Campbell v. Cheatham Cnty. Sheriff's Dep't

• Decision Date: 05 January 2021
• Docket Number: No. 3:19-cv-00151,3:19-cv-00151
• Citation: 511 F.Supp.3d 809
• Parties: Mark CAMPBELL and Sherrie Campbell, Plaintiffs, v. CHEATHAM COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Tennessee

511 F.Supp.3d 809

Mark CAMPBELL and Sherrie Campbell, Plaintiffs,

v.CHEATHAM COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, et al., Defendants.

No. 3:19-cv-00151

United States District Court, M.D. Tennessee, Nashville Division.

Filed January 5, 2021

Andrew S. Lockert, Law Office of Andrew S. Lockert, Ashland City, TN, John H. Morris, Nashville Vanguard Law PLLC, Nashville, TN, for Plaintiffs.

Robyn Beale Williams, Farrar & Bates, LLP, Nashville, TN, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

WAVERLY D. CRENSHAW, JR., CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Mark and Sherrie Campbell¹ filed this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Cheatham County Sheriff's Department ("Sheriff's Department"), the Cheatham County Municipal Government, Cheatham County Sheriff Mike Breedlove in his official capacity, and James Fox and Christopher Austin in their individual capacities as officers for the Sheriff's Department. Before the Court are two Motions for Summary Judgment: one filed by the Sheriff's Department, the Cheatham County Municipal Government, and Sheriff Breedlove (collectively, the "County") (Doc. No. 65); and one filed by Officers Fox and Austin (the "Officers") (Doc. No. 69). Plaintiffs filed a Response to each Motion, (Doc. No. 75 (Response to the County); Doc. No. 78 (Response to the Officers)), and the Officers filed a Reply (Doc. No. 80). For the following reasons, the County's Motion will be granted, and the Officers’ Motion will be granted in part and denied in part.

I. Background

A. Shooting at the Campbell Residence

Around 9:15 p.m. on August 21, 2018, Officers Fox and Austin were dispatched to the Campbell residence after the Cheatham County Emergency Communications Center received three 9-1-1 hang-up calls that it associated with Plaintiffs’ address. (Doc. No. 71-1 at 5–6; Doc. No. 78-1 ¶ 2.) Plaintiffs deny any connection to the phone or phone number associated with these calls. (Doc. No. 75-1 ¶¶ 1, 3.) Nonetheless, the parties agree that the Officers drove to Plaintiffs’ residence to perform a "welfare check." (Doc. No. 78-1 ¶ 4.)

Around 9:39 p.m., the Officers arrived at Plaintiffs’ residence in marked patrol cars equipped with dashboard cameras, wearing uniforms equipped with body cameras. (Doc. No. 75-1 ¶¶ 2, 4–5.) Plaintiffs (Doc. Nos. 8, 27) and the Officers (Doc. No. 73) submitted footage of the ensuing events from Fox's dash-cam and each Officers’ body-cam.²

The Officers did not activate the emergency lights on their cars, but their headlights remained on and pointed toward Plaintiffs’ residence as they approached the residence on foot. (Doc. No. 75-1 ¶ 6.)

A porch light controlled by a heat sensor turned on as the Officers approached. (Doc. No. 78-1 ¶ 7; M. Campbell Dep.³ at 40.) Austin remained on the ground in front of the porch as Fox walked up four steps to a small landing to knock on the door. (Fox dash-cam; Fox body-cam; Austin body-cam.) Fox claims that he observed a security camera on the porch (Doc. No. 71-2 ¶ 3), and Mark testified that he has a fake security camera on the porch to deter neighbors (M. Campbell Dep. at 54).

Based on the three videos supplied by the parties, the Court has established the following timeline of events, beginning with Fox's knock and concluding with Fox firing his gun. The "seconds elapsed" reflects the approximate time of an event after the first knock:

 Seconds Elapsed Description of Event
                        0             Fox knocks three times
                       1-5            Fox walks down the steps and stands next to Austin
                        10            Mark says, "You got a gun?" through the closed door
                      12-17           Fox unholsters his gun4 and walks to the other side of Austin while saying
                                      "Mark ... come on out Mark, what's up man?"
                       18             Mark again says, "You got a gun?"5
                       21             Fox says, "What's going on Mark?"
                       23             Mark says, "I got one too."6
                      24-25           Fox draws his gun and turns his back to the door as he walks behind Austin
                       26             Mark begins to open the door
                       27             Fox turns quickly back toward the door
                       28             Fox says, "Do what Mark?" and then fires two shots toward the door in
                                      rapid succession7
                       29             Austin trips or jumps to the ground
                       30             Fox says, "You good?"
                       31             Fox fires six shots toward the door in rapid succession
                

[Editor's Note: The preceding image contains the reference for footnotes^{4 ,5 ,6 ,7} ].

