Hinojosa v. City of Terrell, Tex.
| Decision Date | 06 January 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 86-1777,86-1777 |
| Citation | 834 F.2d 1223 |
| Parties | Guadalupe R. HINOJOSA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. The CITY OF TERRELL, TEXAS, et al., Defendants, Ron Jones, Etc., Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
George C. Dunlap and David G. McCracken, Strasburger & Price, Dallas, Tex., for defendant-appellant.
Frank P. Hernandez, Hernandez, Inc., Dallas, Tex., for plaintiff-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
Before RANDALL, WILLIAMS, and GARWOOD, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff-appellee Guadalupe Hinojosa (Hinojosa) sued the City of Terrell and four of its police officers, alleging civil rights violations pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1981, 1983, 1985 & 1986, and several pendent state law claims. The district court entered judgment on a jury verdict finding that defendant-appellant police officer Ron Jones had used excessive force against Hinojosa "in the course of an arrest" and that he had assaulted Hinojosa, and denied Jones' post-verdict motions seeking judgment notwithstanding the verdict or a new trial. Jones appeals from the court's post-trial rulings. Finding no evidence to support the jury verdict in favor of Hinojosa, we reverse the district court's denial of Jones' motion for a new trial, and remand for a new trial on Hinojosa's excessive use of force claim under section 1983, and on his state law assault claim, against Jones.
At the time of the events that provoked this suit, Guadalupe Hinojosa operated a pool hall in Terrell, Texas. Just after midnight on January 17, 1982, Hinojosa, then forty-nine years old, and his wife received a telephone call at home from the night manager of the pool hall. The manager informed Mrs. Hinojosa that two of the patrons at the pool hall were arguing and that she had called the police. Mrs. Hinojosa related this information to her husband, who then drove immediately to the pool hall.
According to Hinojosa, when he arrived two police officers had arrested two persons and were escorting the arrestees into the police cars. There were fifteen to twenty Mexican-Americans or Mexican nationals milling about inside and outside of the pool hall. Hinojosa told the night manager to close the pool hall for the night and helped her usher the patrons out.
Unknown to Hinojosa, the two arrestees had been fist fighting on the sidewalk before Hinojosa arrived. When the pool hall night manager called for police assistance, the police dispatcher notified Officer Delacerda, in whose district the pool hall was located. Defendant Delacerda, who was the first officer to arrive, arrested the two men who were fighting. They offered no resistance. In the meantime, Officer Jones drove up and began ordering the crowd to disburse. He also assisted Delacerda in placing one of the arrestees in his patrol car.
What happened next is the subject of much dispute between the parties. According to Hinojosa, he was standing at the door of the pool hall talking to Rubin Reyes, Sr. (Reyes, Sr.) (a patron standing outside), when Delacerda ran up to Reyes, Sr. and for no apparent reason hit him on the head with his flashlight. Reyes, Sr. fell to the ground. Delacerda hit Reyes, Sr. again, and tried to handcuff him. Delacerda "was on the ground with Reyes, Sr." Hinojosa told Delacerda "not to hit him [Reyes, Sr.] any more." At that point, Officer Jones walked up to Hinojosa, drew his service revolver, and pointed it directly at Hinojosa. Hinojosa testified that by then he had moved back from Reyes, Sr. and was several feet away from Delacerda and Reyes, Sr., but only about one foot away from Jones.
Hinojosa insists that Officer Jones did not speak to him at all, either before, during, or after Jones pointed the gun at him. Hinojosa's position about what he said to Jones is less clear. Although at one point in his testimony Hinojosa said that he did not speak at all to Officer Jones, he later testified that when Jones pointed the gun, he said "I haven't done nothing." Hinojosa also testified that before Jones drew his gun, he told "the police who were beating [Reyes, Sr.]" that "[t]he big people from Dallas are coming down here and find out the truth" or "that the boys from Dallas were going to take care of them."
Hinojosa testified that while Jones' gun was pointed at him, he initially stood still, then slowly "turned around real easy [and] went towards the pool hall." He went inside the pool hall. From inside the pool hall, looking out its door, Hinojosa saw another police officer (Moore) at the sidewalk pointing his gun to the head of Reyes' son, Rubin Reyes, Jr. (Reyes, Jr.). Then he also saw Officer Blair (whom he knew by name) drive up. Jones told Blair to "get Lupe [Hinojosa]." Blair then came to the pool hall door and called to Hinojosa, who was inside, to "come here." Hinojosa did so, and Blair then told Hinojosa he was under arrest. No force was used in the arrest and Hinojosa was not handcuffed. He was taken to the police station. He testified that no one used "any force" on him that evening.
