Fontenot v. Cormier

• Decision Date: 20 June 1995
• Docket Number: No. 94-40271,94-40271
• Citation: 56 F.3d 669
• Parties: Toinette M. FONTENOT & Willard Brandenburg, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Dallas CORMIER, et al., Defendants, Bob Finley, Donald Brown, Scott Bussey & Joe Guidry, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 669

56 F.3d 669

Toinette M. FONTENOT & Willard Brandenburg, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Dallas CORMIER, et al., Defendants Bob Finley, Donald Brown, Scott Bussey & Joe Guidry Defendants-Appellees.

No. 94-40271.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

June 20, 1995.

H. Glenn Marcantel, Jr., Matt & Marcantel, Eunice, LA, for appellants.

Andre J. Bussion, Jennings, LA, Freeman R. Matthews, Usry & Weeks, Metairie, LA, for appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

Before DAVIS and WIENER, Circuit Judges, and VANCE, ^* District Judge.

VANCE, District Judge:

Toinette Fontenot and Willard Brandenburg appeal from an order by a United States Magistrate Judge in the Western District of Louisiana granting judgment as a matter of law to the defendants on the grounds of qualified immunity and conditionally granting the defendants' motion for a new trial. We affirm the magistrate judge's order as to Willard Brandenburg, but we reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion as to Toinette Fontenot.

I. BACKGROUND

Shortly after 2:00 a.m. on January 21, 1991, the Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's Office received an emergency telephone call from a local convenience store "about a man with a gun." The Sheriff's Office dispatched shift supervisor Deputy Robert Trahan to investigate. A patron subsequently informed Trahan that he had been assaulted by Willard Brandenburg. Several other patrons also identified Brandenburg by name as the alleged assailant.

Brandenburg was well known among Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff Deputies as a convicted felon with a history of violence. The deputies also knew that during his incarceration, Brandenburg had been a "trustee" [sic] of the parish prison and that he had recently testified before a grand jury in connection with a corruption investigation concerning the Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's Office. ¹ After a search of the convenience store and surrounding area failed to uncover Brandenburg, Trahan ordered Sheriff Deputies Bob Finley, Donald Brown, Scott Bussey, and Joe Guidry to pick Brandenburg up for questioning. Trahan directed the deputies to Toinette Fontenot's residence, where Brandenburg was known to reside. Trahan stayed behind at the convenience store to gather additional information.

The deputies traveled the short distance to Fontenot's residence in three squad cars, arriving at approximately 2:30 a.m. To illuminate the area, the deputies trained their vehicle lights across Fontenot's home and then approached the residence on foot from two directions. Deputies Finley, Brown, and Bussey entered Fontenot's carport at the side of the house. While Deputies Brown and Finley walked up to the carport door entrance, Deputy Bussey positioned himself at a back wall with a shotgun pointed at the door. Deputy Brown held his handgun in a ready position. Meanwhile, Deputy Guidry approached the house from the back, positioning himself at a back door entrance. His gun was also drawn. Before the deputies took any further action, Fontenot, who had been awakened by the vehicle lights, appeared at the carport door entrance. Fontenot immediately saw Deputy Brown facing her through a window in the door. His gun was pointed directly at her. One of the deputies commanded: "Jeff Davis Sheriff's Office--open up!" Fontenot complied, and the three deputies located in the carport moved quickly into her home. Deputy Guidry followed.

Upon entering the residence, the deputies searched the rooms adjoining the carport door entrance. Frightened for the safety of her sleeping daughter, Fontenot ordered the deputies not to venture further into the home. The deputies complied. Fontenot then asked the deputies why they were at her home and what they wanted. The deputies told her that they were "not at liberty" to disclose such information and proceeded to ask her a series of questions concerning Brandenburg. Fontenot told the deputies that Brandenburg had left the house to get a pack of cigarettes. Fontenot again asked the deputies why they were inside her home. She also asked whether they had a search warrant. The deputies told Fontenot that they did not have a warrant. They also told her that they had been sent to "pick up" Brandenburg but refused to tell her why. During the exchange, Fontenot told the deputies to calm down and to explain what was happening. On several occasions, she also told them they "needed to leave." The deputies ignored Fontenot's demands to leave but holstered their guns.

Within a few minutes, Brandenburg arrived on the scene, parking his car on the road in front of the house. At that point, the deputies left Fontenot's home and rushed toward Brandenburg's car. Guns drawn, the deputies ordered Brandenburg out of the vehicle and informed him that they had been ordered to pick him up for questioning. Brandenburg exited the vehicle with his hands up. He then asked the deputies if they had a warrant. The deputies told Brandenburg that they did not have a warrant. Brandenburg refused to go with the deputies and accused them of being there to retaliate against him for testifying before the grand jury. He then dashed for the cover of the carport. As Brandenburg ran toward the carport, Deputy Guidry tackled him but was shrugged off.

Once safely in the carport, Brandenburg positioned himself at its back end. Fontenot stood behind him. Both Fontenot and Brandenburg told the deputies to leave, but they remained at the front end of the carport. Their guns were drawn. Within a few moments, Brandenburg and Fontenot were joined in the carport by Brandenburg's pitbull terrier. A standoff ensued.

During the standoff, the deputies attempted to convince Brandenburg to come with them voluntarily. Brandenburg refused to do so unless state troopers were brought to the scene to ensure his protection. While the parties discussed the terms of Brandenburg's surrender, the pitbull terrier lunged at the deputies. Deputy Bussey threatened to shoot the dog if it came any closer. Brandenburg pulled the dog back by its collar. He then broke off the handle of a broom and warned that no one was going to shoot his dog. After approximately thirty minutes of fruitless discussion, the deputies became convinced that Brandenburg would not come with them voluntarily. They radioed Trahan for instructions. Trahan told the deputies to leave, which they did. A warrant charging Brandenburg with aggravated assault was issued the next day, and he was arrested without incident.

II. PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

In their complaint, Brandenburg and Fontenot allege that Deputies Finley, Bussey, Guidry, and Brown, together with Deputy Trahan and Jefferson Parish Davis Sheriff Dallas Cormier, violated their constitutional rights and committed various intentional torts during the January 21, 1991 stand-off. Plaintiffs further allege that they are entitled to damages under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 and Louisiana state law. The parties consented to a jury trial before a magistrate judge.

During trial, the magistrate judge dismissed plaintiffs' claims against Sheriff Cormier. The jury found in favor of Deputy Trahan on all claims but returned a verdict in favor of both plaintiffs against Deputies Finley, Bussey, Guidry, and Brown on plaintiffs' Section 1983 claims. The jury awarded Toinette Fontenot $15,000 in compensatory damages and $2,500 in punitive damages. Willard Brandenburg was awarded $10,000 in compensatory damages. The deputies subsequently filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law and alternatively, a motion for a new trial. Finding the deputies entitled to qualified immunity, the magistrate judge granted their motion for judgment as a matter of law and conditionally granted their motion for a new trial.

III. DISCUSSION

Plaintiffs' first point of contention is that the magistrate judge erred in granting the defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law. In determining the propriety of the magistrate judge's order, we consider all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the parties opposed to the motion. Barnett v. Internal Revenue Service, 988 F.2d 1449, 1453 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 546, 126 L.Ed.2d 448 (1993). If the facts and inferences point so strongly and overwhelmingly in favor of the defendants that reasonable jurors could not have arrived at the verdict reached in this case, the magistrate judge's order will be upheld. Crist v. Dickson Welding, Inc., 957 F.2d 1281, 1285 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 187, 121 L.Ed.2d 132 (1992). On the other hand, the magistrate judge was not free to adjudicate the facts de novo. We must therefore reverse if the evidence before the jury was such that reasonable and fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment might reach different conclusions. Molex, Inc. v. Nolen, 759 F.2d 474, 478 (5th Cir.1985).

In his order, the magistrate judge held that the deputy defendants were entitled to qualified immunity with respect to plaintiffs' claims under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. Under the doctrine of qualified immunity, law enforcement officers may not be held liable for civil damages so "long as their actions could reasonably have been thought consistent with the rights they are alleged to have violated." Enlow v. Tishomingo County, 962 F.2d 501, 508 (5th Cir.1992) (citations omitted); see Harper v. Harris County, 21 F.3d 597, 600 (5th Cir.1994). The examination of a claim of qualified immunity is a two-step inquiry. First, a court must determine whether plaintiff has alleged a violation of a clearly established right. See Siegert v. Gilley, 500 U.S. 226, 231-33, 111 S.Ct. 1789, 1793, 114 L.Ed.2d 277 (1991). Second, the court must determine whether the officer's conduct was objectively reasonable in light of the legal rules applicable at the time of the alleged violation. Id. The inquiry is conducted without regard for the law enforcement...