Turmon v. Jordan

• Decision Date: 25 April 2005
• Docket Number: No. 04-1439.,04-1439.
• Citation: 405 F.3d 202
• Parties: Jonathan TURMON, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Charles JORDAN, Individually, Defendant-Appellant, and Red Roof Inns, Incorporated, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 202

405 F.3d 202

Jonathan TURMON, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Charles JORDAN, Individually, Defendant-Appellant, and Red Roof Inns, Incorporated, Defendant.

No. 04-1439.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued: December 2, 2004.

Decided: April 25, 2005.

Andrew Frederick Lindemann, Davidson, Morrison & Lindemann, P.A., Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellant.

John Christopher Mills, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.

William H. Davidson, II, Robert D. Garfield, Davidson, Morrison & Lindemann, P.A., Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellant.

Before WILKINS, Chief Judge, and MICHAEL and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge MICHAEL wrote the opinion, in which Chief Judge WILKINS and Judge TRAXLER joined.

OPINION

MICHAEL, Circuit Judge.

The plaintiff alleges that a deputy sheriff violated his Fourth Amendment rights (1) by seizing him (for investigative purposes) without reasonable suspicion while he was a motel guest and (2) by using excessive force in the course of the seizure. The district court denied the deputy's motion for qualified immunity at the summary judgment stage, and the deputy filed this interlocutory appeal. We affirm.

I.

We recite the facts "in the light most favorable to the party asserting the injury," in this case the plaintiff, Jonathan Turmon. Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001); see also Brown v. Gilmore, 278 F.3d 362, 369 (4th Cir.2002). Defendant Charles Jordan has been a deputy sheriff in Lexington County, South Carolina, since 1998. In 2001 he moonlighted, wearing his deputy's uniform, as a security guard at the Red Roof Inn on Berryhill Road (near I-26) in Columbia. According to Jordan, the motel was located in a high-crime area where there were robberies, drug dealing, and (suspected) prostitution.

On March 10, 2001, Turmon and his girlfriend, who were attending a concert in the Columbia area, rented a room at the Red Roof Inn. When they returned to the motel after the concert, their room was cold, and the heater was not working properly. Turmon called the front desk, and after the clerk dispatched someone to investigate, Turmon was told that the room would soon be heated. The room remained chilly, and in the early morning Turmon turned on the hot water in the shower in an effort to heat the room with steam. After a while the steam became stifling, and Turmon opened the door to allow it to escape.

At the same time, around 5:00 a.m., Deputy Jordan, who was working his guard job at the motel, and Hewey Dixon, the desk clerk, walked out to the parking lot (Dixon was about to move his car); they both suddenly noticed what appeared to be white smoke billowing from a room on the second floor. Believing there could be a fire, the two men started running toward the building. Before Dixon reached the building, he realized that what he had thought was smoke was dissipating rapidly and that it was just steam. In the meantime, Jordan was running up the outside stairs toward the room. Jordan was concerned that "fire ha[d] engulfed the room" and that someone might be "overwhelmed by the smoke." J.A. 67, 73. When Turmon heard someone's (Jordan's) footsteps, he shut the door and got back into bed.

At the moment Jordan heard the door close, his "whole mindset changed." J.A. 73. He believed the occupant had some improper motive for not wanting him (Jordan) to enter the room. Jordan concluded that the occupant was committing arson, attempting to hurt himself or someone else, or attempting to cover up some other illicit activity occurring inside the room. When Jordan reached the door, he did not smell smoke or see any sign of fire. Nevertheless, his assumption about wrongdoing prompted him to bang loudly on the door. Jordan did not identify himself as a police officer, prompting Turmon to ask, "Who is it?" J.A. 138. Jordan replied that it was the sheriff's department, and Turmon asked what he wanted. Jordan responded, "[Y]ou need to open the door now[!]" J.A. 137. Turmon then asked whether Jordan had a search warrant, and Jordan simply repeated his order that the door must be opened immediately. Turmon put on his pants and went to the door. When Turmon opened the door, Jordan pointed his gun at Turmon's face. Turmon raised his hands instantly and asked Jordan why his weapon was drawn; Jordan, without saying anything, grabbed Turmon and "jerked [him] outside" into the walkway. J.A. 99, 101, 189. Jordan then holstered his weapon, spun Turmon around, and proceeded to handcuff him. Turmon was entirely passive and did not resist the handcuffing. Jordan next retrieved and checked Turmon's identification. Turmon then told Jordan that he was a retired state trooper, and at that point Jordan removed the handcuffs and released Turmon.