(Fox dash-cam; Fox body-cam; Austin body-cam.) After the first two shots, Mark fell to the floor inside the house, kicked the door shut, and yelled for Sherrie to call 9-1-1 because "somebody" was shooting at them. (M. Campbell Dep. at 50; S. Campbell Dep. at 33–34). Sherrie was in the bedroom at the time. (S. Campbell Dep. at 33.) The shots did not hit anyone, and law enforcement did not locate a weapon in a subsequent search of the residence. (Doc. No. 75-1 ¶¶ 35–36.)

The Officers then made their way behind a patrol car as Fox reported "shots fired" over the radio. Almost a minute later, Mark yelled profanities at Fox and Austin through the closed door. A few minutes later, Mark opened the door and stood on the porch, holding up a flat, reflective, rectangular item in his right hand. Fox and Austin yelled at him to get on the ground and show his hands. Mark yelled that his phone was in his hand. Mark lifted his empty left hand, yelled he was not getting on the ground, yelled for Fox and Austin to shoot him, yelled profanities, and then went inside and shut the door. About a minute later, Mark again opened the door and stood in the doorway, appearing to talk on the phone and point at Fox and Austin. Fox and Austin yelled at him to show his hands. Mark yelled back and then went inside and shut the door. (Fox dash-cam; Fox body-cam; Austin body-cam.)

Meanwhile, after the Officers returned to the patrol car, they made several statements reflecting that they did not know what, if anything, Mark has holding when he opened the door. For instance, Fox asked, "What did he point at us?" and Austin replied, "I don't know, he just came out the door and pointed something, so I ducked." Fox also reported over the radio that Mark "came out the door with something in his hands." Austin later asked what Mark came "out the door with," and Fox replied, "I don't know, he had something in his hand and he raised it up." Austin responded, "He came out the door with his hand raised, that's where I heard you shooting, I just backed up." (Fox body-cam; Austin body-cam.)

Several other officers responded to the area, one of whom apprehended and arrested Mark in the backyard about 9 minutes after Mark's last interaction with Fox and Austin. (Fox dash-cam; Fox body-cam; Austin body-cam.) On three separate occasions, Fox explained the shooting to other officers on the scene. Each time, Fox stated that he fired after Mark asked if Fox and Austin had a gun, said that he had a gun, opened the door, and "lift[ed] something up." During one of these explanations, Austin stated that Mark "came to the door, had a gun," before trailing off. (Fox body-cam; Austin body-cam.)

After Mark's arrest, Fox and Austin accompanied a Detective to "clear the house." Sherrie was still in the bedroom with the door closed and still on the phone with 9-1-1. Austin and another officer directed Sherrie to come out with her hands visible, and she complied. Austin cuffed and detained Sherrie for about 3.5 minutes while other officers finished clearing the house. The Detective questioned Sherrie, directed Austin to uncuff her, continued questioning her, and then directed her to complete a written statement. Sherrie was crying off and on for much of this interaction until she was taken to complete a statement. (Fox body-cam; Austin body-cam.)

B. Cheatham County's Practices and Customs⁸

New hires for the Cheatham County Sheriff's Department receive 12 to 14 weeks of training through the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy, during which they "learn all the basic skills," including constitutional law, use of force, physical fitness, and shooting. (Doc. No. 78-1 ¶ 27; Breedlove Dep. at 21.) After this training, new hires are placed on a one-year probation, but they may "start riding within six weeks or two months" based on the evaluation of a supervisor. (Breedlove Dep. at 21.)

All Sheriff's Department officers are required to complete 40 annual hours of "in-service" training, which includes training on the use of deadly force under state law, firearms, emergency vehicles, domestic violence cases, and other areas. (Id. at 23, 25–28.) Officers Fox and Austin each testified that they received training on the use of force. (Fox. Dep. at 16; Austin Dep. at 11.)

It is Sheriff's Department policy to respond to all 9-1-1 hang-up calls, and the response is typically considered a "welfare check." (Breedlove Dep. at 33.) It is not departmental policy for officers to immediately identify themselves as law enforcement when they knock on the door of a residence. (Id. at 37.) Sheriff Breedlove testified that "[i]t depends on the situation itself and the nature of the call," and that for welfare checks, the process typically goes as follows: "[W]e come, we knock on the door, and mostly in all cases somebody on the other end is going to go, ‘who is it?’ ‘Sheriff's office.’ Or they're going to look out the window and see that the sheriff's office is here." (Id. at 37–38.) Fox testified that he was trained to announce himself as law enforcement when executing a search warrant. (Fox. Dep. at 10.)

Sheriff Breedlove also personally maintains a Facebook page for the Cheatham County Sheriff's Department. (Breedlove Dep. at 72.) He claims that the purpose of the page is to inform the public about crimes and the Department's efforts to deter them, develop a relationship with the community, and enlist the public's help in locating individuals with outstanding arrest warrants. (Id....