Exford v. City of Montgomery

• Decision Date: 24 August 2012
• Docket Number: Case No. 2:10–cv–1071–MEF.
• Citation: 887 F.Supp.2d 1210
• Parties: Riccardo EXFORD, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF MONTGOMERY, Officer J.A. Norgard, and Officer R.S. Shoupe, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama

887 F.Supp.2d 1210

Riccardo EXFORD, Plaintiff,

v.CITY OF MONTGOMERY, Officer J.A. Norgard, and Officer R.S. Shoupe, Defendants.

Case No. 2:10–cv–1071–MEF.

United States District Court,

M.D. Alabama,

Northern Division.

Aug. 24, 2012.

Anthony B. Bush, Elizabeth Peyton Faulk, Lewis, Bush & Faulk, LLC, Montgomery, AL, for Plaintiff.

Stacy Lott Reed, City Attorney's Office, Randall C. Morgan, Elizabeth Brannen Carter, Hill Hill Carter Franco Cole & Black, Montgomery, AL, for Defendants.

Memorandum Opinion & Order

MARK E. FULLER, District Judge.

I. Introduction

This lawsuit arises out of a traffic stop that took place in 2010. During the stop, Officers Norgard (“Norgard”) and Shoupe (“Shoupe”)—the only two individual defendants in the case—pulled over the plaintiff, Ricky Exford (“Exford”), after he made a dangerous lane change. The stop initially went without incident: Shoupe wrote Exford a ticket and Exford got back in his truck and started to leave. Exford decided, however, to get back out so he could get the officers' names and badge numbers. Unfortunately, chaos ensued after Norgard took it upon himself to arrest Exford, take him to jail, and charge him with harassment and resisting arrest.

After the dust settled, a video of the incident emerged a few months later. Exford presented the recording to the municipal court where the charges were pending, and after the presiding judge watched it he immediately dismissed the case. Then, armed with an acquittal and video evidence, Exford filed suit in federal court, alleging that the officers violated his rights and that the City of Montgomery should answer for the actions of its agents. Now, the defendants ask the Court to grant summary judgment on various grounds. For the reasons discussed below, the Court will GRANT Shoupe's motion while GRANTING IN PART and DENYING IN PART both Norgard and the City of Montgomery's motions.

II. Jurisdiction & Venue

The Court has jurisdiction over Exford's claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (federal question), § 1343 (civil rights), and § 1367 (supplemental). The parties do not claim that the Court lacks personal jurisdiction over them, nor do they dispute that venue is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b). The Court finds adequate allegations supporting both contentions.

III. Summary Judgment Standard

A motion for summary judgment looks to “pierce the pleadings and to assess the proof in order to see whether there is a genuine need for trial.” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). A court should grant summary judgment when the pleadings and supporting materials show that no genuine issue exists as to any material fact and that the moving party deserves judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The party moving for summary judgment “always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying” the relevant documents that “it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). To shoulder this burden, the moving party can present evidence to this effect. Id. at 322–23, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Or it can show that the nonmoving party has failed to present evidence in support of some element of its case on which it ultimately bears the burden of proof. Id.

If the moving party meets its burden, the non-movant must then designate, by affidavits, depositions, admissions, and answers to interrogatories, specific facts showing the existence of a genuine issue for trial. Jeffery v. Sarasota White Sox, Inc., 64 F.3d 590, 593–94 (11th Cir.1995). A genuine issue of material fact exists when the nonmoving party produces evidence that would allow a reasonable fact-finder to return a verdict in his or her favor. Waddell v. Valley Forge Dental Assocs., 276 F.3d 1275, 1279 (11th Cir.2001). Thus, summary judgment requires the nonmoving party to “do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348. A plaintiff, indeed, must present evidence demonstrating that he can establish the basic elements of his claim, Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, because “conclusory allegations without specific supporting facts have no probative value” at the summary judgment stage. Evers v. Gen. Motors Corp., 770 F.2d 984, 986 (11th Cir.1985).

