Moore v. Hosier

• Decision Date: 15 May 1998
• Docket Number: No. 1:97CV-229.,1:97CV-229.
• Parties: Curtis M. MOORE, Plaintiff, v. Kent E. HOSIER, Officer Tom Sievers, Sgt. David Gillespie, Corporal Mike Tate, Officer Richard Loscomb, Officer Ginger Swick, Officer Kim Troutman, Joseph M. Squadrito, Allen County Sheriff, Allen County Sheriff's Department, and Unnamed Confinement Officers, Defendants. Kent E. Hosier, Third Party Plaintiff, v. Allen County, Indiana, Third Party Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Indiana

43 F.Supp.2d 978

Curtis M. MOORE, Plaintiff, v. Kent E. HOSIER, Officer Tom Sievers, Sgt. David Gillespie, Corporal Mike Tate, Officer Richard Loscomb, Officer Ginger Swick, Officer Kim Troutman, Joseph M. Squadrito, Allen County Sheriff, Allen County Sheriff's Department, and Unnamed Confinement Officers, Defendants.

Kent E. Hosier, Third Party Plaintiff, v. Allen County, Indiana, Third Party Defendant.

No. 1:97CV-229.

United States District Court, N.D. Indiana, Fort Wayne Division.

May 15, 1998.

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Christopher C. Myers, Dennis H Geisleman, Myers and Geisleman, Fort Wayne, for Curtis M. Moore, plaintiff.

John R. Fleck, Fort Wayne, IN, for Kent E. Hosier, defendant.

John O. Feighner, Haller and Colvin, Fort Wayne, IN, for Allen County Sheriff's Department, Allen County, Ind., Joseph M. Squadrito, Tom Severs, Sgt. Gillespie, Captain Tate, Lascomb, Jennifer Swick, defendants.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

WILLIAM C. LEE, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the court for ruling on the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by the Defendants on March 6, 1998.¹ Plaintiff filed a response to the motion on April 6, 1998, and the Defendants filed a reply on April 15, 1998. Third Party Defendant, Allen County, Indiana, also filed a Motion for Summary Judgment on March 6, 1998, to which Third Party Plaintiff, Kent E. Hosier, filed a response on April 3. Allen County filed its reply on April 14. For the following reasons, the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by the Defendants is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. The Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Third Party Defendant Allen County is GRANTED.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Plaintiff Curtis Moore brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that he was beaten and injured while being held at the Allen County Confinement Center ("ACCC"). Moore's involvement with law enforcement began on March 11, 1997, when Fort Wayne Police Officers arrested him after receiving a phone call from Moore's aunt, who told Police that her nephew was acting strangely. Moore admits that he was under the influence of an illegal substance at the time and that he could not control himself. When the Police Officers arrived at the scene, Moore fled on foot. The Officers caught Moore and sprayed him with pepper spray in an effort to subdue him. Moore was handcuffed and placed in the back seat of a squad car. While seated in the car, Moore kicked the safety window in the car and damaged it. Moore was then transported to the Allen County Lock-Up in the Fort Wayne City-County Building. Moore alleges that while he was being held at the Lock-Up he was involved in an altercation with unidentified Officers who hit him in the eye. After being processed at the Lock-Up, Moore was transported to the ACCC. Because of the fact that Moore was acting strangely, he was placed in a cell by himself beginning at 8:00 p.m. on March 11. The cell contained a camera that allowed jail personnel to observe Moore. On the evening of March 12, 1997, Moore placed a blanket over the camera and Confinement Officer Hosier was instructed to remove it. What occurred next is the subject of some dispute. The Defendants maintain that when Hosier approached Moore's cell Moore became combative and had to be sprayed again with pepper spray and handcuffed to a restraining chair.² It is also undisputed that after the pepper spray was used and Moore was placed in the restraining chair, he was transported to a shower room to be decontaminated. The Defendants maintain that during and after the shower Moore continued to struggle with officers and spit repeatedly. Moore contends that he was not being combative or unruly, and that he was spitting only while in the shower due to all the water he was getting in his face and mouth. He maintained that he was not fighting with officers and did not attempt to spit on any officer. Moore claims that he was beaten severely nonetheless. This lawsuit arises out of that altercation on March 12, 1997.

