Clavette v. Sweeney

Decision Date30 January 2001
Docket NumberNo. CV 99-884-BR.,CV 99-884-BR.
Citation132 F.Supp.2d 864
PartiesPaul N. CLAVETTE, Plaintiff, v. Lonn C. SWEENEY, Jason K. Francis, P. Scott Vaughn, and James P. Morgan, Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — District of Oregon

Harrison Latto, Portland, OR, for Plaintiff.

Jeffrey L. Rogers, City Attorney, J. Scott Moede, Deputy City Attorney, Portland, OR, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

BROWN, District Judge.

This action comes before the Court on Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (# 26) and Defendants' Supplemental Motion for Summary Judgment Regarding James P. Morgan (# 44). For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment and GRANTS Defendants' Supplemental Motion for Summary Judgment.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The following facts are undisputed except when otherwise noted. At 1:00 a.m. on August 29, 1998, the Portland Bureau of Emergency Communications (BOEC) received a 9-1-1 call reporting a house fire. The caller, who lived on Southeast 84th Place, said she thought she could see flames through the window of a house located on Southeast 85th Avenue. BOEC quickly dispatched police and fire equipment. The first person on the scene was Portland Police Officer Eric Torgerson, who observed thick smoke that initially appeared to come from a window of Plaintiff's house on Southeast 85th Avenue. Officer Torgerson went into Plaintiff's backyard and discovered a 55-gallon drum. Defendants claim smoke and flames were billowing from the drum; Plaintiff denies that allegation and asserts the drum only was "smoldering." Officer Torgerson told BOEC there was "trash burning inside a 55-gallon drum" and gave similar information to the crew of Fire Engine 11, who had just arrived. Officer Torgerson then left the scene.

Fire Lieutenant Thomas Miller, who was wearing a firefighter's uniform, knocked or tapped on the front door of Plaintiff's house. Plaintiffs wife, Claudia Clavette, awoke, saw a firefighter on her porch, and told Plaintiff there was a "fire guy on the porch." She took a pistol out of her dresser drawer and went to the front door. Lieutenant Miller told Ms. Clavette there was a "barrel burning in the back yard," and asked her to "put some clothes on and meet me in the back yard." He was not aware Ms. Clavette was holding a pistol. Ms. Clavette told Lieutenant Miller she would not go into the backyard. Plaintiff went out the side door of the house and confronted the firefighters. Plaintiff told the firefighters, "You're lucky my wife didn't shoot you guys. She thought you were prowlers." He also said, "I would appreciate it if you guys would get off of my property. Haven't you got better things to do with our tax dollars?" Plaintiff again told the firefighters to leave his property. The firefighters gestured to the 55-gallon drum and said, "[T]his is a burn barrel." Plaintiff said the drum was a barbecue and told the firefighters to "[g]et the fuck off my property now." Lieutenant Miller called for Code 3 cover and requested police assistance. The parties agree "Code 3 cover is the highest level of request, indicating a response with lights and siren as a need for urgent assistance."

Defendants Sweeney, Francis, and Vaughn responded to the Code 3 request. According to BOEC records, Officer Vaughn arrived at 1:12:39 a.m., Officer Francis arrived at 1:12:50 a.m., and Sergeant Sweeney arrived at 1:13:50 a.m. Lieutenant Miller told Sergeant Sweeney that Plaintiff "came out and yells, screaming at us, saying something about getting shot and get off the property. And he's got a fire in the back yard and won't let us on to put it out and ran us out of there." At some point, Reserve Officer Morgan also arrived on the scene.

The parties disagree about what happened next. Defendants assert Plaintiff refused to identify himself and told Officers Francis and Vaughn they had no right to come onto his property. Defendants also assert Plaintiff prevented the firefighters from going onto his property to put out the fire. Sergeant Sweeney allegedly told Plaintiff he would be taken into custody unless he let the firefighters onto his property. After Sweeney told Plaintiff he would count to three and give Plaintiff one more chance to cooperate, Plaintiff allegedly assumed a bladed or fighting stance. As Sergeant Sweeney reached for Plaintiff's arm, Plaintiff jerked back and resisted being taken into custody. Officers Vaughn, Francis, and Morgan then helped Sweeney take Plaintiff down to the sidewalk and placed him in handcuffs.