A court ruling on a motion for summary judgment must believe the non-movant's evidence. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505. It also must draw all justifiable inferences from the evidence in the nonmoving party's favor. Id. After the nonmoving party has responded to the motion, the court must grant summary judgment if there exists no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party deserves judgment as a matter of law. SeeFed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

IV. Factual & Procedural Background

A. The video on the dashboard camera¹

A video camera mounted on the dashboard of Norgard and Shoupe's patrol car recorded the officers stopping Exford for a traffic violation. The video begins with the officers' police cruiser driving down a two-lane road at dusk. As they approach an intersection with a traffic light, a left-hand turn lane comes into sight and the cruiser merges before stopping behind a small black car. Right in front of the black car is Exford's crimson four-door pickup truck-it too stopped and waiting to turn left at the intersection.

After only a brief pause, the cars in the front of the line start moving and the police cruiser rolls toward the intersection. Once it gets there the driver turns left and swings into the right-hand lane, quickly moving past the black car and pulling up behind Exford's truck just close enough to read Toyota on the tailgate. A few seconds later, the officer driving the cruiser flicks on the flashing red and blue emergency lights. Exford responds by braking and activating his right turn signal. As he approaches another intersection, he turns right, pulls into a small parking lot, and stops. The police cruiser follows and stops just behind Exford's truck.

Officer Shoupe then exits from the passenger side and walks towards the truck; Officer Norgard does the same from the driver's side. Before reaching the truck, Shoupe cuts in front of Norgard and approaches the truck's driver's side. Norgard, meanwhile, passes behind Shoupe and moves towards the truck's passenger's side.

When Shoupe gets to the truck's window, he addresses Exford who quickly hands Shoupe a document. In the meantime, Norgard peers into the cab and shines his flashlight in the front passenger window and passenger compartment. As Shoupe hands back to Exford a piece of paper, Norgard moves towards the truck bed and flashes his light on Exford's license plate. The two officers then return to their respective seats in the police car—Norgard behind the wheel and Shoupe sitting shotgun.

About eight minutes later, Shoupe gets out and approaches the driver's side of Exford's truck while Norgard waits in the car. Shoupe and Exford then have an exchange for about two minutes, at which point Norgard gets out and joins them. After some more discussion between Shoupe and Exford, Shoupe hands Exford a citation. The officers then head back to the car and Exford puts his truck into gear.

Rather than driving away, Exford calls the officers back. This causes both officers to do an about face and begin to walk towards the truck. As they do, Norgard waives Shoupe off and approaches Exford alone. A few minutes later, Exford, while talking on his cell phone, gets out of his truck thus leaving the driver's side door open. He then walks by Norgard and past an amused looking Shoupe to the back of the police car. Norgard stays put near Exford's truck and uses his flashlight to look inside the cabin through the door left open by Exford.

Moments later Exford—who is still on the phone—walks back toward the truck and approaches Norgard. As he gets closer to the driver's side door, he seems to say something to Norgard and points inside the truck with his left hand. A split second later, Norgard grabs Exford's left hand and pushes him up against the back door of the truck on the driver's side. And once this happens, Shoupe immediately joins the fray. He grabs Exford's right elbow, takes Exford's cell phone from his hand and puts it on the roof of the truck, and tries to push Exford's hand to his waist and then behind his back. Exford responds by ever so briefly (yet quite noticeably) resisting Shoupe's attempt to restrain him. Shoupe in turn uses his right hand to shove Exford's head up against the back window on the truck's driver's side, holding it there while the two officers subdue him. Once they get Exford handcuffed, the officers place him in the back of the police cruiser.

B. After the arrest

After cuffing and securing Exford, the officers took him to the police station. When they arrived, Norgard filled out three documents—a deposition alleging harassment by Exford, a criminal complaint for harassment, and an arrest warrantfor Exford for resisting arrest. ( See ECF No. 58–7.) Norgard's sworn statement supporting the harassment claim stated:

When Mr. Exford returned to his vehicle I was standing inside the open driver door and Mr. Exford extended his left arm forcefully placing his closed fist in my chest and (throwing me away from the truck) I grabbed Mr. Exford's left wrist and attempted to place him into custody. Mr. Exford resisted and continued to use his body to push me away from his vehicle. Mr. Exford also tried to pry his arm away from my grasp by bending and twisting his arm away from me toward the front of his body. At this time my partner (Shoupe) gained control of Mr. Exford's bent arm. Mr. Exford continued to struggle with officers by trying to...