The Defendants do not dispute that an altercation took place and that Moore was beaten. However, they maintain that it was Defendant Kent Hosier who "repeatedly hit [Moore] in the face and on the head ..." and that "Hosier's actions were inappropriate, illegal, and contrary to the training and policies of the [Allen County Sheriff's Department]. Hosier's actions constituted criminal assault and battery against Moore." Defendants' Brief, p. 2. As more fully set forth below, all of the Defendant officers in this case have testified that Hosier hit Moore repeatedly with a closed fist and that Moore was bleeding profusely. Moore was eventually taken by ambulance to Lutheran Hospital, where he was treated for a fractured nose. Defendants also state that Hosier was fired from his job as a Civilian Confinement Officer as a result of this incident and that the Sheriff's Department "turned the matter over for a criminal investigation." Id. The Defendants argue that they are not liable in any capacity and that Hosier's actions constituted intentional misconduct.

In his Amended Complaint, Moore asserted five counts against the Defendants. Count One alleged that unnamed confinement officers at the Allen County Lock-Up beat Moore and that their actions "constitute[d] an unlawful seizure and cruel and unusual punishment" and violated Moore's Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Amended Complaint, p. 3. The unnamed officers were sued in their individual capacities. Count Two contained similar constitutional claims against Hosier, Sievers, Gillespie, Tate, Loscomb, Swick, and "Townsend," also in their individual capacities. Id. Count Three alleged that the actions of the officers named in Count Two constituted false imprisonment, assault and battery, unlawful detainment, invasion of privacy, and a violation of the Indiana Tort Claims statute (claims over which Moore requests this court exercise supplemental jurisdiction). Id., p. 4. Count Four names Allen County Sheriff Joseph Squadrito, whom Moore claims is liable for the incident under the doctrine of respondeat superior. Id. Moore also claims that Squadrito "was negligent in his hiring, training and retention of Defendant, Kent E. Hosier." Finally, Count Five is actually Moore's request for punitive damages. As stated previously, Moore acknowledged in his response to the Motion for Summary Judgment that he has no claim against Officers Gillespie, Tate, and "Townsend."

SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Summary judgment is proper "if 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." Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c). However, Rule 56(c) is not a requirement that the moving party negate his opponent's claim. Fitzpatrick v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago, 916 F.2d 1254, 1256 (7th Cir.1990). Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery, against a party "who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and in which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-53, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The standard for granting summary judgment mirrors the directed verdict standard under Rule 50(a), which requires the court to grant a directed verdict where there can be but one reasonable conclusion. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2511, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A scintilla of evidence in support of the nonmoving party's position is not sufficient to successfully oppose summary judgment; "there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff." Id. at 2512; In Re Matter of Wildman, 859 F.2d 553, 557 (7th Cir.1988); Klein v. Ryan, 847 F.2d 368, 374 (7th Cir.1988); Valentine v. Joliet Township High Sch. Dist. No. 204, 802 F.2d 981, 986 (7th Cir. 1986). No genuine issue for trial exists "where the record as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party." Juarez v. Ameritech Mobile Communications, Inc., 957 F.2d 317, 322 (7th Cir.1992) (quoting Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986)). In ruling on a summary judgment motion the court accepts as true the non-moving party's evidence, draws all legitimate inferences in favor of the non-moving party, and does not weigh the evidence or the credibility of witnesses. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249-251, 106 S.Ct. at 2511.

DISCUSSION

I. DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT.

A. Count One.

Count One of Moore's Amended Complaint is the subject of some confusion in this case. In it he alleges that he was beaten for no reason by unknown confinement officers at the Allen County Lock-Up on March 11, 1997. This allegation did not appear in Moore's Original Complaint. Defendant Sheriff's Reply Designation of Evidence, Exh. A. Also, Moore's Notice of Tort Claim which was sent on June 15, 1997, referred only to the incident with Hosier at the ACCC on March 12, 1997. Id. During his October 17, 1997 deposition, Moore testified that while being held at the Lock-Up he experienced "[n]o verbal swearing or nothing. No physical confrontations or nothing[.]" with any of the confinement officers. Id., Exh. C., Moore Dep., p. 26. Nonetheless, Moore claims that unknown officers jumped on him, threw him to the floor, and hit him in the eye. Id. Moore did state that the officers were wearing "County uniforms." Id., p. 27. Moore also stated that while at Lock-Up he was not sprayed with mace or pepper spray. Id., pp. 26-27.

As Defendants point out, Moore's deposition testimony about the incident at the Lock-Up is rather confusing. He was unable to recall the date or time the incident...