Jackson v. Brooklyn Ctr. Police Dept.
| Decision Date | 06 March 2023 |
| Docket Number | 21-cv-2072 (SRN/DJF) |
| Parties | Edell Jackson, Plaintiff, v. Brooklyn Center Police Dept., et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
Nicholas Ratkowski, Contreras & Metelska, P.A., for Plaintiff.
Jason M. Hiveley, Aaron Mark Bostrom, and Julia Kelly, Iverson Reuvers, for City of Brooklyn Center, Officers Jake Wilkins Stephen Pastor, Joel Iverson, Cooper Gauldin, Ryan Soliday and Kate Deering, Defendants.
ORDER ON BROOKLYN CENTER DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS
This matter is before the Court on the Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings [Doc. No. 43] filed by the City of Brooklyn Center (“the City”), and Brooklyn Center Police Officers Jake Wilkins, Stephen Pastor, Joel Iverson, Cooper Gauldin Ryan Soliday, and Kate Deering (collectively, the “Brooklyn Center Defendants”). For the reasons set forth below, the Brooklyn Center Defendants' motion is granted.
Plaintiff Edell Jackson brings this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that his apprehension and arrest by law enforcement officers with the Brooklyn Center Police Department (“BCPD”) and the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department on January 14, 2021 was unconstitutional.[1]
A. Apprehension and Arrest
Jackson asserts that on that day, he had just begun to back out of a parking space adjacent to apartment buildings in Minneapolis when he was “suddenly surrounded by police vehicles.” (Second Am. Compl. [Doc. No. 23] ¶¶ 92-93.) He contends that he was unaware of officers' intent to arrest him and was unaware of any existing warrants for his arrest. (Id. ¶ 94.) Jackson alleges that next, “[w]ithout warning or provocation,” Officer Jake Wilkins violently struck the driver's side bumper of Jackson's truck, preventing him from exiting the parking lot. (Id. ¶ 95.) Jackson asserts that shortly thereafter, Officer Ryan Soliday “forcefully, and at an excessive rate of speed, violently rammed his squad car directly into the driver's side of Plaintiff's vehicle,” striking Jackson's knee and leg and causing him to hit his head on the truck's interior grab bar. (Id. ¶¶ 97-98.) In addition, Jackson alleges that the impact of the collision forced his truck backward into a snowbank. (Id. at ¶ 98.) Jackson contends that while Officers Wilkins and Soliday blocked his truck from the front and driver's side, other officers blocked it from the rear, and a high fence alongside the passenger side of the vehicle blocked any other means for the truck to exit. (Id. ¶ 99.)
Effectively hemmed in, Jackson alleges that multiple officers then “descended upon [his] vehicle with weapons drawn,” screaming at him to get out of the car and put his hands up. (Id. ¶¶ 100-01.) As he attempted to unfasten his seatbelt, officers yelled that he was reaching for a gun. (Id. ¶ 102.) After unfastening his seatbelt, he used the passenger side front door to exit the truck, as the driver's side door was dented inward from the collision and was unusable. (Id. ¶¶ 103-04.) Jackson contends that he immediately raised his hands and kept them above his head. (Id. ¶ 105.)
B. Tasing
Jackson alleges that one of the Defendants “immediately” tased him, striking his left side. (Id. ¶ 106.) Consequently, he contends, he fell in the snow, and “[i]n the process, [his] coat came off and was left behind[.]” (Id. ¶ 107.) “Panicked and dazed after being tased,” Jackson alleges that he stood up and made his way out of the snow, around to the driver's side of the truck. (Id. ¶ 108.) At that time, he contends Officer Cooper Gauldin and Sergeant Stephen Pastor both deployed their tasers, striking him simultaneously. (Id. ¶ 109.) Jackson alleges that he kept his hands up and repeatedly begged the officers not to shoot him. (Id. ¶ 110.)
C. Tackling and Tasing
Jackson asserts that “[f]earing for his life,” he “continued to keep his hands up and attempted to distance himself from Defendants and their tasers.” (Id. ¶ 111.) However, he alleges that officers, including Officers Gauldin, Wilkins, Joel Iverson, and others, tackled and beat him. (Id. ¶ 112.) Jackson asserts that as he was tackled, his arms were pinned underneath his body. (Id. ¶ 113.) He contends that at this time, Officer Gauldin, and possibly others, “punched him in the ribs repeatedly, while [he] could not move his arms and posed no threat to officers.” (Id.)
Jackson alleges that officers tased him twice more while he was already restrained and “completely defenseless on the ground in the prone position.” (Id. ¶ 114.) Specifically, he asserts that Officer Wilkins tased him on the buttocks and an unknown officer tased him on the back. (Id.) Jackson alleges that Defendants left him in a prone position for several minutes before rolling him over, checking him for weapons, and finding him to be unarmed. (Id. ¶ 115.)
