Gaston v. Gibson, Civ. A. No. 6566.

Citation328 F. Supp. 3
Decision Date03 November 1969
Docket NumberCiv. A. No. 6566.
PartiesRodney A. GASTON v. Millard H. GIBSON, Sheriff, et al.
CourtUnited States District Courts. 6th Circuit. Eastern District of Tennessee

Norbert J. Slovis, Lickett, Slovis & Weaver, Knoxville, Tenn., for plaintiff.

Robert B. Ray, Knoxville, Tenn., W. Henry Ogle, Sevierville, Tenn., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ROBERT L. TAYLOR, District Judge.

In this suit the jury found that defendants had violated 42 U.S.C. § 1981 et seq. and accordingly returned a verdict for the plaintiff. Defendants have moved for a new trial.

Plaintiff Rodney A. Gaston, age seventeen, is a student at the University of Tennessee. The following officials of Sevier County, Tennessee, are defendants: Sheriff Millard Gibson; Deputy Sheriffs Willie Taffer, J. C. Flynn and Roy Gibson; Constable O. P. Rauhuff; and Justice of the Peace Loren Kirby. Western Surety of Chicago, surety upon required statutory bonds, is also a defendant.

After the homecoming football game at the University of Tennessee on November 2, 1968, plaintiff was one of several students who attended a party in the Smoky Mountain National Park. During the evening three of these students were injured in an automobile accident within the Park. The injured persons were taken to the Sevier County Hospital north of the Park. At the request of the Park Service, the Sevier County Sheriff's Department dispatched officers to the hospital to inquire about the injured students. Plaintiff accompanied by five friends, also went to the hospital to inquire about the injured persons. By various estimates, plaintiff was one of a group of ten to twenty-five students that assembled at the hospital. Plaintiff had been talking with some of his friends inside the hospital for about five minutes when Deputy Partin asked him to leave. Plaintiff testified he had done nothing to justify such a request.

Before plaintiff could react to the order, Constable Rauhuff stopped him and told him he was under arrest. Rauhuff testified that he had answered the call from the Sheriff's Department with Deputy Taffer. The twenty to twenty-five students there had been noisy for some ten to fifteen minutes. From thirty feet away, he saw Deputy Partin speak to plaintiff and heard plaintiff call Partin a S.O.B. Rauhuff, a corpulent man of about six feet, two inches and weighing between 220-240 pounds, then arrested plaintiff, who is of medium build. Rauhuff testified plaintiff shoved him against the wall, and in response he slapped plaintiff with an open hand, knocking plaintiff to the floor.

Plaintiff testified that he said nothing to Partin. Partin stated that he did not hear the plaintiff curse him. Plaintiff denies shoving Rauhuff and says Rauhuff, without provocation, struck him violently in the mouth. Plaintiff's lip was cut and five stitches were required to close the cut. Plaintiff's head struck the floor violently when he was knocked down. He testified that this blow caused a severe headache which has continued. Arnold, a witness for the plaintiff, testified that the plaintiff looked dazed and his face was full of blood after the blow.

Rauhuff then picked plaintiff from the floor and put him in Deputy Taffer's custody for transportation to jail. Rauhuff never advised plaintiff of his constitutional rights.

Loren Kirby, who had previously been at the Sheriff's Office during the evening, had gone to the hospital just out of curiosity. Deputy Ledford had gone with him to the hospital.

Deputy Flynn was also with Kirby. Kirby was in the parking lot of the hospital with other friends of the injured persons who had come from the Park. Rauhuff told Kirby he wanted a warrant for plaintiff. Kirby asked Rauhuff what had the plaintiff been doing. Rauhuff stated that he had been "cursing." Kirby then told Rauhuff to take plaintiff to jail and he would issue the warrant after he returned to the jail. Kirby testified that he took the plaintiff's driver's license to retain it for the Park Service, but no reason was given why the Park Service wanted plaintiff's driver's license. Kirby stated he did not realize that he had plaintiff's driver's license.

