Byrd v. City of Bossier
| Decision Date | 29 May 2014 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 5:12–1956. |
| Citation | 23 F.Supp.3d 665 |
| Parties | Bobby Charles BYRD v. CITY OF BOSSIER, et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Louisiana |
B. Gerald Weeks, Gregory N. Wampler, Lemoine & Wampler, Pineville, LA, for Bobby Charles Byrd.
Kenneth Mascagni, Cook Yancey et al., Ansel Martin Stroud, III, Nichole Marie Buckle, Vicki C. Warner, Barham Warner et al., Shreveport, LA, for City of Bossier, et al.
MEMORANDUM RULING
Before the Court are motions for summary judgment filed by the City of Bossier, Officer Roy Short, the City of Shreveport, Detective Robert Gordon, Sergeant W.W. Lindsey, and Corporal Christopher Yarborough. [Record Documents 38 and 41]. The Plaintiff, Bobby Byrd (“Mr. Byrd”), brings claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Louisiana tort law, alleging that the defendant officers used excessive force when they fished him out of the Red River. Mr. Byrd jumped into the Red River after leading the officers on a car chase through downtown Shreveport, over the Texas Street Bridge, down Traffic Street, and onto the levee. In the course of arresting Mr. Byrd, the officers struck him on his back, arms, upper torso, and face, rendering him unconscious and fracturing the bones surrounding his left eye. The officers assert that they are entitled to qualified immunity, and the cities argue that they are not liable under the doctrine of Monell v. Dep't of Soc. Servs. of City of N.Y., 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). The Court will address both motions simultaneously, as they present overlapping factual and legal arguments. For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS both Motions for Summary Judgment [Record Documents 38 and 41] and DISMISSES WITH PREJUDICE Mr. Byrd's claims against all Defendants.
In July 2011, Detective Robert Gordon of the Shreveport Police Department (“Detective Gordon”) was investigating a series of burglaries in which coin operated machines were forced open or stolen. Video footage showed a white or Hispanic man burglarizing the Tiki Bar and Grill while a white or cream colored minivan sat outside the establishment. On July 20, 2011, Detective Gordon learned that the same van was parked at the Levington Motel. He waited outside the motel in an unmarked car until a white male got into the van and drove from the parking lot. Detective Gordon called for marked units to conduct a traffic stop.
Corporals Coburn and Mormon, both of the Shreveport Police Department, made the stop at the corner of Caddo and Louisiana streets. They walked towards the van and ordered the driver to exit. Instead, Mr. Byrd sped away. Corporals Coburn and Mormon pursued the van in separate vehicles followed by Detective Gordon. The parties dispute whether Mr. Byrd ran any red lights or stop signs and whether he exceeded the speed limit during the chase. He drove from Louisiana Street to Texas Street, across the Texas Street bridge (a bridge connecting downtown Shreveport to a busy, commercial area of Bossier City), made a left at Traffic Street, abandoned his van on the levee, fled on foot through an overgrown area, and ended up in the Red River. None of the chasing cars was able to catch up to him.
When Detective Gordon arrived at the abandoned van, he called in reinforcements, including a canine unit, to track Mr. Byrd through the overgrowth. Corporal Yarborough, a canine officer with the Shreveport Police Department, responded with his canine Mico. He announced loudly that a canine was in the area and that if the suspect did not identify himself, the dog would be sent in to track him and would bite him. Corporal Yarborough and Mico, accompanied by Officer Roy Short (“Officer Short”) of the Bossier City Police Department, tracked Mr. Byrd through the woods, eventually arriving at an overgrown area where a tree had fallen into the river. The bank was steep, and Corporal Yarborough knew that Mico felt that the suspect was close. At that moment, the ground below Mico caved in, and he fell into the river.2 Mico was still attached to the fifteen-foot tracking lead, so in order to prevent himself from being pulled in and Mico from drowning, Corporal Yarborough let go of the lead. In his deposition, Corporal Yarborough stated that when he let go of the lead he believed that the suspect was in the brush somewhere nearby and that he expected Mico to return to the bank. Instead, Mr. Byrd's head appeared above water about fifteen to twenty feet away from the bank. Mico began swimming towards him. Corporal Yarborough repeatedly called Mico back, but Mico continued to swim towards Mr. Byrd, eventually reaching him and biting his arm.3 Corporal Yarborough jumped into the water and began to swim towards the struggling pair. Mr. Byrd pushed Mico's muzzle below water, and Mico released the bite and began to swim in circles, disoriented. Eventually, Mico made his way to Corporal Yarborough, who was able to lead him back to the bank. Still disoriented, Mico bit Corporal Yarborough, inflicting a wound
that required Corporal Yarborough to leave the scene.
