Williams v. Decker

• Decision Date: 18 July 2014
• Docket Number: No. 13–2074.,13–2074.
• Parties: Josh Lorenzo WILLIAMS; Phillip Michael Porter, Jr., Plaintiffs–Appellants v. Scott DECKER, Official and Individual capacity; Jeffrey Forck, Official and individual capacities; Matthew Stephens, Official and individual capacities; Rosanna Arens, Official capacity only; City of Columbia, Missouri Defendants–Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

767 F.3d 734

Josh Lorenzo WILLIAMS; Phillip Michael Porter, Jr., Plaintiffs–Appellants

v.Scott DECKER, Official and Individual capacity; Jeffrey Forck, Official and individual capacities; Matthew Stephens, Official and individual capacities; Rosanna Arens, Official capacity only; City of Columbia, Missouri Defendants–Appellees.

No. 13–2074.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: April 14, 2014.

Filed: July 18, 2014.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied Sept. 11, 2014.

Stephen S. Wyse, Wyse Law Firm, P.C., Columbia, MO, argued, for appellants.

Bradley C. Letterman, Schreimann, Rackers, Francka & Blunt, L.L.C., Jefferson City, MO, argued (Christopher P. Rackers, on the brief), for appellees.

Before SMITH, COLLOTON, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.

Opinion

GRUENDER, Circuit Judge.

Josh Williams and Phillip Porter brought claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against law enforcement officers Scott Decker, Jeffrey Forck, and Matthew Stephens (“the officers”). These claims arose from an incident in which the officers drew their weapons, removed Williams and Porter from a vehicle, handcuffed them, performed a protective sweep of the vehicle, and eventually released them. The district court¹ granted the officers' motion for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity. Williams and Porter appeal, and we affirm.

I. Background

While conducting motorcycle training in the parking lot of a city park in Columbia, Missouri, the officers observed a vehicle parked in the area where they were training. The vehicle, which was parked diagonally across two parking spaces, had arrived while the officers drove their motorcycles to another portion of the park for a brief period of time. Officer Decker, who was driving the lead motorcycle, initially approached the vehicle to request that the driver remove it from the training area. As the officers drove toward the vehicle, Officer Decker and Officer Forck, who was immediately behind Officer Decker, observed two individuals sitting in the vehicle. It appeared to Officer Forck that the driver was drinking from a container wrapped in a paper bag—a tactic that, according to Officer Forck, is commonly used to conceal alcohol. Officers Forck and Decker also reported that upon the seeing the officers, the driver and the passenger of the vehicle began moving around while keeping their hands concealed from the officers' view. Officers Forck and Decker activated the emergency lights on their motorcycles at approximately this time.

Williams and Porter, the occupants of the vehicle, had just arrived at the park, where they planned to listen to music. Porter, the passenger, was drinking beer from a container that was wrapped in a paper bag. Williams, the driver, also had a container of beer, but he had yet to open it when the officers arrived. According to Porter, Williams had his hand on his container of beer, which was located beside him, and was getting ready to open it. Williams, however, claims that his alcohol was in the backseat of the vehicle at this time.

As the officers approached, they ordered Williams and Porter to show their hands. According to the officers, Williams did not comply promptly with these commands. Williams admits that he first saw the officers when he opened the driver's side door to spit, although he did not realize immediately who they were, and that he later heard the officers say something. Upon hearing the officers, Williams reached to turn down the volume of the music playing in the vehicle, which was at seventy percent capacity, and saw the officers draw their weapons at this time. Porter likewise could not hear what the officers were saying when he first saw them. Officer Decker recounts that he drew his weapon after Williams failed to show his hands and after he “went from laid back in the seat[ ] to leaning forward with his hands concealed.” Officer Forck unholstered his weapon after Williams “put his hands down to where I could not see them.” Upon seeing the officers with their firearms drawn, Williams and Porter immediately raised their hands.

The officers removed Williams and Porter from the vehicle and handcuffed them. Before he was handcuffed, Porter claims that one of the officers made him pour out both his and Williams's containers of beer. The officers asked Williams whether there were any weapons in the vehicle, and Williams informed them that he kept a firearm in the vehicle. The officers then removed the firearm from the glove compartment and performed a protective sweep of the vehicle.

