Sanders-Burns v. City of Plano

• Decision Date: 11 January 2010
• Docket Number: No. 08-40459.,08-40459.
• Citation: 594 F.3d 366
• Parties: Linda SANDERS-BURNS, Individually and as an heir of the Estate of Anthony Demille Sanders, deceased, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF PLANO; Joseph Cabezuela, Police Officer, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

594 F.3d 366

Linda SANDERS-BURNS, Individually and as an heir of the Estate of Anthony Demille Sanders, deceased, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF PLANO; Joseph Cabezuela, Police Officer, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 08-40459.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

January 11, 2010.

Michael R. Dezsi (argued), Paul W. Broschay, Fieger, Fieger, Kenney, Johnson & Giroux, Southfield, MI, for Sanders-Burns.

Paul King Pearce, Jr. (argued), Timothy Allen Dunn, Matthews, Stein, Shiels, Pearce, Knott, Eden & Davis, L.L.P., Dallas, TX, for City of Plano.

James Thomas Jeffrey, Jr. (argued), Law Offices of Jim Jeffrey, Arlington, TX, Paul King Pearce, Jr. (argued), Matthews, Stein, Shiels, Pearce, Knott, Eden & Davis, L.L.P., Dallas, TX, for Cabezuela.

Robert Harris Fugate, Asst. City Atty., Arlington, TX, for Amici Curiae.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Before KING, STEWART and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges.

CARL E. STEWART, Circuit Judge:

The opinion previously filed in this case, and reported at 578 F.3d 279, is withdrawn and the following is substituted therefor.

On February 10, 2005, Officer Joseph Cabezuela ("Cabezuela") responded to an altercation involving Anthony Sanders ("Sanders") and his neighbor. Cabezuela handcuffed Sanders and left him on his stomach face down against the floor while he questioned others in the home regarding the altercation. Sanders died from positional asphyxia.

On October 17, 2006, Sanders's mother, Linda Sanders-Burns ("Sanders-Burns"), filed a complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Cabezuela and the City of Plano, Texas (jointly "Defendants") alleging a violation of her son's constitutional rights, which resulted in his death. Despite making a number of individual capacity claims against Cabezuela, Sanders-Burns's original complaint stated that Cabezuela was sued in his official capacity, instead of his individual capacity. After learning of this mistake, Sanders-Burns moved to amend her complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure ("Rule") 15(c) on July 16, 2007. The district court granted this motion on August 21, 2007, and the next day, Sanders-Burns filed an amended complaint, the only function of which was to replace the statement that Cabezuela was sued in his official capacity with a statement that Cabezuela was sued in his individual capacity. On October 31, 2007, Cabezuela asked the district court to dismiss Sanders-Burns's individual capacity claims against him because the statute of limitations expired before Sanders-Burns amended her complaint. On March 14, 2008, the district court granted Cabezuela's motion to dismiss, finding that the amended complaint did not relate back to her original complaint and was time barred by the statute of limitations.

Sanders-Burns's original complaint also alleged that the City of Plano ("Plano") failed to adequately train Cabezuela as to the deadly risks of cuffing an individual lying face down. On March 31, 2008, the district court granted Plano's motion for summary judgment and found, as a matter of law, that there was no question of fact as to whether Plano failed to adequately train its officers. Sanders-Burns appeals. We REVERSE in part and AFFIRM in part.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Cabezuela attended and received training at the North Central Texas Council of Governments' Regional Police Academy ("COG Academy") in Arlington, Texas from June 2002 to October 2002, when he graduated. COG Academy's training program is certified by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education as a training program that must be completed by individuals before they can be licensed as a police officer in Texas. While at COG Academy, Cabezuela was trained in dealing with persons who are at a high risk of custodial death due to intoxication (alcohol or drug), violent or bizarre behavior, upper body obesity, or being handcuffed in a prone position (i.e., lying face down). The training program did not specifically use the term "positional asphyxia." The training included instruction on how to handcuff, monitor the well-being of, and search persons handcuffed in a prone position. At the time of the incident leading to the instant proceedings, Cabezuela had received more than 944 hours of training. As part of Cabezuela's training, he was instructed to promptly call 9-1-1 or summon EMS personnel after determining that a person, detainee, or arrestee is in need of immediate medical care.

