Meyer v. Woodward
| Decision Date | 09 October 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 07-13867-BC.,07-13867-BC. |
| Citation | 617 F.Supp.2d 554 |
| Parties | Andrew S. MEYER, Plaintiff, v. Marc WOODWARD, Ward Carter, and Eric Wissner, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan |
Jason J. Liss, Fabian, Sklar, Farmington Hills, MI, for Plaintiff.
Jason D. Kolkema, Patrick A. Aseltyne, Johnson, Rosati, Lansing, MI, G. Gus Morris, Kupelian, Ormond, Southfield, MI, for Defendants.
ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS WOODWARD AND CARTER'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
On September 13, 2007, Plaintiff Andrew Meyer filed a complaint [Dkt. # 1] against Defendants Marc Woodward, Ward Carter, Eric Wissner, Philip Lafata, Christine Werth, Scheurer Hospital, and Scheurer Healthcare Network. On March 20, 2008, all of the parties stipulated to the dismissal of Defendant Christine Werth [Dkt. # 23], with prejudice, and on April 21, 2008, the parties stipulated to the dismissal of Defendants Philip Lafata, Scheurer Hospital, and Scheurer Healthcare Network [Dkt. # 26], with prejudice. On April 21 and 22, 2008, pursuant to the parties' stipulations, the Court ordered the dismissal of Defendants Philip Lafata, Christine Werth, Scheurer Hospital, and Scheurer Healthcare Network [Dkt. # 27, 28], with prejudice.
In his complaint, Plaintiff alleges federal constitutional claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law claims against Defendants Wissner, Woodward, and Carter. First, Plaintiff asserts Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment claims against Defendants Wissner and Woodward, alleging that Defendants Wissner and Woodward illegally seized him and deprived him of liberty by restraining him in order to allow a doctor to perform a. procedure to which Plaintiff allegedly did not consent. Second, Plaintiff asserts Fourth Amendment claims against Defendants Woodward and Carter, alleging that they arrested him without probable cause. Third, Plaintiff alleges state law claims of assault and battery, false arrest, false imprisonment, gross negligence, and civil conspiracy based on the circumstances surrounding his arrest and performance of the catheterization procedure.
On July 7, 2008, Defendant Wissner filed a motion for summary judgment [Dkt. # 29], and on July 14, 2008, Defendants Woodward and Carter filed a motion for summary judgment [Dkt. # 33]. On August 4, 2008, Plaintiff filed responses [Dkt. # 38, 39] to both motions. On August 13, 2008, Defendant Wissner filed a reply [Dkt. # 40]; Defendants Woodward and Carter did not file a reply. The Court scheduled both motions for hearing on September 22, 2008. At the hearing, counsel for Plaintiff stated on the record that the claims against Defendant Wissner had been resolved; counsel for Defendant Wissner did not attend the hearing. Accordingly, the Court only heard oral argument on Defendants Woodward and Carter's motion for summary judgment.
On September 22, 2005, Plaintiff and a companion were involved in an automobile accident on a narrow dirt road a few miles outside of Caseville, Michigan. According to Plaintiff, he was a passenger in the car when his companion crashed into a tree. Subsequently, the pair tried unsuccessfully to push the car off the tree. Plaintiff left the scene on foot, allegedly to get help, when he was picked up by a cousin and given a ride to his Grandmother Cilc's house. According to Plaintiff, he informed his grandmother of the accident and asked her to call 911, then his grandfather gave him a ride to his Grandmother Meyer's house. Plaintiff's Grandmother Meyer notified the police that Plaintiff was at her house.
When the Huron County Sheriff's Department learned of the accident involving Plaintiff and his companion, the Department dispatched two deputies, Defendants Woodward and Carter, in separate cars, to the scene of the accident. Defendant Carter was the officer in charge, and Defendant Woodward was the assisting officer. At the scene, the deputies observed Plaintiff's companion sitting on the passenger seat of a two door car, being attended to by the EMS. She told the officers that she had lost control of the vehicle, and drove into a tree. She denied that anyone else had been in the car with her. EMS took her to Scheurer Hospital for treatment.
Subsequently, Defendants Woodward and Carter looked into the car and found a pair of eyeglasses lying on the floor between the driver's seat and the door. A local resident approached the deputies and told them that he had seen two people, a man and a woman, at the car just after the crash. The witness reported that the man left the scene before the EMS and police arrived.
When Defendants Woodward and Carter arrived at Plaintiff's grandmother's house,1 they were invited in. Plaintiff admitted to Defendants that he had been in the car, but Plaintiff denied that he had been the driver. According to Defendants, Plaintiff was intoxicated. Plaintiff claimed he left the scene to get help because neither he nor his companion had cell phones.2 According to Plaintiff, he told Defendants that he was not injured.
