Nolin v. Town of Springville

Decision Date22 March 1999
Docket NumberNo. CV 98-BU-1561-S.,CV 98-BU-1561-S.
Citation45 F.Supp.2d 894
PartiesNathan NOLIN, Plaintiff, v. TOWN OF SPRINGVILLE, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama

Richard A. Bearden, Massey & Stotser, P.C., Birmingham, AL, for plaintiff.

Thomas S. Hale, Daniel B. Feldman, Burgess & Hale, Birmingham, AL, for defendants.

Memorandum Opinion

BUTTRAM, District Judge.

This cause comes on to be heard on a motion for summary judgment filed by the defendants, the Town of Springville, Alabama ("Springville"), and Officer Christopher Isbell ("Isbell"), on February 12, 1999. In their motion, the defendants contend that the excessive force claims of the plaintiff, Nathan Nolin ("Nolin"), against Isbell are barred by the doctrine of qualified immunity and that the state law claims against Isbell are barred by state-law discretionary function immunity. The defendants further contend that Springville is not liable for any alleged constitutional violation by Isbell because there is no genuine issue of triable fact supporting the averment that Isbell utilized excessive force and because, if such a constitutional violation did occur, no triable issue of fact exists demonstrates that Isbell's actions were undertaken pursuant to a custom policy or practice of Springville. Finally, Springville contends that it has absolute immunity from state-law claims of liability against it premised on any torts that might have been committed by Isbell. The plaintiff, in its opposition, disputes these contentions.

Summary judgment provides the parties an invaluable opportunity to test the mettle of a case before it ever reaches trial. On a motion for summary judgment, the court assesses all of the proof the parties can bring to bear in order to ascertain whether a genuine need for trial is present. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Summary judgment is weighed heavily in favor of the non-movant; it is appropriate only if the court concludes that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. FED.R.CIV.P. 56(c). See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

A party seeking summary judgment has the initial responsibility of informing this court of the grounds for its motion and specifically identifying those portions of the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions on file, and any affidavits that it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Id. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The movant's burden is not meager; it must illuminate for the court the reasons why the nonmovant cannot or does not raise a genuine issue of material fact sufficient to support a trial.

Once the moving party has satisfied this initial burden, however, the nonmoving party "must make a sufficient showing to establish the existence of each essential element to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Howard v. BP Oil Company, 32 F.3d 520, 523 (11th Cir.1994). Rule 56(e) requires the nonmoving party to "go beyond the pleadings" and by "affidavits, or by the `depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file' designate `specific facts'" showing there exist genuine issues for trial. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548; Cottle v. Storer Communication, Inc., 849 F.2d 570, 575 (11th Cir.1988). "Tenuous insinuation" and empty speculation based on loose construal of the evidence will not satisfy the non-movant's burden. Cf. Mesnick v. General Elec. Co., 950 F.2d 816, 820 (1st Cir.1991), cert. denied, 504 U.S. 985, 112 S.Ct. 2965, 119 L.Ed.2d 586 (1992).

While the court may consider the offered "pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any" in deciding whether to grant or deny a summary judgment motion, FED.R.CIV.P. 56(c), the Rule "saddles the non-movant with the duty to `designate' the specific facts in the record" supporting its claims. Jones v. Sheehan, Young & Culp, P.C., 82 F.3d 1334, 1338 (5th Cir.1996). "Rule 56 ... does not impose upon the district court a duty to survey the entire record in search of evidence to support a non-movant's opposition." Id. See also Resolution Trust Corp. v. Dunmar Corp., 43 F.3d 587, 599 (11th Cir.) ("There is no burden upon the district court to distill every potential argument that could be made based upon the materials before it on summary judgment."), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 817, 116 S.Ct. 74, 133 L.Ed.2d 33 (1995).

In resolving whether a given factual dispute requires submission to a jury, the court must inspect the presented evidence through the looking glass of each party's substantive evidentiary burden. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 254-55, 106 S.Ct. 2505. The court, however, must avoid weighing conflicting evidence for probity or making credibility determinations. Welch v. Celotex Corp., 951 F.2d 1235, 1237 (11th Cir.1992). "It is not part of the court's function, when deciding a motion for summary judgment, to decide issues of material fact, but rather decide whether such issues exist to be tried. The Court must avoid weighing conflicting evidence or making credibility determinations." Hairston v. Gainesville Sun Publishing Co., 9 F.3d 913, 919 (11th Cir.1993). At the same time, "[t]he nonmoving party must provide more than a mere scintilla of evidence to survive a motion for judgment as a matter of law; `there must be a substantial conflict in evidence to support a jury question.'" Tidwell v. Carter Products, 135 F.3d 1422, 1425 (11th Cir.1998) (citing Carter v. City of Miami, 870 F.2d 578, 581 (11th Cir.1989)).

