Shaw v. Peach Cnty.
| Decision Date | 03 November 2022 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action 5:21-cv-00145-TES |
| Parties | LONNIE RUSSELL SHAW, Plaintiff, v. PEACH COUNTY, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Georgia |
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DENYING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT
This case arises from Plaintiff Lonnie Shaw's arrest and prosecution for allegedly pointing a gun at an officer who in turn shot him during the early morning hours of May 31, 2016. Following a trial, a jury found Plaintiff not guilty of aggravated assault on a police officer and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony on April 26, 2019. See [Doc. 55-5]. After his acquittal, Plaintiff filed this lawsuit on April 26, 2021, and later amended his Complaint to allege a host of claims. [Doc. 1]; [Doc. 19]. Because the Court previously dismissed the vast majority of the counts in his Amended Complaint [Doc. 25], only his federal and state law claims for malicious prosecution against Defendants Brandon Williams, the deputy who shot him and Terry Deese, the Peach County Sheriff, remain.
The Court now turns to Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 38] and Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment [Doc 55]. For the reasons stated below, GRANTS Defendants' motion, and DENIES Plaintiff's motion. [Doc. 38]; [Doc. 55].
In the early morning hours of May 31, 2016, Plaintiff had almost fallen asleep in his living room when he heard someone knocking at his door. [Doc. 61-6, pp. 5, 9]. Although exhausted after working around 12 hours on a farm the prior day, Plaintiff nonetheless went to open the door and saw his stepson, Nick Coker. [Id. at pp. 6-7, 9:15-16]. When Nick said, “I need to talk to my mama,” Plaintiff responded, “do you have any idea what time it is[?]” [Id. at pp. 9-10]. Plaintiff testified that Coker has a “bad drug problem,” that Plaintiff had obtained a restraining order against him, and that Coker is “in and out of jail all the time.” [Id. at p. 10:1-12]. Plaintiff had dealt with Coker many times before, stating that Coker “would want to start an argument every time he would come,” and that he probably called the Sheriff's Department three to five times a week about Coker when he was not in jail. [Id. at pp. 10:15-16, 10:25, 11:1]. Coker eventually left Plaintiff's house, but Plaintiff went outside to make sure that Coker didn't cut any of his tires or steal any tools from his truck. [Id. at pp. 14:1-6]. Because Plaintiff was scared that Coker would come back later that night, he walked around for about an hour and went outside to put two chains on his gate. [Id. at pp. 14:13-14, 15:11-13, 15:23-24, 16:8-16]. Plaintiff finally went to sleep around 1:30 or 2:00 a.m. [Id. at p. 28:9-13, 29:14-15].
Fast forward a few hours, and Coker arrived at Peach County Medical Center (the “Medical Center”) with a gunshot wound to his left leg. [Doc. 55-6, p. 3]. Peach County Sergeant Patrick Sondron responded to the Medical Center and observed Coker laying on a stretcher in a treatment room. [Id.]. Around this time, Deputy Williams also went to the hospital “to try to see what was going on.” [Doc. 38-3, p. 6:10]. Deputy Sondron attempted to speak to Coker who claimed he didn't know where the shooting occurred. [Doc. 55-6, p. 3]. Deputy Sondron then asked if he shot himself and Coker stated “maybe.” [Id.]. Coker cried out in pain during the entire time Deputy Sondron was at the Medical Center and did not rationally respond to any questions. [Id.].
While at the hospital, Deputy Sondron heard dispatch say the address “50 West Valley Drive,” which is Plaintiff's address. [Doc. 55-6, p. 3]. Relying on this information from dispatch, “along with a previous dealing with a subject with the last name Coker,” Deputy Sondron asked Deputy Williams to contact Deputy James Perry to go with him to 50 West Valley Drive. [Id.]; [Doc. 38, Exhibit D, Shoudel Interview of Williams, 2:002:18]. Deputy Williams then left the hospital to go to Plaintiff's house and met Deputy Perry at a Harvey's parking lot on the way to coordinate their approach. [Doc. 38-3, p. 11]. They arrived in separate vehicles at Plaintiff's residence around 3:00 a.m. [Doc. 38-3, p. 33].
When they arrived, Deputies Williams and Perry parked on the street in front of Plaintiff's house. [Doc. 38-3, p. 14]. Deputy Williams stated that he did not turn his sirens on because he “was just going to investigate.” [Id. at p. 14:19-20]. However, he had a body microphone connected to his car camera (“dashcam”), which recorded the audio portion of the shooting that occurred moments after he and Deputy Perry got out of their vehicles. [Id. at pp. 17-19]. Before approaching Plaintiff's house, Deputy Williams contacted dispatch to see if they could call the residents of 50 West Valley Drive to let them know that he and Deputy Perry were there and to ask them to put up any animals they may have. [Id. at p. 24]. Deputy Williams testified that he thought dispatch responded once when he “was up at the door knocking already.” [Id. at p. 24:9-12].
