Loch v. City of Litchfield
| Decision Date | 17 November 2011 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 10–2153 (JNE/FLN). |
| Citation | 837 F.Supp.2d 1032 |
| Parties | Cassidy Jared LOCH and Saara Loch, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF LITCHFIELD and Litchfield Police Officer Travis Rueckert, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Michael A. Bryant, Esq., Bradshaw & Bryant, PLLC, appeared for Plaintiffs.
Jon K. Iverson, Esq., and Stephanie A. Angolkar, Esq., Iverson Reuvers, LLC, appeared for Defendants.
On March 15, 2009, Litchfield Police Officer Travis Rueckert shot and injured Cassidy Loch during a 911 response at the Loch residence. Plaintiffs seek redress for alleged constitutional violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and by state common law claims. Citing qualified, official, and statutory immunities, Defendants moved for summary judgment. The Court concludes that Officer Rueckert is protected by qualified and official immunities and that the City of Litchfield is not liable to Plaintiffs vicariously or by its own acts. Defendants' summary judgment motion is granted as to all claims.
Cassidy and Saara Loch, husband and wife, attended a party on Saturday, March 14, 2009. Around 10:00 p.m. or 10:30 p.m., Saara Loch (Saara) left the party, receiving a ride home from a friend. As agreed upon by the Lochs, Saara returned to the party with her brother, Seth Rokala, to pick up Cassidy Loch (Cassidy) at 1:00 a.m. Cassidy, not wanting to depart, argued with Saara. The argument escalated when Rokala tried to take Cassidy's keys in an attempt to prevent him from driving while intoxicated. Despite these efforts, Cassidy left the party, intoxicated and driving his truck. Rokala and Saara trailed him in another car. Cassidy arrived at the Loch residence first and parked in the driveway. Rokala and Saara parked behind Cassidy's truck in an attempt to block him from leaving.
After he parked the truck, Cassidy immediately went inside and upstairs to the couple's bedroom. He retrieved a handgun, returned to the truck, and tried to leave. He backed the truck into Saara's car, and then drove across the front lawn toward the street. His truck got stuck in a snow bank with the driver's side door wedged against a tree.
Gail Loch (Gail), Cassidy's mother, arrived at the residence after being summoned by Saara. Saara, Gail, and Rokala approached Cassidy, who was still in his truck, and tried to calm him down and convince him not to drive. Cassidy pulled out his handgun, pointed it at his chin, and asked, “Is this what you want me to do?” Gail instructed Seth Rokala's wife, Elizabeth Rokala, who was watching the events from the doorway of the house, to call 911. Elizabeth, unaware of the gun at the time she placed the call, reported to the 911 dispatcher that her brother-in-law was intoxicated and attempting to drive.
Officer Rueckert responded to the 911 call. Upon arriving at the Loch residence, he found several members of the Loch family in the front yard. Rueckert parked partially in the street with his squad car angled toward the disabled truck and exited his police vehicle. He turned on his emergency lights but did not move the light switch far enough to activate the squad car's video recording camera. Rueckert began approaching the group standing near the truck. Rokala yelled “he has a gun.” In response, Rueckert drew his service weapon and sought cover behind the engine block of his vehicle. From that position, he called the dispatcher and reported that someone at the scene had a gun.
Rueckert watched from behind his squad car as Cassidy, who was unable to open the driver's side door because it was wedged against a tree, kicked the glass out of the window. Cassidy threw a gun out of the broken window into a snow bank. Rueckert, still crouched behind the squad car, testified that he did not see the gun thrown. Cassidy climbed feet first through the broken window and out of the truck. He then began arguing “nose-to-nose” with Rokala. At that point, Cassidy's hands were at his side and his back was to Rueckert. Fearing for Rokala's safety, Rueckert pointed his weapon at Cassidy and ordered everyone to the ground.
On Rueckert's command, everyone in the yard got on the ground except Cassidy. Cassidy turned around and began moving toward Rueckert. The witnesses' accounts differ as to Cassidy's demeanor and the speed at which he approached Rueckert, but they all agree that rather than lying down on the ground, he moved toward the police officer. Rueckert backed away from Cassidy and into the street. With his gun still pointed at Cassidy, Rueckert continued to order him to the ground. Saara and Gail yelled that Cassidy was unarmed, but Rueckert claims he did not hear them.