Facts

On May 10, 1997, Springville held its annual "May Day" festival, a local event, originally referred to as "Old Times Day," during which several blocks of the town's main street, United States Highway 11, were cordoned off for a community celebration. Vendors were placed along the street, selling arts, crafts and food. Children's rides lined the road. Two "stages"1 were set up in parking lots abutting the highway, from which various musical troupes entertained the crowd. Around noon that day, a local musical act, named Empire X, played on the stage located in the parking lot off of the highway between the Springville Café and Harrison Hardware. The group exhausted its musical retinue within forty-five minutes and, at the completion of its "set", the members of Empire X began, with the assistance of the plaintiff and some others to remove the band's equipment from the stage.

While the plaintiff loaded the equipment into one car, one of the band members, Gary Dollar ("Dollar"), drove closer to the stage in order to ease the process of putting the equipment away. Accompanying Dollar in his car was Shawn Peede ("Peede"), another member of the band. As Nolin, returning to the stage to gather more equipment, passed Dollar's car, Dollar revved the automobile engine, attracting Nolin's attention. The plaintiff lifted one of his legs into the air in the gesture of a kick directed at the bumper of Dollar's car.

With mock seriousness and bravado, Peede lept out of the passenger side of the automobile and began to wrestle with Nolin. The two began an adolescent tussle, laughing the entire time. They grappled with one another for a moment, until the two lost balance and fell against the hood of Dollar's car. Close by, the boys heard a woman, Nancy Butler, snap her fingers at them and tell them to stop fooling around. Nolin stood up, grabbed Peede's leg and pulled him off of the car. Peede fell on the pavement. The plaintiff then good-naturedly aided Peede to his feet. Both attempted to return to the business of loading the musical equipment into the cars.

Inside the Springville Café sat Isbell, along with a Reserve Officer Eddie Barrett, eating lunch. Next to them was crouched the local Chief of Police, Ronald Black ("Black"). Through the morning, the three officers had been patrolling the grounds of the May Day festival, directing traffic and attempting to avert trouble. As they rested there, Betty, a waitress at the café, entered the room in which they sat, stopped, peered out the café window to where Nolin and Peede were roughhousing, and yelled "fight." The officers looked over and saw Nolin and Peede, wrestling on the hood of Dollar's car. The three leapt up and ran for the double doors leading directly into the parking lot. Finding these locked, the officers then left the cafe by the main door, which faced the highway.

By the time the officers had exited the building and made their way to the parking lot, the plaintiff and Peede had finished their tussle and were returning to work. Nolin was ambling back to the stage when he felt one hand take hold his left shoulder and another grasp his right wrist. Isbell, who had grabbed the plaintiff, wrenched the plaintiff's wrist behind him. Nolin did not resist. Isbell then shoved the plaintiff's face and chest into a van to his left. The officer's hand pushed Nolin's head against the van. Isbell's knee dug into the plaintiff's back. The plaintiff was then made to stand spread-eagle against the van while Isbell frisked him. Isbell asked Nolin his age, to which Nolin responded that he was seventeen. Nolin's hands were then handcuffed together by Isbell. Chief of Police Black brought Peede over to the van and frisked him there. Upon asking the officers what he and Nolin had done, Isbell answered Peede that he and Nolin were under arrest for disorderly conduct.

Isbell took Nolin and, soon after, Peede, both of whom protested that they had been playing to a street corner and made them sit. He would hear none of their explanations. Some other youths came over to where Isbell was standing and...

To continue reading

Request your trial
7 cases
  • Bevill v. Uab Walker College
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama
    • August 17, 1999
    ...law will be examined, insofar as it affects the qualified immunity determination in the instant action. 24. Nolin v. Town of Springville, 45 F.Supp.2d 894, 900 (N.D.Ala.1999), indicated that in light of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Santamorena v. Georgia Military Colleg......
  • Byther ex rel. Byther v. City of Mobile
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Alabama
    • November 9, 2005
    ...assault or battery was unskilled as a consequence of inadequate training or supervision of the municipality." Nolin v. Town of Springville, 45 F.Supp.2d 894, 914 (N.D.Ala.1999), reversed on other grounds, 207 F.3d 1253 (11th Cir.2000). The City contends that there is no evidence that the ac......
  • Bell v. City of York
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama
    • March 29, 2013
    ...battery was unskilled as a consequence of inadequate training or supervision of the municipality.'" (quoting Nolin v. Town of Springville, 45 F. Supp. 2d 894, 914 (N.D. Ala. 1999), reversed on other grounds 207 F.3d 1253 (11th Cir. ...
  • Nolin v. Isbell
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit
    • March 28, 2000
    ...rejecting the de minimis force principle as merely "a holdover from the Eleventh Circuit's pre-Graham caselaw," Nolin v. Town of Springville, 45 F.Supp.2d 894, 903 (N.D.Ala.1999), despite the repeated, post-Graham application of the principle by this Court. The earlier case, relied on by th......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT