Goffin v. Ashcraft

• Decision Date: 15 October 2020
• Docket Number: No. 18-1430,18-1430
• Citation: 977 F.3d 687
• Parties: Davdrin GOFFIN, Plaintiff - Appellant v. Robbie K. ASHCRAFT, Individually and Official capacity as Police Officer, Warren, AR; Randy Peek, Individually and Official capacity as Chief of Police, Warren, AR; Bryan Martin, Individually and Official capacity as Mayor, Warren, AR; John Doe, 1-10; Warren, Arkansas, City of, Defendants - Appellees
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

977 F.3d 687

Davdrin GOFFIN, Plaintiff - Appellant

v.Robbie K. ASHCRAFT, Individually and Official capacity as Police Officer, Warren, AR; Randy Peek, Individually and Official capacity as Chief of Police, Warren, AR; Bryan Martin, Individually and Official capacity as Mayor, Warren, AR; John Doe, 1-10; Warren, Arkansas, City of, Defendants - Appellees

No. 18-1430

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: July 15, 2020

Filed: October 15, 2020

Counsel who presented argument on behalf of the appellant and appeared on the brief was Austin Porter, Jr., of Little Rock, AR.

Counsel who presented argument on behalf of the appellee and appeared on the brief was Jenna Allison Adams, of North Little Rock, AR. The following attorney(s) appeared on the appellee brief; John Lennon Wilkerson, of North Little Rock, AR.

Before SMITH, Chief Judge, KELLY and KOBES, Circuit Judges.

KOBES, Circuit Judge.

Officer Robbie Ashcraft tried to arrest Davdrin Goffin for burglary and stealing handguns, bullets, and prescription pain medication. Prior to the arrest, multiple witnesses told her that Goffin was armed, possibly intoxicated, and dangerous. When Goffin broke free from arrest, fled toward a group of bystanders, and moved as though he was reaching into his waistband, she shot him once in the back.

This would be a relatively straightforward qualified immunity case if those were all the facts. An officer may constitutionally use deadly force when she reasonably believes a fleeing suspect poses a threat of serious harm to herself or others. But Goffin claims (and Officer Ashcraft disputes) that he was patted down by another officer just before he fled. The pat down removed nothing from Goffin and was later shown to have been unusually ineffective; the officer failed to discover that Goffin was carrying a loaded magazine and extra bullets.

We conclude that Officer Ashcraft is entitled to qualified immunity on these facts because it was not clearly established at the time of the shooting that a pat down that removes nothing from a suspect eliminates an officer's probable cause that the suspect poses a threat of serious physical harm.

I.

We construe the facts in Goffin's favor. In September 2012, Goffin's uncle, Tommy Reddick, reported to Officer Ashcraft and Officer Aaron Hines that his home had been burgled—and he suspected Goffin was responsible for stealing two handguns, a box of bullets, and a bottle of painkillers. Reddick told the officers that earlier that day Goffin came to his house and asked for a gun, explaining that he lost his own pistol fleeing from the police. Reddick refused and left the house. When he returned, he saw Goffin was still nearby, arguing with a man in a black pickup truck. Once inside his house, he discovered that someone had snuck in through a back window, broken down a bedroom door, and stolen guns, ammunition, and pills. Reddick warned Officer Ashcraft, "This dude is out of control!" and, "Y'all better be ready to fight when you find him."

When the officers started searching for Goffin, Officer Ashcraft stopped a black truck that looked like the one Reddick had described. The driver, Dewayne Moore, told her that earlier Goffin had asked him for a ride. Moore initially told Goffin no, but Goffin threatened him, saying "take me to the goddamn car wash" and then displayed two guns that matched the descriptions of Reddick's stolen pistols. Frightened, Moore gave Goffin a ride. He too warned Officer Ashcraft about Goffin, telling her that Goffin was drunk and that Moore was scared he would rob him. After the shooting, he recounted to police that Goffin looked like he "was going to do something stupid," like he didn't "give a damn ... like, I'm going to take you out or whatever."

After Officer Ashcraft interviewed Moore, Officer Hines called her and told her that Goffin was at a nearby body shop. The officers arrived separately but then walked together toward a crowd of people in the parking lot. Officer Ashcraft asked where Goffin was and the owner of the body shop directed them toward the garage. In front of the garage, the officers found Goffin sitting in a car talking on a Bluetooth headset. Both officers approached the vehicle with guns drawn, but before they got there Officer Hines holstered his pistol and drew a taser.

The officers demanded that Goffin exit with his hands raised, which he did. They then escorted him to the back of the car and Officer Ashcraft claims she saw something "bumping in [Goffin's] right front pocket." Goffin denies anything was in that pocket. At the back of the vehicle, Goffin says that Officer Hines patted him down and "searched every part of [his] body," including feeling for items in his pockets and around his waist. Goffin admits Officer Hines "didn't go into [his] pockets" and did not remove anything from his body.

Officer Hines started to place Goffin in handcuffs, but before he could finish, Goffin pushed off the car and fled toward a group of seven or eight bystanders. With his back to the officers, he raised his right shoulder, which Officer Ashcraft interpreted as a reach for something in his pocket or his waistband. She then shot him once in the back.

The shooting occurred in a "split second." Goffin says he took no more than two steps and Officer Ashcraft agrees he made it only "a very short distance" before she fired. After he was shot, officers discovered that the patdown had missed a loaded 9mm pistol magazine and several loose bullets. The stolen guns were discovered within reach of where Goffin had been sitting in the car, but Goffin did not have a weapon on him.

Goffin survived the gunshot wound

and brought a 1983 action against Officer Ashcraft, the city, and several other municipal employees, claiming that Officer Ashcraft used excessive force against him and that the other defendants had failed to properly train and supervise her. The district court¹ granted summary judgment to the defendants, finding that Officer Ashcraft was entitled to qualified immunity because her actions were objectively reasonable as a matter of law. Because the underlying excessive force claim failed, so did Goffin's claims against the other defendants. After dismissing all federal claims, the district court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state-law claims. Goffin timely appealed and we have jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

II.

We review the grant of summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity de novo . Michael v. Trevena , 899 F.3d 528, 531 (8th Cir. 2018). "Summary judgment is appropriate if the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to [Goffin] and giving him the benefit of all reasonable inferences, shows there is no genuine issue of material fact." Morgan v. A.G. Edwards , 486 F.3d 1034, 1039 (8th Cir. 2007). We avoid judging an officer's split-second decision (made with imperfect information) against one we would make with a complete record and the benefit of hindsight. Plumhoff v. Rickard , 572 U.S. 765, 775, 134 S.Ct. 2012, 188 L.Ed.2d 1056 (2014).

We analyze cases involving the use of deadly force against a fleeing suspect under the Fourth Amendment. Tennessee v. Garner , 471 U.S. 1, 7, 105 S.Ct. 1694, 85 L.Ed.2d 1 (1985). An officer's actions are justified when they are "objectively reasonable in light of the facts and circumstances confronting [the officer], without regard to [the officer's] underlying intent or motivation." Graham v. Connor , 490 U.S. 386, 397, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989) ; see also Capps v. Olson , 780 F.3d 879, 884 (8th Cir. 2015). An officer is justified in using lethal force when she "has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a threat of serious physical harm to the officer or others." Garner , 471 U.S. at 11, 105 S.Ct. 1694.

Officer Ashcraft is entitled to qualified immunity if her conduct did not "violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Harlow v. Fitzgerald , 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). We do "not define clearly established law at a high level of generality." Ashcroft v. al-Kidd , 563 U.S. 731, 742, 131 S.Ct. 2074, 179 L.Ed.2d 1149 (2011). "The dispositive question is whether the violative nature of particular conduct is clearly established." Mullenix v. Luna , 577 U.S. 7, 136 S. Ct. 305, 308, 193 L.Ed.2d 255 (2015) (per curiam) (citation omitted).

Goffin must identify "either ‘controlling authority’ or ‘a robust consensus of cases of persuasive authority’ that ‘placed the statutory or constitutional question beyond debate’ at the time of the alleged violation." Kelsay v. Ernst , 933 F.3d 975, 979 (8th Cir. 2019) (en banc) (quoting Ashcroft , 563 U.S. at 741–42, 131 S.Ct. 2074 ). "A plaintiff's failure to identify a case where an officer acting under similar circumstances was held to have violated the Fourth Amendment is often fatal to a claim outside of obvious cases." K. W. P. v. Kansas City Public Schools , 931 F.3d 813, 828 (8th Cir. 2019) (cleaned up).

By the time that she confronted Goffin at the body shop, Officer Ashcraft objectively and reasonably believed that Goffin was dangerous.² Capps , 780 F.3d at 884–85. She knew that he had lost a gun while fleeing from the police and had strong evidence that he had recently stolen two more. Moore told her Goffin was drunk and that he had threatened him with the stolen guns. And to top it off, Goffin's uncle had warned her that Goffin was spoiling for a fight.

The case turns on whether the pat down changes our analysis.³ Goffin argues that the pat down creates an issue of material fact because, if it occurred, then Officer Ashcraft must have known he was unarmed, or at least that there is an issue of material fact as to whether she knew he was unarmed. But whether probable cause exists is a legal question, not a factual one. See United States v. Kelly , 329 F.3d 624, 628 (8th Cir. 2003). He must therefore provide a case...