Gray v. Bostic

• Decision Date: 03 July 2013
• Docket Number: No. 12–11819.,12–11819.
• Citation: 720 F.3d 887
• Parties: Laquarius GRAY, a minor, by and through her mother and next friend, Toniko L. ALEXANDER, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Antonio BOSTIC, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

720 F.3d 887

Laquarius GRAY, a minor, by and through her mother and next friend, Toniko L. ALEXANDER, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.Antonio BOSTIC, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 12–11819.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

July 3, 2013.

Harry Arthur Edge, III, H. Arthur Edge, III, PC, W. Brian Collins, Collins & Downey, Thomas Blake Liveoak, Birmingham, AL, Gary P. Cody, Montgomery, AL, for Plaintiff–Appellee.

Travis Russell Wisdom, The Wisdom Firm LLC, Auburn, AL, Robert McCollough Spence, Rosen Harwood, PA, Tuscaloosa, AL, for Defendant–Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

Before WILSON and COX, Circuit Judges, and BOWEN,^* District Judge.

BOWEN, District Judge:

This is the fifth appeal involving the detention and handcuffing of a nine-year-old student, Laquarius Gray,¹ during her physical education class. Now, Antonio Bostic, a Deputy Sheriff for Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, appeals from the district court's grant of attorney's fees. After careful review and oral argument, we reverse and remand for the entry of judgment in favor of Defendant Antonio Bostic.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

At this point in the case, the factual background is undisputed. Gray was a nine-year old female African–American student at Holt Elementary School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, at the time of the incident. Bostic was a Deputy Sheriff for Tuscaloosa County, in Alabama.

On March 7, 2003, while attending her physical education class, Gray had a disagreement with her instructor as to whether she properly completed the “jumping jack” exercises she was ordered to perform. Gray ex rel. Alexander v. Bostic, 458 F.3d 1295, 1300 (11th Cir.2006) (“Gray II”). Gray's instructor ordered her to sit against the wall behind the class. Id. During the course of the disagreement, Gray made a disrespectful and physically threatening comment to the instructor. Id. At that time, Bostic was stationed as a school resource officer, and he was present when Gray made the threatening remarks to her instructor. Id. at 1301. Despite another female teacher being present and offering to handle the situation, Bostic immediately intervened and ordered Gray to exit the gymnasium. Bostic then took Gray into an adjacent lobby area, where he pulled her arms behind her back and handcuffed her. Id. “Bostic testified that Gray was handcuffed for less than 60 seconds.”² (Appellant Br. 5.) Simply put, Bostic applied the handcuffs to an arguably compliant nine-year-old child for purely punitive purposes.

B. Procedural Background1. Initial District Court Proceedings

Gray brought suit against Bostic and Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Edmund Sexton in their official and individual capacities on November 4, 2003. Nine other defendants were also named in the complaint in both their individual and official capacities: Joyce Harris, the Principal of Holt Elementary School; Joyce Sellers, the Superintendent of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama; and Frankie Thomas, James Barnnet, James Junkin, Morris Acker, Don Presley, Dot Smith, and Pam Garner, all Board Members of the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education. Gray's initial complaint against these eleven defendants listed eight counts, including claims: (1) under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of Gray's First, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights (Count 1); (2) under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (Count 2); and (3) under state law for invasion of privacy, assault and battery, false imprisonment, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress (Counts 4 through 8). Gray also requested declaratory and injunctive relief (Count 3). As to each count, Gray sought an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages; attorney's fees, expenses, and costs of litigation; and any other equitable relief to which she may have been entitled.

Defendants Joyce Harris, Sellers, Thomas, Barnnet, Junkin, Acker, Presley, Smith, and Garner then filed a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule 12(b)(6). Approximately one month later, before the district court ruled on the motion, Gray dismissed her claims against those defendants, thus leaving only Bostic and Sexton as the remaining two defendants.

On November 25, 2003, Bostic and Sexton, in their official and individual capacities, moved to dismiss Gray's complaint based on absolute, statutory, and qualified immunity, which the district court granted. On February 12, 2004, Gray moved to alter, amend, or vacate the judgment, or in the alternative, to amend her complaint. The district court denied that motion.