The officers requested the criminal histories of Williams and Porter. After learning that there were no warrants for Porter's arrest, the officers allowed him to leave—approximately thirty minutes after the initial encounter. A police dispatcher advised Officer Forck that Williams had a felony conviction for a weapons violation while intoxicated. After verifying with a police sergeant that an individual with this criminal history could not possess a firearm lawfully and after again confirming Williams's criminal history with the police dispatcher, Officer Forck informed Williams that he was under arrest. Williams tried to explain that he had pled guilty to a misdemeanor, not a felony, making his possession of the firearm legal. But the officers requested a transport unit to take Williams to the police station for booking. While Officer Decker waited with Williams for the transport unit to arrive, Officer Forck drove to the police station to verify Williams's criminal history, and Officer Stephens left to prepare an arrest sheet. Once Officer Forck arrived at the police station, he learned that Williams indeed had pled guilty to a misdemeanor. Officer Forck instructed Officer Decker, who was waiting with Williams for the transport unit to arrive, to release Williams. Officer Decker did so approximately one hour after the initial encounter.

Williams and Porter brought this lawsuit against the officers under § 1983 for their roles in this incident, primarily alleging violations of the Fourth Amendment. The district court granted the officers' motion for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity. This appeal followed.

II. Discussion

A. The Fourth Amendment

We review the grant of summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity de novo, viewing the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and drawing all reasonable inferences in that party's favor. LaCross v. City of Duluth, 713 F.3d 1155, 1157 (8th Cir.2013). To determine whether the officers are entitled to qualified immunity, we ask (1) “whether the facts alleged or shown, construed in the light most favorable to [the plaintiffs], establish a violation of a constitutional ... right,” and (2) “whether that constitutional right was clearly established as of [the time of the relevant conduct], such that a reasonable official would have known that [his] actions were unlawful.” Scott v. Benson, 742 F.3d 335, 339 (8th Cir.2014) (second alteration in original) (quoting Krout v. Goemmer, 583 F.3d 557, 564 (8th Cir.2009) ). Unless we answer both of these questions in the affirmative, the officers are entitled to qualified immunity. See id.

Williams and Porter contend that the officers exceeded the scope of an investigative stop under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). Under the principles set forth in Terry, “[a] law enforcement officer may detain a person for investigation without probable cause to arrest when the officer ‘has a reasonable suspicion supported by articulable facts that criminal activity may be afoot.’ ” United States v. Morgan, 729 F.3d 1086, 1089 (8th Cir.2013) (quoting United States v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1, 7, 109 S.Ct. 1581, 104 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989) ) (internal quotation marks omitted). This determination is based upon the totality of the circumstances. Id. “Reasonable suspicion is a lower threshold than probable cause, and it requires considerably less than proof of wrongdoing by a preponderance of the evidence.” United States v. Carpenter, 462 F.3d 981, 986 (8th Cir.2006) (internal citation omitted).

Reasonable suspicion that Williams was operating a vehicle while intoxicated justified the officers' investigatory stop of the vehicle. See Mo.Rev.Stat. § 577.010.1 (“A person commits the crime of ‘driving while intoxicated’ if he operates a motor vehicle while in an intoxicated or drugged condition.”); Cox v. Dir. of Revenue, 98 S.W.3d 548, 549–51 (Mo. banc 2003) (concluding that driver's license was appropriately suspended for operating a vehicle where an individual was sitting behind the steering wheel in a parking lot with the key in the ignition and with the engine running). The officers observed that the vehicle was parked diagonally across two parking spots. Errant parking such as this, when combined with Officer Forck's observation of what he believed to be alcohol consumption by the driver of a vehicle that had just arrived at the park, is a reasonable basis for suspicion of illegal activity. Williams's gestures as the officers approached the vehicle reasonably added to this suspicion. Morgan, 729 F.3d at 1090 (finding that “furtive gestures” by occupant of vehicle can be an appropriate basis for reasonable suspicion of criminal activity). Officers Decker and Forck recount how, as they approached on their motorcycles, Williams moved around in the vehicle with his hands concealed from their view. Williams agrees that he opened and closed the driver's side front door of the vehicle in order to spit as the officers drove toward him. Although this act turned out to be innocent, it was not unreasonable for the officers to interpret Williams's movements as suspicious in light of how the vehicle was parked and Officer Forck's observation of what he believed to be alcohol consumption in the vehicle. See Carpenter, 462 F.3d at 986 (“The behavior on which reasonable suspicion is grounded ... need not establish that the suspect is probably guilty of a...