Hines v. Jefferson

• Citation: 338 F.Supp.3d 1288
• Decision Date: 05 September 2018
• Docket Number: CIVIL ACTION FILE NO. 1:17-CV-3263-TWT
• Parties: Sandra HINES (Natural Mother and Legal Guardian of K.S.), Plaintiff, v. Felicia JEFFERSON (Individual Capacity), et al., Defendants.
• Court: United States District Courts. 11th Circuit. United States District Courts. 11th Circuit. Northern District of Georgia

338 F.Supp.3d 1288

Sandra HINES (Natural Mother and Legal Guardian of K.S.), Plaintiff,

v.Felicia JEFFERSON (Individual Capacity), et al., Defendants.

CIVIL ACTION FILE NO. 1:17-CV-3263-TWT

United States District Court, N.D. Georgia, Atlanta Division.

Signed September 5, 2018

Filed September 6, 2018

Michael O. Mondy, Michael O. Mondy, P.C., Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiff.

Emory Banks Craig, William Thomas Craig, Office of William Thomas Craig, Covington, GA, William T. Mitchell, Karen Eleice Woodward, Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston & Zimet, LLP, Norcross, GA, Hieu Minh Nguyen, Phillip L. Hartley, Harben, Hartley & Hawkins, LLP, Gainesville, GA, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

THOMAS W. THRASH, JR., United States District Judge

This is a civil rights action. It is before the Court on the Defendant Felicia Jefferson's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 48] and the Defendant Newton County School District's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 56]. For the reasons set forth below, the Defendant Felicia Jefferson's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 48] is GRANTED and the Defendant Newton County School District's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 56] is GRANTED.

I. Background

This case arises out of a fight between two female students at Newton High School. The Plaintiff Sandra Hines is the mother and legal guardian of K.S. On August 29, 2016, K.S. arrived at school and waited in the common area, a large open space outside of the administrative offices where students gather in the morning before school starts.¹ While K.S. was standing in the common area, D.B., another student, asked K.S. if she wanted to fight.² K.S. said no, but D.B. punched K.S. in the face anyway.³ K.S. then hit D.B. in the face.⁴ A crowd of students began to form around K.S. and D.B.⁵ A circle of students such as this normally indicates to school officials that a fight is occurring.⁶ The two girls continued to fight, and they fell to the floor after K.S. grabbed D.B.⁷ Amanda Tolbert, a teacher at the school, and Edgar Gousse, a coach at the school, attempted to separate the students and end the fight.⁸ Someone eventually pulled D.B. off of K.S., as another person held K.S. on the floor by her legs.⁹ At the time, K.S. was unaware of who had intervened in the fight.

Deputy Felicia Jefferson is a Sheriff's Deputy for the Newton Sheriff's Office.¹⁰ She works as a School Resource Officer at Newton High School. On the morning of the fight, Jefferson noticed that a large crowd had formed, indicating that a fight was most likely taking place.¹¹ Jefferson moved through the crowd, and saw that Deputy Lee Smith had already reached the fighting students.¹² As Jefferson approached, Deputy Smith was already on the floor holding D.B., and Coach Gousse was attempting to hold K.S. on the floor.¹³ Jefferson approached K.S. after Deputy Smith grabbed D.B.¹⁴ According to Jefferson, K.S. was struggling with Coach Gousse, and Jefferson told Gousse that he could let go of K.S. and let her handle the situation from there.¹⁵ Gousse let go of K.S., but K.S. continued to struggle with Jefferson.¹⁶ K.S. contends that she was initially not aware that the person holding her was Jefferson.¹⁷ The parties dispute what happened next. According to K.S., Jefferson "scooped" her up and held her by the neck.¹⁸ K.S. claims that Jefferson picked her up off the floor by her neck and held her in a choke hold, in a manner such that her feet were in the air.¹⁹ Then, according to K.S., Jefferson carried her to the school office by her neck, with her feet still off the floor the entire way.²⁰ K.S. testified that she could not breathe because of this. Jefferson disputes this account of the facts, and contends that she stood behind K.S., put her arms around K.S.'s upper arms and chest area, embraced her body, and walked her down the hall.²¹ Jefferson contends that this was necessary because K.S. refused to walk on her own and continued to fight back.²² According to Jefferson, she walked behind K.S. and escorted her to the school office.²³ In her deposition, K.S. admits that she was resisting and trying to get "loose" during this walk.²⁴ In total, it took Jefferson and K.S. approximately two minutes to walk from the common area to the office.²⁵ K.S. struggled the entire time.²⁶ Once they made it to the office, Jefferson let go of K.S., who then sat in a chair.²⁷ Jefferson never handcuffed K.S.²⁸ Later that day, Hines took K.S. to see a doctor because K.S. complained of pain in her neck.²⁹ K.S. told the doctor that she had a decreased range of motion in her neck, and the doctor instructed K.S. to wear a neck brace for a couple of weeks.³⁰ The doctor's examination showed that K.S. had no cough

or dyspnea, and that her lungs were functioning normally.³¹ K.S. stopped wearing the neck brace in September 2016.³²

