Wilson v. City of North Little Rock

• Decision Date: 12 September 1986
• Docket Number: No. 85-2060,85-2060
• Parties: Bruce WILSON d/b/a The Rink II, Appellant, v. The CITY OF NORTH LITTLE ROCK, William Younts (Individually and in his official capacity), Ken Cross (Individually and in his official capacity), Jimmy Green (Individually and in his official capacity), Eddie Hightower (Individually and in his official capacity), Bill Cotton (Individually and in his official capacity), Gene Barrentine (Individually and in his official capacity), Donnie Smith (Individually and in his official capacity), Jim Tanner (Individually and in his official capacity), Robert McClain (Individually and in his official capacity), Bobby Foiles (Individually and in his official capacity) and David Burns (Individually and in his official capacity), Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 316

801 F.2d 316

Bruce WILSON d/b/a The Rink II, Appellant, v. The CITY OF NORTH LITTLE ROCK, William Younts

(Individually and in his official capacity), Ken Cross

(Individually and in his official capacity), Jimmy Green

(Individually and in his official capacity), Eddie Hightower

(Individually and in his official capacity), Bill Cotton

(Individually and in his official capacity), Gene Barrentine

(Individually and in his official capacity), Donnie Smith

(Individually and in his official capacity), Jim Tanner

(Individually and in his official capacity), Robert McClain

(Individually and in his official capacity), Bobby Foiles

(Individually and in his official capacity) and David Burns

(Individually and in his official capacity), Appellees.

No. 85-2060.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted April 14, 1986.

Decided Sept. 12, 1986.

James W. Cherry, Little Rock, Ark., for appellant.

Terry Ballard, North Little Rock, Ark., for appellees.

Before LAY, Chief Judge, McMILLIAN, Circuit Judge, and HANSON, ^* Senior District Judge.

LAY, Chief Judge.

Bruce Wilson, the owner of a roller skating rink (Rink II) in North Little Rock, Arkansas (City) brought this action against the City and eleven City police personnel in their individual and official capacities. Wilson alleged that the operation of a police roadblock erected just outside Rink II following a "soul night" at the rink interfered with his constitutional rights in violation of 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 and tortiously interfered with his prospective business relationships, in violation of state law. The district court ¹ directed verdicts in favor of all defendants on Wilson's Sec. 1983 claim and in favor of some defendants on the state tort claim. The jury subsequently found in favor of the remaining defendants on the state tort cause of action. Wilson appeals, challenging the directed verdicts only as to the Sec. 1983 claim.

Every Wednesday night since 1979, Wilson has promoted "soul night" at his skating rink in an effort to attract black customers. Apparently the promotion was quite successful. Soul night consistently attracted a large crowd of skaters, virtually all of whom were black. The success of soul night allegedly contributed to complaints by the residents in the area. The rink closed at midnight, and some 150 to 200 cars left the rink at closing time, resulting in a sudden, heavy traffic flow and some littering and noise. Wilson and others testified, though, that the rink staff patrolled for litter in the neighborhood after closing time and that persons patronizing the rink on Wednesday nights were exceptionally well behaved. With the exception of one incident involving a minor traffic infraction, Wilson was unaware of any complaints about the behavior of the Wednesday night crowd.

Wilson had received complaints of another character, however, from City police personnel before the roadblock incident. Wilson testified that certain police officers had long threatened adverse treatment against him for promoting soul night. Specifically, Wilson testified that Sergeant Cross asked him why he was "skating all those niggers" and told Wilson that "we don't want them in the area." Another police officer, Lieutenant Cotton, told Wilson in early summer of 1982 that "we don't want them in that area" and called Wilson a "nigger lover." One week before the roadblock in a conversation outside Rink II, Sergeant Woody Juel asked Wilson why he continued "to skate all these niggers." When Wilson responded that soul night was a substantial share of his business, Juel responded that he had "been told by the City to tell you to stop."

On the night of the roadblock, Lieutenant Hightower was substituting as shift commander for Lieutenant Cotton, who was on vacation. Captain Barrentine, the officer in charge of the patrol division, had earlier directed Hightower to put some additional patrol cars near Rink II, apparently to remedy the problems that had been reported in the area. Barrentine testified that the complaint about the rink had come through either the Chief or Assistant Chief's office.

