Myers v. Oklahoma County Bd. of County Com'rs
| Decision Date | 01 April 1996 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 95-6125,95-6163,s. 95-6125 |
| Citation | 80 F.3d 421 |
| Parties | Suzanne MYERS, Administratrix of the Estate of Thomas James Myers, Deceased; Samson Myers, Individually, and Through Suzanne Myers, His Parent and Next Friend; and Suzanne Myers, Individually, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. OKLAHOMA COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS; John Doe, Individually and as a Deputy of the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Department, Defendant, J.D. Sharp, Individually and as Sheriff of Oklahoma County; Scott Cannon, Individually and as a Deputy Sheriff of the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Department; Marshall McDonald, Individually and as a Deputy Sheriff of the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Department, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Appeal from United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma; Vicki Miles, Judge. D.C. No. CIV-94-246-M.
John M. Jacobsen, Assistant District Attorney (Robert H. Macy, District Attorney, and Patrick J. Morgan, Assistant District Attorney, with him on the brief), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for the appellants.
Carl J. Franklin, Norman, Oklahoma, for the appellees.
Before BRISCOE, HOLLOWAY, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiffs Suzanne Myers and Samson Myers filed this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against the Board of County Commissioners of Oklahoma County and various officers of the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Department for the shooting death of Thomas James Myers. The individual defendants, including J.D. Sharp, appeal the district court's denial of their motion for summary judgment on the defense of qualified immunity (No. 95-6125). Plaintiffs appeal the district court's order granting summary judgment to defendant Sharp in his official capacity (No. 95-6163).
Suzanne Myers called 911 to request assistance after her husband Thomas locked himself inside the family's home and refused to allow her to enter. Suzanne knew that Thomas had a .22 rifle with him in the residence, and she also believed that he was intoxicated, depressed, and suicidal. Bethany police officers responded to the call shortly after noon. At approximately 1:30 p.m., Oklahoma County sheriff's officers arrived on the scene and took control of the situation. The sheriff's officers established contact with Thomas and began negotiating with him in an attempt to persuade him to abandon the weapon and leave the residence. After failing to convince Thomas to leave the residence, sheriff's officers obtained a voluntary third-party statement from Suzanne and presented it to a special district judge, who issued an order of forcible entry and detention.
At approximately 8:00 p.m., sheriff's officers entered the residence to enforce the order and to attempt to take Thomas into protective custody. Sergeant Marshall McDonald was the first officer to enter the residence. He alleged that he observed Thomas begin to rise from a couch with a rifle in his hands and point the rifle directly at him. Sergeant Scott Cannon, who was immediately behind McDonald, alleged that he too observed Thomas rise from the couch, turn toward the officers, and raise his rifle. Although McDonald stated that he yelled "Freeze, Police," Thomas allegedly put the rifle to his shoulder and looked down the sight of the rifle at McDonald. McDonald and Cannon fired several rounds from their pistols at Thomas, and Thomas died as a result of gunshot wounds.
In the complaint filed in this action, plaintiffs claimed defendants deprived them of various constitutional rights in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Specifically, plaintiffs claimed defendants used excessive force in attempting to take Thomas into custody. Motions for summary judgment were filed by plaintiffs, by the defendants sued in their individual capacities, and by the Board of County Commissioners and Sharp sued in their official capacities. In their summary judgment motions, defendants asserted their defense of qualified immunity. In denying plaintiffs' motion, the district court found "there [wa]s significant probative evidence [from which] a jury could conclude the defendants' actions were reasonable and justified under the facts and circumstances confronting the officers at the time." Order of 3/10/95 at 4-5.
On March 13, 1995, the court issued two separate orders disposing of the remaining motions for summary judgment. With respect to the individual defendants' motion, the district court found there was a genuine issue for trial regarding the reasonableness of defendants' actions and the individual defendants were not entitled to qualified immunity on plaintiffs' excessive force claim. As for the motion filed by the Board of County Commissioners and defendant Sharp in his official capacity, the district court concluded that summary judgment was appropriate.
The individual defendants appeal the district court's order denying them qualified immunity, and plaintiffs appeal the court's order granting summary judgment in favor of defendant Sharp in his official capacity. We first address whether we have jurisdiction to consider either of these appeals. In answering this question, we review the appeals in the order in which they were filed.
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court has jurisdiction to hear appeals only from "final decisions" of district courts. In light of this statutory limitation, interlocutory appeals are the exception and not the rule. Johnson v. Jones, --- U.S. ----, ----, 115 S.Ct. 2151, 2154, 132 L.Ed.2d 238 (1995). One well recognized exception allows public officials asserting a defense of qualified immunity to appeal a district court's denial of summary judgment on that defense if the issue on appeal is whether the constitutional right that was allegedly violated was "clearly established." Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 530, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 2817, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). However, this exception does not allow an immediate appeal of a "district court's summary judgment order insofar as that order determines whether or not the pretrial record sets forth a 'genuine' issue of fact for trial." Johnson, --- U.S. at ----, 115 S.Ct. at 2159; see Sevier v. City of Lawrence, 60 F.3d 695, 700 (10th Cir.1995).
Here, the district court denied summary judgment to the individual defendants on their qualified immunity defense on the sole basis that "there [was] a genuine issue for trial regarding the reasonableness of defendants' conduct." Order of 3/13/95 at 8. More specifically, the court noted that "plaintiffs raised several factual issues from which a reasonable person could conclude the degree of force used by the defendants was excessive under the facts and circumstances at the time." Id. at 5.
Prior to the filing of opening briefs, this court issued an order directing the parties to address what effect, if any, Johnson has upon this court's jurisdiction to consider these appeals. Defendants claim that Johnson "should have no effect on the jurisdiction of this Court" because, in denying plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment, the court specifically held that a "jury could conclude the defendants' actions were reasonable and justified under the facts and circumstances confronting the officers at the time." Appellants' br. at 34-35. In so holding, defendants argue, the court "effectively concluded the officers did not use unreasonable force," and "effectively declared that the officers did not violate clearly established law." Id. at 35. Defendants proceed to...
To continue reading
Request your trial
- United States v. Yazzie
- United States v. Harmon
- U.S. v. Stewart
-
United States v. Yazzie
... ... not initially have library access at the Torrance County detention center, but when he gained access, he made a ... ...