Harris v. Parrish

• Decision Date: 06 June 2018
• Docket Number: No. CV–17–556,CV–17–556
• Citation: 552 S.W.3d 475
• Parties: Shawn HARRIS, Appellant v. James PARRISH, Appellee
• Court: Arkansas Court of Appeals

552 S.W.3d 475

Shawn HARRIS, Appellant

v.James PARRISH, Appellee

No. CV–17–556

Court of Appeals of Arkansas, DIVISION IV.

Opinion Delivered: June 6, 2018

C. Burt Newell, Hot Springs, for appellant.

Murphy, Thompson, Arnold, Skinner & Castleberry, by: Tom Thompson, Batesville, and Kenneth P. "Casey" Castleberry ; and Sutter & Gillham, PLLC, by: Luther Oneal Sutter, Little Rock, for appellee.

ROBERT J. GLADWIN, Judge

Appellant Shawn Harris's appeal of the March 31, 2017 order of the Pope County Circuit Court denying his motion for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity is before this court a second time after we ordered rebriefing. See Harris v. Parrish , 2018 Ark. App. 58, 2018 WL 632245. After reviewing the new brief filed by Harris, specifically, the addition of the requested material in the abstract, it appears that Harris has sufficiently cured the deficiencies that caused the rebriefing order, and we now are able to reach the merits of Harris's claim that the trial court erred in denying his motion for summary judgment based on the defense of qualified immunity. Because genuine questions of material fact remain, we affirm.

I. Facts

Appellee James Parrish originally filed suit against various Pope County deputies, including Harris, Sheriff Aaron Duvall, and State Trooper Wilson Short in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas, Western Division. The suit alleged that excessive force was used upon Parrish during his arrest on April 14, 2012. Separate defendant Trooper Short filed a motion for summary judgment alleging that no excessive force was utilized against Parrish in his arrest. That motion was granted, and immediately thereafter, Parrish filed a voluntary nonsuit under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41. Subsequently, the present underlying suit was filed in the Pope County Circuit Court against the same defendants except for Trooper Short. All defendants filed for summary judgment, and following a hearing on the motions held on March 16, 2017, the trial court entered an order on March 31, 2017, granting summary judgment based on qualified immunity to all individually named defendants except for Harris. Harris filed his timely notice of appeal on April 6, 2017.

II. Standard of Review and Applicable Law

This appeal is pursued on an interlocutory basis pursuant to Ark. R. App. P.–Civ. 2(a)(10) (2017), which allows for an appeal to be taken from a trial court to the Arkansas Supreme Court from "an order denying a motion ... for summary judgment based upon the defense of ... the immunity of a government official." Generally, the denial of a motion for summary judgment is neither reviewable nor appealable. See Martin v. Hallum , 2010 Ark. App. 193, at 8, 374 S.W.3d 152, 158 (citing City of Fayetteville v. Romine , 373 Ark. 318, 284 S.W.3d 10 (2008) ). However, this general rule does not apply when the refusal to grant a motion for summary judgment has the effect of determining that the appellant is not entitled to immunity from suit. Martin , supra. The rationale justifying such an interlocutory appeal is that the right to immunity from suit is effectively lost if the case is permitted to go to trial. Id.

The issue of whether a party is immune from suit is purely a question of law and is reviewed de novo. See Martin and Romine , supra ; see also Ark. R. App. P.–Civ. 2(a)(10). In Martin , our supreme court reiterated our general analysis regarding summary judgment:

Of course, our courts have repeatedly held that summary judgment is appropriate when there are no genuine issues of material fact, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Gentry [v. Robinson , 2009 Ark. 634, 361 S.W.3d 788]. On appellate review, we determine whether summary judgment was appropriate based on whether the evidentiary items presented by the moving party in support of the motion leave a material fact unanswered. City of Farmington v. Smith , 366 Ark. 473, 237 S.W.3d 1 (2006). We view the evidence in a light most favorable to the party against whom the motion was filed, resolving all doubts and inferences against the moving party. [Smith v. Brt , 363 Ark. 126, 211 S.W.3d 485 (2005) ]. Our review focuses not only on the pleadings but also on the affidavits and other documents filed by the parties. Dodson v. Taylor , 346 Ark. 443, 57 S.W.3d 710 (2001). In viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the party resisting the motion, we are not obliged to ignore incontrovertible evidence that is depicted on a videotape. Wallingford v. Olson , 592 F.3d 888 (8th Cir. 2010) (citing Scott v. Harris , 550 U.S. 372, 127 S.Ct. 1769, 167 L.Ed.2d 686 (2007) ).

