Muhammad v. Skinner, Case No.14-cv-12277

• Decision Date: 24 June 2016
• Docket Number: Case No.14-cv-12277
• Citation: 193 F.Supp.3d 821
• Parties: Jabril MUHAMMAD, Plaintiff, v. Leon SKINNER, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

193 F.Supp.3d 821

Jabril MUHAMMAD, Plaintiff,

v.Leon SKINNER, et al., Defendants.

Case No.14-cv-12277

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division.

Signed June 24, 2016

Attilio V. Colella, Moss and Colella, Southfield, MI, for Plaintiff.

Christopher J. Scott, H. William Reising, Plunkett & Cooney, Flint, MI, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (ECF NO. 39)

PAUL D. BORMAN, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

On June 10, 2014, Plaintiff Jabril Muhammad filed this civil rights action against ten Genesee County Sheriff Deputies: Leon Skinner, Mark Wing, Roy Eckert, Phillip Hart, Brian Compeau, Janice Buchanan, Robert Winston, Raymond Desisto, Jane Doe 1, and Jane Doe 2 ("Defendants").¹ (ECF No. 1.) Plaintiff's claims of excessive force and invasion of privacy arise from his booking into the Genesee County Jail in the early morning hours of July 16, 2011 after being arrested by the Michigan State Police.

Now before the Court is Defendants' motion for summary judgment which was filed on January 13, 2016. (ECF No. 39.) Plaintiff timely responded to the motion on February 17, 2016. (ECF No. 46.) Thereafter, Defendants filed a reply. (ECF No. 48.) Plaintiff conceded in his briefing and at the hearing that his claims are now limited only to Defendants Buchanan, Desisto, Skinner and Wing. (ECF No. 48, Pl.'s Resp., at 1.) Accordingly, the claims against Defendants Eckert, Hart, Compeau, Winston, and Jane Does 1-2 will be dismissed.

The hearing on this matter was held on June 17, 2016. For the following reasons, the Court will deny Defendants' motion for summary judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Arrest of Plaintiff

On July 16, 2011, the Michigan State Police arrested Plaintiff for impeding traffic and for resisting arrest. (ECF No. 39, Ex. A, Mich. St. Police Report.) During his arrest, Plaintiff allegedly sustained a scrape on the left side of his face after he refused to obey verbal commands and was "taken down" to the sidewalk and then allegedly proceeded to deliberately hit his face on the pavement. (Id. )

B. Arrival and Booking at Genesee County Jail

Plaintiff arrived at the Genesee County Jail at approximately 2:23 am. (Ex. F, Camera 3 Video 2:23:33-2:24:15.) Plaintiff can be seen on video exiting the police cruiser and being escorted by five deputies into the building without any signs of noncompliance. It is clear from the video that no force was used to remove Plaintiff from the back of the cruiser, or to escort him into the building. (Id. ) This video contradicts Defendant Desisto's testimony that Plaintiff did not comply with officers while he walked into the jail. (Pl.'s Ex. B, Desisto Dep., at 26; see also Def.'s Ex. I, Buchanan Dep., at 36, testifying she saw nothing on the video indicating that Plaintiff was being resistant during his walk into the jail.)

Plaintiff was then escorted by multiple deputies into the report writing room. (Ex. F, Camera 4, 2:24:26.) Upon entering the report writing room, Defendant Wing guided Plaintiff to a bench. Rather than being sat on the bench, Plaintiff was maneuvered by the deputies such that he stood in front of the bench and faced the wall. (Id. , at 2:24:30-33.) Defendant Desisto (wearing glasses) and Defendant Skinner then joined Defendant Wing in holding on to Plaintiff while Defendant Wing pushed Plaintiff's head flush into the wall. (Id. at 2:24:34.) Plaintiff's arms, still handcuffed, were then forced upwards while Defendant Wing removed items from Plaintiff's pockets. (Id. , at 2:25:02-25). Defendant Wing then removed Plaintiff's belt and placed it on the bench. (Id. at 2:25:25-31.)

At this point, Defendants Desisto and Skinner pushed Plaintiff more forcefully against the wall. (Camera 4, at 2:25:31-36.) Defendant Wing then struck Plaintiff on the back of the head. (Id. , at 2:25:36-37.) Around this same time, Defendant Desisto administered two peroneal knee strikes to the back of Plaintiff's legs. (Id. , at 2:25:42, 2:25:45; Desisto Dep., at 34.) Meanwhile, Plaintiff remained pushed against the wall, handcuffed, and held by two officers. (Id. )

Defendant Wing then attempted to remove Plaintiff's left shoe (Camera 4, at 2:26:02-17.) It is unclear if Plaintiff was moving or being moved by Defendants as they forced his arms higher and higher behind his back. (Id. at 2:26-17-24.) Ultimately, Plaintiff's face was pushed down to the bench and his handcuffed wrists were forced against the wall above his head. (Id. , at 2:26:17-29; but see Desisto Dep., at 35 testifying Plaintiff was not shoved into a wall and his arms were never lifted above his head.) Plaintiff was kept in this position for nearly a minute while Defendants removed his right shoe and other possessions. (Id. , at 2:26-29-2:27:13.)

