Lavassani v. City of Canton
| Decision Date | 20 August 2010 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 1:08–CV–3065–CAP. |
| Parties | Hamid LAVASSANI, Blue Sea Petro, Inc., and Lavassani Properties, LLC, Plaintiffs,v.CITY OF CANTON, Georgia, Jeff Lance, Todd Vande Zande, Lamar Jones, Dan Combs, Rodney Campbell, Jason Yarbrough, and John Does numbered 1 through 5, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Frankie L. Fulton, Henry Brian Sams, Laurel Elizabeth Creek, Sams & Cole, LLC, Marietta, GA, for Plaintiffs.David G. Archer, Office of David G. Archer, Cartersville, GA, Althea S. Prince, Harvey Scott Gray, Monica L. Wingler, Gray Rust St. Amand Moffett & Brieske, Atlanta, GA, James Richard Westbury, Jr., Matthew Herbert Bennett, James R. Westbury, Jr., P.C., Griffin, GA, for Defendants.
This matter is before the court on the following: Rodney Campbell's motion for summary judgment [Doc. No. 66]; Lamar Jones's motion for summary judgment [Doc. No. 69]; City of Canton, Georgia, Jeff Lance, and Todd Vande Zande's (collectively “City defendants”) motion for summary judgment [Doc. No. 74]; Daniel Combs's motion for summary judgment [Doc. No. 75]; and Jason Yarbrough's motion for summary judgment [Doc. No. 76].
This lawsuit was filed as a result of a series of events involving the plaintiffs and members of Canton Police Department (“CPD”) in Canton, Georgia. The plaintiffs are Hamid Lavassani, a United States citizen of Iranian descent and a Cobb County, Georgia resident; Blue Sea Petro, Inc. (“Blue Sea”); 2 and, Lavassani Properties, LLC (“LP”).3 The defendants are the City of Canton, Georgia; Jeff Lance, the CPD Chief of Police; Todd Vande Zande, the CPD Assistant Chief of Police; Lamar Jones, a law enforcement officer with the CPD; Rodney Campbell, a law enforcement officer with the CPD; Daniel Combs, a law enforcement officer with the CPD; and Jason Yarbrough, a law enforcement officer with the CPD. The events occurred during the final hours of May 1, 2008, and early morning hours of May 2, 2008.
On May 1, 2008, sometime after 11:00 p.m., CPD Officers Daniel Combs and Jared Jordan responded to an armed robbery at the Alexander Ridge Apartments, located in Canton, Georgia. Upon arrival at the crime scene, the CPD officers questioned the white, male victim and learned that three young, black males had robbed him at gun point and stolen a cell phone, some cigarettes, and two dollars. Additionally, the police learned that the perpetrators had been seen at the nearby Shell station earlier that evening.4 In response to the information gathered at the crime scene, the police decided to send someone to the Shell station to question the store clerk.
At approximately 11:31 p.m., an unidentified CPD officer entered the Shell station to question the store clerk, Dagnachow Tamene Woldeyohanes, as to whether Woldeyohanes had “seen three black guys.” Woldeyohanes stated that he had seen three black guys approximately “two hours ago” and then provided a description of the clothes they had been wearing. In addition, upon inquiry from the unidentified officer, Woldeyohanes confirmed that the Shell station had a surveillance camera that had been working while the three men were inside the store. In response, the unidentified officer told Woldeyohanes to “hold that tape” because the three black males had “just committed an armed robbery.” Then, as he departed the Shell station, the unidentified officer initiated a radio call.
At 11:34 p.m., Sergeant Lamar Jones of the CPD entered the Shell station to inquire about the surveillance cameras and obtaining the videotape. Upon learning that there was a videotape but Woldeyohanes could not access them, Jones stated multiple times that he “need[ed] the video tonight” and directed Woldeyohanes to call his manager and tell the manager that “the police are up here and we need the video.” Woldeyohanes complied with Jones's directive, but his manager, Hamid Lavassani, did not answer the store clerk's call.
