Wright v. Sheppard

• Decision Date: 18 December 1990
• Docket Number: No. 89-5700,89-5700
• Citation: 919 F.2d 665
• Parties: RICO Bus.Disp.Guide 7655 Ivory WRIGHT, Mary Lee Wright, Eloise Yon, Otis Evans, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Joseph SHEPPARD, Individually and in his capacity as Sheriff of Highlands County, Florida, Crobmond (Foots) Livingston, individually and in his capacity as Deputy Sheriff of Highlands County, Florida and Albert Lee Williams, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 665

919 F.2d 665

RICO Bus.Disp.Guide 7655

Ivory WRIGHT, Mary Lee Wright, Eloise Yon, Otis Evans Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Joseph SHEPPARD, Individually and in his capacity as Sheriff of Highlands County, Florida, Crobmond (Foots) Livingston individually and in his capacity as Deputy Sheriff of Highlands County, Florida and Albert Lee Williams Defendants-Appellees.

No. 89-5700.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

Dec. 18, 1990.

Michael Guare, Florida Rural Legal Services, Inc., Bartow, Fla., James K. Green, West Palm Beach, Fla., Miyoshi D. Smith, Lipman & Weisberg, Miami, Fla., Terry E. Allbritton, M. David Gelfand, Appellate Advocacy Program, New Orleans, La., for plaintiffs-appellants.

Julius F. Parker, Jr., Tallahassee, Fla., T.J. Cunningham, