Thompson v. City of Florence
| Decision Date | 17 July 2019 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 3:17-cv-01053-HNJ |
| Parties | AMANDA THOMPSON, Plaintiff v. CITY OF FLORENCE, ALABAMA, et al., Defendants |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama |
This action proceeds on a Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Defendants City of Florence, Alabama, Bennie Johnson, Jeff Redcross, and Guy Lambert. Plaintiff Amanda Thompson advanced 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims against the Defendants for unlawful entry, unlawful arrest, and excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and state law claims for false arrest, false imprisonment, and assault and battery.
Pursuant to the review herein, Defendants Redcross and Johnson attain qualified immunity on Thompson's Fourth Amendment claims. Furthermore, state-agent immunity bars Thompson's state-law claims. Finally, Thompson acceded to dismissal of the remaining claims.1 Therefore, for the reasons set out herein, the court GRANTS Defendants' summary judgment motion.
"The court shall grant summary judgment 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). The party seeking summary judgment bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, which it believes demonstrates the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Clark v. Coats & Clark, Inc., 929 F.2d 604, 608 (11th Cir. 1991) (quoting Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986)).
If the movant sustains its burden, a non-moving party demonstrates a genuine issue of material fact by producing evidence by which a reasonable fact-finder could return a verdict in its favor. Greenberg v. BellSouth Telecomms., Inc., 498 F.3d 1258, 1263 (11th Cir. 2007) (citation omitted). The non-movant sustains this burden by demonstrating "that the record in fact contains supporting evidence, sufficient to withstand a directed verdict motion." Fitzpatrick v. City of Atlanta, 2 F.3d 1112, 1116(11th Cir. 1993). In the alternative, the non-movant may "come forward with additional evidence sufficient to withstand a directed verdict motion at trial based on the alleged evidentiary deficiency." Id. at 1116-17; see also Doe v. Drummond Co., 782 F.3d 576, 603-04 (11th Cir. 2015), cert. denied, 136 S. Ct. 1168 (2016).
The "court must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party, and it may not make credibility determinations or weigh the evidence." Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150 (2000) (citations omitted). "'Credibility determinations, the weighing of the evidence, and the drawing of legitimate inferences from the facts are jury functions, not those of a judge.'" Id. (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986)). "Thus, although the court should review the record as a whole, it must disregard all evidence favorable to the moving party that the jury is not required to believe." Reeves, 530 U.S. at 151 (citation omitted). "That is, the court should give credence to the evidence favoring the nonmovant as well as that 'evidence supporting the moving party that is uncontradicted and unimpeached, at least to the extent that that evidence comes from disinterested witnesses.'" Id. (citation omitted).
Rule 56 "mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322. "In such asituation, there can be 'no genuine issue as to any material fact,' since a complete failure of proof concerning an essential element of the nonmoving party's case necessarily renders all other facts immaterial." Id. at 322-23. In addition, a movant may prevail on summary judgment by submitting evidence "negating [an] opponent's claim," that is, by producing materials disproving an essential element of a non-movant's claim or defense. Id. at 323 (emphasis in original).
There exists no issue for trial unless the nonmoving party submits evidence sufficient to merit a jury verdict in its favor; if the evidence is merely colorable or is not significantly probative, the court may grant summary judgment. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249. That is, the movant merits summary judgment if the governing law on the claims or defenses commands one reasonable conclusion, but the court should deny summary judgment if reasonable jurors could "differ as to the import of the evidence." Id. at 250.
At the time of the events underlying this action, Plaintiff Amanda Thompson resided in Florence, Alabama, in an apartment below-street grade on the first floor of a building. (Thompson Dep. at 12). The building consists of an entrance adjacent to analleyway, which remains locked and accessible by key or by having a resident "buzz" a visitor inside. (Thompson Dep. at 174-75, 190-91).
The first floor apartments include outdoor patios that abut a concrete retaining wall and sit several feet below street level. The patio areas are visible from the sidewalk above. (Doc. 28 at 55-58). Each first-floor apartment accesses the patio area via their rear doors, and a resident or guest may also access the patio area from the outside by traversing a grassy area next to the building and proceeding through a wooden, entry gate. (Thompson Dep. at 189-90). The gate remained open during the night of the events at issue. (Thompson Dep. at 168).
