Reagan v. Hampton

• Decision Date: 06 December 1988
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. C-87-617-S.
• Parties: Ronald S. REAGAN, Plaintiff, v. Sammy HAMPTON, Individually and as Deputy Sheriff of Davidson County Sheriff's Department; Paul R. (Jaybird) McCrary, Individually and as Sheriff of Davidson County; and County of Davidson, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of North Carolina

700 F. Supp. 850

Ronald S. REAGAN, Plaintiff, v. Sammy HAMPTON, Individually and as Deputy Sheriff of Davidson County Sheriff's Department; Paul R. (Jaybird) McCrary, Individually and as Sheriff of Davidson County; and County of Davidson, Defendants.

Civ. A. No. C-87-617-S.

United States District Court, M.D. North Carolina, Salisbury Division.

November 22, 1988.

As Amended December 6, 1988.

Randolph M. James, Winston-Salem, N.C., for plaintiff.

Tyrus V. Dahl, Jr., Winston-Salem, N.C., and Garry W. Frank, Lexington, N.C., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

GORDON, Senior District Judge:

This matter comes before the court on the sheriff's and his deputy's motion for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 56(c). The plaintiff has voluntarily dismissed, without prejudice, his claim against the defendant county.

FACTS

Plaintiff Ronald S. Reagan (Reagan) attended a private party at Southmont Dance Land near Lexington on the night of 5 April 1986. Defendant Deputy Sheriff Sammy Hampton (Hampton) provided security and was compensated by the hosts of the party. Hampton had provided similar services at similar events. At the party, Hampton allegedly struck Reagan from behind on his legs and knocked him to the floor. Reagan alleges that Hampton handcuffed him behind his back and picked him up by the hair and handcuffs. Reagan further alleges that Hampton jerked him onto the stage, shouted obscenities in his face and then pushed him against a wall before throwing him to the ground outside. Reagan claims that Hampton struck him several times about the face and body during this altercation until Reagan's brother interceded and succeeded in having Reagan released into his care and custody. Defendant Sheriff Paul R. McCrary (McCrary) investigated the matter.

Hampton's version of the incident contradicts Reagan's allegations. Hampton and McCrary, however, do not contest the allegations for purposes of this motion so that there will be no issue of disputed material facts.

Reagan filed this action in state court on 6 April 1987, requesting compensatory and punitive damages and reasonable attorneys fees. A summons was issued on that date, but was not served. A second summons was issued on 26 May 1987, but it was not served. Finally, Reagan served the Defendants with a summons and complaint on 3 September 1987. Because the second summons was not sued out within ninety days, Reagan's cause of action commenced on 3 September 1987. See N.C.Gen.Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 4(d)(2), (e) (1983). The Defendants removed the action to this court on 16 September 1987.

Reagan asserts in his first cause of action that Hampton's alleged acts, under color of law and without probable cause, violated his fourth and fourteenth amendment rights to be free of an unreasonable seizure and to be free of a deprivation of liberty.

Reagan asserts in his second cause of action that McCrary (and the County of Davidson), acting under color of law, negligently failed to instruct, supervise, control and discipline Hampton on a continuing basis in his duties. Reagan further alleged that McCrary knew or should have known of Hampton's illegal acts; that McCrary had the power and statutory authority to prevent the acts; and that McCrary approved or ratified Hampton's conduct. In the first paragraph of his complaint, Reagan claims that McCrary created a policy or adopted a custom of illegal arrests and the use of excessive force. Reagan claims that McCrary's grossly and recklessly negligent and intentional acts deprived him of his rights guaranteed by the fifth and fourteenth amendments and protected by 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985(3) and 1986 (1981). Reagan has since voluntarily dismissed the § 1985(3) and § 1986 claims because these claims have no factual basis in this case.

Reagan's third cause of action involves only the County of Davidson. Because this defendant has been dismissed, the court will not discuss this cause of action.

Reagan asserts in his fourth cause of action pendent state claims of false arrest and battery. Defendants contend that these pendent claims are barred by the applicable one-year statute of limitation. N.C.Gen.Stat. § 1-54(3) (1983). In response, Reagan has voluntarily dismissed these claims.

In summary, Reagan has voluntarily dismissed (1) the § 1985(3) and § 1986 claims under the second cause of action, (2) all claims against the County of Davidson, and (3) the pendent state claims under the fourth cause of action. Thus, the court will rule only on Defendants' motion for summary judgment on Reagan's § 1983 claims against Hampton and McCrary. Defendants assert that the claim against Hampton is barred by the statute of limitation prescribed by the Supreme Court in Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 85 L.Ed.2d 254 (1985). As for the claim against McCrary, Defendants assert that summary judgment is proper because Reagan cannot make a sufficient showing of evidence to establish liability under § 1983.