Turmon sued Jordan and the motel asserting claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law. Turmon invokes § 1983 to allege, among other things, that Jordan violated his Fourth Amendment rights by (1) seizing him without reasonable suspicion (the illegal seizure claim) and (2) using excessive force in the course of the seizure (the excessive force claim). Jordan asserted the defense of qualified immunity in his answer. The district court concluded in pretrial proceedings that Jordan was not entitled to summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds. Jordan then filed this interlocutory appeal. "Our jurisdiction to review [an] order[ ] denying a summary judgment motion based on qualified immunity is limited ... to the review of legal issues." Gray-Hopkins v. Prince George's County, 309 F.3d 224, 229 (4th Cir.2002) (citing Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304, 115 S.Ct. 2151, 132 L.Ed.2d 238 (1995)).

II.

The doctrine of qualified immunity shields law enforcement officers performing discretionary duties "from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). Because "[q]ualified immunity is an entitlement not to stand trial or face the other burdens of litigation," it is important to resolve the immunity question "at the earliest possible stage in litigation." Saucier, 533 U.S. at 200-01, 121 S.Ct. 2151 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). In an interlocutory appeal from the denial of qualified immunity, our analysis proceeds as follows. We begin by asking whether the facts, "[t]aken in the light most favorable to the [plaintiff]," show that "the officer's conduct violated a constitutional right." Id. at 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151. If the answer is no, "that ends the matter, and the offic[er] is entitled to immunity." Id. at 200, 121 S.Ct. 2151. "On the other hand, if a violation could be made out" on a view of the facts that is favorable to the plaintiff, "the next, sequential step is to ask whether the right was clearly established" at the time of the violation. Id. at 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151.

A.

Deputy Jordan first contends that he is entitled to qualified immunity on Turmon's illegal seizure claim.

1.

We first consider whether the facts alleged, viewed in the light most favorable to Turmon, show that Jordan violated Turmon's Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizures. It is undisputed that Jordan seized Turmon when he pointed his gun at Turmon's face, pulled him into the walkway, and handcuffed him. It is likewise undisputed that the seizure was an investigative detention. The issue, then, is whether Jordan had "a reasonable suspicion supported by articulable facts that criminal activity `may [have] be [en] afoot,' "thereby justifying a brief detention for investigative purposes. United States v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1, 7, 109 S.Ct. 1581, 104 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989) (quoting Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 30, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968)).

The facts in the summary judgment record do not provide grounds for a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot in Turmon's motel room. When Jordan saw what he thought was smoke coming from a room on the second floor, he believed there might be a fire. Thus, he ran up the stairs toward the room with the intention of aiding anyone who might need assistance in escaping. That much was reasonable. However, as Jordan was approaching the room, he heard the door close, and his "whole mindset changed." J.A. 73. In Jordan's mind, his mission changed from potential rescue to law enforcement. The shutting of the door led Jordan to conclude that the room's occupant did not want him "in there for an apparent reason," specifically, the occupant was "trying to hide what's going on." J.A. 73, 80. Jordan believed that the occupant was (1) "trying to burn down the building," (2) "trying to hurt" himself or "somebody in the room," or (3) "trying to cover something up" in this high-crime area. J.A. 81, 83, 86. By the time Jordan got to the door, he had determined that the room's occupant was "going to go into handcuffs" until he investigated the situation. J.A. 88.

To begin with, Jordan could not have had a reasonable belief that the room was on fire by the time he reached the door. There were no flames, there was no smell of smoke, and Jordan was aware that the motel's internal fire alarm had not sounded. If that was not enough to dispel any suspicion of arson, it was obvious that the room was not on fire as soon as Turmon opened the door. Nor did Turmon's shutting of the door moments before (as Jordan approached) support reasonable suspicion of criminal activity in the room. It can be expected that the occupant of a motel room — especially at a motel in a high-crime area — will shut his door when he hears unknown footsteps approaching at 5:00 a.m. In sum, the facts reveal that Jordan did not have reasonable suspicion to detain Turmon.

2.

Having determined (on the summary judgment record) that Jordan violated Turmon's Fourth Amendment right to...