Mcallister v. Price

• Decision Date: 12 August 2010
• Docket Number: No. 10-1213.,10-1213.
• Citation: 615 F.3d 877
• Parties: Frank McALLISTER, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jerry L. PRICE, in his individual capacity, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

615 F.3d 877

Frank McALLISTER, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.Jerry L. PRICE, in his individual capacity, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 10-1213.

United States Court of Appeals,Seventh Circuit.

Argued June 1, 2010.

Decided Aug. 12, 2010.

Harold T. Harper (argued), Harper & Rogers, Valparaiso, IN, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Matthew S. Clark (argued), Knight, Hoppe, Kurnik & Knight, Rosemont, IL, for Defendant-Appellant.

Before BAUER, FLAUM, and TINDER, Circuit Judges.

FLAUM, Circuit Judge.

This is an interlocutory appeal from a district court's denial of summary judgment to a defendant who claims qualified immunity. The plaintiff, Frank McAllister, suffered a diabetic episode resulting in a car crash. McAllister alleges that the officer responding to the incident, Jerry Price, violated his Fourth Amendment rights by using excessive force to remove McAllister from his car. Finding genuine issues of material fact about whether Price violated McAllister's clearly established constitutional rights, we affirm.

I. Background

At approximately 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon of March 1, 2006, McAllister was driving his vehicle in the town of Burns Harbor, Indiana. McAllister suffers from diabetes and was wearing a medical alert necklace describing his condition. While driving eastbound on U.S. Highway 20, McAllister's blood sugar level plummeted, sending him into a severe hypoglycemic state during which he struck two other vehicles.

Michelle Draves, a fifth-grade teacher, witnessed the accident. She too was traveling eastbound on U.S. Highway 20. She noticed a car approaching her from behind. The car passed, traveling at what she estimates to be 65 miles per hour as compared to her speed of 55 miles per hour. The car then hit a truck and slid into a second vehicle.

The truck was driven by Craig Tkach, captain of the Hammond Fire Department and a trained emergency medical technician (“EMT”). Like Draves and McAllister, Tkach was headed east on U.S. Highway 20. After being struck by McAllister, his vehicle went off the road and came to rest roughly one hundred feet from the point of impact. The accident resulted in $8,500 in damage to his vehicle, but Tkach was unharmed.

The other driver struck by McAllister was Donald Barden. Barden was also traveling east on Highway 20, but he had stopped at a red light at the intersection with Highway 149. Barden describes feeling a “slight bump” in the right rear side of his Ford Ranger truck.

Multiple people reported the accident by calling 911. Price was dispatched to the scene by county radio. The incident was described to Price as a traffic accident involving a potentially intoxicated driver.

McAllister testified at his deposition that he was not in pain following the accident. The inside of his vehicle was not damaged and the impact of the collision was not severe enough to deploy its airbags. McAllister was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.

Immediately after the accident, Barden approached McAllister's vehicle and asked if McAllister was ok. McAllister was unable to answer at that time, but remembers being asked.

Price arrived on the scene shortly after the accident. Barden testified that McAllister was staring off into space and convulsing as Price approached his car. Draves also stated that McAllister was twitching as Price approached. According to Barden, McAllister did not appear drunk.

Once alongside McAllister's car, Price yelled for McAllister to turn off the engine. McAllister later testified at his deposition that he tried to shut off his ignition in response to Price's request, but could not. Price then asked McAllister what was wrong with him, but McAllister was unable to respond. According to Price's testimony, McAllister appeared to be “lethargic and nonresponsive.”

Concerned that McAllister might attempt to flee the scene, Price then forcibly removed McAllister from his car. According to Barden, Price pulled McAllister out of the car by his left arm and then “threw” McAllister to the ground by applying his knee to McAllister's lower back, with his full body weight behind it. Once McAllister was on the ground, Price handcuffed him. After being handcuffed, McAllister lay face first on the ground twitching intensely. Price then told Barden that McAllister had “pissed me off.” Price testified at his deposition that he was “angry” because he thought he was dealing with a drunk driver who had caused two collisions.

As McAllister lay handcuffed on the ground, Price looked through his wallet and asked him if he was a diabetic. According to Price, McAllister shook his head no.

Price then put McAllister into his police vehicle. Tkach suggested that McAllister check for a medical alert bracelet or necklace. Price discovered McAllister's medical alert necklace. He then released McAllister from the handcuffs and was no longer angry and forceful.

When McAllister tried to stand up-apparently after recovering from the worst of his hypoglycemic state-he began complaining of a pain in his hip. Barden and Tkach also noticed pieces of asphalt, dirt, and scratches on McAllister's face. Barden and Draves both observed that McAllister's wrists were bleeding, which Price admitted was likely because of the handcuffs.

An EMT who responded to the accident, Mary Wesley, wrote a report in which she indicated that McAllister suffered his injuries during the altercation with Price. She testified at her deposition that her report reflects what Price told her at the scene. Her recollection is that Price told her that McAllister landed on his hip when Price took him to the ground. No one other than Price told Wesley that McAllister had behaved aggressively.

McAllister was ultimately diagnosed with a broken hip and a bruised lung. Dr. Bruce Thoma, the orthopedic surgeon who treated McAllister after the incident, testified that the most common reason that people sustain a broken hip is because of a fall, although he could not rule out the possibility that the injury was sustained during the earlier collisions. As a result of the injury, McAllister had to undergo hip surgery and remain in the hospital for twenty-one days.

The day after the incident, Barden went to the Burns Harbor police station to file a complaint about Price. Upon arriving at the station he discovered that Price was the chief of police. He left without filing a complaint.

McAllister filed this lawsuit on April 11, 2007. He brought claims against Price, the Town of Burns Harbor, and the Burns Harbor Police Department. Only the claims against Price are before us in this appeal.

On May 11, 2009, defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing that Price acted reasonably under the circumstances and therefore the defense of qualified immunity shielded him from liability. Defendants also argued that there were no facts from which a jury could find a policy endorsing the use of excessive force and that therefore no liability could be found on the part of the Town of Burns Harbor.

On January 15, 2010, the district court denied in part and granted in part the motion for summary judgment. The district court granted summary judgment on McAllister's state-law claims against Price in his individual capacity and the Town of Burns Harbor. However, the district court found that there were genuine issues of material fact as to whether Price used excessive force to remove McAllister from his vehicle, concluding that “no reasonable officer could have thought it was acceptable to forcibly remove a man from his car who was physically unable to obey commands, who was in the midst of convulsions, and to throw him to the ground with the full force of his body weight.” Price filed a notice of appeal on January 25, 2010. McAllister does not cross-appeal the dismissal of his state-law claims.

II. Discussion

We review de novo an appeal from a district court's denial of summary judgment to a defendant who claims qualified immunity. Baird v. Renbarger, 576 F.3d 340, 343-44 (7th Cir.2009). We construe the factual record in the light most favorable to the non-movant and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of that party. Payne v. Pauley, 337 F.3d 767, 773 (7th Cir.2003). In a § 1983 case, the plaintiff bears the burden of proof on the constitutional deprivation that underlies the claim, and thus must come forth with sufficient evidence to create genuine issues of material fact to avoid summary judgment. Johnson v. Snyder, 444 F.3d 579, 583 (7th Cir.2006).

The doctrine of qualified immunity protects government officials from liability for civil damages when their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. Pearson v. Callahan, --- U.S. ----, ----, 129 S.Ct. 808, 815, 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009). When confronted with a claim for qualified immunity, we must address two questions: whether the plaintiff's allegations make out a deprivation of a constitutional right, and whether the right was clearly established at the time of defendant's alleged misconduct. Wheeler v. Lawson, 539 F.3d 629, 639 (7th Cir.2008). We may address the prongs in whichever order we believe best suited to the circumstances of the particular case at hand. Pearson, 129 S.Ct. at 818.

Claims that officers used excessive force in seizing a person are evaluated under the Fourth Amendment's reasonableness standard. See Acevedo v. Canterbury, 457 F.3d 721, 724 (7th Cir.2006). The dispositive question is whether, in light of the facts and circumstances that confronted the officer (and not 20/20 hindsight), the officer behaved in an “objectively reasonable” manner. See Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 396-97, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989). The Supreme Court has directed lower courts to consider three factors in this inquiry: (1) the severity of the crime at issue; (2) whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of officers or others; and (3) whether the suspect is actively resisting...