held up his hand against Burns' chest and told him to "stop." Burns then spun around and "high-stepped" confusedly back toward Mateo. Burns reasons that Gough knocked him off balance. A witness, David Morgan, told an interviewing officer that "[t]he man stumbled and bumped into a police officer. Then the officer pepper sprayed the man in the face." Mateo insists he was forcefully pushed. Gough testified that Burns shoved Mateo "with both hands" on the officer's chest or shoulder area.² It was then that Mateo sprayed a two to three second stream of pepper spray into Burns' face. Again, Mateo cites Burns' obvious strength, his bizarre behavior, and the fact that the officers had yet to conduct any form of weapons search as justification for the spray. Burns, who was clearly agitated, gripped his eyes with his palms and continued to walk about in an even more confused manner. Gough ordered that Burns drop to the ground but he did not respond. The security guard testified that he heard one of the officers tell Burns he was under arrest.

It is not clear exactly how Gough and Mateo physically brought Burns to the ground, but it is at least undisputed that roughly ninety seconds passed between when Mateo first approached Burns and when the officers wrestled him to the ground. It was the attempt to handcuff Burns that proved problematic. Gough and Mateo assert that Burns landed on his torso but with his hands folded beneath his waist. While the officers agree that he never swung his arms or attempted to strike them, they assert that he tensed up his body and limbs and would not submit to handcuffs. Mateo was positioned on Burns' right side, Gough on his left, and both officers tried to gain control of the closest arm. Mateo claims Burns at one point locked Mateo's hand in the space between Burns' bicep and his ribcage. The officer insists this caused him great pain. As he was not strong enough to yank it free, Mateo used the butt end of his nunchaku tool to strike Burns in the upper shoulder area several times. Mateo did not discuss the pinned hand...