Estate of Taylor v. Salt Lake City
| Decision Date | 26 October 2021 |
| Docket Number | 19-4085 |
| Parties | THE ESTATE OF DILLON TAYLOR; CODY TAYLOR; JERRAIL TAYLOR; TEESHA TAYLOR; ADAM THAYNE, Plaintiffs - Appellants, v. SALT LAKE CITY; BRON CRUZ, Defendants - Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Utah (D.C. No. 2:15-CV-00769-DN)
Mark J. Geragos, Geragos & Geragos, Los Angeles, California for Plaintiffs-Appellants.
Catherine L. Brabson (John E. Delaney and Mark E. Kittrell with her on the brief), Salt Lake City Corporation, Salt Lake City, Utah, for Defendants-Appellees.
Before HOLMES, Circuit Judge, LUCERO, Senior Circuit Judge, and McHUGH, Circuit Judge.
Over thirty years ago, the Supreme Court recognized the cold reality that "police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments-in circumstances that are tense uncertain, and rapidly evolving-about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation." Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 397 (1989). And, regarding such circumstances, the Fourth Amendment is clear: officers need not wait until they see the gun's barrel or the knife's blade before using deadly force to protect themselves or those around them. See, e.g., Est of Larsen ex rel. Sturdivan v. Murr ("Est. of Larsen"), 511 F.3d 1255, 1260 (10th Cir. 2008). They must simply act reasonably. See, e.g., Kisela v. Hughes, ___ U.S. ___, 138 S.Ct. 1148, 1152 (2018).
We are constrained to apply these principles today in deciding this appeal, which arises from the tragic death of Dillon Taylor ("Mr. Taylor"), who was shot and killed by Salt Lake City Police Officer Bron Cruz. Officer Cruz and two fellow officers were following up on a 9-1-1 call reporting that a man had flashed a gun. The caller described the man and noted that he was accompanied by another male whom the caller also described. The officers attempted to stop Mr. Taylor and two male companions because two of the three men matched the caller's descriptions. While Mr. Taylor's companions immediately complied with the responding officers' commands to stop and show their hands, Mr. Taylor did not. Instead, he made a 180-turn and walked away. Firearms in hand, but not pointed at Mr. Taylor, Officer Cruz and another responding officer followed Mr. Taylor. The officers repeatedly ordered him to stop and show his hands. Mr. Taylor did not. Instead, he verbally challenged the officers, kept walking, and placed at least one of his hands in his waistband.
A short time later, Mr. Taylor turned to face Officer Cruz, but continued walking backwards. Both of Mr. Taylor's hands were then concealed in the front of his waistband; they appeared to be digging there, as if Mr. Taylor were manipulating something. Officer Cruz trained his firearm on Mr. Taylor and ordered him to stop and show his hands. Mr. Taylor verbally refused and kept walking backward. Then, without any verbal warning, Mr. Taylor quickly lifted his shirt with his left hand-exposing his lower torso-and virtually simultaneously withdrew his right hand from his waistband. The motion took less than one second and was consistent with the drawing of a gun. Reacting to Mr. Taylor's rapid movement, Officer Cruz shot Mr. Taylor twice-firing in quick succession. Mr. Taylor died at the scene. When he was searched, Mr. Taylor was unarmed; in particular, he did not have a gun.
Mr. Taylor's estate and family members (collectively, "Plaintiffs") filed this lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, asserting claims against Salt Lake City and Officer Cruz-as well as multiple others, including other Salt Lake City police officers and Salt Lake County employees. The primary question before us is whether Officer Cruz's decision to shoot Mr. Taylor was reasonable based on the totality of the circumstances. We conclude that it was. Accordingly, exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm the district court's judgment.
A[1]
At approximately 7:00 p.m. on the evening of August 11, 2014 Officer Cruz heard a radio transmission from Salt Lake City's 9-1-1 Call Dispatch ("Dispatch"). Dispatch stated that a man located at the intersection of 1900 South Street and 200 East Street "flashed a gun" but did not make a threat. See Aplts.' Suppl. App., Ex. 1, at 0:05-0:09 (Dispatch Recording, dated Aug. 11, 2014) (hereinafter "Ex. 1"). Dispatch added that the man was accompanied by an associate, and described the two suspects. The first was a "male Hispanic wearing [a] white shirt, red pants, [and a] red baseball cap." Id. at 0:08-0:14. The second was "another male Hispanic wearing a striped shirt." Id. at 0:14-0:18. Dispatch did not specify which individual "flashed" the firearm, but stated that "both suspects [we]re now going west bound on 2100 South from 200 East." Id. at 0:38-0:45. Because the caller hung up, Dispatch had no further information.
