Carroll v. Borough of State College

• Decision Date: 27 June 1994
• Docket Number: No. 3:CV-92-1000.,3:CV-92-1000.
• Citation: 854 F. Supp. 1184
• Parties: Mark T. CARROLL, Plaintiff, v. BOROUGH OF STATE COLLEGE, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Pennsylvania

854 F. Supp. 1184

Mark T. CARROLL, Plaintiff, v. BOROUGH OF STATE COLLEGE, et al., Defendants.

No. 3:CV-92-1000.

United States District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania.

June 27, 1994.

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Gary B. Gilman, Barry L. Gross, Clyde W. Waite, Stief, Waite, Gross & Sagoskin, Newton, PA, for plaintiff.

Hugh J. Hutchison, Leonard, Tillery & Davison, Dennis P. Lynch, Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, Philadelphia, PA, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM

McCLURE, District Judge.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Mark T. Carroll filed this section 1983¹ action to recover for injuries which he sustained during the early morning hours of July 27, 1990 when the motorcycle which he was operating crashed while being pursued by a police vehicle. The pursuit began when Corporal Buddy C. Dorman of the State College Borough Police observed Carroll pass another vehicle on the right hand side while exceeding the posted speed limit. Cpl. Dorman observed Carroll doing forty miles-per-hour in a twenty-five-mile-per-hour zone.

Cpl. Dorman fell in behind the motorcycle so that he could clock its speed with VASCAR. As he did so, the motorcycle proceeded through a red light. At that point, Cpl. Dorman activated his cruiser's siren and overhead lights, signaling the motorcycle operator to pull over. The operator did not stop, but sped up. Cpl. Dorman followed the motorcycle along Borough and township streets for about three miles. He radioed police headquarters that he was in pursuit of a motorcyclist who had committed a traffic violation. At times during the chase, the motorcycle and the pursuing police car reached speeds of up to seventy or eighty-five miles-per-hour.

The chase came to an end when the motor-cycle failed to negotiate a curve and crashed. Carroll sustained serious, permanently disabling injuries in the crash.

Cpl. Dorman was the only police officer involved in the pursuit. Other officers arrived on the scene after the accident, but did not participate in the pursuit.

Carroll filed this action against Cpl. Dorman; the State College Chief of Police, Elwood G. Williams, Jr.; and the Borough of State College (the Borough).² He alleges the violation of his civil rights under the Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments (Counts I, II and III) based on Cpl. Dorman's pursuit. His allegations of liability against the Borough are based on a Monell³ claim grounded in an alleged failure to train its police officers in pursuit techniques and to adopt more restrictive policies against such pursuits.

In addition to the federal claims, Carroll alleges three pendent state claims: 1) willful misconduct under 42 Pa.Cons.Stat.Ann. § 8550 (Count IV); 2) negligence per se for the alleged violation of 75 Pa.Cons.Stat.Ann. § 3105 (Count V); and 3) reckless disregard for plaintiff's safety (Count VI).

Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment (Record Document No. 7) on all claims. Our ruling on defendants' motion was deferred⁴ pending reconsideration of the Third Circuit panel decision in Fagan v. City of Vineland, Nos. 92-5481, 92-5482, 92-5551 and 92-5594, slip op., 1993 WL 290386 (3d Cir. August 5, 1993) (Fagan I), appealing, 804 F.Supp. 591, 606 (D.N.J.1992).

Reargument was granted before the court en banc, 5 F.3d 647 (3d Cir.1993), on the question of the standard to be applied in judging the conduct of the police pursuing a suspect under a claimed Fourteenth Amendment violation.

Following reargument, two opinions were issued: 1) an opinion by the court en banc setting forth the standard of liability in a police pursuit action grounded in the Fourteenth Amendment, Fagan v. City of Vineland, (Fagan II — en banc), 22 F.3d 1283 (3d Cir.1994); and 2) an opinion by the original panel, reaffirming its earlier reversal of the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the city, Fagan v. City of Vineland, (Fagan II—panel), 22 F.3d 1283 (3d Cir.1994).

Issuance of the Fagan en banc opinion resolved the uncertainty over the standard to be applied in police pursuit cases in this circuit. We, therefore, lift the stay entered pending issuance of that decision and will now rule on the pending motions.