The issue of whether a party is immune from suit is reviewed de novo on appeal. Romine , supra. Whether summary judgment on grounds of immunity is appropriate on a particular set of facts is purely a question of law. Gentry , supra. Although the determination of whether there is a genuine issue of material fact is a question of law under these circumstances, it is a legal question that sits near the law-fact divide. Id. (citing Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) ).

Martin , 2010 Ark. App 193, at 10–11, 374 S.W.3d at 159.

In Graham v. Underwood , 2017 Ark. App. 498, 532 S.W.3d 88, we stated that the purpose of summary judgment is not to try the issues, but to determine whether there are any issues to be tried. Id. If a moving party fails to offer proof on a controverted issue, summary judgment is not appropriate, regardless of whether the nonmoving party presents the court with any countervailing evidence. Id.

The Arkansas Supreme Court has held that even when there is no material dispute as to the facts, the court must determine whether reasonable minds could draw reasonable inconsistent hypotheses to render summary judgment inappropriate. Lipsey v. Giles , 2014 Ark. 309, 439 S.W.3d 13. In other words, when the facts are undisputed but possible inferences therefrom are, the court will consider whether those inferences can be reasonably drawn from the undisputed facts and whether reasonable minds might differ on those hypotheses. Id. If so, summary judgment is not appropriate.

III. Discussion

The case arises out of the arrest of Parrish by deputies of the Pope County Sheriff's Department with assistance from the Arkansas State Police on April 14, 2012, in rural Pope County, Arkansas. At approximately 10:00 p.m., Pope County deputies, including Harris, were dispatched in response to a domestic disturbance at a mobile home situated on a parcel of pasture land owned by Parrish. Deputies arrived to discover a minor altercation involving intoxicated individuals. Parrish, the owner of the property, had also gone to the site to personally investigate the headlights that had suddenly appeared in the middle of his pasture.

When Parrish arrived on the scene, he was unaware that Pope County deputies had already arrived. The headlights and spot light of Harris's squad car apparently shone into Parrish's eyes, causing Parrish to drive off his pasture road into a ditch, becoming stuck. Parrish then walked onto the scene and eventually was told that he needed to leave due to the nature of the investigation being conducted by the Pope County Sheriff Department's deputies.

Parrish refused to leave and was advised that if he did not leave he would be placed under arrest. Parrish refused to leave and allegedly became argumentative with officers, which eventually led to him being (1) taken to the ground by a leg sweep issued by Harris, (2) subsequently handcuffed, (3) detained at the Pope County Detention Center, and (4) charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, public intoxication, and interference with governmental operations. In the resulting Pope County District Court criminal trial, Parrish was found guilty on all charges.

Parrish then filed the precursor to this action in the United States District Court, Parrish v. Harris , No. 4:13–CV–526 (E.D. Ark. Sept. 9, 2013), ECF No. 1. The trial court granted a motion for summary judgment filed by Trooper Wilson Short based on the excessive-force claim against him filed by Parrish. None of the other named defendants pursued summary judgment in that initial case. Judge Miller's order granting summary judgment found that "even when viewing the facts in the light most favorable to Parrish, nothing supports his claim that the force used against him was excessive." Parrish, ECF No. 43. Following this ruling on summary judgment, Parrish dismissed all remaining claims against the remaining defendants pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(ii).

Approximately four months later, this case was commenced in the Pope County Circuit Court, and the trial court granted summary judgment for all defendants with one exception—the trial court denied Harris's claimed entitlement to qualified immunity. Parrish's claim of excessive force against Harris was brought solely under the Arkansas Civil Rights Act, see Arkansas Code Annotated section 16–123–105, and subsection (c) provides that "when construing this section, a court may look for guidance to state and federal decisions interpreting Civil Rights Act of 1871 as amended and codified in 42 U.S.C. § 1983." The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals discussed qualified immunity in Greiner v. City Champlin , 27 F.3d 1346, 1351–52 (8th Cir. 1994) :

Accordingly, whether the officer is immune "ordinarily should be decided by the Court long before trial." Hunter v. Bryant , 502 U.S. 224, 112 S.Ct. 534, 537, 116 L.Ed.2d 589 (1991) (per curiam), or else much of the benefit of the rule will be lost.

In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the "qualified immunity standard gives ample room for mistaken judgment by protecting all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law." Hunter v. Bryant , 502 U.S. 224 –229, 112 S.Ct. 534, 116 L.Ed.2d 589 (1991) (quoting Malley v. Briggs , 475 U.S. 335, (1986) ) ; see also Bridgewater v. Caples , 23...