Heyward v. Christmas

• Decision Date: 04 November 2002
• Docket Number: No. 3562.,3562.
• Citation: 573 S.E.2d 845,352 S.C. 298
• Parties: Esau HEYWARD, Appellant, v. Samuel CHRISTMAS, Respondent.
• Court: South Carolina Court of Appeals

352 S.C. 298

573 S.E.2d 845

Esau HEYWARD, Appellant, v. Samuel CHRISTMAS, Respondent.

No. 3562.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Heard October 9, 2002.

Decided November 4, 2002.

Rehearing Denied December 19, 2002.

Dwight Christopher Moore, of Sumter; John D. Delgado and Kathrine H. Hudgins, both of Columbia, for appellant.

John E. James, III and George C. James, Jr., both of Sumter; for respondent.

ANDERSON, J.:

Esau Heyward brought a civil action against Samuel Christmas, a South Carolina Highway Patrol trooper, alleging causes of action for negligence, assault and battery, and violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by using excessive force in arresting Heyward. The circuit court granted Christmas a directed verdict. Heyward appeals, arguing that (1) the circuit court erred in granting Christmas a directed verdict; and (2) the circuit court erred in finding Christmas was entitled to qualified immunity. We reverse and remand.

FACTS/PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On February 16, 1996, Heyward worked until 5:00 p.m., changed clothes, and then went to a bar called Scotty's Shop in Pinewood, South Carolina. Heyward drank a few beers and then asked Ronald Brunson to give him a ride home around 8:30 to 9:00 p.m. Brunson left Scotty's with Heyward, and sometime during the drive, shots were exchanged between Brunson and a Pinewood police officer. A high-speed chase ensued, and Christmas and Trooper Raffield, another highway patrol trooper, joined the chase. Brunson eventually stopped the car and surrendered to the police. Heyward remained in the car. With his gun drawn, Christmas instructed Heyward to get out of the car and raise his hands. Heyward did not comply. With his gun still drawn, Christmas went to the driver's side of the vehicle while the other two officers approached Heyward from the passenger side. From the driver's side door, Christmas reached over, grabbed Heyward, and dragged him from the car. As he was pulling Heyward from the vehicle, Christmas' drawn gun discharged and Heyward was shot in the right leg. The officers did not find a gun in Heyward's hands.

Heyward filed the underlying civil action against Christmas, alleging causes of action for negligence, assault and battery, and using excessive force in arresting Heyward in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Christmas moved for summary judgment on the negligence claim, and the circuit court granted it. Prior to trial, Heyward agreed to dismiss the assault and battery claim. The only issue to go to trial was whether Christmas had used excessive force in arresting Heyward in violation of § 1983.

The first witness for Heyward was Christmas. Christmas admitted the sirens from the three police cars would have made any audible instructions to Heyward difficult to hear. Christmas testified that Heyward's empty hands came up when Christmas grabbed for him. Christmas stated that Heyward did not resist, but his weight of 120 pounds caused Christmas to stumble while pulling Heyward out of the car. Christmas was wearing gloves at the time, and when Heyward's weight shifted, Christmas maintained that he regripped the gun and the gun discharged. Christmas kept his gun drawn because his brand new holster had not been broken in, which made the holster stick and difficult to pull the gun out. Christmas acknowledged the normal procedure was for the officer to stay in a protective position while ordering occupants of a car to exit one at a time. Christmas affirmed that he did not intentionally shoot Heyward.

Heyward called Rick Johnson as an expert in the field of law enforcement. Johnson regarded Christmas' actions as unreasonable. Johnson contended that Christmas placed himself in jeopardy by approaching the vehicle immediately upon the stop before taking time to assess the situation. Johnson opined that Christmas placed the other officers' lives in jeopardy by approaching and entering the vehicle with his weapon drawn and by pulling Heyward across to the driver's seat with one hand when the other officers were standing outside the passenger door. According to Johnson, the more reasonable approach would have been to get in a protected position and use the police car's public announcement system to give verbal commands to the occupant of the car.

