Poole v. City of Shreveport

• Decision Date: 16 August 2012
• Docket Number: No. 11–30158.,11–30158.
• Citation: 691 F.3d 624
• Parties: Roger L. POOLE, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. CITY OF SHREVEPORT; Police Department of Shreveport; Mike Vansant; John D. Stalnaker; J. Creighton, Defendants–Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

691 F.3d 624

Roger L. POOLE, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.CITY OF SHREVEPORT; Police Department of Shreveport; Mike Vansant; John D. Stalnaker; J. Creighton, Defendants–Appellees.

No. 11–30158.

United States Court of Appeals,Fifth Circuit.

Aug. 16, 2012.

Douglas Lee Harville (argued), Harville Law Firm, L.L.C., Shreveport, LA, for Plaintiff–Appellant.

Edwin H. Byrd, III (argued), Pettiette, Armand, Dunkelman, Woodley, Byrd & Cromwell, L.L.P., Scott Jeffrey Chafin, Jr., Law Office of Scott J. Chafin, Jr., Shreveport, LA, for Defendants–Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

Before BARKSDALE, GARZA and ELROD, Circuit Judges.

EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judge:

This appeal arises out of the alleged use of excessive force in the arrest of Roger L. Poole (“Poole”) following a traffic stop in Shreveport, Louisiana. Poole, the Plaintiff–Appellant, appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment for the defendants on his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims. We AFFIRM.

I

This case arises out of allegedly excessive force that Poole contends two officers used against him. A videotape, captured by a camera mounted on a police car, recorded most of the events underlying Poole's claims.¹

Corporal J. Creighton (“Creighton”), a member of the Shreveport Police Department, was not on duty on the morning of December 19, 2006. Dressed in plain clothes, he drove down Shreveport's stretch of Interstate 20 in his personal pick-up truck. He tailgated Poole, who was driving a large truck—a semi-tractor with no trailer attached. Poole, to get Creighton off his tail, threw something at Creighton's car, splattering it with liquid. Creighton radioed the dispatcher and requested the assistance of a marked unit. Sergeant John D. Stalnaker (“Stalnaker”) responded, first turning on his emergency lights and then, after Poole did not pull over, deploying his siren. Poole pulled his truck off the interstate into an empty lot. Stalnaker, trailed by Creighton, approached Poole's truck.

Stalnaker ordered Poole to exit the cab of his truck. Poole complied. Poole was unable to produce proof of insurance and smelled of alcohol. Creighton led Poole to the back of Poole's truck where he patted him down while Stalnaker investigated the inside of the cab. The officers found no weapons or contraband on Poole or in his truck. Stalnaker administered a field sobriety test, and Poole admitted that he had consumed at least half of a sixteen-ounce beer that morning. Poole passed the sobriety test. Another officer came to the scene with a citation book and confirmed that Poole did not have insurance.

During this time, Poole asserts that Creighton began to verbally threaten and challenge him. Poole continued to accuse Creighton of tailgating him. It is undisputed that amidst this tension, Poole raised his hands at Creighton. Poole claims that he raised his hands with both palms open, as an act of surrender. He concedes that he invited Creighton to hit him—but claims he did so sarcastically. Creighton exclaimed in response, “He just gave me consent to hit him.”

After this exchange, Stalnaker instructed Poole to turn around. Creighton, who was standing closer to Poole, grabbed Poole's left arm and attempted to place it behind his back. Stalnaker tried to get Poole's right arm and again told him to turn around. Poole backed away from the officers and said, “Wait a minute. What are you doing?” The two officers twisted Poole around and pressed him against the side of his truck.

Creighton held Poole's left arm behind his back in a way that Poole claimed was very painful. Poole claims that Creighton continued to hold his arm in place while Stalnaker tasered him repeatedly.² Stalnaker then reached for Poole's right arm, but Poole tucked it into his chest and verbally and physically resisted Stalnaker's repeated stern commands for Poole to give it to him. Stalnaker briefly used his taser on Poole, which caused Creighton and Stalnaker to momentarily lose control of Poole. Poole climbed onto the fifth wheel of his truck and laid on his back, screaming that the officers had broken his arm. Poole claims that he does not remember how he ended up on the fifth wheel.

