Turk v. Crytzer
| Decision Date | 30 September 2021 |
| Docket Number | 8:18-cv-2490-CEH-TGW |
| Parties | JASON C. TURK, Plaintiff, v. BRIAN CRYTZER and VINCENT PAGLIARO, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida |
JASON C. TURK, Plaintiff,
v.
BRIAN CRYTZER and VINCENT PAGLIARO, Defendants.
No. 8:18-cv-2490-CEH-TGW
United States District Court, M.D. Florida, Tampa Division
September 30, 2021
ORDER
CHARLENE EDWARDS HONEYWELL, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.
This matter comes before the Court upon Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 58], Plaintiff's Response Opposing Summary Judgment Motion [Doc. 62], Defendants' Reply in Support of Summary Judgment [Doc. 67], and the Stipulation of Undisputed Material Facts [Doc. 66]. In the motion, Defendants state that there is no issue of fact that they are entitled to qualified immunity. The Court, having considered the parties' submissions, including trial and deposition transcripts, declarations, a DVD, and being fully advised in the premises will GRANT Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment.
I. BACKGROUND
Undisputed Material Facts[1]
As of October 7, 2014, Plaintiff Jason Turk received his primary care treatment at the James Haley Veterans Affairs Hospital. [Doc. 66 ¶ 1]. At the time, Dr. Sam Mikhail served as Turk's primary care physician and was responsible for managing Plaintiff's pain medications. Id. ¶ 2. On October 7, 2014, at Dr. Mikhail's direction, Turk presented at the James Haley emergency room to obtain pain medication. Id. ¶ 3. He was accompanied by his wife, Amanda Turk, and their two-year-old daughter. Id. ¶ 4. The doctor Turk saw directed him to the Primary Care Annex (“PCA”) to obtain pain medication. Id. ¶ 5. Upon arriving at the PCA, Turk proceeded to Bravo Company-the section of the PCA that handled his primary care. Id. ¶ 6.
After a short wait, Turk and his wife were seen by Dr. Emad Ibrahim. Id. ¶ 7. Turk and Dr. Ibrahim disagreed about the appropriate dosage of pain medication that Turk should be prescribed. [Doc. 58-2 at p. 98: l. 14 - 100: l. 9].[2] During this disagreement Turk became upset and began speaking in a loud voice. Id. at p. 61: l. 16 - l. 25;[3] Doc. 58-5[4] at p. 7: l. 10 - l. 18. At some point during Turk's visit, Dr. Ibrahim
left the patient room to review Turk's chart, consult with his supervisor about how to handle the situation, and allow Turk time to calm down. [Doc. 58-5 at p. 24: l. 1 - l. 17; Doc. 58-2 at p. 63: l. 14-21]. Upon returning to the patient room, Dr. Ibrahim continued speaking to Turk, who remained adamant about the dosage he needed and refused to calm down. [Doc. 58-5 at pp. 23: l. 22 - 24: l. 4]. Because of this, Dr. Ibrahim asked Ms. Turk to leave the room. Id. at pp. 23: l. 24 - 24: l. 4.
Turk described that encounter as follows:
And so [Dr. Ibrahim] comes back in about a minute later. And he says -- he says, well, no, I can't give you 30 milligrams. He says I can give you 20 milligrams a day, so 10 in the morning, 10 in the afternoon. And I said, doc that's not even going to touch my pain. And I said that extra five milligrams really helps with the pain. He says well, you can take it or leave it, you know, either take the 20 milligrams or you can go back to the ER and get nothing.
And I looked at him and I go what the fuck, you know, like, what are you talking about. And so I pulled my phone out and I said, you know, this is why I fucking need this medication. And I pulled up the picture. And I kind of shove it in his face. And I'm like this is why. And I show him a picture of my jaw just blown off. And he just kind of looks at it. And says, Ms. Turk, I need you to leave the room.
[Doc. 58-2 at p. 99: l. 9 - l. 25]. After Amanda Turk left, Dr. Ibrahim continued speaking with Turk in the hopes that he would calm down, but Turk did not calm down and continued to shove the picture of his gunshot wound in Dr. Ibrahim's face. [Doc. 58-5 at p. 23: l. 11 - l. 16]. At that point, Dr. Ibrahim triggered a silent panic alarm notifying the VA police that he needed assistance. Id.; Doc. 66 ¶ 10. Just over a minute later, Dr. Ibrahim triggered the panic alarm a second time. [Doc. 66 ¶ 11].
Between 3:22 pm and 3:25 pm, five separate panic alarms were triggered from inside the Bravo Company.[5] [Doc. 58-6].
Defendants, VA Patrol Officers Bryan Crytzer and Vincent Pagliaro, responded to the alarms. [Doc. 66 ¶ 12]. After arriving in the Bravo Company Cubicle Room, Officer Pagliaro heard shouting and cursing coming from one of the patient rooms. [Doc. 58-9 ¶ 12].[6] He also observed a group of VA employees huddled together near the patient room from which the shouting was coming. They were not working and appeared to be distracted by the commotion. Id. ¶¶ 13, 14. As Officer Pagliaro and Officer Crytzer approached the patient room that was the source of the shouting, one of the VA employees commented that Defendants needed to get into the room because something bad was going on. Id. However, Officer Pagliaro did not ask any questions of the nurses or medical staff there. [Doc. 58-1 at p. 132: l. 13 -l. 22]. After the door to Turk's patient room was opened, Defendants saw Turk seated and the doctor near his computer. [Doc. 66 ¶¶ 12, 13]. At that time, the doctor was not crying, shouting, screaming, yelling, or running out of the room. Id. ¶ 13. Additionally, the doctor did not say why he had pressed the alarm, nor was he asked. [Doc. 58-1 at p. 133: l. 16 - l. 25].
