Estate of Armstrong v. Vill. of Pinehurst

• Citation: 810 F.3d 892
• Decision Date: 11 January 2016
• Docket Number: No. 15–1191.,15–1191.
• Parties: The ESTATE OF Ronald H. ARMSTRONG, by and through his Administratrix, Jinia ARMSTRONG Lopez, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. The VILLAGE OF PINEHURST; Officer Jerry McDonald, in his official and individual capacity; OFFICER TINA S. SHEPPARD, in her official and individual capacity; Officer Arthur Lee Gatling, Jr., in his official and individual capacity, Defendants–Appellees, and Taser International, Inc., Defendant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)

810 F.3d 892

The ESTATE OF Ronald H. ARMSTRONG, by and through his Administratrix, Jinia ARMSTRONG Lopez, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v. The VILLAGE OF PINEHURST; Officer Jerry McDonald, in his official and individual capacity; OFFICER TINA S. SHEPPARD, in her official and individual capacity; Officer Arthur Lee Gatling, Jr., in his official and individual capacity, Defendants–Appellees,andTaser International, Inc., Defendant.

No. 15–1191.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued: Oct. 28, 2015.

Decided: Jan. 11, 2016.

ARGUED:Karonnie R. Truzy, CRUMLEY ROBERTS, LLP, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellant. Dan McCord Hartzog, CRANFILL SUMNER & HARTZOG LLP, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellees. ON BRIEF:David J. Ventura, CRUMLEY ROBERTS, LLP, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellant. Dan M. Hartzog, Jr., CRANFILL SUMNER & HARTZOG LLP, Raleigh, North Carolina; Michael J. Newman, VAN CAMP, MEACHAM & NEWMAN PLLC, Pinehurst, North Carolina, for Appellees.

Before WILKINSON, KEENAN, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge THACKER wrote the opinion, in which Judge KEENAN joined. Judge WILKINSON wrote a separate opinion concurring in part.

THACKER, Circuit Judge:

The Estate of Ronald H. Armstrong ("Appellant" when referring to the estate, or "Armstrong" when referring to the decedent) appeals an order granting summary judgment to the Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina, and Lieutenant Jerry McDonald, Sergeant Tina Sheppard, and Officer Arthur Gatling, Jr., of the Pinehurst Police Department ("Appellees"). The district court determined that qualified immunity bars Appellant's claim that Appellees used excessive force when executing an involuntary commitment order, which required Armstrong's immediate hospitalization.

On review, we hold that Appellees used unconstitutionally excessive force when seizing Armstrong, but we, nevertheless, agree with the district court that Appellees are entitled to qualified immunity. We, therefore, affirm the grant of summary judgment in Appellees' favor on the grounds explained below.

I.

We review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo. See Henry v. Purnell, 652 F.3d 524, 531 (4th Cir.2011) (en banc). We "determine de novo whether the facts ... establish the deprivation of an actual constitutional right," Leverette v. Bell, 247 F.3d 160, 166 (4th Cir.2001), and "[w]e review de novo an award of summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity," Durham v. Horner, 690 F.3d 183, 188 (4th Cir.2012). "Summary judgment is appropriate only if taking the evidence and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, ‘no material facts are disputed and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.’ " Henry, 652 F.3d at 531 (quoting Ausherman v. Bank of Am. Corp., 352 F.3d 896, 899 (4th Cir.2003) ).

II.

A.

Ronald Armstrong suffered from bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia. On April 23, 2011, he had been off his prescribed medication for five days and was poking holes through the skin on his leg "to let the air out." J.A. 675.¹ His sister, Jinia Armstrong Lopez ("Lopez"), worried by his behavior, convinced Armstrong to accompany her to Moore Regional Hospital ("Hospital") in Pinehurst, North Carolina. He willingly went to the Hospital and checked in, but "[d]uring the course of the evaluation he apparently became frightened and eloped from the [emergency department]." Id. Based on that flight and Lopez's report about his odd behavior over the previous week, the examining doctor judged Armstrong a danger to himself and issued involuntary commitment papers to compel his return. Armstrong's doctor could have, but did not, designate him a danger to others, checking only the box that reads "[m]entally ill and dangerous to self" on the commitment form. Id.

The Pinehurst police were called as soon as Armstrong left the Hospital, and three members of the department—all Appellees in this case—responded in short order. Officer Gatling appeared on the scene first, followed a minute or two later by Sergeant Sheppard. Lieutenant McDonald arrived about ten minutes after Sheppard. Armstrong had not traveled far when Gatling arrived. He was located near an intersection near the Hospital's main entrance.

