Davis v. Rodriguez
| Decision Date | 14 April 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-7207.,No. 03-7255.,03-7207.,03-7255. |
| Citation | 364 F.3d 424 |
| Parties | Dorian DAVIS, Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross-Appellee, v. Richard RODRIGUEZ, William Rivera, Troy Gordon & City of Hartford, Defendants-Appellees-Cross-Appellants, Hartford Hospital, Defendant-Appellee, Hartford Police Department & Debra Pachucki, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Earle Giovanniello, New Haven, CT, for Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross-Appellee.
Ralph W. Johnson III (James J. Szerejko, on the brief), Halloran & Sage LLP, Hartford, CT, for Defendants-Appellees-Cross-Appellants.
Stephen V. Manning, O'Brien, Tanski & Young, LLP, Hartford, CT, for Defendant-Appellee.
Before: FEINBERG, KEARSE, and RAGGI, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff Dorian Davis appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Peter C. Dorsey, J.) in favor of defendants in plaintiff's suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Davis principally alleged in his suit that Hartford police officers Richard Rodriguez, William Rivera and Troy Gordon violated his rights under the First, Fourth and Eighth Amendments when they used excessive force to illegally seize and search him. Davis also alleged a claim against the City of Hartford based on the same incident. Davis also claimed that Hartford Hospital had been negligent in failing to detect and remove a bullet apparently lodged in his leg during his encounter with the police. The district court allowed only one of Davis's various claims — the alleged use of excessive force in arresting him — to go to the jury, which returned a verdict for defendants.
On appeal, Davis challenges the court's decision to grant summary judgment in favor of Gordon on the § 1983 claims and Hartford Hospital on the negligence claim. Davis further challenges the court's decision granting judgment as a matter of law to Rodriguez and Rivera on the illegal search and seizure claims. Finally, on the excessive force claim, Davis challenges two of the court's evidentiary rulings at trial and its jury charge. We affirm in part and reverse in part and, for reasons set forth below, vacate the judgment and remand for a new trial on Davis's illegal seizure and excessive force claims against Rodriguez and Rivera.1
This case arises out of two conflicting versions of what happened at the corner of Capen and Martin Streets in Hartford, Connecticut in the late evening of December 23, 1997. Davis testified to his version of events at trial. According to Davis, he and a friend were innocently walking down the street past a group of people when Rodriguez, a Hartford police officer, ordered Davis to approach his cruiser. As Davis approached, Rodriguez grabbed him and pushed him up against the car. Rodriguez showed Davis a gun and a bag of drugs and asked, "Whose shit is this?" Davis told Rodriguez that they did not belong to him. Rodriguez then struck Davis repeatedly. Davis attempted to run away, but Rodriguez threw him to the ground. Davis heard a gunshot, but did not realize that he had been shot. Officer Rivera arrived on the scene, and he and Rodriguez began hitting, kicking and macing Davis. Davis did not resist, instead curling up into a fetal position on the ground. Officer Gordon arrived and pointed a shotgun at Davis's head, telling him to turn over. Davis was handcuffed, his feet were tied, and he was put in a police cruiser where he was maced again. Davis's testimony was largely corroborated at trial by his friend.
Officers Rodriguez and Rivera presented a starkly different story in their testimony at trial. Rodriguez testified that while on patrol that evening, he saw a sizable group of people congregating at the high-crime corner of Capen and Martin Streets. From his cruiser, Rodriguez ordered the crowd to disperse. Most of the people did, but Davis refused, responding "fuck you, fuck the police ... I own this block." Davis, who may have been under the influence of drugs, was acting erratically, and Rodriguez decided to arrest him. Rodriguez testified that he did not have or show Davis a bag of drugs or a gun. He tried to put Davis's hands on the cruiser's trunk to perform a pat down, but Davis kept resisting. Rodriguez also believed that Davis was trying to take something from Davis's side and used his hands to stop him. Davis removed Rodriguez's nightstick from his belt, but Rodriguez was able to knock it away. As Rivera arrived on the scene, the officers heard a gunshot. Rodriguez threw Davis to the ground and maced him in an effort to protect himself and Rivera. Davis continued to struggle. Only after Gordon arrived and pointed a shotgun at Davis's head were the officers able to subdue Davis. Rivera told a similar story, adding that he saw a silver gun in Davis's hand and a plastic object fall from Davis's jacket. Rivera testified that a .32 caliber gun and a plastic container containing cocaine and marijuana were eventually recovered from the scene of the struggle. Once in the police cruiser, Davis continued to struggle, kicking and breaking one of the windows.
