McElree v. City of Cedar Rapids

• Citation: 372 F.Supp.3d 770
• Decision Date: 05 April 2019
• Docket Number: No. C17-144-LTS,C17-144-LTS
• Parties: Twyla MCELREE, Administrator of the Estate of Jonathan Tyler Gossman, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa

372 F.Supp.3d 770

Twyla MCELREE, Administrator of the Estate of Jonathan Tyler Gossman, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.CITY OF CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA, et al., Defendants.

No. C17-144-LTS

United States District Court, N.D. Iowa, Cedar Rapids Division.

Signed April 5, 2019

Judith M. O'Donohoe, Elwood O'Donohoe O'Connor & Stochl, Charles City, IA, for Plaintiffs

Elizabeth D. Jacobi, Cedar Rapids City Attorney's Office, Wilford H. Stone, Gregory Thomas Usher, Lynch Dallas PC, Mohammad H. Sheronick, Cedar Rapids, IA, for Defendants.

ORDER

Leonard T. Strand, Chief Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

This case is before me on a motion (Doc. No. 63) for summary judgment filed by defendants City of Cedar Rapids, Nathan Juilfs, Lucas Jones, Brandon Boesenberg and Bryson Garringer. Plaintiffs have filed a resistance (Doc. No. 90) and defendants have filed a reply (Doc. No. 101). Also pending is defendants' motion (Doc. No. 102) to strike portions of plaintiffs' resistance to the motion for summary judgment. Oral argument is not necessary to resolve the pending motions. See N.D. Iowa L.R. 7(c).

II. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs commenced this case by filing a petition (Doc. No. 2) in the Iowa District Court for Linn County. Defendants filed a notice of removal on November 28, 2017. Doc. No. 1. The petition asserts the following claims for relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Iowa law, all arising from an arrest and subsequent events on October 20, 2015, that resulted in the death of Jonathan Gossman:

Count I: Stop without probable cause (Juilfs, Garringer and Boesenberg);

Count II: Seizure of vehicle and Gossman without probable cause (Juilfs, Garringer and Boesenberg);

Count III: Arrest of Gossman without probable cause (Juilfs, Garringer and Boesenberg);

Count IV: Use of excessive force against Gossman (Jones, Juilfs, Garringer and Boesenberg);

Count V: Unconstitutional policy or custom, failure to train, and failure to supervise (City of Cedar Rapids);

Count VI: Ratification of constitutional violations (City of Cedar Rapids);

Count VIII: Assault and battery (Juilfs, Jones, Boesenberg and Garringer);

Count IX: False arrest (Juilfs, Jones, Boesenberg, Garringer and City of Cedar Rapids).

Doc. No. 2.¹ Plaintiffs seek actual and punitive damages on behalf of Gossman's estate and Gossman's surviving family members.

Defendants answered and discovery commenced. Defendants filed the present motion for summary judgment on December 18, 2018. After receiving an extension due to an ongoing discovery dispute, plaintiffs filed their resistance to the motion for summary judgment on January 24, 2019. Portions of plaintiffs' resistance prompted the defense motion to strike, which was filed on February 13, 2019.

III. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARDS

Any party may move for summary judgment regarding all or any part of the claims asserted in a case. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Summary judgment is appropriate when "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett , 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

A material fact is one "that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. , 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Thus, "the substantive law will identify which facts are material." Id. Facts that are "critical" under the substantive law are material, while facts that are "irrelevant or unnecessary" are not. Id. "An issue of material fact is genuine if it has a real basis in the record," Hartnagel v. Norman , 953 F.2d 394, 395 (8th Cir. 1992) (citing Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp. , 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) ), or "when ‘a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party’ on the question," Woods v. DaimlerChrysler Corp. , 409 F.3d 984, 990 (8th Cir. 2005) (quoting Anderson , 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505 ). Evidence that only provides "some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts," Matsushita , 475 U.S. at 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, or evidence that is "merely colorable" or "not significantly probative," Anderson , 477 U.S. at 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505, does not make an issue of material fact genuine. Put another way, "[e]vidence, not contentions, avoids summary judgment." Reasonover v. St. Louis Cnty. , 447 F.3d 569, 578 (8th Cir. 2006) (citation omitted). The parties "may not merely point to unsupported self-serving allegations." Anda v. Wickes Furniture Co. , 517 F.3d 526, 531 (8th Cir. 2008).

