Lee v. Williams

• Decision Date: 09 April 2001
• Docket Number: No. CIV. A. 2:00CV660.,CIV. A. 2:00CV660.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia
• Parties: Granville Cosby LEE, Plaintiff, v. R.M. WILLIAMS, et al., Defendants.

Page 748

138 F.Supp.2d 748

Granville Cosby LEE, Plaintiff, v. R.M. WILLIAMS, et al., Defendants.

No. CIV. A. 2:00CV660.

United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Norfolk Division.

April 9, 2001.

Reid H. Ervin, Norfolk, VA, for Plaintiff.

Jeff Wayne Rosen, Pender & Coward, Va. Beach, VA, for Defendants.

OPINION & ORDER

DOUMAR, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff Granville Cosby Lee's ("Lee") Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on the Issue of Liability, and Defendants Sheriff R.M. Williams, Commander C.E. Jett, Deputy Sheriff Steve Eugene Clem, and Deputy Sheriff Lance Evan Barley's (collectively, "Defendants") Motion for Summary Judgment. The Court held a hearing on this matter on Wednesday March 28, 2001. For the reasons that follow, Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on the Issue of Liability is DENIED, and Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.

I. Background and Procedural Facts

Lee, by counsel, filed his Motion for Judgment in the Circuit Court for the City of Norfolk on October 12, 1999. Although many references to "unreasonable" or even "reckless" conduct permeate the record in this matter, this is not a negligence case; rather, Lee's Motion for Judgment purports to state a cause of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of Plaintiff's federal constitutional rights. Specifically, Lee alleged in his Motion for Judgment that Defendants violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by shooting him after he was taken hostage and allegedly used as a "human shield" by two armed robbers who were attempting to escape from a botched robbery attempt at a Food Lion store in Stafford County, Virginia.

Defendants were served on August 3, 2000. On September 1, 2000, Defendants removed the case to this Court on the basis of federal question jurisdiction. On that same date, Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's claims pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. On December 22, 2000, Judge Morgan issued an Opinion and Order denying Defendants' Motion to Dismiss on the grounds that the facts as alleged in Plaintiff's Motion for Judgment could (1) support the determination that, by shooting Lee, Lee was the victim of an unreasonable seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment; (2) support the conclusion that Defendants' actions were sufficiently shocking to the conscience so as to substantiate a violation of Lee's substantive due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment; (3) support a cause of action for failure-to-train against Sheriff Williams and Commander Jett; and (4) support the finding that Defendants were not entitled to qualified immunity.

After discovery by both parties, these cross-motions for summary judgment followed. The parties extensively briefed the matter, and the Court held a hearing on these motions on March 28, 2001. As such, the matter has been fully briefed, supplemented with oral argument, and is now ripe for disposition.

II. Substantive Facts

At all times relevant, Defendant Sheriff R.M. Williams ("Sheriff Williams") was employed as Sheriff of Stafford County, Virginia. In that capacity, Sheriff Williams employed Defendant Commander C.E. Jett ("Commander Jett") as the Commander of the Patrol Division, and Deputy Sheriffs Steve Eugene Clem ("Deputy Clem") and Lance Evan Barley ("Deputy Barley") as Stafford County deputy sheriffs.

Lee was cleaning the floors inside a Food Lion grocery store in Stafford County, Virginia, on October 14, 1997, at approximately 11:40 p.m., when two armed men — later identified as brothers Joel and Desmond Vaughan — entered the store and attempted an armed robbery. A Food Lion employee, hiding from the robbers, called 911 and tipped the police to the robbery-in-progress, and thereafter kept the police dispatch informed as the robbery unfolded. See Def.'s Ex. A, Clem Dep., at 59.

Deputy Clem was at the Sheriff's Office when he heard a report of the armed robbery in-progress on his police radio, and he arrived on the scene shortly thereafter. Deputy Clem heard from the dispatcher that the robbers were wearing masks. While en route, Deputy Clem also learned that another law enforcement officer Officer Darrell English, was at the scene and positioned in the store's front parking lot. Upon his arrival at the scene, Deputy Clem could not locate Officer English, and therefore Deputy Clem positioned himself "just a little bit inside of the [front] corner of the store but out in front of the Food Lion in the parking lot," and to the right of the front entrance (if facing the entrance) so that he could observe the rapidly unfolding events. Id. at 53-54.

