Parrish v. Luckie
| Decision Date | 30 April 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 91-3336,91-3336 |
| Citation | 963 F.2d 201 |
| Parties | 35 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 628 Eddie PARRISH, Appellee, v. Donnell LUCKIE, Individually and in his official capacity as an officer of the North Little Rock Police Department; Dale Bruce, Individually and in his official capacity as former chief of the Police Department of North Little Rock, AR, Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Terry R. Ballard, North Little Rock, Ark., argued, for appellants.
Morgan E. Welch, Little Rock, Ark., argued, for appellee.
Before ARNOLD, Chief Judge, and JOHN R. GIBSON and MAGILL, Circuit Judges.
The City of North Little Rock, Arkansas, appeals from a jury verdict awarding Eddie Parrish $200,000 for civil rights violations. The jury found that Police Officer Donnell Luckie deprived Parrish of her constitutional rights by falsely arresting and raping her. The jury also found that Police Chief Dale Bruce was aware of Luckie's propensity to commit assault but failed to take preventative measures. 1 We affirm.
North Little Rock Police Officer William Kovach on July 23, 1988, approached a parked car that had been reported stolen. Parrish was a passenger in the car. Police Officers Donnell Luckie and David Dallas responded to the call for backup. Kovach, the lead officer, determined that Parrish should not be arrested. Luckie, however, laughed and told Parrish, Officer Luckie indicated to the other officers that he was going to scare Parrish by telling her that the car's driver had told him that the drugs found in the car belonged to Parrish. Luckie read Parrish her Miranda rights, locked her in the back of his police cruiser, and retained her purse in the front seat. 2 Luckie drove Parrish to an isolated portion of North Little Rock and forced her to perform oral sex on him.
After being released, Parrish went to a relative's home and the police were called. Officer Dallas, who responded to the call, was one of the officers at the scene of the initial arrest. Dallas refused to take Parrish's statement, claiming she would have to complain personally to Dallas' supervisor. Officer Dallas immediately informed Luckie of the complaint. Luckie told Dallas not to report the incident to his supervisor because he knew that if a written complaint was not filed, the Department would not investigate. Parrish filed a written complaint with the Police Department. Luckie later was charged with rape and pleaded guilty to first degree sexual abuse.
Parrish filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Luckie in his individual and official capacities, and against then Police Chief Bruce in his official capacity. 3 The jury found Luckie liable in his official capacity and awarded damages of $150,000. The jury also found Chief Bruce liable in his official capacity and awarded damages of $50,000. 4 The district court 5 rejected appellant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and this appeal followed. The City raises several issues on appeal. We address its arguments in turn.
The City argues Parrish failed to present sufficient evidence to establish a city policy or custom of failing to accept, act on, or investigate complaints of violence and sexual misconduct by police officers. A city is not vicariously liable for the acts of its employees, but is liable under § 1983 when the employee's acts execute or implement a municipal custom or policy. Harris v. City of Pagedale, 821 F.2d 499, 504 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 986, 108 S.Ct. 504, 98 L.Ed.2d 502 (1987). To establish a city's liability based on its failure to prevent misconduct by employees, the plaintiff must show that city officials had knowledge of prior incidents of police misconduct and deliberately failed to take remedial action. Id.
In reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support a jury verdict, we consider all evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. Id. at 506. Parrish presented detailed and compelling evidence that the North Little Rock Police Department under Chief Bruce implemented a policy of avoiding, ignoring, and covering up complaints of physical and sexual abuse by Luckie and other officers.
When Luckie applied to be a police officer in North Little Rock in 1985, his application, testing, and background check revealed only a 1982 disorderly conduct conviction. Luckie was hired. Chief Bruce was notified on September 18, 1986, that Luckie was the subject of a 1984 child abuse investigation. The letter also informed Chief Bruce that Luckie would be charged with felony child abuse for whipping his ten-year-old son with an extension cord on July 4, 1986. 6 Chief Bruce took no disciplinary action against Luckie until October 3, 1986, when Luckie was arrested. When Luckie agreed with prosecutors to undergo counseling in exchange for having the felony charge dropped, Chief Bruce reinstated Luckie with full backpay. Chief Bruce made no investigation into either the 1984 or 1986 incidents, even though he was aware that Luckie admitted both incidents and even though officers normally are terminated when they are found to have concealed information on their applications. Evidence revealed that the Department's practice under Chief Bruce was to distinguish between private and public violence when reviewing an officer's propensity for violence.