After not answering the initial call to his cell phone,6 Lavassani called the Shell station at 11:37 p.m. and first spoke with Woldeyohanes and then Jones. When Jones spoke with Lavassani, Jones explained the events regarding the armed robbery and his need to access the videotape from the store. In response, Lavassani stated that it was late at night, he was asleep, and he would happy to provide the videotape when he got up at 4:30 a.m. and came to work in the morning. [Doc. No. 81, Lavassani Dep. pp. 27–29]. Jones then reiterated his immediate need for the videotape and threatened to “shut down the store” until he got the videotape. Further, Jones accused Lavassani of being guilty of obstruction and demanded that Lavassani provide his name and number so that Jones could send someone to Lavassani's home to pick him up. Finally, Jones reiterated that Lavassani was “obstructing a police investigation” and that Jones had a right to the videotape. Jones then ended the conversation by hanging up the phone.
Immediately after hanging up the phone, Jones demanded that Woldeyohanes show him where the videotape was located. While Woldeyohanes was showing Jones the location of the videotape, Jones communicated on his radio that he was “trying to pull the damn the tape” but the store owner would not turn it over so Jones told the owner that he “was going to shut the god damn store down” and planned to “lock somebody's ass up for obstruction.” Upon confirming that he would not be able to access the videotape, Jones directed Woldeyohanes to “write down his boss's name” because Jones was “going to lock his ass up.” Additionally, Jones stated that Lavassani needed to “get his ass up here and give [Jones] the tape” and that Jones would have Woldeyohanes's “ass locked up for obstruction” if he did not provide Jones with Lavassani's full name and phone number. Woldeyohanes complied with Jones's demand.
Between 11:42 p.m. and midnight, Jones remained in the vicinity of the store and warned Woldeyohanes that Jones “ain't helping [Lavassani] out” in the future because Lavassani would not turn over the videotape. Additionally, Jones questioned whether Lavassani cared about the store clerk or the fact that the perpetrators had been in the store while armed. Jones even declared that he “would quit in a heartbeat” if he had to work for Lavassani. Jones then went outside the store while Woldeyohanes started counting money, mopping the floor, turning out lights, locking the front door, and performing other tasks in preparation of closing the store.
On May 2, 2008, at approximately 12:10 a.m., CPD officers returned to the front entrance door of the Shell station, which was closed. Woldeyohanes met the officers at the entrance and informed them that he still did not have access to the videotape. In response, an unidentified officer informed Woldeyohanes that the store clerk would need to stay here until “C.I.D arrived.” 7 Moreover, the unidentified officer explained that if Woldeyohanes could not turn the videotape over, then the police would have to get a search warrant. The unidentified officer continued the conversation by asking Woldeyohanes questions regarding the three perpetrators.
After Woldeyohanes had answered the officer's questions, Jones inquired again as to the location of the owner and directed Woldeyohanes to call Lavassani so that he could come and give the police the videotape. In giving the directive to Woldeyohanes, Jones explained, “Here is the thing ... he can either come give us the tapes or I'm shutting the store down and I'm gonna rip the sons of bitches out of the wall.” Jones then declared, “[Lavassani] could get it back next year” and “with a search warrant, and I'm gonna take them.”
At approximately 12:15 a.m., Detective Rodney Campbell of the CPD CID arrived and went inside the Shell station.8 He immediately started discussing the situation with multiple officers, including Jones, inside the store.9 A few minutes later, Lavassani called the store again and spoke with Campbell. Campbell stated, Campbell hung up the phone and then instructed Woldeyohanes, “Get out!”
Lavassani then called the store again and spoke with Jones. Lavassani's statements cannot be heard, but Jones exclaimed, Jones then hangs up and warns the other officers, 10 Then, upon another officer's inquiry as to the store owner's name, Jones declared his name was “Long dong dumbass, I think” and then revisits his phone conversation with Lavassani. 11 Specifically, Jones said, Finally, Jones exclaimed,
Shortly after Jones concluded his phone conversation with Lavassani, Campbell began questioning the other officers and taking notes as to the CPD's specific need...
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