Jefferson charged K.S. with Obstruction of an Officer and Disorderly Conduct.³³ The District Attorney later dismissed these charges, acknowledging that, although there was sufficient probable cause for these charges, the State would be unlikely to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.³⁴ On June 7, 2017, Hines filed this action in the Magistrate Court of Newton County. The Defendants then removed to this Court. On behalf of her minor child K.S., Hines asserts claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for excessive force and malicious prosecution against Jefferson. Hines also asserts a civil rights claim against the Newton County School District (the "School District"). The Defendants now move for summary judgment.

II. Legal Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate only when the pleadings, depositions, and affidavits submitted by the parties show no genuine issue of material fact exists and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.³⁵ The court should view the evidence and any inferences that may be drawn in the light most favorable to the nonmovant.³⁶ The party seeking summary judgment must first identify grounds to show the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.³⁷ The burden then shifts to the non-movant, who must go beyond the pleadings and present affirmative evidence to show that a genuine issue of material fact exists.³⁸ "A mere ‘scintilla’ of evidence supporting the opposing party's position will not suffice; there must be a sufficient showing that the jury could reasonably find for that party."³⁹

III. Discussion

A. Defendant Felicia Jefferson

First, Jefferson moves for summary judgment. She argues that Hines's excessive force claim fails on the merits, that Hines's malicious prosecution claim fails on the merits, and finally that she is entitled to qualified immunity on both of these claims. The Court agrees that Jefferson is entitled to summary judgment as to each of these arguments.

1. Excessive Force

First, Jefferson moves for summary judgment as to Hines's excessive force claim. She argues that the excessive force claim fails on the merits, and that she is entitled to qualified immunity. "The Fourth Amendment's guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures includes the right to be free from the use of excessive force in the course of an arrest."⁴⁰ This analysis is governed by an objective reasonableness standard. "In order to determine whether the amount of force used by a police officer was proper, a court must ask ‘whether a reasonable officer would believe that this level of force is necessary in the situation at hand.’ "⁴¹ "The Supreme Court has held that ‘[d]etermining whether the force used to effect a particular seizure is ‘reasonable’ under the Fourth Amendment requires a careful balancing of ‘the nature and quality of the intrusion on the individual's Fourth Amendment interests’ against the countervailing governmental interests at stake.’ "⁴² Fourth Amendment jurisprudence recognizes that an officer's right to make an arrest or investigatory stop necessarily comes with the right to use some physical coercion or threat of force to effect the arrest.⁴³

In order to balance the necessity of using some force to make an arrest against the arrestee's constitutional rights, the Supreme Court has established that courts should balance a number of factors.⁴⁴ These factors include "the severity of the crime at issue, whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and whether he is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight."⁴⁵ "[T]he force used by a police officer in carrying out an arrest must be reasonably proportionate to the need for that force, which is measured by the severity of the crime, the danger to the officer, and the risk of flight."⁴⁶ However, because this is a test of reasonableness, it is not "capable of precise definition or mechanical application." The reasonableness of a particular officer's use of force "must be judged on a case-by-case basis ‘from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight.’ "⁴⁷ The essential question at the summary judgment stage is "whether, under the plaintiff's version of the facts, the officer behaved reasonably in the light of the circumstances before him."⁴⁸ Jefferson argues that her actions were objectively reasonable because she applied de minimis force.⁴⁹ Hines responds that no reasonable officer would have believed that it was necessary to apply a choke hold to K.S. in this situation because K.S. did not present a risk of danger to others, and that Jefferson's actions were so extreme that they resulted in injuries to K.S.'s neck and caused changes in K.S.'s behavior.⁵⁰

Construing all factual inferences in Hines's favor, the Court concludes that Jefferson's use of force was objectively reasonable and thus did not violate the Fourth Amendment. Jefferson initially approached K.S. to intervene in the fight and resolve the situation. K.S. disobeyed Jefferson's commands and actively resisted Jefferson's efforts to move K.S. to the school office and calm her down. K.S. admits that she was "moving [her] fe...