At 1:29 a.m. on the morning of December 24, 1997, after taking Davis to the police station house, the police brought him to the Emergency Department at Hartford Hospital (the Hospital). The nurse on duty testified that Davis refused to give his name, was spitting, agitated and calling for Allah. Davis appeared to be intoxicated. After being placed in four-point restraints and sedated, Davis received a series of tests including routine lab work, a complete blood count, a urine drug screen, a CT scan, an abdominal x-ray and an electrocardiogram. Davis tested positive for marijuana and had an elevated blood alcohol level. The only injuries noted by the examining doctor were "abrasion and soft tissue swelling" on the right forehead. Davis did not mention, nor did anyone discover, the bullet wound in Davis's leg. At 5:20 a.m., Davis was discharged into the custody of the Hartford police. Davis was apparently "able to ambulate with some difficulty, [and] was arousable in answering questions."
At 4:40 p.m. on December 25, 1997, Davis was brought back to the Emergency Department with complaints of rib pain, cervical spine pain and left-hand numbness. Again, Davis did not mention, nor did any of the hospital staff discover, that he had been shot in the leg. Davis was discharged at about 10:15 p.m. with a diagnosis of bruised ribs. Almost two years later, in an out-patient elective procedure, the bullet and the capsule of tissue surrounding it were surgically removed from Davis's leg to be used as evidence in the criminal trial against him.2
Davis filed a complaint in this action in March 2000, amending it first in June 2000 and then again in February 2001. In the second amended complaint, Davis named Officers Rodriguez, Rivera and Gordon, the City of Hartford and the Hospital as defendants. Davis alleged that the officers had illegally arrested and searched him in violation of the Fourth Amendment, had inflicted cruel and unusual punishment upon him in violation of the Eighth Amendment and had violated his First Amendment right to freely associate and assemble. He also alleged that Hartford Police Department policies violated all three Amendments. Against the Hospital, Davis alleged negligence in failing to discover and remove the bullet lodged in his leg.
On August 13, 2002, the district court granted the Hospital's motion for summary judgment in the negligence action against it. The court held that Davis had failed to offer any expert evidence that the standard of care applicable to emergency room doctors would require removal of the bullet in his leg. Davis had presented expert evidence only that the applicable standard of care would have required detection of the bullet, not its removal, and thus failed to establish an essential element of his negligence claim.
On August 30, 2002, on motions for summary judgment by defendants, the court dismissed all claims against Gordon and the City and dismissed the First and Eighth Amendment claims against Rodriguez and Rivera.3
A jury trial on the remaining illegal seizure, illegal search and excessive force claims under § 1983 against Rodriguez and Rivera began in January 2003. Davis testified that he had not been doing anything wrong on the night of December 23, 1997 and that his arrest and beating were unjustified. After Davis finished presenting his case, defendants moved for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) under Rule 50 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Defendants pointed out that Davis had not introduced evidence of the charges on which he initially had been arrested by Rodriguez. As a result of this omission, they argued, his case was deficient as a matter of law because he had thereby failed to show that there was no probable cause for the arrest. Davis tried in vain to persuade the court that he did not need to identify the charges on which he had been arrested where the police had not charged him for his pre-arrest conduct and had yet to identify the conduct that was the basis of Rodriguez's initial decision to arrest him.4 More importantly, Davis asked the court for permission to reopen his case so that he could call Rodriguez to the stand and question him regarding the charges supporting Davis's arrest. The court rejected this request and dismissed the illegal seizure claim against Rodriguez and Rivera. Ruling from the bench, the court explained to the jury that it had
determined that there is no evidence on which you could find that the defendant or defendants arrested the plaintiff on the basis of any particular charge and while there was testimony that he was arrested, there was no evidence as to what h...
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