Cormier v. Lafayette City-Parish Consol. Gov't, CIVIL ACTION NO. 6:09-cv-00703
| Decision Date | 12 August 2013 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION NO. 6:09-cv-00703 |
| Parties | JOSEPH BOWMAN CORMIER v. LAFAYETTE CITY-PARISH CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT, ET AL. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Louisiana |
BY CONSENT OF THE PARTIES
The plaintiff, J.B. Cormier, and his wife, Mary Ann Henry Cormier, filed suit on April 29, 2009 seeking damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and various state law tort theories.1 Jurisdiction is premised on 28 U.S.C. § 1331 for the plaintiff's claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a) for the plaintiff's state law claims. The parties consented to trial before this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c).
The plaintiff sued the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government, the Lafayette City Police Department, the Lafayette City Prosecutor's Office, Lafayette City Marshal Earl "Nickey" Picard, Lafayette Deputy City Marshal Timothy Picard, Lafayette City Prosecutor Gary J. Haynes, Lafayette City Prosecutor Shane M.Mouton, and Lafayette city police officers Nolvey Stelly, Heather Martin, and Chase Guidry.
The plaintiff's claims against the Lafayette Police Department, the Lafayette City Prosecutor's Office, Gary J. Haynes, Shane M. Mouton, and Chase Guidry were dismissed by summary judgment and the rulings were not appealed. Heather Martin, Nolvey Stelly, and Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government in its capacity as the employer of Gary Haynes also filed a motion for summary judgment which was denied in part. That part of the ruling was reversed by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals which held that the Supreme Court's decision in Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994), barred the § 1983 claims against Stelly and Martin, and since the actions of these defendants pertaining to the arrest of Cormier and his subsequent prosecution were not actionable, the state law claims against Stelly, Martin, and Lafayette Consolidated Government as the employer of Haynes also failed.2 With the appellate court ruling, only Mr. Cormier's claims against Earl and Timothy Picard remained for trial.
The plaintiff asserted six claims against the Picards. The first is a claim under § 1983 for violation of the plaintiff's rights of due process, equal protection, and liberty under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and the parallel provisions of the Louisiana state constitution. The plaintiff also claims that the defendants' actions constitute the torts of defamation, malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent hiring and/or supervision under Louisiana state law.
At the close of the plaintiff's case, the defendants moved for judgment as a matter of law under Fed. R. Civ. P. 52(c) with regard to all claims. Finding that the plaintiff had not carried his burden of proof with regard to his claims for malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent hiring and/or supervision, the Court granted the defendants' motion with regard to those claims. The Court deferred ruling on the defendants' motion concerning the plaintiff's § 1983 and defamation claims. At the close of the evidence the defendants re-urged their motion, and the plaintiff also sought judgment as a matter of law. Both motions were denied.
The Court, having carefully considered the testimony of all of the witnesses, the exhibits entered into evidence at trial, the record of this action, and the applicable law, now makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law as required byFed. R. Civ. P. 52. To the extent that any conclusion of law is deemed to be a finding of fact, it is adopted as such; and likewise, any finding of fact that is deemed to be a conclusion of law is so adopted.
On April 29, 2008, the plaintiff, who is a retired Captain from the Lafayette City Police Department, called the Lafayette police to complain about vagrants trespassing on his property, a vacant lot located at the corner of South Pierce and West Simcoe Streets. Corporal Heather Martin and Officer Chase Guidry responded to the call, and as they approached the location, a woman later identified as Melanie Green flagged them down and reported that someone (who was later identified as Cormier) was on the vacant lot, waving a gun around, saying that he owned the lot and did not want homeless people on it.