As such, a genuine issue of material fact requires "sufficient evidence supporting the claimed factual dispute" so as to "require a jury or judge to resolve the parties' differing versions of the truth at trial." Anderson , 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (quotations omitted). The party moving for entry of summary judgment bears "the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion and identifying those portions of the record which show a lack of a genuine issue." Hartnagel , 953 F.2d at 395 (citing Celotex , 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548 ). Once the moving party has met this burden, the nonmoving party must go beyond the pleadings and by depositions, affidavits, or otherwise, designate specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Mosley v. City of Northwoods , 415 F.3d 908, 910 (8th Cir. 2005). The nonmovant must show an alleged issue of fact is genuine and material as it relates to the substantive law. Id. If a party fails to make a sufficient showing of an essential element of a claim or defense with respect to which that party has the burden of proof, then the opposing party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Celotex , 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

To determine whether a genuine issue of material fact exists, I must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Matsushita , 475 U.S. at 587-88, 106 S.Ct. 1348. Further, I must give the nonmoving party the benefit of all reasonable inferences that can be drawn from the facts. Id. However, "because we view the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, we do not weigh the evidence or attempt to determine the credibility of the witnesses." Kammueller v. Loomis, Fargo & Co. , 383 F.3d 779, 784 (8th Cir. 2004) (citing Quick v. Donaldson Co. , 90 F.3d 1372, 1376-77 (8th Cir. 1996) ). Instead, "the court's function is to determine whether a dispute about a material fact is genuine." Quick , 90 F.3d at 1377.

IV. RELEVANT FACTS

Unless otherwise noted, the following facts are undisputed:

A. The Parties

Jonathan Gossman was detained and then shot by members of the Cedar Rapids Police Department (CRPD) on October 20, 2015. Doc. No. 2 at ¶ 14. This lawsuit was brought by Gossman's mother, Twyla McElree, as the administrator of Gossman's estate, and by Mikaela Gossman and her two children as his surviving family. Id. at ¶¶ 1-2.

The City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is a municipal corporation under Iowa Code chapter 670. Nathan Juilfs, Lucas Jones, Brandon Boesenberg and Bryson Garringer are police officers employed by the Cedar Rapids Police Department, and each were involved in the altercation between Gossman and the CRPD on October 20, 2015. Id. at ¶¶6, 11-16. Boesenberg and Garringer conducted surveillance on the night in question that led to Gossman's detention. Juilfs was involved in stopping Gossman's vehicle and Jones – a K9 officer partnered with a police dog named Bane – was called to the scene for a narcotics search. Garringer and Jones ultimately shot Gossman, resulting in his death.

B. The Arrest

On October 20, 2015, Boesenberg and Garringer were on duty conducting surveillance of pseudoephedrine purchases² in an unmarked police vehicle. Doc. No. 64-5 at 3-4; Doc. No. 64-7 at 3.³ Sometime before 9:50 p.m., they parked in the Walgreens parking lot at the corner of 16th Avenue and Edgewood Road SW in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.⁴ Doc. No. 64-5 at 6-7, 12, 14. They backed into a stall in the Northeast corner of the parking lot so that the front of the vehicle pointed towards the entrance of the Walgreens. Id. at 6-7. The parking lot was illuminated, and the officers were able to see their surroundings.⁵ Id. They monitored pseudoephedrine purchases using an iPad connected to the Internet and displaying the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx), a web-based application that tracks sales of methamphetamine precursors. The NPLEx allows officers to monitor, in real-time, all pseudoephedrine purchases at a specified location. Id. at 4, Doc. No. 64-7 at 3. When a pseudoephedrine

purchase was attempted, the time, location, and purchaser's driver's license information appeared on the screen, as well as the frequency of the individual's pseudoephedrine purchases and whether any purchase had been blocked. Doc. No. 64-5 at 4.

Earlier that evening, Gossman, Dillon Graf, Annabelle Santos, Jeff Hass, Enrique Gutierrez and Steven Turner⁶ met up at Gossman's father's home. Doc. No. 64-2 at 16. Graf and Santos testified that everyone in the group used methamphetamine before they left in Graf's Ford F-150 truck. Id. at 12. Graf described the group traveling to a few different stores to purchase pseudoephedrine,⁷ flash lights and zip ties, and to an apartment complex where Gossman showed some "old biker guys" a gun he wanted to sell. Id. at 2-6, 14. Graf states that Gutierrez and Turner offered Gossman, Graf, Santos and Hass $ 50 to purchase the pseudoephedrine for them. Doc. No. 76-3 at 51.⁸ Eventually, the group went to the Walgreens where Boesenberg and Garringer were conducting surveillance.

The Ford F-150 truck caught the officers' attention because Turner and Gutierrez were outside of it talking to the occupants and the other members of the group were in and out of the truck. Doc. No. 64-5 at 6. Boesenberg and...