The front of the Food Lion store faces to the west, and thus Deputy Clem was positioned at the front of the store near the southwest corner of the Food Lion building. Deputy Clem saw the hooded suspects in the store, switched on the video camera inside of his patrol car, grabbed his shotgun, and exited his vehicle. Deputy Clem also requested back-up units from the Virginia State Police and the Aquia Harbor Police Department. See id. at 56-58. Deputy Clem continued to tell the police dispatcher what he observed from the outside of the Food Lion, while the employee inside the Food Lion also continued to relay information to the dispatcher. At this time, Officer Christine Hammond ("Officer Hammond") arrived at the scene and Deputy Clem ordered Officer Hammond to cover the rear of the store. See id. at 58-59.

The Vaughan brothers then exited the front of the store and proceeded about 10 to 15 feet into the parking lot. Deputy Clem, in uniform and with his shotgun raised, repeatedly identified himself as "Sheriff's Office" and commanded them to get down on the ground. See id. at 63-65. The men looked at Deputy Clem and then ran back into the store. See id. Deputy Clem observed the Vaughan brothers return to the lobby area of the store for "just ... a couple of seconds" before the males "took off running towards the rear of the store." Id. at 70. Deputy Clem relayed this information to the dispatcher, and radioed Officer English to assist Officer Hammond in the rear. See id.

Still outside the Food Lion, Deputy Clem headed down the side of the store and towards the rear. As he approached the corner of the store to take cover, one of the suspects — later identified as Desmond Vaughan — suddenly appeared three or four feet away. See id. at 70-71. Deputy Clem pointed his shotgun at the suspect, told him he was under arrest, and to stop or he would shoot. Deputy Clem did not shoot at that point because he did not see a weapon. See id. at 75. The suspect ran to a set of stairs in the rear of the building, near a loading dock, and started going up. At that time, Deputy Clem saw the second suspect — later identified as Joel Vaughan — at the top of the stairs. The second suspect raised his hand and Deputy Clem saw a "muzzle flash" as the suspect shot at Deputy Clem. The shot missed, and Deputy Clem then fired a round at both suspects, but his shot also missed and the door closed with the suspects back inside the Food Lion. Deputy Clem then quickly returned to his vehicle at the front of the store, and took cover beside the left-front fender of his vehicle. See id. at 87.

While Deputy Clem was at the rear of the store, Aquia Harbor Police Officer Ray Houser arrived on the scene, and apparently took a position in the front parking lot of the Food Lion, somewhere near the southwest corner of the building. See id. at 82. After Deputy Clem returned from the rear of the store, a customer appeared at the front of the store and yelled, "here they come, here they come." Deputy Clem advised the customer to move out of the area, and told Officer Houser to take cover. See id. at 84. At the same time, Deputy Barley arrived on the scene and positioned himself in the front parking lot near the southwest corner of the Food Lion building, and immediately behind Deputy Clem's position. See Def.'s Ex. E, Barley Dep., at 30. Deputy Clem then saw the Vaughan brothers come to the glass vestibule at the front of the store, look in his direction, go back inside the store for approximately one minute, and then return with a third person, later identified as Lee, as their hostage. According to Lee, the Vaughan brothers demanded the keys to his van and took him hostage just prior to exiting the store. See Pl.'s Ex. A, Lee Dep., at 10-11. When Commander Jett heard from the dispatcher that the Vaughan brothers had taken a hostage and were attempting to move toward Lee's van, Commander Jett, "knowing that we could not reasonably ensure the hostage's safety if we allowed it to go mobile," got on the radio and directed everyone on the scene "do not let them go mobile." Def.'s Ex. B, Jett Dep., at 26-27.¹

Deputy Clem saw that one suspect, who was completely dressed in dark clothing and later identified as Desmond Vaughan, had his arm around Lee and a handgun pointed at his head. The other brother — later identified as Joel Vaughan — was wearing camouflage clothing and walked ahead of Desmond Vaughan and Lee, with all three moving in the direction of Lee's van, which was parked 30 to 40 yards to the west and immediately in front of the front entrance to the Food Lion. See Clem Dep., at 93-94. Deputy Clem repeatedly shouted at the Vaughan brothers to "get down," but they did not surrender. See id. at 94. Joel Vaughan continued to walk faster than Desmond Vaughan, who was still holding Lee, while Deputy Clem stood with his shotgun shouldered and pointed in the direction of Desmond Vaughan and Lee because his "concern at that point in time was the hostage." See Clem Dep., at 89-95. Joel Vaughan reached the van ahead of Desmond Vaughan and Lee, as the latter two were still roughly twenty to thirty yards from the van, back in the direction of the front of the store, with Deputy Clem approximately thirty to forty yards from Joel Vaughan and thirty to forty...