As Cassidy walked down a snow bank toward Rueckert, who was on the street level, he slipped. As he slipped his body turned sideways so that Rueckert could not see Cassidy's right hand. Around the time he slipped, Cassidy made a statement to Rueckert that contained the word “kill.” Rueckert did not comprehend the complete statement, but heard the word “kill.” Rueckert saw something black—it was ultimately determined to be a cell phone holder—on Cassidy's hip. While Cassidy was righting himself from the slip, Rueckert saw him move his right arm toward the black bulge on his hip. Rueckert began firing at Cassidy while continuing to back away. Rueckert fired eleven rounds, eight of which hit Cassidy. Cassidy fell to the ground after the second shot. Rueckert kept his gun trained on Cassidy while he called for backup and reported “shots fired, one down.” Upon receiving this radio transmission, the dispatcher immediately called for backup and put an ambulance on standby.
Rueckert stood with his gun trained on Cassidy until backup arrived. Litchfield Chief of Police Patrick Fank was the first to arrive. Rueckert immediately informed Fank that the scene was not secure, that he did not have the gun, and that there may be a gun near the truck. More backup arrived, and police secured the scene by, among other things, handcuffing the bystanders. The police searched Cassidy, focusing first on the black item on his hip which was then discovered to be a cell phone holder. With Rokala's assistance, police located a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun in the snow near the driver's side of Cassidy's truck. Fank's squad car video captured a conversation between Rueckert and Fank. Fank asked Rueckert how he was doing, and Rueckert expressed his dismay at failing to capture the events on video. Fank responded, “[d]on't start second-guessing yourself.” About twenty minutes after the shooting, an ambulance transported Cassidy to the hospital.
Summary judgment is proper “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). To support an assertion that a fact cannot be or is genuinely disputed, a party must cite “to particular parts of materials in the record,” show “that the materials cited do not establish the absence or presence of a genuine dispute,” or show “that an adverse party cannot produce admissible evidence to support the fact.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(1)(A)-(B). “The court need consider only the cited materials, but it may consider other materials in the record.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(3). In determining whether summary judgment is appropriate, a court must look at the record and any inferences to be drawn from it in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).
Plaintiffs assert § 1983 claims against Rueckert in his individual and official capacities.242 U.S.C. § 1983 provides in relevant part:
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State ... subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States ... to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law.
42 U.S.C. § 1983. Because § 1983 is “not itself a source of substantive rights,” a court addressing a claim pursuant to § 1983 must “identify the specific constitutional right allegedly infringed.” Albright v. Oliver, 510 U.S. 266, 271, 114 S.Ct. 807, 127 L.Ed.2d 114 (1994). Plaintiffs allege a violation of the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizures.
Rueckert claims his actions are protected under qualified immunity. “Under the doctrine of qualified immunity, state actors are protected from civil liability when ‘their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.’ ” Sexton v. Martin, 210 F.3d 905, 909 (8th Cir.2000) (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982)). “To overcome the defense of qualified immunity the plaintiff must show: ‘(1) the facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, demonstrate the deprivation of a constitutional or statutory right; and (2) the right was clearly established at the time of the deprivation.’ ” Parrish v. Ball, 594 F.3d 993, 1001 (8th Cir.2010) (quoting Howard v. Kan. City Police Dep't, 570 F.3d 984, 988 (8th Cir.2009)).
Cassidy alleges Rueckert violated his right to be free from unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment. “ ‘To establish a violation of the Fourth Amendment in a section 1983 action, the claimant must demonstrate a seizure occurred and the seizure was unreasonable.’ ” Moore v. Indehar, 514 F.3d 756, 759 (8th Cir.2008) (quoting McCoy v. City of Monticello, 342 F.3d 842, 846 (8th Cir.2003)). “[A]pprehension by the use of deadly force is a seizure subject to the...
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