D. Medical Care and Processing the Scene of Arrest
As officers brought him to his feet and escorted him to a squad car, Jackson alleges that he felt numbness on his left side, and told officers that he could not breathe and had a tingling sensation in his back and neck. (Id. ¶ 116.) An ambulance arrived at the scene to treat Jackson and transport him to the hospital. (Id. ¶ 117.) As a result of Defendants' conduct, Jackson asserts that he suffered bruising to his head and a split lip, and since his arrest, has suffered from recurrent nervous twitches, frequent numbness in his forearms, difficulty fully extending his wrists and fingers due to his hands seizing up, recurring pain in his left knee, pain in his neck that feels like a pinched nerve, pain in his lower back which now frequently makes a clicking noise when he moves; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; difficulty sleeping, and fear of law enforcement officers. (Id. ¶¶ 164-70.)
While Jackson received medical attention, Officer Kate Deering assisted the Hennepin County Crime Lab in processing the scene of his arrest, and recovered Plaintiff's jacket alongside his truck. (Id. ¶ 120.) In her police report, Officer Deering noted that the imprint of a gun magazine was clearly visible through the pocket of the jacket, and when she opened the pocket, she found a firearm. (Id.) Jackson, however, alleges that he was unarmed during his confrontation with police officers and was “unaware where this firearm came from.” (Id. ¶ 121.) In fact, he asserts that officers planted it there in order to frame him for the offense of unlawful possession of a firearm. (Id. ¶¶ 120-21, 195-96.)
E. Brooklyn Center Police Department's Policies and Customs
Jackson also alleges that the BCPD has a “long history of engaging in excessive force against the civilians they are sworn to protect.” (Id. ¶ 122.) He contends that although the BCPD has less than 50 active officers, it “was investigated at least 88 times for alleged officer misconduct and other department policy violations from 2016 to 2020-more than the majority of law enforcement agencies in the state of Minnesota.” (Id. ¶ 141.) However, he asserts that about a third of investigations resulted in exonerations, while nearly 40% lacked conclusive evidence. (Id. ¶ 142.)
More specifically, Jackson alleges that in 2013, Officer Soliday shot and killed Edmond Fair during a traffic stop, and Soliday's partner at the time was Officer Deering. (Id. ¶ 124.) Jackson also asserts that in 2014, BCPD officers shot and killed 18-year-old Jonathon Mar, after he led them on a high-speed chase, then exited his vehicle and repeatedly stabbed himself. (Id. ¶¶ 125-26.) Jackson contends that in 2015, BCPD officers tased Sinthanouxay Khottavongsa, causing him to fall, hit his head, and subsequently die. (Id. ¶¶ 127-28.) He further asserts that in 2019, BCPD officers shot and killed Kobe Dimock-Heisler, who, Jackson alleges, held a hammer and knife while fighting with his grandparents, but was disarmed before police arrived. (Id. ¶¶ 130-31.) Jackson also contends that in 2019, BCPD officers used unjustifiable and unreasonable force against a Black teenager, who was applying for a job at a Michael's store, and whose interaction with the police was investigated by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. (Id. ¶¶ 132-35.) Finally, Jackson notes the 2021 killing of Daunte Wright by a former BCPD officer who mistook her gun for a taser. (Id. ¶¶ 136-38.)
Jackson contends that these incidents and investigations gave the City an opportunity to review and discipline its officers, but it has deliberately disregarded officers' unlawful acts and has instead indemnified them, in violation of Jackson's constitutional rights. (Id. ¶¶ 143-44.)
In addition, Jackson alleges that while the BCPD's Code of Conduct and Use of Force Policy Manual mandate that officers use only “the amount of force that appears reasonably necessary . . . to accomplish a legitimate law enforcement purpose,” the lack of enforcement and discipline of violators shows that the BCPD and the City have failed to enforce their written policies. (Id. ¶¶ 146-47.) In addition, Jackson cites to provisions in the Use of Force Policy Manual that he contends Defendants violated here, including: (1) the issuance of verbal warnings prior to the use of a taser; (2) the circumstances under which officers should use tasers; and (3) the circumstances under which officers should ram a suspect's vehicle. (Id. ¶¶ 149-56.) Jackson contends that officers in the BCPD regularly use tasers and pursuit intervention tactics that are impermissible under the Department's own policies, illustrating “the presence of a custom allowed and encouraged by the BCPD and Brooklyn Center.” (Id. ¶¶ 158-59.)
F. Criminal Charges and Conviction
Based on the underlying events of January 14, 2021, described, in part, in Jackson's Second Amended...
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