The police officers' version of these events is predictably different. According to Jones, when Delacerda attempted to arrest Reyes, Sr., the man resisted violently, prompting Delacerda to strike him in self defense. While Delacerda and Reyes, Sr. struggled, a second man (Reyes, Jr.) hit Delacerda on the head with his fist. Jones grabbed Reyes, Jr. and handed him over to Officer Moore, who had just arrived. Moore took Reyes, Jr. away and Jones then assisted Delacerda in subduing the still-fighting Reyes, Sr. Jones threw Reyes, Sr. to the ground and went to the ground with him. As they continued struggling, a small crowd moved in, and Hinojosa grabbed Jones' arm and tried to pull him off Reyes, Sr. Jones repeatedly ordered Hinojosa to "get back, get away," but Hinojosa stayed.
According to both Jones and Delacerda, Hinojosa was excited and threatened the officers several times. Jones remembered Hinojosa yelling, Jones, who said he then feared for his life, drew his gun, pointed it at Hinojosa, and again commanded Hinojosa to "get back." Jones claimed that Hinojosa remained steadfast even then, until Officer Blair arrived a few seconds later. Then, testified Jones, Hinojosa turned and ran into the pool hall, and was thereafter placed under arrest by Officer Blair.
The parties agreed that Hinojosa did not resist his arrest, and that no force was used against him either during his arrest or later at the police station. Hinojosa testified that at no point did any of the officers ever touch him. Hinojosa also acknowledged that he suffered no physical injury from the incident, but said that "it bother[ed] me that I haven't done nothing." 1 He testified that as a result, he couldn't work for about three to four weeks and that he was embarrassed before his children and wife because he had been arrested. 2
As a consequence of these events, on January 17, 1984, Hinojosa commenced the present action against the City of Terrell, its then-Chief of Police Joe Patton, and police officers Blair, Delacerda, Jones, and Moore. In the complaint he alleged causes of action under 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1981, 1983, 1985, & 1986 for violation of his rights under the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. He also asserted pendent state law claims for assault, battery, false arrest, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, malicious prosecution, and negligence. For these alleged wrongs, Hinojosa sought actual and punitive damages, attorneys' fees, and costs from all of the defendants.
In response to a motion for partial summary judgment submitted by the defendants, the district court on May 20, 1986, dismissed Hinojosa's claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1981, 1985, & 1986, and all of his claims against Officer Moore. 3 Thereafter on June 10, 1986, the case proceeded to trial. At the close of Hinojosa's evidence, and after all of the evidence was presented, various defendants made motions for a directed verdict with respect to several of Hinojosa's claims, which the district court granted in part. The remaining claims were submitted to the jury by special interrogatories. These included:
(7) intentional interference with Hinojosa's business by Delacerda, and
(8) negligent hiring of Jones by Chief Patton.
In addition, the district court instructed and submitted interrogatories to the jury on damages, and on the defenses of good faith immunity and discretionary authority.
The jury found that officer Jones had used excessive force "against" Hinojosa "in the course of an arrest,", that he had "committed an assault on" Hinojosa, that his actions were not undertaken pursuant to the exercise of his discretionary authority, and that he had not acted with a reasonable, good faith belief that his actions were proper. The jury found, however, that Jones had not "intentionally committed an act, or threatened to commit an act, against" Hinojosa "with the purpose of causing Hinojosa emotional distress." It also determined that neither Jones nor any other officer inquired about "arrested" Hinojosa "without probable cause," or "falsely arrested or imprisoned" him, so as to proximately...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Petta v. Rivera
...Instead, we focused on the outrageous conduct of the defendants. See id. Less than a year later, we addressed in Hinojosa v. City of Terrell, Texas, 834 F.2d 1223 (5th Cir.1988), the hypothetical situation posited in Checki (supra, 785 F.2d at 538), but perhaps reached a different result th......
-
Pulla v. Amoco Oil Co.
...at 664; and (3) objections were made to jury instructions on the same subject, citing Farley, 786 F.2d at 1347; Hinojosa v. City of Terrell, 834 F.2d 1223, 1228 (5th Cir.1988). Yet, the court finds that the Fifth Circuit cases Amoco cites do not stand for the proposition that any one of the......
-
Raby v. Baptist Medical Center
...was not grossly disproportionate to the need for action under the circumstances. See id. at 1495 n. 26 (citing Hinojosa v. City of Terrell, Texas, 834 F.2d 1223 (5th Cir.1988)). Similarly, in this case, there is no evidence that Bridges did more than display force by holding his weapon at R......
-
Petta v. Rivera
...Instead, we focused on the outrageous conduct of the defendants. See id. Less than a year later, we addressed in Hinojosa v. City of Terrell, Texas, 834 F.2d 1223 (5th Cir.1988), the hypothetical situation posited in Checki (supra, 785 F.2d at 538), but perhaps reached a different result th......