When the police arrived, Armstrong's commitment order had not yet been finalized.² Therefore, Gatling and Sheppard engaged Armstrong in conversation. By all accounts, the parties were calm and cooperative at this point in time.

Armstrong was acting strangely, however. When Officer Gatling first initiated conversation, Armstrong was wandering across an active roadway that intersects with the Hospital's driveway. Gatling successfully convinced him to withdraw to the relative safety of the roadside, but Armstrong then proceeded to eat grass and dandelions, chew on a gauze-like substance, and put cigarettes out on his tongue while the police officers waited for the commitment order.

As soon as they learned that the commitment papers were complete, the three police officers surrounded and advanced toward Armstrong—who reacted by sitting down and wrapping himself around a four-by-four post that was supporting a nearby stop sign. The officers tried to pry Armstrong's arms and legs off of the post, but he was wrapped too tightly and would not budge.

Immediately following finalization of the involuntary commitment order, in other words, Armstrong was seated on the ground, anchored to the base of a stop sign post, in defiance of the order. The three police officers at the scene were surrounding him, struggling to remove him from the post. Lopez was in the immediate vicinity as well, along with Jack Blankenship and Johnny Verbal, two Hospital security officers. So Armstrong was encircled by six people—three Pinehurst police officers tasked with returning him to the Hospital, two Hospital security guards tasked with returning him to the Hospital, and his sister, who was pleading with him to return to the Hospital.

Appellees did not prolong this stalemate. Nor did they attempt to engage in further conversation with Armstrong. Instead, just thirty seconds or so after the officers told Armstrong his commitment order was final, Lieutenant McDonald instructed Officer Gatling to prepare to tase Armstrong. Officer Gatling drew his taser, set it to "drive stun mode,"³ and announced that, if Armstrong did not let go of the post, he would be tased. That warning had no effect, so Gatling deployed the taser—five separate times over a period of approximately two minutes.⁴ Rather than have its desired effect, the tasing actually increased Armstrong's resistance.

But shortly after the tasing ceased, Blankenship and Verbal jumped in to assist the three police officers trying to pull Armstrong off of his post. That group of five successfully removed Armstrong and laid him facedown on the ground.

During the struggle, Armstrong complained that he was being choked. While no witness saw the police apply any chokeholds, Lopez did see officers "pull [ ] his collar like they were choking him" during the struggle. J.A. 192.

With Armstrong separated from the post, Appellees restrained him. Lieutenant McDonald and Sergeant Sheppard pinned Armstrong down by placing a knee on his back and standing on his back, respectively, while handcuffs were applied. But even after being cuffed, Armstrong continued to kick at Sergeant Sheppard, so the police shackled his legs too.

The officers then stood up to collect themselves. They left Armstrong facedown in the grass with his hands cuffed behind his back and his legs shackled. At this point, he was no longer moving—at all. Lopez was the first to notice that her brother was unresponsive, so she asked the officers to check on him. Appellees did so immediately,⁵ but Armstrong's condition had already become dire. When the officers flipped him over, his skin had turned a bluish color and he did not appear to be breathing.

Sergeant Sheppard and Lieutenant McDonald administered CPR, and Lieutenant McDonald radioed dispatch to send Emergency Medical Services ("EMS"). EMS responders transported Armstrong to the Hospital's emergency department where resuscitation attempts continued but were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead shortly after admission. According to the Pinehurst Police Department's summary of communications during the incident, just six and one-half minutes elapsed between dispatch advising Appellees that Armstrong's commitment papers were final and Appellees radioing for EMS.

B.

Based on the foregoing, Appellant filed a complaint in the Superior Court of Moore County, North Carolina, on April 16, 2013. Appellant sued each police officer involved in Armstrong's seizure, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the officers used excessive force, in violation of Armstrong's Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, when seizing him.⁶ Appellees removed the case to the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina on May 20, 2013.

The district court granted summary judgment to Appellees on January 27, 2015, reasoning, "[i]t is highly doubtful that the evidence establishes a constitutional violation at all, but assuming it does, the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity." Estate of Ronald H. Armstrong v. Village of Pinehurst, No. 1:13–cv–407, slip op. at 4 (M.D.N.C. Jan. 27, 2015) (citation omitted). Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal on February 24, 2015.

III.

A.

"Qualified immunity protects officers who commit constitutional violations but who, in light of clearly established law, could reasonably believe that their actions were lawful." Henry v. Purnell, 652 F.3d 524, 531 (4th Cir.2011) (en banc). A "qualified immunity analysis," therefore, "typically involves two inquiries: (1) whether the plaintiff has established the violation of a constitutional right, and (2) whether that right was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation." Raub v. Campbell, 785 F.3d 876,...