The W.C. Handy Festival is an annual, week-long festival that occurs in downtown Florence. In 2015, the Florence Police Department assigned Officers Bennie Johnson, Jeff Redcross, Guy Lambert, and Danny Hines to patrol downtown Florence in plainclothes during the festival to focus on minimizing and eliminating public intoxication and public urination. (Lambert Dep. at 31:1-5). For the events at issue, their shift commenced on Saturday, July 25, 2015, and ended once the local bars closed at 2:00 a.m.
On Saturday evening, July 25, 2015, Thompson and her friend Sara Kilpatrick went out to dinner. (Thompson Dep. at 53:21-22). Thompson and Kilpatrick returnedto her apartment after dinner and continued drinking. (Thompson Dep. at 56:15-22; 57:10-12). A couple of hours later, Thompson and Kilpatrick walked to FloBama Bar and Restaurant, where Thompson was employed but had the night off. (Thompson Dep. at 60 and 62). While at FloBama, Thompson's boyfriend, Mason Kemp, and his friend, Cody Sloas, agreed to stop by Thompson's apartment after their shifts at FloBama ended. (Thompson Dep. at 63).
Thompson and Kilpatrick returned to her apartment around 11:00 p.m., and Kamp and Sloas arrived less than an hour later. (Thompson Dep. at 65:6-11). Kamp and Sloas proceeded through the open wooden gate and into Thompson's apartment via the rear patio door. (Thompson Dep. at 67:5). Thompson could not recall whether she consumed any additional alcohol that evening, and Kamp had nothing to drink because he was only twenty years old at the time. (Thompson Dep. at 73:1-12; 74:19-23).
Around 2:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, Kilpatrick requested Thompson's assistance in the bathroom to help her take off her outfit. (Thompson Dep. at 75:14-19). While Thompson and Kilpatrick were in the bathroom, Kamp went outside to the patio, exposed his penis, and urinated. (Doc. 30-1 at 2). Kamp stated in a declaration that he urinated in a corner where the wooden gate abuts the concrete wall, and no one could see his penis from the sidewalk above the patio. (Id.) Thompson did not knowKamp had gone outside until she exited the bathroom, and it was not a common practice for guests to urinate on her patio. (Thompson Dep. at 83-83, 86-87).
Near the conclusion of his shift, Officer Johnson walked on the sidewalk that passed above Thompson's patio. (Johnson Dep. at 31:5-32:5). As Johnson was walking, he peered down and saw Kamp while he was urinating. (Johnson Dep. at 31:5-32:5).
Johnson paused for Kamp to finish, and he pulled out his badge and displayed it once Kamp looked up. (Johnson Dep. at 42:15-17). Johnson then declared he was a police officer, (Johnson Dep. at 44:10-13), and he informed Kamp that he could not urinate in public. (Johnson Dep. at 43:1-2).
Kamp asked Officer Johnson for identification because he believed Johnson may be posing as a police officer. (Exhibit 1-A, Audio Recording of Mason Kamp).3 Subsequently, after some disputed remarks, Kamp went back into Thompson's apartment through the rear patio door.4 Kamp and Thompson both declared thatupon re-entering Thompson's apartment, Kamp informed Thompson someone outside may be posing as a police officer, yet Kamp did not relay anything else regarding his conversation with Johnson. (Exhibit 1-A; Thompson Dep. at 81:7-11).
Notwithstanding the dispute regarding the remarks exchanged between Johnson and Kamp, Johnson decided to apprehend Kamp for the alleged urination on the patio. Johnson did not know how to access Thompson's patio area from the sidewalk, so he spent a few minutes looking for the main entrance. (Johnson Dep. at 44-45). He encountered Officer Redcross during his search, and Johnson informed Redcross that he was attempting to arrest a male subject for urinating in public view. (Johnson Dep. at 45:6-8). After searching the building for an entrance, Johnson and Redcross discovered the open wooden gate leading to Thompson's patio. (Johnson Dep. at 52:1-5). The two officers proceeded through the gate before knocking on Thompson's patio door. (Johnson Dep. at 52:9-11).
Upon...
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