2. Gray I³

Gray appealed the district court's orders dismissing her claims against Bostic and Sexton and denying her leave to amend her complaint. On December 27, 2004, in an unpublished, per curiam opinion, this court reversed the judgment of the district court with respect to the claims against Bostic and Sexton in their individual capacities and remanded the case for further proceedings. This court concluded that, as to Bostic, Gray's allegations sufficiently alleged a constitutional violation that was clearly established on that date. Further, as to Sexton, this court noted that Gray's amended complaint remedied any problems with her original pleading. Thus, her amended complaint sufficiently alleged a constitutional violation against Sexton. This court instructed that Gray would be able to pursue her Fourth Amendment handcuffing claims against Bostic and Sexton only in their individual capacities under her amended complaint.

On remand, Gray filed an amended complaint asserting claims of excessive use of force and unreasonable seizure against Bostic and Sexton individually. Discovery ensued. Sexton and Bostic then moved for summary judgment on September 8 and 9, 2005, respectively, on the bases of, inter alia, qualified immunity. The district court denied their motions for summary judgment on December 12, 2005.

3. Gray II⁴

Bostic and Sexton appealed that decision on December 19, 2005. This court (Hull, J.) reversed the district court's order denying Sexton qualified immunity but upheld the decision as to Bostic. Specifically, as to Bostic, this court held that the handcuffing was excessively intrusive and was an “obvious violation of Gray's Fourth Amendment rights.” Gray II, 458 F.3d at 1306–07. The case was remanded and was ordered to proceed only against Bostic on Gray's illegal seizure claim and for declaratory and injunctive relief. Bostic's petition for rehearing en banc with this court was denied.

4. Trial

The district court conducted a jury trial on January 16, 2007. At the close of Gray's evidence, based upon Bostic's proffer, the district court declined to allow any defense witnesses or exhibits to be offered into evidence. It then granted Gray's oral motion for judgment as a matter of law on the issue of liability. The issue of damages was submitted to the jury, and after brief deliberations,⁵ one dollar in nominal damages was awarded to Gray. Judgment was entered on even date.

5. Gray III⁶

Gray filed two motions for attorney's fees. On February 14, 2007, Bostic appealed the district court's judgment against him to this court. The district court denied Gray's two pending motions for attorney's fees, allowing Gray to re-file after this court ruled on Bostic's appeal. This court heard oral argument on February 6, 2008, and in a per curiam opinion, affirmed the decision of the district court granting judgment as a matter of law against Bostic.

6. Gray IV⁷

Again, Gray filed two motions for attorney's fees. On July 29, 2008, without hearing, the district court granted Gray's motions for attorney's fees, expenses of litigation, and costs in a total amount over $70,000. Bostic appealed this decision on August 20, 2008. On June 12, 2009, this court (Carnes, J.) vacated the district court's July 29, 2008, order and remanded the case for further proceedings.

On August 2, 2010, this court (Carnes, J.) rescinded its earlier opinion of June 12, 2009, and supplanted it with a new opinion, which also vacated the district court's previous award of attorney's fees. This court clarified that the “issue [was] whether the district court abused its discretion under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 by awarding Gray attorney's fees even though the jury awarded her only $1.00 in nominal damages for Bostic's violation of her Fourth Amendment right to be free from illegal seizure.” Gray IV, 613 F.3d at 1038. This Gray IV court noted that the district court, in deciding that an award of fees and expenses was warranted notwithstanding the nominal amount of damages, had relied on the fact that the one published opinion to have previously come out of the litigation, Gray II, had been cited in more than fifty other cases. In measuring the “public purpose served” of the legal issue, see Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103, 113 S.Ct. 566, 121 L.Ed.2d 494 (1992), the district court had relied on this significant number of citations. In Gray IV, this court held that the district court had misapplied the law and had overstated the impact of that decision because the substantive law Gray II established had only been cited twice by other courts.

This Gray IV court clarified that Gray II's substantive point of law was narrow: that a law enforcement officer, acting as a school resource officer, who handcuffs a compliant nine-year-old child for purely punitive purposes has unreasonably seized the child in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The district court had erred by counting decisions that cited Gray II for general principles of law that were already well established or for holdings on issues and claims upon which plaintiff had failed to prevail. This court provided direction that if the district court chose to count citations to Gray II to determine the “public purpose served,” it should only count those that cite Gray II for its Fourth Amendment holding.

Further, this court pointed out in Gray IV another troubling aspect of the district court's order: the...