Plaintiff's version of events is significantly different. Plaintiff asserts any fire on his property was extinguished by the time he left his house and went into the backyard. He denies firefighters needed to do anything about a fire and denies he prevented them from coming onto his property. Plaintiff also denies Sergeant Sweeney told him he would be taken into custody if he did not allow firefighters onto his property. According to Plaintiff, the officers never asked his name, but only asked him to produce proof of his identity. Plaintiff responded he did not have any identification with him because he had just gotten out of bed and was wearing only a pair of pants. Plaintiff also denies going into a bladed stance or resisting arrest before he was taken into custody.

The parties agree Defendants Sweeney, Francis, and Vaughn did not punch, kick, strike, draw, or point their handguns, mace, or use a baton when gaining control over Plaintiff. Plaintiff, however, asserts Reserve Officer Morgan punched him and struck him with a baton. Defendants deny that allegation. The parties agree Plaintiff was picked up off the ground after he was handcuffed and was placed in Officer Vaughn's patrol car. Plaintiff then identified himself and told Sergeant Sweeney he was on probation for a federal felony conviction for knowingly taking a threatened species. Sergeant Sweeney testified he decided not to charge Plaintiff with a crime because the fire was out and the police had obtained the information they needed to complete paperwork for a referral to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for an illegal burn. Plaintiff was not formally arrested or charged with any crime. The parties disagree about the length of time Plaintiff was detained in the police car before being released. Defendants assert Plaintiff spent less than 30 minutes in the car; Plaintiff claims he was there for about an hour.

THE AMENDED COMPLAINT

Plaintiff filed his original Complaint on June 22, 1999, and named Sweeney, Francis, and Vaughn as Defendants. Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint on October 17, 2000, in which he added Morgan as a Defendant. In the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff alleges Defendants violated his Fourth Amendment rights by arresting him without a warrant and without probable cause, by detaining him for an unreasonable period, and by using unreasonable and excessive force in arresting or detaining him. Plaintiff pursues these claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and seeks damages for medical expenses, lost income, emotional distress and humiliation, and costs and attorneys' fees.

Defendants deny they violated Plaintiff's constitutional rights and allege several affirmative defenses, including qualified immunity, "community caretaking," "exigent or emergent circumstances," self-defense, and comparative fault. Defendants also contend Plaintiff's claims against Officer Morgan are barred by the applicable statute of limitations.

DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Defendants filed their first Motion for Summary Judgment before Plaintiff filed his Amended Complaint. In that Motion, Defendants argue they are entitled to summary judgment on several issues. First, Defendants contend Plaintiff cannot prevail on his claim for excessive detention because "the scope of the detention was limited to allowing the firefighters to extinguish the fire, and obtain Mr. Clavette's name to complete paperwork for the DEQ referral for an illegal burn and the length of the detention was a maximum of 20-25 minutes, reasonable on its face given the circumstances."

Second, Defendants contend they are entitled to judgment on Plaintiff's claim for false arrest because Defendants had probable cause to arrest Plaintiff for several crimes. Third, Defendants argue they are entitled to qualified immunity on Plaintiff's claims for false arrest and excessive detention because a reasonable police officer could have believed the detention and any arrest were lawful. Fourth, Defendants argue they did not use excessive force against Plaintiff.

After Plaintiff filed his Amended Complaint adding Reserve Officer Morgan as a Defendant, Defendants filed a Supplemental Motion for Summary Judgment in which they argue Plaintiffs claims against Morgan are time-barred. Defendants also argue Morgan is entitled to summary judgment for the reasons set forth in Defendants' original Motion for Summary Judgment.

ANALYSIS
I. Summary Judgment Standard

Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56:

Summary judgment should be granted if "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and [] the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." If the moving party shows that there are no genuine issues of material fact, the non-moving party must go beyond the pleadings and designate facts showing an issue for trial. A scintilla of evidence or evidence that is merely colorable or not significantly probative does not present a genuine issue of material fact. The underlying substantive law governing the claims determines whether or not it is material. Reasonable doubts as to the existence of material factual issue[s] are resolved against the moving parties and inferences are drawn in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. There must be enough doubt for a "reasonable trier of fact" to find for plaintiffs in order to defeat the summary judgment motion.

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