Jean-baptiste v. Gutierrez

• Decision Date: 13 January 2010
• Docket Number: Case No. 07-21728-CIV.
• Citation: 680 F.Supp.2d 1318
• Parties: Erlis JEAN-BAPTISTE, Plaintiff, v. Jose GUTIERREZ, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida

680 F.Supp.2d 1318

Erlis JEAN-BAPTISTE, Plaintiff,

v.Jose GUTIERREZ, Defendant.

Case No. 07-21728-CIV.

United States District Court,

S.D. Florida,

Miami Division.

Decided: Jan. 13, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Erlis Jean-Baptiste, Lake City, FL, pro se.

OMNIBUS ORDER ADOPTING AND AFFIRMING RECOMMENDATIONS OF MAGISTRATE JUDGE [DE 65]; [DE 66]; [DE 87]; DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [DE 37] OVERRULING DEFENDANT'S OBJECTIONS TO MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S REPORTS [DE 79]; [DE 95]; GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO STRIKE OBJECTIONS DUE TO AN INADVERTENT FILING [DE 96]

ALAN S. GOLD, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Magistrate Judge White's Report and Recommendations [DE 65] and Supplemental Report and Recommendations [DE 87] (collectively "the Reports") recommending the denial of Defendant Officer Jose Gutierrez's Motion for Summary Judgment [DE 37]. Defendant filed Objections to both Reports. See [DE 79] and [DE 95]. Having reviewed the Reports, Defendant's Objections thereto, and the applicable case law, I agree with the Magistrate Judge insofar as the material facts—as viewed in the light most favorable to the Plaintiff— demonstrate that Officer Gutierrez is not entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law because he violated Plaintiffs clearly established right to be free from deadly force in a situation that requires less-thanlethal force. Accordingly, I adopt and affirm the Magistrate Judge White's Recommendations and deny Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment.

I. Factual Background ¹

Because the factual background of this case is recounted in great detail in the Magistrate's Reports, I present only a brief synopsis of the incident giving rise to Plaintiffs claim. During the mid-morning of July 24, 2003, Defendant Gutierrez became engaged in a vehicular pursuit and then a foot chase with suspects, who, based on a police bulletin, were believed to have been involved in an armed home invasion. [DE 87, p. 2]. During the course of the pursuit, Defendant Gutierrez spotted the suspects, one of whom was holding an unknown "blunt object" that Gutierrez figured was a gun. [DE 65, p. 10].

After a foot pursuit, Defendant Gutierrez came upon one of the suspects, the Plaintiff, in the backyard of a residence near a shed, holding what he believed to be a gun. [DE 87, p. 2]. Feeling that he was being ambushed by the Plaintiff, Defendant Gutierrez opened fire on the Plaintiff without warning, discharging his firearm multiple times until he "had completely emptied his magazine," which contained fourteen rounds of ammunition. [DE 65, p. 11]. The first or second shot struck Plaintiff in the groin area, with subsequent shots hitting him in various other body parts, including his feet and legs. [DE 65, p. 12]; [DE 87, p. 8]. Sworn statements provided by the Plaintiff and an air conditioning technician who took in the events from a nearby rooftop indicate that the first shot to the groin area immediately brought Plaintiff to the ground, and that Officer Gutierrez then "malicious[ly] and/or sadisticfally]" fired at least ten more rounds from close range even after Plaintiff lay incapacitated on the ground and despite the fact that Plaintiffs weapon was approximately "a foot or two away" from him. [DE 87, p. 7];. [DE 65, p. 10]; [DE 1, p. 4]; [DE 37-9, pp. 3233]. As a result of the gunshot wounds he suffered during the course of this incident Plaintiff was permanently injured and is now confined to a wheelchair. [DE 1, p 5].

II. Procedural Background

On July 6, 2007, Plaintiff filed a § 1983 claim against Defendant Gutierrez, claiming that Gutierrez used excessive force against Plaintiff in violation of his clearly established constitutional rights. [DE 1]. Upon filing, the matter was referred to Magistrate Judge White by the Court for among other things, the issuance of a Report and Recommendation on any dispositive motions. [DE 2]. On June 20, 2008, Defendant moved for summary judgment, asserting that he was entitled to judgment as a matter of law based on the doctrine of qualified immunity. [DE 37]. On February 20, 2009, Magistrate Judge White issued a Report ("the Initial Report") recommending that Defendant's motion be denied and that the case be set for trial. See [DE 65]. On April 17, 2009, Defendant objected to the Report. [DE 79]. On September 17, 2009, after considering Defendant's objections, I entered an Order [DE 85] requesting a Supplemental Report ("the Supplemental Report") that would address certain legal and factual issues that remained unresolved by the Initial Report.² The Supplemental Report [DE 87] was issued on October 28, 2009, and after receiving various extensions of time, Defendant filed his Corrected Objections to the Supplemental Report [DE 95] on January 5, 2010.

III. Standard of Review of a Magistrate Judge's Decision

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72(b), which governs dispositive motions referred to a magistrate judge, "a party may serve and file specific written objections to the proposed findings and recommendations" of a magistrate judge on a dispositive motion "[w]ithin 10 days after being served with a copy of the recommended disposition." Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b)(2); see also S.D. Fla. Mag. R. 4(b). If objections are timely filed, the district judge must determine de novo any part of the magistrate judge's disposition that has been properly objected to. Id. While the standard of review is de novo, a district judge need not re-assess every single finding and determination, for "the statute permits the district court to give to the magistrate's proposed findings of fact and recommendations 'such weight as [their] merit commands and the sound discretion of the judge warrants' " without violating a party's due process rights, "so long as the ultimate decision is made by the district court." U.S. v. Raddatz, 447 U.S. 667, 683, 100 S.Ct. 2406, 65 L.Ed.2d 424 (1980) (citing Mathews v. Weber, 423 U.S. 261, 275, 96 S.Ct. 549, 46 L.Ed.2d 483 (1976)). Upon review of the magistrate's decision, the district judge may accept, reject, or modify the recommended disposition, receive further evidence, recall the witnesses, or return the matter to the magistrate judge with instructions. Id. Further, a district judge does not abuse his discretion in either considering or refusing to consider an "argument that was not presented to the magistrate judge." Williams v. McNeil, 557 F.3d 1287, 129091 (11th Cir.2009).

IV. Analysis

After a thorough review of the record and the applicable law, Magistrate Judge White determined in his Reports that Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment should be denied because "the parties' versions of the facts are at odds [and because] there are issues of material fact in dispute which impact on the questions of the nature of the threat that plaintiff... posed to the defendant... [and] the nature and extent of force that was appropriate under the circumstances." [DE 87, p. 19]. Defendant objects to this conclusion, asserting that a qualified immunity analysis must be undertaken "[w]ith the Plaintiffs best case in hand" and that, as a result "material issues of disputed fact... cannot foreclose the grant or denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity." [DE 95, p. 3] (quoting Robinson v. Arrugueta, 415 F.3d 1252 (11th Cir.2005)). Defendant also objects on the basis that Magistrate Judge White allegedly failed to shift the burden of proof to Plaintiff to demonstrate a violation of a constitutional right that was clearly established at the time of the subject incident. Id. at 8.³

While I agree with Defendant insofar as the existence of a disputed issue of material fact does not ipso facto defeat a summary judgment motion based on qualified immunity, see Robinson, 415 F.3d at 1257 (noting that "material issues of disputed fact are not a factor in the court's analysis of qualified immunity" because such issues are eliminated when district courts "take the facts in the light most favorable to the party asserting the injury"), I disagree that Defendant is entitled to the protections of qualified immunity given the facts of this particular case.

As Defendant correctly points out, the Eleventh Circuit has instructed district courts to analyze questions of qualified immunity "with the Plaintiffs best case in hand" so that "the court is able to move to the question of whether the defendant committed the constitutional violation alleged in the complaint without having to assess any facts in dispute." Id. Here, the "best case in hand" consists of Defendant Gutierrez having maliciously and sadistically⁴ shot a non-resisting, non-fleeing Plaintiff an additional ten to twelve times from close range after having incapacitated him with an initial shot to the genitalregion and after Plaintiffs weapon was no longer within his control. If this "best case in hand" constitutes a violation of Plaintiffs clearly established rights, then Defendant's motion must be denied. See e.g., Mercado v. City of Orlando, 407 F.3d 1152, 1156-59 (11th Cir.2005) (reversing district court's grant of summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds because evidence was sufficient such that a reasonable jury could conclude that officer used excessive force in violation of Plaintiffs clearly established constitutional rights when he used a Sage Launcher on an armed but non-resisting Plaintiff who was lying on his kitchen floor).

Claims of excessive force are analyzed under the Fourth Amendment's "objective reasonableness" standard. Oliver v. Fiorino, 586 F.3d 898, 904-05 (11th Cir.2009). Thus, the critical question that must be answered in this context "is whether the officer's conduct [was] objectively reasonable in light of the facts confronting the officer." Vinyard v. Wilson 311 F.3d 1340, 1347 (11th Cir.2002). Of course, the " 'reasonableness' of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer at the scene, rather than with the...