At this point, Mr. Byrd's recollection begins to differ from that of the officers. While Corporal Yarborough was leaving, both Officer Short and Mr. Byrd remember that Mr. Byrd was yelling for help and screaming that he could not swim and that he was drowning. Mr. Byrd remembers thinking that he was going to die. Officer Short then jumped into the water and swam towards Mr. Byrd. Reaching him, he pulled him to the shore. Mr. Byrd remembers repeating the words “thank you” as he was dragged to shore by Officer Short. He recalls being completely cooperative while he put his hands behind his back and allowed himself to be handcuffed in neck-high water. His next recollection is the heart of his excessive force claim:
...
Then as I turned my head, they had my head buried down in there and they were hitting me. I couldn't breathe. I turned my head. Right at the point that I turned my head, one of them—I believe it was Officer Gordon standing directly over me hit me in my eye and that's—after that I don't remember nothing.
[Record Document 41–20, pp. 12–13]. In short, Mr. Byrd contends that although he was cooperating with the officers, he was brutally beaten after he allowed himself to be handcuffed in neck-deep water.
The officers tell a very different story. While Corporal Yarborough was exiting the scene, Detective Gordon and Officer Short called out to Mr. Byrd to swim to the shore. Seeing that he was making no effort to do so, and hearing him yell that he could not swim, Officer Short jumped in to bring him back to shore. Officer Short was able to drag him, without any help from Mr. Byrd, as far as a branch that was leaning over the river. Mr. Byrd grabbed onto the branch and would not let go. Officer Short was unable to pull him off, so Detective Gordon jumped in, swam to the branch and delivered a single “distraction strike” to the side of Mr. Byrd's neck. The strike caused Mr. Byrd to release his grip and enabled the officers to bring him close to the bank, where Sergeant W.W. Lindsey of the Shreveport Police Department (“Sergeant Lindsey”) and Corporal Mormon were waiting.
Detective Gordon advised the waiting officers that Mr. Byrd had not been searched and that they did not know whether he was armed. Detective Gordon and Officer Short both testify that they were exhausted. Photographs taken at this time show two officers behind Mr. Byrd about waist deep in the water while Mr. Byrd's upper torso is on the bank. [Record Document 38–6, pp. 18–22]. Describing these photos during Mr. Byrd's criminal trial, Detective Gordon noted that the riverbed drops off very quickly from the bank. [Record Document 38–18, pp. 53–56]. The photos show four officers surrounding Mr. Byrd close to the bank just before the steep dropoff. The officers behind Mr. Byrd are in waist or neck deep water. Each officer recalls that despite repeated commands to place his arms behind his back, Mr. Byrd continued to reach towards his front waistband, which was underwater. Fearing for their safety and attempting to disorient Mr. Byrd so they could control his hands, the officers delivered “distraction strikes”—meaning hard, closed-hand blows—to Mr. Byrd's back, arms, head, and upper torso. Sergeant Lindsey remembers hitting him several times. Officer Short remembers striking him several times on the back and arms. Detective Gordon remembers striking him on the head and upper torso. Finally, the officers were able to wrench Mr. Byrd's arms behind his back and Corporal Mormon cuffed him. No blows were delivered after he was in handcuffs.
The officers have testified that because Mr. Byrd still refused to respond to commands, they had to drag him up the bank. In the meantime, other officers had commandeered a boat onto which they loaded Mr. Byrd. He was transported to the Louisiana Boardwalk, where the Bossier City Fire Department treated him and then transported him to LSUHSC for further treatment. He was unconscious when he arrived at LSUHSC.4 [Record Document 41–14, p. 3]. At LSUHSC, Mr. Byrd was treated for a left orbital floor fracture
, a...
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