On March 9, 1987, Luckie filed a "use of force" report, but the Department found that no action was necessary. 7 Following a citizen's written complaint, the Department opened an internal affairs investigation on Luckie on April 13, 1987. The citizen charged that Luckie had been parked in an alley with a female prisoner in his unlit patrol car. Luckie, subsequently, wrote the complainant a ticket for having expired tags, although the complainant's tags had not expired. The Department took no action.
The Department also failed to take action on "use of force" reports filed by Luckie on November 3, 1987, January 23, 1988, and June 26, 1988. The last of these reports stemmed from an incident in which Luckie admitted striking a prisoner who then required stitches. No citizen filed a written complaint in any of these three incidents.
In April or March of 1988, Linda Hale, the clerk of a convenience store frequented by Luckie, complained to two North Little Rock officers that Officer Luckie repeatedly had requested sexual favors, including oral sex, from her and other women with whom she worked. No written complaint was made. The Department took no action. The rape of Parrish occurred on July 23, 1988. The departmental investigation commenced after Parrish filed a written complaint.
Additional evidence showed that Chief Bruce's Department operated under customs and policies which showed deliberate indifference to the constitutional rights of citizens. Chief Bruce created and maintained a system in which he was the only person who could open an internal affairs investigation. Chief Bruce maintained a policy of opening investigations only when citizens filed written complaints. After Chief Bruce opened an investigation, he controlled its scope and direction. Investigators would report to Chief Bruce as to whether the written complaint was substantiated or unsubstantiated. Under Department policy, a written complaint was deemed substantiated only when the officer's guilt was proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Evidence also showed that the Department required citizens filing written complaints against officers to submit a statement under oath and to sign a statement that they understood Arkansas' felony statute regarding false swearing. Investigators also discouraged citizens from filing complaints by telling persons that if the investigator believed they were not telling the truth, they might be prosecuted and fined or imprisoned. If a citizen failed to follow through on a complaint or cooperate with an investigation, the investigator would forward the complaint to Chief Bruce as unsubstantiated.
Chief Bruce created and maintained a use-of-force reporting system under which he would not be notified of physical force exerted by officers unless one of his lieutenants or sergeants determined the use of force was unwarranted. Chief Bruce testified that he developed this use-of-force reporting system because "I was getting reports of too much excessive force being used." Chief Bruce did not review use-of-force files that were not forwarded to him and his Department kept no log on the history of force used by particular officers.
Reviewing the record, we find overwhelming evidence to support the jury's finding that North Little Rock police officers operated in a system where reports of physical or sexual assault by officers were discouraged, ignored, or covered up. Moreover, evidence revealed that officers operating under this system recognized they could act with impunity unless a citizen filed a written complaint. Clearly, the North Little Rock Police Department operated "inherently deficient ... police administrative procedures involving the discovery of police misconduct." Brandon v. Holt, 469 U.S. 464, 467, 105 S.Ct. 873, 875, 83 L.Ed.2d 878 (1985).
The City argues that the district court erred in admitting evidence of violent episodes involving Luckie and other officers to show knowledge by Chief Bruce of Luckie's propensity for sexual assault. The City argues that knowledge of violent behavior does not provide knowledge of a propensity to commit sexual assault. We reject this argument because we find that all of the activities admitted into evidence constituted acts of violence. First degree sexual abuse is a violent crime. Arkansas statutes provide:
(a) A person commits sexual abuse in the first degree if:
(1) He engages in sexual contact with another person by forcible compulsion.
Ark.Code Ann. § 5-14-108 (1987).
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