Loftin v. City of Prentiss

Decision Date12 May 2022
Docket Number21-60611
Citation33 F.4th 774
Parties Joshua LOFTIN, Plaintiff—Appellant, v. The CITY OF PRENTISS, MISSISSIPPI; Joseph Bullock, Individually and in his official capacity as Chief of Police of Prentiss, Mississippi; Officer Stephen Jones, Defendants—Appellees.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Sidney Ray Hill, III, Esq., Clayton O'Donnell, P.L.L.C., Oxford, MS, for PlaintiffAppellant.

Gregory Todd Butler, Esq., Mallory Kaye Bland, Phelps Dunbar, L.L.P., Jackson, MS, for DefendantsAppellees.

Before Jones, Southwick, and Oldham, Circuit Judges.

Edith H. Jones, Circuit Judge:

Officers of the Prentiss Police Department arrested Joshua Loftin for aggravated assault after Loftin and others told the officers that Loftin had shot Dontarious Walker. Loftin sued the officers and the City of Prentiss under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for, among other things, arresting him without probable cause. His theory is that the officers lacked probable cause because, from the outset, he told them that he shot Walker in self-defense. The officers and the City moved for summary judgment. The district court granted summary judgment on all claims and awarded fees to the defendants. We AFFIRM.

I. BACKGROUND
A.

Joshua Loftin lived at 1609 Williams Street in Prentiss, Mississippi for ten years. While living at that address, he filed numerous noise complaints (more than 50) with the local police department, complaining that vehicles parked outside or passing by were playing music at a deafening volume, in violation of a city noise ordinance. The police responded to some of Loftin's complaints and even cited individuals on one or two occasions.

In Loftin's view, however, the police did not take his complaints seriously enough. He started taking matters into his own hands by confronting people who played loud music near his home. In March 2017, during one such confrontation, a man pulled a gun on Loftin and threatened to kill him. After that, Loftin started carrying a .357 Magnum for protection.

On April 17, 2017, Loftin was at home in the middle of the afternoon when he heard the distinctive buzz of a subwoofer reverberating through his walls. Loftin rushed to the window to see who was causing the ruckus and saw a green Mercury Marquis not far from his house. The Marquis departed, however, before Loftin could make it outside to confront whoever was driving the car. Soon after, Loftin hopped in his own car—.357 Magnum in hand—to see if he could locate the Marquis and ask the driver to stop playing his music so loudly.

Loftin came upon the Marquis at a crowded gas station and followed it from there. After tailing it for a short distance, Loftin honked his vehicle's horn and signaled the driver with his hand in an effort to get the other driver's attention. At an intersection known as "Greasy Line," the other driver stopped and waved for Loftin to pull up next to him. Loftin then confronted the driver, later identified as Dontarious Walker, about the volume of his music, telling Walker that he had the Marquis's license plate number and that he would turn it over to the police if Walker did not desist in disturbing him. Walker allegedly responded by brandishing a Glock-like handgun and threatening to shoot Loftin. Loftin drew his gun and shot Walker in the arm. Both Loftin and Walker drove away; Loftin to his home and Walker to the hospital.

Upon arriving home, Loftin called the police and reported to the dispatcher that he had shot at a man driving a green Mercury Marquis after that man pulled a gun on him and that he needed to make a statement to the police. An unknown caller also reported the shooting three minutes earlier.1

Police Officer Stephen Jones responded to the dispatcher's call and headed towards Greasy Line. Officer Jones first arrived down the street from where the shooting occurred. Upon arriving, a man, later identified as Javarious McInnis, fled from the scene and, along the way, threw a handgun he was carrying into the bushes. Officer Jones pursued, caught McInnis, handcuffed him, and waited for Police Chief Joseph Bullock to arrive. After Chief Bullock arrived, Officer Jones retrieved the weapon that McInnis ditched during the pursuit, a black .40-caliber Glock pistol. Officers questioned McInnis about why he fled the scene and about the shooting. He denied any involvement in the shooting and explained that he ran from the police because he believed there was a warrant out for his arrest. Two of Walker's uncles, who claimed to have spoken with Walker before he went to the hospital, confirmed that McInnis was not involved in the shooting and identified Loftin as the shooter. Moreover, police officers were familiar with McInnis, having stopped him many times, and recognized the Glock as the type of weapon he always carried. Accordingly, Chief Bullock concluded that McInnis had no connection to the shooting, released him, and returned his Glock.