According to Plaintiff's version of events, Defendant Carter grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out of the house. Then Defendant Carter told Plaintiff that he was placing him under arrest, told Plaintiff to put his hands behind his back, handcuffed Plaintiff, put Plaintiff in the back of one of the patrol cars, and shut the car door. After a minute or so, and after conversing with Defendant Woodward, Defendant Carter opened the car door and asked Plaintiff to lift his shirt. After Plaintiff pointed out that he could not lift his shirt because his hands were cuffed, Defendant Carter ordered Plaintiff to get out of the car and lifted Plaintiff's shirt. According to Plaintiff, a photograph taken later at the hospital demonstrates that the most visible marks are on the top right of Plaintiff's chest, in an area that would be contacted by a passenger's seatbelt.3
Defendants Woodward and Carter returned Plaintiff to the back of the patrol car and drove away without telling Plaintiff where they were going. Plaintiff assumed that Defendants were taking him to jail, but after some time had passed, Plaintiff recognized that they were not headed in the direction of the jail. Plaintiff asked where they were going and Defendant Woodward told him that they were going to the hospital to which EMS took his companion.4 Defendants Woodward and Carter assert that Plaintiff was transported to the hospital for a blood draw to be performed.
At some point, Defendants Woodward and Carter contacted the Chief Deputy of the Village of Pigeon Police Department, Eric Wissner, for the purpose of staying with Plaintiff's companion until they could arrive at the hospital. When Defendant Carter arrived at the hospital, he went to speak with Plaintiff's companion. For awhile she continued to deny that Plaintiff had been in her car, but eventually, she admitted that fact. She denied that Plaintiff was the driver, but also told Defendant Carter that her insurer would not pay for any loss if someone else had been driving her car. When Defendant Carter asker her to show him any seatbelt marks, she instinctively showed him her right shoulder.
According to Plaintiff, when he arrived at the hospital, his hands were uncuffed from behind his back and re-cuffed in front of him. Plaintiff testified that he was asked if he wanted anything checked out and that he replied that he might as well since he was at the hospital. Plaintiff testified that he signed in for treatment while his hands were still cuffed and told the hospital personnel that his right wrist and arm were sore. Plaintiff completed a medical consent form, which stated, "I consent to the procedures and treatments performed by physicians, hospital staff, and all other healthcare providers caring for me." Plaintiff was taken to a room to be examined.
Plaintiff was initially assessed by Nurse Christine Werth. She testified that when she first observed Plaintiff, his arms were handcuffed to the hospital bed rails. She also testified that Plaintiff was agitated and swearing, but that she was able to perform an assessment. According to Nurse Werth, Plaintiff was appropriate in answering questions and she believed he was capable of making informed decisions about his care and treatment. Nurse Werth testified that she did not feel physically threatened by Plaintiff.
Next, the emergency room physician, Dr. Philip Lafata, examined Plaintiff. Dr. Lafata testified that Plaintiff cooperated in providing his medical history, answering questions, and generally allowing himself to be examined. After examining Plaintiff, Dr. Lafata requested that Nurse Schaefer obtain blood work and a urine sample from Plaintiff. Defendant Carter had requested a blood draw, and Plaintiff consented to having his blood drawn. Plaintiff was generally cooperative during the procedure.
Dr. Lafata determined that a urinalysis was needed to ensure that Plaintiff had not sustained any renal or bladder injuries, which he testified are common in motor vehicle accidents. It is undisputed that the urinalysis was ordered by Dr. Lafata for medical purposes, not as part of a criminal investigation. Plaintiff initially consented to provide the urine sample and Nurse Schaefer placed his penis in a urinal, a procedure that Plaintiff did not resist. When Plaintiff was unable to voluntarily provide a urine sample, Nurse Schaefer informed Dr. Lafata, who then ordered that Plaintiff be catheterized. Dr. Lafata admits that he ordered the catheterization as a medical necessity for a patient involved in an automobile accident. Nurse Schaefer also testified that she found Dr. Lafata's order to be reasonable. Defendants Woodward and Carter and Chief Deputy Wissner were not involved in the catheterization order.
Plaintiff struggled during the catheterization and admitted to kicking Nurse Schaefer...
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Miller v. Idaho State Patrol
...catheterizations done by hospital personnel for medical clearance before accepting a suspect into county jail); Meyer v. Woodward, 617 F.Supp.2d 554, 565 (E.D.Mich.2008) ; Tinius v. Carroll Cnty. Sheriff Dep't, 321 F.Supp.2d 1064, 1075–76 (N.D.Iowa 2004) (upholding a catheterization perform......
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Miller v. Idaho State Patrol
...catheterizations done by hospital personnel for medical clearance before accepting a suspect into county jail); Meyer v. Woodward, 617 F.Supp.2d 554, 565 (E.D.Mich.2008); Tinius v. Carroll Cnty. Sheriff Dep't, 321 F.Supp.2d 1064, 1075–76 (N.D.Iowa 2004) (upholding a catheterization performe......
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Leath v. Webb
...violate the Fourth Amendment by restraining a detainee who did not consent to a catheterization procedure. See Meyer v. Woodward , 617 F.Supp.2d 554, 562–64 (E.D. Mich. 2008). Other courts have reached similar conclusions. See Russell v. Richards , 384 F.3d 444, 448 (7th Cir. 2004) (finding......
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Gold v. City of Sandusky
...officer] to civil liability under § 1983 for the forced catheterization, plaintiff's claims must be dismissed."); Meyer v. Woodward, 617 F. Supp. 2d 554, 564 (E.D. Mich. 2008) (grantingqualified immunity on forced catheterization claim where the plaintiff was in custody, but "[i]t [was] und......