On February 10, 2005, Cabezuela, working alone in a marked police car, received a radio run to proceed to 1816 Fairfield Drive in Plano concerning a disturbance involving a homeowner and a neighbor. Cabezuela arrived at 7:54 p.m., approached the front door of the home, and observed Carlos Mercado ("Mercado"), the homeowner, restraining Sanders. Sanders was face down on the floor just inside the home. Cabezuela entered the home and ordered Mercado to get off Sanders. Cabezuela then handcuffed Sanders and ordered him to remain on the floor, face down with his hands restrained behind his back. Neither party disputes that Sanders was alive when Cabezuela handcuffed him.

Cabezuela, standing near Sanders, then began questioning Mercado and other persons in the home regarding the incident. Cabezuela learned that Sanders entered the home yelling profanities, began removing his belt or pants, and then began fighting Mercado. Mercado explained that he subdued Sanders by placing him in a headlock on the floor with Mercado laying on top of him. Mercado estimated that they were in that position for approximately ten minutes before Cabezuela arrived. While Cabezuela questioned Mercado, Sanders began to "aggressively kick his legs." Eventually, Sanders stopped moving and Cabezuela nudged Sanders with his foot and asked Sanders if he was okay. Sanders moved his head and mumbled something that Cabezuela did not understand, and Cabezuela continued speaking with Mercado.

Officer Jeff King ("King") arrived on the scene at 7:59 p.m. As King entered the house, Cabezuela realized Sanders might not be breathing. EMS was summoned by the officers at 8:00 p.m., and King went to his police car to obtain equipment to aid in the resuscitation and CPR of Sanders. When King returned, the Fire Department had arrived (at 8:04 p.m.), and Cabezuela was in the process of removing the handcuffs from Sanders. Firefighters found no signs of life. Sanders was taken to the Medical Center of Plano at 8:23 p.m., and he was pronounced dead at 8:45 p.m. The death was ruled a homicide, and the cause of death was "sudden death, chest compression and restraint," otherwise known as positional asphyxia.

At his deposition, Cabezuela testified that he never received training from the Plano Police Department concerning the dangers of the medical condition termed positional or compression asphyxia. Plano provided no documentary evidence demonstrating that they provided training to their officers concerning positional or compression asphyxia.

On October 17, 2006, Sanders-Burns filed suit under § 1983 claiming that Cabezuela and Plano violated her son's rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. Sanders-Burns alleged that Sanders was subjected to the use of excessive force and that Plano and Cabezuela were deliberately indifferent to his medical needs. Sanders-Burns alleged that Plano was "responsible for implementing the policies, procedures, practices and customs, as well as for the acts and omissions alleged in this action." The complaint stated that Cabezuela was sued "sued in his official capacity." However, the complaint made out individual capacity claims against Cabezuela, and, in the prayer for relief, the complaint stated that Sanders-Burns requested that judgment be entered against Cabezuela, in his individual capacity, for punitive damages. Further, in his answer to this complaint, Cabezuela asserted the defense of qualified immunity—a defense that is only relevant to individual capacity claims.

On July 3, 2007, Cabezuela filed a motion to dismiss the official capacity and state law claims made against him. In light of this motion to dismiss, Sanders-Burns sought leave to amend her complaint, on July 16, 2007, in order to clarify that suit was brought against Cabezuela in his individual capacity. Cabezuela and Plano opposed this motion, but the district court granted the motion on August 21, 2007, reserving the issue whether the individual capacity claims against Cabezuela were time-barred for a later date. On August 22, 2007, Sanders-Burns filed an amended complaint and jury demand that only changed the statement that Cabezuela was sued in his official capacity to state that Cabezuela was sued in his individual capacity. Also on August 22, the district court granted Cabezuela's motion to dismiss the official capacity and state law claims against him, in light of Sanders-Burns's amended complaint.

On July 31, 2007, while the parties were litigating whether to grant the motion for leave to file an amended complaint, the Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment. The Defendants argued that they did not deprive Sanders of any of his federally secured rights and that they had no custom, policy, or practice that caused Sanders to be deprived of any of his federally secured rights. The Defendants also stated that they were entitled to immunity from Sanders-Burns's state law claims.

On October 31, 2007, Cabezuela filed a motion to dismiss the individual capacity claims asserted against him, arguing that Sanders-Burns's amended complaint was time barred because the statute of limitations expired before the amended complaint was filed and that the amended complaint did not relate back to the original complaint under Rule 15(c). Sanders-Burns responded, asserting that her amended complaint related back to her original complaint under Rule 15(c).

On March 14, 2008, the district court granted Cabezuela's ...