Officer Jones and Chief Bullock then headed to Loftin's house. When the officers arrived, Loftin met them in his driveway and told them that he shot Walker in self-defense. Notwithstanding Loftin's explanation, the officers arrested him for aggravated assault.

After interviewing Walker at the Hospital, Chief Bullock completed a factual statement and affidavit to secure a search warrant of Loftin's home and vehicle. In executing the warrant, officers located Loftin's gun, two spent shell casings, Loftin's cell phone, and drug paraphernalia. Chief Bullock also obtained and executed a search warrant for Walker's vehicle, which yielded only the bullet that Loftin fired at Walker. Chief Bullock did not discover any weapon in Walker's vehicle. Later that evening, Chief Bullock interviewed Loftin. During the interview, Loftin gave both a verbal and written statement admitting that he shot Walker but reaffirming that he did so in self-defense.

On April 19, 2017, two days later, Chief Bullock procured a warrant for Loftin's arrest on aggravated assault charges. The supporting affidavit stated that Loftin "did purposely, knowingly, and feloniously attempt to cause serious bodily injury to Dontarious Walker by ... shooting [him] in the upper portion of the left arm with a .357 Smith & Wesson handgun ...." The affidavit nowhere mentions Loftin's assertion that he shot Walker in self-defense or that police recovered a weapon near the scene of the shooting matching the description of the one Loftin alleged Walker brandished before Loftin shot him. The State released Loftin after he made bail.

A grand jury later indicted Loftin for aggravated assault. At trial, Loftin's defense counsel presented his self-defense theory to the jury. Moreover, the jury heard testimony about the weapon that McInnis threw into the bushes. Walker testified that he did not own a gun and did not give a gun to McInnis on the day of the shooting. At first, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict; the judge then gave the jury a Sharplin charge, which is Mississippi's alternative to an Allen charge. Eventually, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict and the court sentenced Loftin to five years in prison and five years of supervised release. Loftin subsequently filed a motion for a new trial based on the court's faulty Sharplin charge. The court granted the motion for a new trial. Before the retrial, the State moved to nolle prosequi the charges in part because the victim was no longer in Mississippi. The court granted the State's motion to dismiss.

B.

Loftin sued the City of Prentiss, Chief Bullock, and Officer Jones under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that: (1) Chief Bullock and Officer Jones violated his Fourth Amendment rights by arresting him without probable cause on April 17, 2017; (2) the affidavit supporting the arrest warrant signed by Chief Bullock intentionally or recklessly omitted material information and that, as a result, he is liable under Franks v. Delaware , 438 U.S. 154, 98 S. Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978) ; and (3) the City of Prentiss is liable under Monell v. Department of Social Services , 436 U.S. 658, 98 S Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), based on its policies and customs that allegedly cause citizens to be arrested without probable cause and for the City's failure to train officers on how to make arrests with probable cause. Loftin also brought a state-law malicious-prosecution claim against Chief Bullock.

At the conclusion of discovery, the defendants moved for summary judgment on all claims. The district court granted summary judgment, concluding that (1) Chief Bullock and Officer Jones did not arrest Loftin without probable cause and that they would nevertheless be entitled to qualified immunity; (2) the information Chief Bullock omitted from the affidavit supporting Loftin's arrest was not material; and (3) the City of Prentiss is not liable because Loftin failed to establish an underlying constitutional violation. The defendants subsequently moved for attorneys' fees. The district court obliged, ultimately awarding the defendants $79,798.69 in attorneys' fees. Loftin appealed.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

This court reviews a district court order granting summary judgment de novo. Hyatt v. Thomas , 843 F.3d 172, 176-77 (5th Cir. 2016) (citation omitted). 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). A genuine dispute of material fact exists when "the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. , 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S. Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). In determining whether a genuine dispute of material fact exists, this court views "all facts and evidence in the light most favorable to [the nonmovant] and draw[s] all reasonable inferences in [the nonmovant's] favor." Voss v. Goode , 954 F.3d 234, 237 (5th Cir. 2020) (citation omitted).

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