White v. City of Greensboro
| Decision Date | 22 June 2022 |
| Docket Number | 1:18-cv-00969 |
| Citation | 608 F.Supp.3d 248 |
| Parties | William Z. WHITE, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF GREENSBORO, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of North Carolina |
Kenneth R. Keller, Trisha L. Barfield, Rachel Scott Decker, Carruthers & Roth, P.A., Greensboro, NC, for Plaintiff.
Patrick Michael Kane, William Craig Turner, Jr., Fox Rothschild LLP, Greensboro, NC, for Defendants Eric G. Sigmon, Johnny L. Raines, Jr., William B. Barham, Brian S. Williamson, Jason A. Lowe, James M. Shwochow, Lindsay Michelle Albert.
James Demarest Secor, III, Guilford Co. Sheriff's Attorney, Greensboro, NC, Thomas Dixon Carruthers, Henson & Talley, LLP, Greensboro, NC, for Defendants James Matthew Stalls.
Dan McCord Hartzog, Jr., Katherine Marie Barber-Jones, Anna M. Davis, Hartzog Law Group LLP, Raleigh, NC, for Defendant The City of Reidsville.
This lawsuit arises out of the arrest and firing of Plaintiff William White, a former Greensboro Police Department officer, after he was investigated for illegal activity stemming from the theft of several commercial-grade lawn mowers. After the criminal charges against White were eventually dismissed, he brought this case alleging numerous violations of both federal and North Carolina law against multiple Defendants across four law enforcement agencies.
The court previously ruled on motions to dismiss and for summary judgment, dismissing all claims except those relating to trespass. A motion for reconsideration of the court's previous order denying summary judgment (Doc. 173) was subsequently filed by officers of the Greensboro Police Department ("GPD") -- James Schwochow, Eric Sigmon, Johnny Raines, Jr., William Barham, Brian Williamson, Jason Lowe, and Lindsay Albert ("Greensboro Defendants"), on the basis of public official immunity, which the court granted in part and denied in part (Doc. 228). This led the court to vacate its prior order (Doc. 82) dismissing the Eighth Cause of Action against the Greensboro Defendants in their individual capacities alleging a violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for a warrantless search of White's home (Doc. 228), and the court reopened discovery for this claim only.
The Greensboro Defendants now move for summary judgment as to the Eighth Cause of Action on the grounds of qualified immunity and damages. (Doc. 233 (Raines), Doc. 235 (Barham), Doc. 237 (Williamson), Doc. 239 (Lowe), Doc. 241 (Sigmon), Doc. 243 (Schwochow), Doc. 245 (Albert).) White opposes all motions. (Doc. 247.) For the reasons set forth below, the motions for summary judgment will be granted on the basis of qualified immunity for Lowe, Sigmon, Schwochow, and Albert, and granted in part on the issues of damages for Raines, Barham, and Williamson.
The background of this case is extensively set out most recently in this court's prior amended memorandum opinion and order. White v. City of Greensboro, 532 F. Supp. 3d 277 (M.D.N.C. Apr. 5, 2021). Relevant facts will be discussed as pertinent to these motions.
In short, White was a police officer for the GPD from April 2009 until March 6, 2017. (Doc. 111-1 ¶ 3.)1 On August 22, 2016, the Reidsville Police Department ("RPD") received a report that several commercial-grade lawn mowers were stolen from Scott's Tractor, a lawn mower dealer in Reidsville, North Carolina. (Doc. 140-1.) RPD Lieutenant Shannon Coates responded to the report and assigned RPD Sergeant Lynwood Hampshire to investigate. (Id., Doc. 140-2 at 16:16-20.) Hampshire would serve as the lead investigator for the duration of the investigation. (Doc. 140-2 at 17:1-3.)
On October 7, Hampshire received a call from a couple, the Terrys, who reported they had recently bought a mower from White and who expressed concern about the possibility it had been stolen earlier from Scott's Tractor. (Doc. 140-3 at 1.) Prior to conducting a knock and talk at White's residence, Hampshire learned that White was a GPD police officer. (Docs. 140-2 at 18:3-9; 140-9 at 27:16-28:22.) Hampshire later spoke with Coates, his supervisor, who advised him to contact the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation ("SBI") and GPD's Professional Standards Division. (Doc. 140-2 at 18:3-9.) The SBI was contacted because it is standard practice for the SBI to be involved when a police officer is the suspect in an investigation. (Doc. 140-8 at 170:5-171:3.) Hampshire contacted SBI Agent Destinie Denny, who had worked with the RPD in the past. (Id. at 21:15-22:10.)
Following an investigation, Hampshire several months later applied for and obtained a warrant from a state magistrate to search two of White's residences on March 5, 2017. (Doc. 140-12.) Also on March 5, the investigating agencies2 informed GPD Chief Wayne Scott that they had probable cause to arrest White for felony possession of stolen property and felony obtaining property by false pretenses, that the agencies were in the process of obtaining search warrants for White's residences, and that they planned to arrest White on March 6. (Doc. 103-1 ¶ 9.) The investigating agencies had updated Scott during their investigation, and GPD's Professional Standards Division was also investigating White's possible involvement in the mower thefts. (Id. ¶ 6.) Scott agreed that the agencies had probable cause to arrest White and decided to terminate White's employment with GPD. (Id. ¶¶ 10-11.)
On the morning of March 6, Hampshire conducted a briefing at SBI's Greensboro office prior to executing the search warrants. Present were members from the SBI, Burlington Police Department ("BPD"), Guilford County Sheriff's Office ("GCSO"), and the Randolph County Sheriff's Office. (Doc. 140-13 at 1.) Hampshire had prepared an operations plan, which was reviewed by his supervisor, Coates, outlining the execution of the search warrants. (Docs. 140-2 at 89:19-23; 139.) Also that morning, White was arrested at work, charged with various crimes, and terminated from his employment with GPD as a result. (Doc. 103-1 ¶¶ 18-19.)
At about 8:00 a.m., the RPD and SBI executed the search warrant at White's primary residence. Present at the start of the search were two agents from the RPD, including Hampshire as the officer in charge, and two agents from the SBI. (Doc. 139 at 7.) Detective Victoria Underwood of the BPD was present as a BPD liaison officer because the BPD was conducting a simultaneous arrest of Strickland as a result of its investigation into the theft at another seller, Quality Equipment. (Docs. 127-14 ¶¶ 5-6; 140-2 at 140:11-14.) GCSO Deputy Amanda Fleming was present as a GCSO liaison officer because White's house was in Guilford County. (Docs. 139 at 7; 140-2 at 136:12-137:21.) Other officers arrived during the search, including RPD Chief Robert Hassell. (Doc. 140-2 at 91:25-92:4.)
When the officers arrived at White's house, the only persons present in the home were White's wife Christina, the Whites’ daughter, and Anita Holder, White's mother. (Doc. 137-7 at 7:23-8:10.) Hampshire allowed Holder to leave with the Whites’ daughter. (Id.; Doc. 140-2 at 95:22-96:9.) The search officers proceeded to search the residence. They discovered a John Deere Gator and trailer in White's garage. The Gator was reported as stolen from Wake County, North Carolina, in November 2016. (Doc. 140-13 at 2, 11.) The officers were unable to find a vehicle identification number for the trailer, which appeared to have been scratched off. (Id. ) Both the Gator and trailer were seized and towed to the RPD impound lot. (Id. )
Hampshire's operations plan directed that, upon discovery of any GPD equipment or property, Hampshire was to notify RPD Lieutenant Coates, who would in turn notify the GPD to come to White's house to retrieve the property. (Docs. 139 at 11; 140-2 at 87:13-23.) And that is what happened. The investigating officers discovered GPD equipment at White's house, Hampshire notified Coates, and Coates notified the GPD to come to collect the property. (Docs. 139-1 at 3; 140-2 at 87:13-18.)
At about 10:00 a.m., GPD Lieutenant Johnny Raines was directed by a superior to go to White's house to pick up GPD-issued equipment. (Doc. 137-10 at 15.) Raines was a member of Resource Management, the GPD division that keeps track of GPD equipment. (Doc. 137-11 at 79:3-9.) According to several GPD Defendants, it is standard practice for GPD to attempt to collect issued equipment as soon as possible after an officer leaves the department. (Docs. 137-10 at 15; 137-12 at 3.) Raines directed Sergeant William Barham to accompany him. (Doc. 137-12 at 3.) When both officers arrived, Raines looked into an open garage and noticed what appeared to be GPD equipment. (Doc. 137-10 at 15.) Officers from the SBI and RPD escorted Raines and Barham to the master bedroom where they both observed additional GPD equipment. (Id.; Doc. 137-12 at 4.) Sometime thereafter, Raines went to the living room where Christina White was sitting and asked her if they could collect GPD property.3 (Doc. 137-10 at 16.) While Raines says Christina White "stated that we could collect and remove the property," (id. ), Christina White testified that she never gave Raines permission to look for GPD equipment and that he was already searching for the equipment before he spoke to her (Doc. 152-2 at 17:21-18:3).
Shortly thereafter, GPD Sergeant Brian Williamson arrived at White's house. (Docs. 137-10 at 16; 137-14 at 4.) Williamson was the team leader for GPD's Special Response Team ("SRT"), of which White was a member prior to his termination. (Doc. 137-14 at 3.) Because it was unlikely that a non-SRT member could identify SRT equipment, Williamson reported to White's house to identify GPD's SRT equipment. (Id. at 4.) Williamson subsequently ordered GPD Detective Jason Lowe, who was the sniper team lead on GPD's SRT, to come to White's house to identify any SRT sniper equipment White may have had. (Doc. 137-15 at 4.) While looking for White's uniform, Williamson...
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