In addition to defendants' motion for summary judgment, there are pending: 1) plaintiff's motion to supplement his memorandum in opposition to defendants' summary judgment motion (record document no. 30); 2) defendants' motion for separate trials (record document no. 18); 3) plaintiff's motion in limine (record document no. 22); and 4) defendants' motion in limine (record document no. 29).

For the reasons discussed below, we will enter an order granting summary judgment in favor of all defendants on all of plaintiff's federally based claims (Counts I, II and III). All other pending motions will be denied as moot. Plaintiff's state law claims (Counts IV, V and VI) will be dismissed without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3).

DISCUSSION

Summary judgment standard

Summary judgment is appropriate if the "pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)

... The plain language of Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. In such a situation, there can be `no genuine issue as to any material fact,' since a complete failure of proof concerning an essential element of the nonmoving party's case necessarily renders all other facts immaterial. The moving party is `entitled to judgment as a matter of law' because the nonmoving party has failed to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of her case with respect to which she has the burden of proof.

Celotex v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-24, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

The moving party bears the initial responsibility of stating the basis for its motions and identifying those portions of the record which demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. He or she can discharge that burden by "showing ... that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case." Celotex, supra, 477 U.S. at 323 and 325, 106 S.Ct. at 2552 and 2554.

Issues of fact are "`genuine' only if a reasonable jury, considering the evidence presented, could find for the non-moving party." Childers v. Joseph, 842 F.2d 689, 693-94 (3d Cir.1988), citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Material facts are those which will affect the outcome of the trial under governing law. Anderson, supra, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. at 2510. In determining whether an issue of material fact exists, the court must consider all evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. White v. Westinghouse Electric Company, 862 F.2d 56, 59 (3d Cir.1988).

Fourth Amendment claim

To prevail on a cause of action under section 1983, a plaintiff must prove that the conduct of a state actor deprived him of a right, privilege, or immunity secured by the United States Constitution or the law of the United States. Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 330, 106 S.Ct. 662, 664, 88 L.Ed.2d 662 (1986). No one disputes that Cpl. Dorman was acting under color of state law during the pursuit. What is in contention is whether plaintiff's federal rights were violated.

Carroll alleges the violation of his Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The Fourth Amendment protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures by law enforcement authorities. To state a cause of action under the Fourth Amendment, a plaintiff injured during, or as a result of, a police pursuit must establish that the pursuit was a "seizure" by the law enforcement officer and that the officer's conduct was unreasonable. Galas v. McKee, 801 F.2d 200, 202 (6th Cir.1986).

What constitutes a seizure was defined by the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 552-53, 100 S.Ct. 1870, 1876, 64 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980). The Court stated:

... Not all ... contact ... between policemen and citizens involves `seizures' of persons. Only when the officer, by means of physical force or show of authority, has in some way restrained the liberty of a citizen ... has ... a `seizure' ... occurred.

....

... A person is `seized' only when, by means of physical force or a show of authority, his freedom of movement is restrained. Only when such restraint is imposed is there any foundation whatever for invoking constitutional safeguards.

Id., 446 U.S. at 552-53, 100 S.Ct. at 1877 (1980) (Citations omitted.)

The Supreme Court elaborated in Brower v. County of Inyo, 489 U.S. 593, 109 S.Ct. 1378, 103 L.Ed.2d 628 (1989), stating:

Violation of the Fourth Amendment requires an intentional acquisition of physical control. A seizure occurs even when an unintended person or thing is the object of the detention or taking ... but the detention or taking itself must be willful....

.... It is clear that a Fourth Amendment seizure does not occur whenever there is a governmentally caused termination of an individual's freedom of movement ... nor even whenever there is a governmental and governmentally desired termination of an individual's freedom of movement through means intentionally applied. That is the reason there was no seizure in the hypothetical situation that concerned the Court of Appeals.

Id., 489 U.S. at 595-96, 109 S.Ct. at 1381.

The hypothetical situation to which the Court referred was a police pursuit "in which the suspect unexpectedly loses control of his car and crashes." With respect to that scenario, the Supreme Court stated that it would find "no...