Officer Cruz responded that he was "in the area." Id. at 0:33-0:35. In his next transmission, Officer Cruz identified three individuals whom he believed matched Dispatch's description; they turned out to be Adam Thayne, Jerrail Taylor, and Mr. Taylor. Adam Thayne was wearing a blue striped shirt and white shorts; Jerrail Taylor was wearing a red Miami Heat basketball jersey, a red hat, and red striped pants; and Mr. Taylor was wearing a white t-shirt and black pants. The three men were walking west on the south side of 2100 South Street, approximately two blocks west of 200 East Street.
Before stopping the three men, Officer Cruz waited for help from additional officers. During that time, Mr. Taylor and his two male associates-who were then subjects of Officer Cruz's investigation-entered a 7-Eleven convenience store on the southwest corner of 2100 South Street and South State Street. Soon after, Salt Lake City Police Officers Andrew Sylleloglou ("Officer Sylleloglou") and Uppsen Downes ("Officer Downes") arrived. Officer Sylleloglou parked on Major Street-the street just west of the 7-Eleven. Officer Dowries parked next to Officer Cruz across from the 7-Eleven. The following exhibit indicates the approximate location of Mr. Taylor's party and the officers at this point:
(Image Omitted)
Aplts.' App. at 510 ().
When Mr. Taylor and the two other men exited the 7-Eleven, all three officers converged on the store. The officers were in uniform and driving marked police vehicles. With overhead lights flashing, Officers Cruz and Sylleloglou approached the front of the 7-Eleven, from opposite directions, and parked next to each other. Officer Downes went to the building's rear and then soon thereafter returned to the front. As they exited their vehicles, Officers Cruz and Sylleloglou immediately began ordering the three men to stop and to show their hands. Adam Thayne, for example, heard the officers command them to "stop" and "put [their] hands above [their] head[s]." Aplts.' Suppl. App., Ex. 3A, Doc. 44-3, at 3:34:51-35:06 (Recording of Adam Thayne's Interview, dated Aug. 11, 2014) (hereinafter "Ex. 3A"). Adam Thayne and Jerrail Taylor put their hands up and complied with the officers' commands. And, subsequently, they were detained by Officer Downes.
Mr. Taylor looked at Officers Cruz and Sylleloglou as they approached. However, unlike Adam Thayne and Jerrail Taylor, Mr. Taylor made a 180-degree turn, and started walking west along the north side of the 7-Eleven-away from the officers. Officer Sylleloglou yelled more than once at Mr. Taylor, "Hey, you in the white shirt, stop," but Mr. Taylor did not stop. Aplts.' App. at 548 (Tr. Andrew Sylleloglou Dep., dated Apr. 10, 2017). Both officers followed Mr. Taylor with their guns drawn but not pointed at him. Officer Sylleloglou moved parallel to Mr. Taylor and continued ordering him to stop and show his hands. But Mr. Taylor did not comply. Officer Cruz was behind Mr. Taylor. Mr. Taylor was wearing a baggy t-shirt and baggy pants; his shirt was hanging outside of his pants. His hands were by his sides. Shortly after he started walking, Mr. Taylor appeared to pull up his pants by reaching his hands down on either side of his pants and tugging them upwards.
Approximately nine seconds after he started walking away from Officer Cruz and Officer Sylleloglou, Mr. Taylor raised his hands to waist level-with the position of his elbows extended on either side-with his long, baggy t-shirt raised to waist level. He appeared to have one or both of his hands in the front of his pants' waistband. It was at this moment that both Officer Cruz and Officer Sylleloglou pointed their firearms at Mr. Taylor; neither officer, however, had his finger on his gun's trigger. Officer Cruz was now ten to twenty feet directly behind Mr. Taylor, while Officer Sylleloglou walked parallel to Mr. Taylor at approximately the same distance. Officer Sylleloglou recalls that around this time-in apparent response to his repeated commands to show his hands-Mr. Taylor starting verbally challenging him, saying things like, Id. at 551.
About two seconds after Mr. Taylor placed his hands in his waistband, Officer Cruz stated "[g]et your hands out now." Aplts.' Opening Br. at 8; Aplts.' Suppl. App., Ex. 6, at 0:31-0:33 (Officer Bron Cruz's Body Camera Video, dated Aug. 11, 2014) (hereinafter "Ex 6"). At this point, Mr. Taylor turned around and faced Officer Cruz. He continued moving away from Officer Cruz by walking backwards. Both of his hands were in his waistline and concealed, and Mr. Taylor appeared to be moving his hands in a "digging" motion, like he was "manipulating" something. Aplts.' App. at 455-57 (Tr. Bron Cruz Dep, dated Feb. 24, 2017). At that point, Officer Cruz maintained a steady pace and continued ordering Mr....
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