Heyward testified at trial regarding the shooting. According to Heyward, he paid Brunson five dollars to drive him home from the bar. As the two began traveling away from the bar, a police car pulled in behind them. Brunson began shooting at the police car, stating that the police were "messing with him." Heyward asked Brunson to let him out of the vehicle, but Brunson continued to drive. When the car eventually stopped, Heyward asserted there was a lot of noise coming from the police sirens. Heyward claimed that he sat with his hands in his lap, still buckled in his seatbelt, after the car stopped because he panicked. Heyward heard an officer yell for him to "hold it," and to hold his hands up. Heyward professed he cooperated by putting his hands up and then recalled being pulled out of the driver's side of the car. The next thing he heard was the gun discharging. Heyward said that he never had the chance to unlatch his seatbelt prior to being hauled from the car.

After Heyward's presentation of evidence, Christmas moved for a directed verdict. The circuit court reserved the ruling until all the evidence had been presented. Terry Proctor testified that he was on duty at the sheriff's office and was patrolling the road on the evening of the shooting when he heard the radio call around midnight that shots had been fired upon a Pinewood police officer in pursuit of a car.

Captain David E. Florence attested that he was on duty at the Sumter County Sheriff's Office when he heard the radio call regarding the shots fired on the Pinewood police officer. Florence went to the area to try to intercept the suspect vehicle. Florence pulled his vehicle in front of the suspect vehicle and forced Brunson to stop. Florence established that he and several other officers yelled at the occupants to put their hands in the air and exit the car. Although Brunson, the driver, exited the vehicle, the passenger did not show his hands or comply with any commands. Florence approached the passenger side of the car, and Lieutenant Bradford opened the passenger door to try to get Heyward out of the car. At that moment, Christmas went inside the car and grabbed Heyward from the driver's side.

Lieutenant Anthony Bradford asserted that after the vehicle was stopped, he walked over to the passenger side.

Christmas averred that when he approached the vehicle, the driver's side door was left open from the driver's exit. He believed he had a better view of inside the car than anyone else and could see the suspect, Heyward, in the car.

Relying on Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989), and Roy v. Inhabitants of City of Lewiston, 42 F.3d 691 (1st. Cir.1994), the circuit court granted the motion for a directed verdict on the § 1983 action, finding no Fourth Amendment violation based on the objective reasonableness standard and on qualified immunity. The court found the gun discharged accidentally, and thus the court would not consider the gun at all. The court based its decision on whether the actual seizure was unreasonable. The court found that it was not unreasonable under the circumstances for Christmas to pull Heyward out of the car by dragging him across the driver's seat. The circuit court held that it would not consider Christmas' deviation from his training in the directed verdict motion. Heyward appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

When reviewing an order granting a directed verdict, the appellate court views the evidence and all reasonable inferences from the evidence in a light most favorable to the party against whom the directed verdict was granted. Carson v. Adgar, 326 S.C. 212, 216, 486 S.E.2d 3, 5 (1997); Adams v. G.J. Creel and Sons, Inc., 320 S.C. 274, 277, 465 S.E.2d 84, 85 (1995). If the evidence is susceptible of more than one reasonable inference, a jury issue is created and "the court may not grant a directed verdict." Hunley v. Gibson, 313 S.C. 350, 351, 437 S.E.2d 554, 555 (Ct.App.1993).

ISSUES

I. Did the circuit court err in granting a directed verdict to Christmas on the ground that his conduct was objectively reasonable?

II. Did the circuit court err in granting a directed verdict on the ground that Christmas was entitled to qualified immunity?

LAW/ANALYSIS

I. OBJECTIVELY REASONABLE STANDARD

Heyward first argues the circuit court erred in granting a directed verdict based on the finding that Christmas' actions were "objectively reasonable." We agree.

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. U.S. Const. amend. IV. Congress enacted 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to allow citizens a private cause of action against state actors who deprive them of a constitutional right. Section 1983 provides:

[Anyone] who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress....

42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1996).

Heyward argues he was entitled to redress under § 1983 because Christmas violated his Fourth Amendment rights by using unreasonable force in arresting him. "Because the Fourth Amendment provides an explicit textual source of constitutional protection against [excessive force], that Amendment, not the more generalized notion of `substantive due process,' must be the guide for analyzing these claims." Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 395, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (...