Watkins v. Oaklawn Jockey Club

• Decision Date: 04 November 1949
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 415.
• Citation: 86 F. Supp. 1006
• Parties: WATKINS v. OAKLAWN JOCKEY CLUB et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Arkansas

86 F. Supp. 1006

WATKINS v. OAKLAWN JOCKEY CLUB et al.

Civ. No. 415.

United States District Court W. D. Arkansas, Hot Springs Division.

November 4, 1949.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

C. Floyd Huff, Jr., Hot Springs, Ark., J. H. Lookadoo, Arkadelphia, Ark., for plaintiff.

R. J. Glover, Hot Springs, Ark., for defendants Brown and Fulton.

W. J. Smith, of Donham, Fulk & Mehaffy, Little Rock, Ark., for defendant Oaklawn Jockey Club.

JOHN E. MILLER, District Judge.

Two motions filed on October 17, 1949, by the defendants are before the Court for disposition. One is a motion for judgment for defendants filed under Rule 50(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A. The other, a motion to dismiss, was filed under Rule 12(c). A brief statement of the status of the case and the issues is desirable in the interest of clarity.

The complaint was filed June 23, 1949. The plaintiff asserts that the Court has jurisdiction under Section 1343 of Title 28 of the United States Code Annotated and Sections 41, 43 and 47(3) of Title 8 of the United States Code Annotated and Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

The plaintiff, Jerry H. Watkins, is a citizen of the United States and a citizen of the State of Arkansas residing in the Hot Springs Division of the Western District of Arkansas.

The defendant, Oaklawn Jockey Club, is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Arkansas with its principal place of business located in the City of Hot Springs, Garland County, and is the owner of a race track situated in Garland County which it has been operating for several years under a franchise from the State of Arkansas and a license issued by the Racing Commission of said State.

The defendant, I. G. Brown, is now and was at all times material to the controversy, the duly elected, qualified and acting Sheriff of Garland County, Arkansas, and the defendant, Earl (Birdie) Fulton, is now and was at all times material to the controversy a duly appointed, qualified and acting Deputy Sheriff of Garland County, Arkansas.

The plaintiff alleges that, subsequent to January 1, 1949, the defendants entered into a conspiracy to deprive the plaintiff of his civil rights and liberties as guaranteed to him under the laws and the Constitution of the United States, and that on the afternoon of March 12, 1949, the plaintiff purchased an admission ticket from the defendant, Oaklawn Jockey Club, for admission to the premises of the Oaklawn Race Track; that he paid the regular and customary admission fee of $1.00 and entered upon the grounds of said race track; that, while conversing with friends and acting in a lawful manner, he was approached by the defendant, Earl (Birdie) Fulton, acting in his capacity as Deputy Sheriff and as agent, servant and employee of the defendant, Oaklawn Jockey Club, and the defendant, I. G. Brown, and stated to the plaintiff:

"Jerry, I have orders not to let you on this race track, and that if you did get on the track to place you under arrest and put you off."

Whereupon, the plaintiff asked the said defendant, Fulton, who had given him such orders, and was advised by Fulton that he had received such orders from the defendant, I. G. Brown. The plaintiff then advised the defendant, Fulton, that he had paid the admission fee to the race track and that he was conducting himself in a proper manner and had not violated any law. Thereupon the defendant, Fulton, stated:

"I know that is true but I have my orders and will have to carry them out."

That to his great embarrassment and humiliation the defendant, Fulton, arrested the plaintiff, deprived him of his liberty and forcibly ejected him from the race track; that the admission price paid by the plaintiff was not then and has not since been refunded to him, and the defendant, Fulton, told him not to again enter the race track or he would again arrest him and place him in the County Jail of Garland County, Arkansas.

That the said unlawful conduct of the defendants constituted a malicious and false arrest of the plaintiff, false and unlawful imprisonment of him and an unlawful deprivation of his liberty; that the said unlawful and tortious conduct of the defendants has caused the plaintiff great embarrassment and mental anguish.

That the wrongful arrest and imprisonment of the plaintiff by the defendants was actuated by malice, was willfully malicious and deliberate and without authority or process.

The plaintiff then prays for both actual and punitive damages.

On July 23, 1949, the defendants filed their answer to the complaint, in the first paragraph of which they allege:

"That the complaint does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action under Sections 41, 43 and 47(3) of Title 8, United States Code Annotated, and Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, and that by reason thereof jurisdiction of this action is not conferred upon this Court by Section 1343 of Title 28 of the United States Code."

The citizenship of the plaintiff and the defendants was admitted in the answer as alleged by plaintiff and as hereinbefore set forth. Likewise the defendants admitted that I. G. Brown is now and was on March 12, 1949, the duly elected, qualified and acting Sheriff of Garland County, and "that he was an agent of the defendant, Oaklawn Jockey Club, when he was not acting in his capacity as Sheriff of Garland County, but defendants deny that defendant, I. G. Brown, was a servant and employee of defendant, Oaklawn Jockey Club." The defendants further admit that the defendant, Earl (Birdie) Fulton was on March 12, 1949, a Deputy Sheriff of Garland County and "was the agent of defendant, Oaklawn Jockey Club when he was not acting in his capacity as Deputy Sheriff of Garland County, but defendants deny that defendant, Earl (Birdie) Fulton, was a servant and employee of defendant, Oaklawn Jockey Club."

In Paragraph 8 of the answer it is stated:

"That sometime during the racing meet held by defendant Oaklawn Jockey Club at Hot Springs, Arkansas, during the months of February and March of 1949, defendant Earl (Birdie) Fulton, acting for and in behalf of defendant Oaklawn Jockey Club, told plaintiff to leave the premises of the Oaklawn Jockey Club, whereupon plaintiff did leave said premises and refused tender of any money he may have expended to gain admission thereto. Defendants further state that on two occasions prior to this incident plaintiff had been advised, once by the defendant Earl (Birdie) Fulton and once by the defendant I. G. Brown, that he was not wanted on the premises of defendant Oaklawn Jockey Club and would not be allowed thereon during the racing meet than being held thereon."

On September 7, 1949, a pre-trial conference was held, at which time the issues were discussed and the Court suggested to the defendants that they file a separate motion to dismiss and incorporate therein that portion of their answer which alleges that the Court does not have jurisdiction of the case. Whereupon, a motion to dismiss "because the complaint fails to state a claim against the defendants upon which relief can be granted" was filed.

The attorneys for the defendants filed a brief in support of the motion to dismiss and the attorneys for plaintiff filed their brief against the motion to dismiss, and on September 27, 1949, the Court overruled the motion to dismiss.

Prior to the date of the trial, the plaintiff procured a subpoena duces tecum directed to Walter Schrader, agent for service of the defendant Club, requiring him to produce all books, records, canceled checks or other evidence of payment of any moneys by the Oaklawn Jockey Club, a corporation, to I. G. Brown of Hot Springs, Arkansas, and any contracts or other agreements in writing between the said Oaklawn Jockey Club and the said I. G. Brown entered into between October 1, 1948, and April 1, 1949.

The defendants filed a motion to quash the subpoena duces tecum, which motion was submitted to the Court and by the Court sustained. During the discussion of the motion to quash the subpoena, the defendants agreed to produce for the Court's examination all canceled checks representing funds paid to the defendant, I. G. Brown, for any purpose by the Oaklawn Jockey Club and further agreed "that the defendant, I. G. Brown, was the agent of the Oaklawn Jockey Club and ejected plaintiff, Jerry H. Watkins, from the premises of the Oaklawn Jockey Club under his authority as such agent and upon instructions from the defendant, Oaklawn Jockey Club."

The case proceeded to a trial before a jury on October 13, and the defendants furnished for the Court's examination all canceled checks which it had given to the defendant, I. G. Brown, for any purpose during the racing season of 1949. There were five checks, each for a certain sum of money representing the amount paid to I. G. Brown as compensation for himself and deputies and the expenses of certain members of the State Police Force for their services during the racing meet. The Court held that the checks were not admissible in view of the agreement on the part of the defendants that I. G. Brown was acting as the agent of the defendant, Oaklawn Jockey Club, at the time the plaintiff was ejected therefrom.

The testimony adduced at the trial revealed no conflicts and the facts are undisputed. They are as follows:

Jerry H. Watkins, the plaintiff, is the present Chief of Detectives of the Hot Springs, Arkansas, Police Department. He has been a police officer for twenty-two years, seventeen of which have been with the Police Department of Hot Springs. On March 9, 1949, he was retired on account of a physical disability, but that disability was removed or disappeared and he was later reinstated. He and two friends went to the Race Track on March 12, 1949, where the plaintiff paid the admission charges for himself and his two guests. They...