Upon their arrival, Deputies Williams and Perry unfastened a locked gate in front of the residence and proceeded onto the property, disregarding several posted signs, including a “No Trespassing” sign with Plaintiff's phone number written on it. [Doc. 61-6, pp. 14:25, 15:1-6, 16-19]. The deputies carried flashlights but did not unholster their firearms. [Doc. 38-3, p. 26]. As they got closer to the residence, they could hear loud voices (which turned out to be a television) as well as a dog barking inside. [Id. at p. 28]; [Doc. 50, Perry Depo., pp. 20-21]. Deputy Williams knocked on Plaintiff's door but did not announce that he or Deputy Perry were law enforcement officers. [Doc. 38-3, pp. 28, 31-33, 88]. Deputy Williams knocked several more times, though not aggressively, after no one immediately came to the door. [Id. at pp. 31-32].
While the deputies knocked on their door, Plaintiff and his wife, Dawn Shaw, were asleep inside the house. [Doc. 72, D. Shaw Depo., pp. 27-28]. Dawn slept in her bed, and Plaintiff slept on the sofa in the living room. [Id.]; [Doc. 73, L. Shaw Depo., p. 77]. Dawn heard “beating on [her] front wall” and could tell that others were on their property. [Doc. 72, D. Shaw Depo., pp. 27:23, 28]. She then went to the living room to shake Plaintiff awake to let him know about possible trespassers. [Id. at pp. 27-28]; [Doc. 73, L. Shaw Depo., p. 81]. Plaintiff testified that when his wife woke him up, she “looked scared” and that he “was afraid” because “something had to be going on” for someone to be outside his house at 3:00 a.m. in the morning. [Doc. 61-6, pp. 32:15-25, 33:1-2, 33:18-21].
Well before the deputies arrived, Plaintiff had taken a Xanax and Oxycodone, and probably drank a couple of beers. [Doc. 72, D. Shaw Depo., pp. 29, 31]. When Dawn awoke Plaintiff, he “[had] no idea what she was saying,” and later thought she said she was scared and heard something. [Doc. 73, L. Shaw Depo., p. 81:15-20]. Plaintiff then got his .32 pistol, put on a pair of pants, and went to the door to investigate. [Id. at pp. 82-83]. Plaintiff partially opened the door with his left hand, all the while keeping his handgun in his right hand. [Doc. 61-6, pp. 39-40, 62]. Plaintiff testified that he would not have taken his gun to the door had he known that law enforcement officers were outside, explaining that “if [he] had saw blue lights, a gun would never have entered [his] mind.” [Doc. 61-6, p. 38:22-23].
As soon as Plaintiff opened the door, the light on a pole near the end of the porch blinded him. [Doc. 73, L. Shaw Depo., p. 84]; [Doc. 61-6, p. 40:22-25, 41:1-4]. Plaintiff testified that “as soon as [his] eyes started coming back into focus after [he] opened the door, all [he] saw was what looked like a hand coming-reaching out.” [Doc. 61-6, p. 41:10-12]. Deputy Williams shined a flashlight on Plaintiff's body and asked, [Doc. 38, Exhibit B, Merged Audio and Video]. Plaintiff said “I'm sorry,” then leaned backwards into the house. [Doc. 38, Exhibit B, Merged Audio and Video at 00:55-01:10]; [Doc. 61-6, p. 41]. In a matter of about four seconds after Plaintiff opened the door, Deputy Williams pulled out his gun and shot Plaintiff in the chest. [Doc. 38, Exhibit B, Merged Audio and Video at 00:55-01:10]. Plaintiff fell, Deputies Williams and Perry then entered the house, and Deputy Williams stepped on the gun so Plaintiff or Dawn wouldn't get the gun. [Doc. 38-3, p. 146:14-16]. Deputy Perry “performed first aid” on Plaintiff and Deputy Williams called for an ambulance and reported the shooting. [Doc. 50, Perry Depo., pp. 30:22-25, 31].
Meanwhile, Investigator James Sutton, an on-call investigator for the Peach County Sheriff's Office, arrived at Plaintiff's residence in response to the suspected shooting of Nicolas Coker. [Doc. 51, Sutton Depo., pp. 20-21]. On the way to the scene, Sutton contacted Captain John Edwards, who said he would drive to the scene as well.
[Id. at p. 20:15-19]. And after Captain Edwards learned of the shooting involving Plaintiff, he called the GBI to “go ahead and get them en route.” [Doc. 64, Edwards Depo., pp. 27:7-9, 28:14-16].
After arriving at the scene, Investigator Sutton stood on the firearm and directed Deputies Williams and Perry to exit the residence. [Doc. 51, Sutton Depo., p. 22:6-7]. Investigator Sutton then spoke with Deputy Williams about the shooting while still on the scene. [Id. at p. 26]. Investigator Sutton recalled that he had a short conversation with Deputy Williams and that Deputy Perry “might have been...
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