Sometime thereafter, Amanda Turk entered the room. Id. ¶ 14. Defendants had not previously met Turk or his wife, so at the time, they were unaware that Turk was
related to her. [Doc. 58-9 ¶¶ 15, 20]. As soon as she entered the patient doorway, Turk's wife went straight to Defendants to try to speak to them. [Doc. 58-2 at p. 64: l. 17 - l. 25]. She advised them that Turk was her husband[7] and of his injuries. Id. at p. 65: l. 1- l. 7. As soon as she entered the room, Officer Crytzer saw her wave at Turk and heard her saying “Jason, let's go.” [Doc. 62 at p. 96: l. 20 - l. 25].
Already agitated from the issues regarding his medication, Turk grabbed the exam table he was sitting on “real tense, ” asked Defendants what they were doing in his patient room, and told them he did not feel comfortable with their presence. [Doc. 58-2 at p. 101: l. 15 - l. 24. At some point after doing so, he got up, walked over to his wife, and grabbed her arm. [Doc. 66 ¶ 16; Doc. 58-2 at p. 102: l. 6 - l. 8]. Officer Pagliaro then attempted to place Turk under arrest. [Doc. 66 ¶ 16]. Turk, in turn, grabbed Pagliaro's upper arm. Id. ¶ 17. He refused to release his grip when asked to do so. Id. During the scuffle that ensued, both men went to the ground and Officer Crytzer stepped in to assist Officer Pagliaro, pulling up on Turk's arm. Id. ¶¶ 18, 19. As they attempted to restrain Turk, Officer Pagliaro pepper-sprayed Turk in the face. Id. ¶ 20. Turk eventually released his grip on Pagliaro's arm. Id. ¶ 17. After being placed in handcuffs, the officers removed Turk from the patient room and took him to a holding cell in the PCA, where he was given some water by Officer Crytzer. Id. ¶¶ 21, 22. Turk was later taken to the ER at James Haley, by Officer Pagliaro, where his eyes were rinsed with saline. Id. ¶¶ 23, 24. Before he left the ER, Turk reported having no pain
in his eyes, no blurred vision, and no other complaints, and any injuries he may have suffered as a result of this incident subsided over the next few weeks. Id. ¶¶ 25, 26.
Disputed Material Facts
While the parties agree that there was contact between Turk and his wife inside the patient room, there is some disagreement as to the nature of that contact. Defendants have provided evidence that Turk also grabbed his wife by the shoulder and pushed her into the wall. [Doc. 58-8 at p. 4]. To the contrary, Turk testified at his criminal trial that once he made his mind to terminate the encounter with Defendants, he walked over to his wife, grabbed her arm, and said “come on, honey, let's go.” [Doc. 58-2 at p. 102: l. 6 - l. 9; p. 120: l. 3 - l. 4]. Ms. Turk also testified that he touched her and said “let's just go.” Id. at p. 66: l. 13 - l. 14; p. 79: l. 22 - l. 23. Turk further testified that as soon as he touched his wife and made the statement, he was “instantaneously . . . hooked around the neck, put in a chokehold, off the ground, [and] slammed up against the wall.” Id. at p. 102: l. 6 - l. 11. Again, Ms. Turk testified that this is how the events unfolded. Id. at p. 66: l. 14 - l. 17. At a deposition she gave for the criminal case, she testified that her husband did not batter her in the least and did not push her into the wall. [Doc. 62 at p. 202: l. 16 - l. 21(Ex. F)]. In fact, she testified that they both wanted to exit the room. Id. at l. 16.
The parties also disagree as to whether Officer Pagliaro applied pepper spray to Turk one time or two times. In his Declaration, Officer Pagliaro stated that he employed a single short burst of pepper spray to Turk's face, after warning Turk to stop resisting and Turk continued doing so. [Doc. 58-9 ¶¶ 33, 34]. However, Turk and
his wife testified that Turk was pepper sprayed a second time after he had already been restrained and that the entire can of pepper spray was unloaded in his face. [Doc. 58-2 at p. 103: l. 12 - l. 25; p. 67: l. 19 - p. 68: l. 3].
Procedural Development
Turk filed this action against Defendants on October 9, 2018. [Doc. 1]. The Complaint asserts claims of False Arrest[8] and Excessive Force in violation of the Fourth Amendment against Defendants. Id. In his False Arrest claims, Counts I and III, Turk alleges that he was unlawfully seized by Defendants through their intentional confinement when they placed him under arrest and that the facts and circumstances within Defendant's knowledge would not cause a prudent officer to believe, under the circumstances shown, that Plaintiff had committed or was committing a criminal offense. Id. ¶¶ 24-27; 33-36. In Counts II and IV, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants gratuitously applied force that was...
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