STATUTE OF LIMITATION

Section 1983 does not contain a specific statute of limitation. Consequently, lower courts have borrowed the most appropriate or analogous state statute of limitation for § 1983 actions. The Court in Wilson attempted to eliminate the "confusion" in the courts by construing § 1988 "as a directive to select, in each State, the one most appropriate statute of limitations for all § 1983 claims." Wilson, 471 U.S. at 275, 105 S.Ct. at 1946. (emphasis added). The Court further held that the forum state's statute of limitation for personal injury actions is the appropriate statute to borrow for determining the timeliness of a § 1983 action. Id. at 280, 105 S.Ct. at 1949.

The Court's simple directive to characterize all § 1983 claims as personal injury actions creates confusion in states like North Carolina which have more than one statute of limitations for personal injury actions.¹ See Preuit & Mauldin v. Jones, 474 U.S. 1105, 106 S.Ct. 893, 88 L.Ed.2d 926 (1986) (White, J., dissenting from denial of writ of certiorari). N.C.Gen.Stat. § 1-52(5) establishes a three-year period "for criminal conversion, or for any other injury to the person or rights of another, not arising on contract and not hereafter enumerated." N.C.Gen.Stat. § 1-54(3) provides a one-year period "for libel, slander, assault, battery, or false imprisonment." Defendants naturally favor the selection of this latter period because Reagan's claim would be barred by the lapse of one year and nine days between the injury and the commencement of the suit.

Reagan contends that the three-year period for liability created by a statute continues to be the correct statute of limitation despite the Wilson holding. See Cole v. Cole, 633 F.2d 1083, 1092 (4th Cir.1980). Section 1-52(2) provides a plaintiff with a three-year period in which to commence an action "upon a liability created by statute, either state or federal, unless some other time is mentioned in the statute creating it." N.C.Gen.Stat. § 1-52(2) (1983). This contention is without merit. Cf. Epp v. Gunter, 677 F.Supp. 1415, 1416 (D.Neb. 1988) (court parenthetically notes state statute of limitation for liability created by statute may apply post-Wilson). The Wilson Court concluded that "the relative scarcity of statutory claims when § 1983 was enacted makes it unlikely that Congress would have intended to apply the catchall periods of limitations for statutory claims that were later enacted" like § 1-52(2). Wilson, 471 U.S. at 278, 105 S.Ct. at 1948. Furthermore, all courts addressing this issue with state statutes like § 1-52(2) have not used the catchall provision. See, e.g., Marks v. Parra, 785 F.2d 1419 (9th Cir.1986) (Arizona's personal injury statute of limitation, not statute of limitation for liability created by statute is applicable); McMillan v. Goleta Water Dist., 792 F.2d 1453, 1456 (9th Cir.1986) (same for California), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 906, 107 S.Ct. 1348, 94 L.Ed.2d 519 (1987).

Although a novel question in North Carolina and the Fourth Circuit², other courts have addressed the issue of which statute of limitation for personal injury actions is applicable in § 1983 cases. A review of relevant cases reveals a split of authority along two distinct lines of reasoning. The Fifth³, Sixth⁴ and Eleventh⁵ circuits have considered the paradigmatic wrong protected by § 1983 was most analogous to intentional torts, and, consequently, these circuits have chosen the more specific statute of limitation governing personal injury claims. Their analysis seems strengthened by the Court's holding that negligent actions by public employees cannot support a claim under § 1983. Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327, 106 S.Ct. 662, 88 L.Ed.2d 662 (1986).

The First⁶, Second⁷, Eighth⁸ and Tenth⁹ circuits have applied the more general statute of limitation governing personal injury claims to § 1983 actions (1) to better serve the federal interest vindicated by § 1983 and (2) to accommodate the numerous predicate acts actionable under § 1983. The Court's subsequent decisions in Goodman v. Lukens Steel Co., 482 U.S. 656, 107 S.Ct. 2617, 2620-21, 96 L.Ed.2d 572 (1987), and Springfield Township School Dist. v. Knoll, 471 U.S. 288, 105 S.Ct. 2065, 85 L.Ed.2d 275 (1985), seem to support the conclusion that the phrase "personal injury actions" used in Wilson should not be read narrowly. There is a split within the D.C. Circuit¹⁰. The Third¹¹, Seventh¹² and Ninth¹³ circuits have not reached this issue. This court will join the growing trend of jurisdictions which have chosen the more general state statute of limitation for personal injury actions to govern § 1983 claims.

The North Carolina General Statutes allows one year to bring an action to recover damages for those personal injury actions under § 1-54(3), and three years for other personal injury actions under § 1-52(5). Section 1-54(3) is a narrowly drawn statute applicable only to certain specific intentional torts. See ...