Hightower relayed Barrentine's instructions to Sergeant Cross at the beginning of Cross' 11 p.m. shift. Cross told Hightower that he and Lieutenant Cotton had previously agreed that Cross would implement a "vehicle safety check" near the rink when personnel became available. At trial, Cross testified that in his conversation with Hightower, Cross did not specify what he meant by a "vehicle safety check." At approximately 11:30 p.m., Cross telephoned Hightower from the rink area to inform the lieutenant that Cross had observed several vehicles operated by apparently underage drivers. He also reported some reckless driving, loud mufflers, and other defects in vehicles in the area. Cross again told Hightower that he would institute a "vehicle safety check."

A detail of patrolmen, commanded by Sergeant Cross, then set up a roadblock on the one route out of Wilson's rink. The police structured the roadblock so that all cars leaving the rink had to pass through the roadblock. While the cars with black passengers were stopped, at least one car with white passengers was waved through. The officers asked the drivers of stopped cars to produce drivers licenses and registrations and asked some drivers to operate their cars' headlights. Of the 60 to 80 drivers stopped, 11 were ticketed, and all 11 were black. Police officers were overheard calling young black men "boys," and several witnesses testified that they perceived the roadblock as an intentional effort by the police department to harass blacks.

At the scene of the roadblock, an officer told one of Wilson's employees that orders for the roadblock had come "from the corner office." The officer later explained this comment to mean "either the chief's office or the shift commander's office or something." Hightower was asked in deposition who had prior knowledge of the "problem" in the area:

Q. As far as you know, Captain Barrentine, yourself, Lieutenant Cotton, and Sergeant Cross were the people who knew about the problem and knew that Cross was headed out that night to try to do something about it?

A. And you could probably include Chief Younts.

Q. Okay.

A. Because, like I said, at that time, there's very little done, period, that he didn't direct.

Q. Didn't know something about?

A. Yeah. And I'm sure he was aware of the situation, because at that time, the Captain cleared everything with him before he did this and that. And I'm sure that he was aware that some action was going to be taken.

Wilson complained to the police department about the roadblock. His Wednesday night business had slowed substantially following the incident, to the point that Rink II was closed on Wednesday nights at the time of trial. Cotton, Cross, and Barrentine held a meeting to discuss Cross' actions. The meeting produced a "personnel conference memo" in which Barrentine commented that

Sgt. Cross was advised that the decision to conduct such a roadblock [was] wrong, and it's my opinion that the roadblock was not justified. Sgt. Cross was advised that the roadblock was not necessary to reduce the type of complaints that [were] coming from that area of the City. I feel that this improvement conference is all that is necessary at this time. I recommend no disciplinary action.

On Captain Barrentine's recommendation, the police department took no disciplinary action against Cross. Police procedures allowed Cross to respond to the alleged misconduct. In his response, Cross claimed that the purpose of the roadblock was "to identify and correct vehicle defects, current vehicle licenses, drivers licenses, and check active warrants on persons suspected of being wanted." He also explained that Lieutenant Hightower had authorized the "vehicle check."

Wilson then brought this action against the City and eleven individual police officers, naming as defendants Bill Younts, the Chief of Police, Jimmy Green, the Assistant Chief, Gene Barrentine, the patrol division commander, Eddie Hightower, the substitute shift commander, Bill Cotton, the regular shift commander, Ken Cross, the patrol commander, and five officers on duty at the roadblock. Wilson sought damages allegedly incurred as a result of the roadblock and an injunction prohibiting future use of any similar tactic. He claimed that the roadblock violated his rights to due process and equal protection of the laws and that he therefore had a cause of action against the defendants under Sec. 1983. Wilson also alleged a state tort claim for interference with the prospective business relationship between his business and each of his soul night customers.

This case was tried before a jury. At the close of Wilson's evidence, the district court granted the City's motion for a directed verdict, as well as motions for directed verdicts in favor of Younts, Green, and Barrentine. The court first examined the bases of Wilson's claim against Younts, questioning the sufficiency of the evidence against Younts. Wilson relied heavily on Younts' status as chief of police to support his claim against the chief. Wilson also claimed that Barrentine had received orders from either Younts or Green to handle the situation at the rink, that little happened in the police department that Younts did not control, and that one of the officers at the scene of the roadblock stated that orders for the roadblock "came from the corner office." With respect to Green and Barrentine, Wilson relied primarily on their positions in the chain of command, with Barrentine as the patrol commander who had passed on the orders to deal with the situation at the rink and Green as Assistant Chief. The district court determined that the evidence was insufficient as a matter of law and directed verdicts in favor of Younts, Green, and Barrentine.

The court then analyzed the evidence relevant to the City's liability. The court scrutinized...