Martin and Guidry approached Cormier, explained that they were investigating both his trespassing complaint and a complaint about a disturbance at the location, and began reading him his rights. Cormier became upset and began using profanities in a loud voice. Martin called Sgt. Dewitt Sheridan who also came to the scene and talked with Cormier. Sgt. Sheridan learned that Cormier was upset because, even after multiple complaints, nothing had been done to keep vagrants from trespassing on his lot. According to Sgt. Sheridan, Martin advised that several subjects had seenCormier push a person to the ground and that Cormier "had pulled out a gun on the people around there." The person who had been pushed to the ground had already left the area. Sgt. Sheridan called the watch commander, Lt. Green, to report what had occurred and reported that the alleged victim had left the area. Lt. Green inquired whether Cormier had pointed the gun at anyone to which Martin responded that no one could say that he did. Lt. Green advised Sgt. Sheridan "that there was no violation and no arrest could be made." After talking with Sgt. Sheridan and without being issued a summons of any kind, Cormier left the vacant lot to go to the police department to get a "no trespass" letter.
Martin obtained a written statement from Melanie Green, who stated:
The homeless man, Greg Greer, who was not at the scene when the officers arrived, soon called 911 to complain about the incident. Sgt. Sheridan met Greer and obtained a written statement which indicated that, as Greer was leaving St. Joseph's Diner and walking back towards downtown, he cut across a grass covered lot on the corner of Pierce Street. He stated that a man on the lot, next to a black CrownVictoria, started yelling at him, went into the trunk of his car, pulled out a hand gun that appeared to have a wooden grip, put the gun in a holster, and "came after me." Greer went on to state that the man pushed him down to the ground, removed the gun from the holster, and yelled at him to leave the lot.
Sgt. Sheridan called Lt. Green again and advised that Greer wanted to file charges against Cormier. Although Sgt. Sheridan's oral report to Lt. Green was different from the statement given by Greer, based on the information that was relayed, Lt. Green instructed that Cormier be issued a summons for simple battery. Sgt. Sheridan advised that Cormier was on his way to the police station, and Lt. Green instructed that whoever took the report from Greer should meet Cormier at the station, advise him that Greer wanted to file charges, and issue a summons.
When Martin arrived at the police station, Cormier was inside talking with Lt. Nolvey Stelly. Lt. Stelly testified that, either while in the lobby of the police station or in the station parking lot, Cormier cursed in a loud voice and called Lt. Stelly a racist, an action for which Lt. Stelly wanted to file a complaint but was told not to do so by one of his superiors. After Lt. Stelly and Cormier walked outside to the police station parking lot, Martin prepared a misdemeanor summons for simple battery and issued it to Cormier.
Martin, who this Court found to be credible, testified that it was originally her intent to issue a summons to Cormier for disturbing the peace based on what she observed at the vacant lot. When she arrived, there was no vagrant person on the property, therefore, she could not issue a summons for trespassing in response to Cormier's complaint. Nor was she aware of the details involving Greer, but she did observe Cormier disturbing the peace by cursing in a loud voice - a fact Cormier has admitted. After Greer's statement was obtained by Sgt. Sheridan, Martin's supervisors ordered her to issue a summons for simple battery rather than disturbing the peace.
At some point before May 1, 2008, Cormier called Police Chief Jim Craft to complain about an incident on his property on April 29 in which a transient threw a filled water bottle at him. Since this action would constitute an assault, Chief Craft asked Major Jackie Alfred to conduct an investigation into Cormier's complaint, specifically to determine whether the transient was charged with a crime. Major Alfred recused himself because of his longstanding friendship with Cormier and delegated the investigation to Captain Jimmy Smith.
Capt. Smith asked Lt. Stelly to write a statement concerning his involvement in the events of April 29, and to obtain statements from Martin and Sheridan. Lt. Stelly asked Martin to write a statement setting forth the events of April 29 as part ofan "investigation," a request she thought was out of the ordinary. She complied and gave her three page statement dated May 2, 2008 to Lt. Stelly. Lt. Stelly testified that he gave Martin's statement, Sheridan's statement, and his own statement to Capt. Smith. Unlike the summons for simple battery, these statements, as part of an internal investigation, were not public record.
Police department records show that, on May 2, 2008, Lt. Stelly obtained "statements" relating to this matter from clerk 140 in the police department records room. These statements were of Greg Greer and Melanie Green as they were in the records room...
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