Plaintiff was then turned and sat upon the bench with his back to the wall. One of the Defendants then removed Plaintiff's earring. (Id. , at 2:27:17-21.) A women identified as Nurse Oscar then evaluated Plaintiff, who nodded in response to her questions. (Id. , at 2:28:02-56; Buchanan Dep., at 46.) At one point during Nurse Oscar's exam Defendant Skinner lifted up Plaintiff's shirt. (Camera 4, at 2:28:21.) Plaintiff was then escorted from the report writing room to safety cell number 2: Defendant Skinner held on to Plaintiff's left arm, Defendant Wing held Plaintiff's right arm while Defendants Desisto and Buchanan followed behind. (Id. , at 2:29:17-20; see also Pl.'s Ex. A, Video Still.)

Defendant Buchanan testified Plaintiff was "fighting" officers in the report writing room, by using other parts of his body besides his restrained hands to try to injure the officers.² (Buchanan Dep., at 44-45.) Defendant Buchanan did not describe exactly how Plaintiff fought with the officers, but agreed that Plaintiff did not kick, hit, spit, tackle, head butt, or shoulder charge any officer in the report writing room. (Id. )

Defendant Buchanan stated in her incident report that upon arrival at the jail Plaintiff yelled "Pull your gun out and shoot me" while pulling away from the deputies and "grabbing on to [Defendant Wing's] fingers."³ (Defs.' Ex. F, Incident Report, at 1; Buchanan Dep., at 77-78.) Defendant Wing testified that he heard Plaintiff's suicidal comments but could not specifically remember what those comments were. (Wing Dep., at 27.) Defendant Desisto, on the other hand, testified that he could not recall Plaintiff making any suicidal threats or behaving in a threatening manner while in the report writing room. (Desisto Dep., at 36.)

Plaintiff initially testified at his deposition that he did not recall making statements, but later testified that he would not have made any suicidal statements as Defendants allege:

Q. Okay. You don't remember saying anything, okay. So if people heard you say that, you just don't—you just don't remember?

A. Right.

Q. Okay.

A. Because I know I didn't say anything. When I got out of the car, I just had my head down.

Q. Okay. You don't think you said anything, is that what you're telling me?

A. Right.

Q. You don't think you said anything when you got out of that state police car that night?

A. Right.

Q. Nothing at all?

A. Nothing. Nothing.

Q. Nothing. All right. So if other people heard you say shoot me, kill me, you would deny that, that you said that, is that what you are telling me?

A. Yeah, because I wouldn't say nothing like that.

(Muhammad Dep., at 60-61.)

Plaintiff, still handcuffed, is then escorted from the report writing room while surrounded by Defendants Wing, Skinner, and Desisto. At this time, Plaintiff was not dragged or pushed by Defendants, but walked under his own power through a vestibule and at least two hallways. (Camera 5, 2:29:18-27; Camera 7, 2:29:27-30, Camera 8, 2:29:28-35; Camera 9, 2:29:35-45). Contrary to Defendant Wing's testimony that Plaintiff was "twisting" and "pulling" and refused to "walk on his own," Plaintiff cannot be seen on video resisting or fighting while being escorted to the "safety cell." (Id. , Buchanan Dep., at 50; cf. Wing Dep., at 49-50.)

On the way to the "safety cell," a second female deputy, Laurissa Cocking, joined the procession behind Defendant Buchanan. (Camera 8, 2:29:40; Buchanan Dep., at 52, identifying Deputy Cocking.) As Plaintiff and Defendants filed into the "safety cell," Deputy Cocking remained in the doorway looking inside the cell. (Camera 9, 2:29:45-2:30:43.) Nurse Oscar then joined Deputy Cocking looking into Plaintiff's open cell. (Id. , at 2:30:43-46.)

C. "Safety Cell" No. 2

While Deputy Cocking and Nurse Oscar remained in the doorway, Plaintiff was escorted into "safety cell" number 2. (Camera 12, 2:29:43.) Plaintiff, with his hands still handcuffed behind his back, was led to the back wall of the cell while surrounded by Defendants Wing, Desisto, and Skinner. (Id. ) All three Defendants appeared to be physically touching Plaintiff as they reached the rear of the cell. (Id. ) Approximately four seconds elapsed from the time Plaintiff entered the cell until Defendant Wing kicked Plaintiff's legs out from underneath him, and forced Plaintiff face first to the ground. (Id. , 2:29:43-46.) Meanwhile, Defendant Buchanan stood in the cell, facing Plaintiff, with her back to the camera and her taser in her left hand. (Id. )

While Plaintiff lay face down on the ground, Defendants Wing, Desisto, and Skinner held him down, and Defendant Desisto stepped on Plaintiff's right ankle. (Id. , at 2:29:52.) Plaintiff's pants were then stripped down to his ankles. (Id. , at 2:29:49-2:30:01.) At that time, Defendant Wing was standing at Plaintiff's head, Defendant Skinner was next to Plaintiff's left arm, and Defendant Desisto was at Plaintiff's ankles. (Id. ) Defendant Skinner then removed the handcuff keys from his pocket or belt (id. , 2:30:03-06) and leaned down to unlock Plaintiff's handcuffs with the help of Defendant Wing. (Id. , at 2:30:03-42.)

While not completely clear, Plaintiff did not appear to grab at Defendants while the cuffs were removed. (Id. )

The now unhandcuffed ...