The two officers moved from the side of the truck to the back. Creighton tried to grab Poole, who continued to resist him by kicking him. Creighton held Poole in place, and Stalnaker then flipped Poole onto the ground, and yanked his arms to handcuff him. His left arm offered no resistance. It is undisputed that this was the first time that the officers understood that Poole's elbow had been dislocated. They immediately called for medical assistance. While they waited for an ambulance to arrive, Poole continued to yell at the officers and squirm on the ground, but the officers took no further action to subdue him. As a result of his injury, Poole has undergone multiple surgeries. His left arm and hand suffer permanent disabilities.

Poole sued Stalnaker and Creighton, as well as the City of Shreveport (“the City”), and former chief of police Mike VanSant (“VanSant”) (collectively, the “Defendants”), seeking damages for constitutional violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Poole specifically alleged that (1) Stalnaker and Creighton used excessive force in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments and (2) the City and VanSant failed to train and supervise Creighton and Stalnaker on the use of force and had failed to establish and enforce policies related to the use of force, traffic stops, or the conduct of off-duty officers. He also raised state law claims. Importantly, Poole alleged only that officers used excessive force in arresting him.

Defendants moved for summary judgment. Poole abandoned his state law claims and his constitutional claim against VanSant and the City to the extent he alleged that they failed to train Stalnaker and Creighton on the use of force. The district court granted Defendants' motion. First, the district court granted Creighton and Stalnaker qualified immunity on Poole's excessive force claim because Poole failed to show that his injuries resulted from excessive force that was clearly unreasonable given the circumstances of his arrest. And second, finding no genuine dispute over material facts with regard to whether VanSant and the City were deliberately indifferent to the rights of citizens, the district court also granted summary judgment on Poole's claim that they had failed to enforce policies regulating the investigation and detention of suspects by off-duty officers. The district court dismissed Poole's claims and entered judgment for the Defendants. Poole appealed.

II

On appeal, Poole contends that the district court erred in (1) granting Creighton and Stalnaker qualified immunity on his excessive force claim and (2) dismissing his constitutional claim against VanSant and the City based on their failure to implement a policy, which, he contends, caused his injury.

We review the district court's summary judgment decision de novo, applying the same standards as the district court. Burge v. Parish of St. Tammany, 187 F.3d 452, 464 (5th Cir.1999). Summary judgment is appropriate if “the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). A dispute is “genuine” if the evidence is sufficient for a reasonable jury to return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Hamilton v. Segue Software, Inc., 232 F.3d 473, 477 (5th Cir.2000). A fact issue is “material” if its resolution could affect the outcome of the action. Id. When reviewing summary judgment decisions, we construe all facts and inferences in the light most favorable to Poole, the nonmoving party. Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. v. Farese, 423 F.3d 446, 454 (5th Cir.2005). “Although we review evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, we assign greater weight, even at the summary judgment stage, to the facts evident from video recordings taken at the scene.” Carnaby v. City of Houston, 636 F.3d 183, 187 (5th Cir.2011). “A court of appeals need not rely on the plaintiff's description of the facts where the record discredits that description but should instead consider ‘the facts in the light depicted by the videotape.’ ” Id. (quoting Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 381, 127 S.Ct. 1769, 167 L.Ed.2d 686 (2007)).

A

Poole first contends that the district court erred in granting Creighton and Stalnaker summary judgment on his excessive force claims based on the affirmative defense of qualified immunity. Public officials such as Creighton and Stalnaker are entitled to qualified immunity on summary judgment unless (1) Poole has “adduced sufficient evidence to raise a genuine [dispute] of material fact suggesting [the officers'] conduct violated an actual constitutional right,” and (2) the officers' “actions were objectively unreasonable in light of clearly established law at the time of the conduct in question.” Brumfield v. Hollins, 551 F.3d 322, 326 (5th Cir.2008). “Although nominally an affirmative defense, the plaintiff has the burden to negate the defense once properly raised.” Id. This standard, even on summary judgment, “gives ample room for mistaken judgments by protecting all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).

The parties do not dispute that the Fourth Amendment right to be free from excessive force during a seizure is clearly established. See Deville v. Marcantel, 567 F.3d 156, 169 (5th Cir.2009) (per curiam) (explaining that an arrestee had a clearly established right to be free from excessive force and that it was clearly established that the force officers could use in her arrest depended on the circumstances). With regard to this right, the Supreme Court has explained:

[T]he right to make an arrest or investigatory stop necessarily carries with it the right to use some degree of physical...