On the way to the jail, plaintiff complained that his lip was bleeding. Deputy Taffer replied, "If you say anything, I'll bust the other side of your lip." Taffer denied this statement. Taffer and Rauhuff were listed as the arresting officers on the Sheriff's records.

When plaintiff reached the jail, he was booked and confined by Jailer Roy Gibson before a warrant was issued. Deputy Gibson testified that after he determined plaintiff was seventeen, he called the juvenile judge and was told to lock him up. Gibson said plaintiff was placed in a cell by himself and the door was not locked. The chaperone at the party posted plaintiff's bond about an hour after he was incarcerated. She corroborated plaintiff's testimony that the door was locked. Plaintiff's case was set for hearing November 15, 1968 and remanded to juvenile court. The record is silent as to whether there have been further proceedings.

Plaintiff's medical bills total $736.60. Plaintiff reported initially to the University of Tennessee Infirmary. He was referred to Dr. Turney, a Knoxville neurosurgeon, and Dr. Turney had him examined by Dr. Boswell, a specialist in neurology and psychiatry. Dr. Boswell testified that an EEG study suggested some injury to the brain. Dr. Turney referred plaintiff to Dr. Meacham, a neurological surgeon in Nashville, for an extensive examination during the Christmas holidays. Dr. Meacham deposed that all his tests were within normal limits. Plaintiff's chief complaints were of headaches that interfered with his studies. He testified that he cannot now participate in any athletics except bowling because of these headaches.

Deputy J. C. Flynn testified that he went to the hospital with Justice of the Peace Kirby, and that he was outside of the hospital at the time of the arrest. It may be inferred that he accompanied Kirby on the return trip to the jail. There is also an inference that he was present when Rauhuff told Kirby to issue the arrest warrant, but no proof that he took an active part in the discussion. At oral argument on the motion for a new trial, the Court sustained his motion for a directed verdict without objection from counsel because there was no evidence to support the verdict.

It is contended that the evidence does not support a verdict against the defendant Sheriff, especially for punitive damages. Defendant cites Earley v. Roadway Express, 106 F.Supp. 958, a 1952 opinion of this Court. In dicta this Court said that wanton conduct is imputed to the master "where the nature of the employment * * * is such that the master must contemplate the use of force by the servant" in the normal performance of his duties. That...

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7 cases
  • Smith v. Heath
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)
    • 29 septembre 1982
    ...and later unlawfully charged. In determining whether the awards were excessive, this court quoted Judge Robert Taylor in Gaston v. Gibson, 328 F.Supp. 3 (E.D.Tenn.1969). Gaston was a Civil Rights Act claim involving injuries inflicted on a 17-year-old college student during the course of an......
  • Smith v. Losee
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (10th Circuit)
    • 22 août 1973
    ...Reynolds v. Pegler, 223 F.2d 429 (2d Cir. 1955) ($1 compensatory and $175,000 punitive damages for libel and slander); Gaston v. Gibson, 328 F.Supp. 3 (E.D.Tenn.1969) ($10,000 compensatory and $30,000 punitive damages for injury inflicted by law enforcement officer); Butts v. Curtis Publish......
  • Zarcone v. Perry, 591
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit)
    • 3 mars 1978
    ...range" of $500 to $2,500 asserted by appellant. See, e. g., Palmer v. Hall, 517 F.2d 705 (5th Cir. 1975) ($15,000); Gaston v. Gibson, 328 F.Supp. 3 (E.D.Tenn.1969) ($30,000); cf. Claiborne v. Illinois Cent. R. R., 401 F.Supp. 1022 (E.D.La.1975) ($50,000 in § 1981 action), appeal docketed, N......
  • Manfredonia v. Barry, 71 C 1229.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Court (Eastern District of New York)
    • 25 septembre 1975
    ...to the court's attention only one civil rights case even approaching the increased amounts they seek. In that case, Gaston v. Gibson, 328 F.Supp. 3 (E.D.Tenn.1969), a jury award of $10,000 in compensatory damages and $30,000 in punitive damages was held not excessive because of "shocking" c......
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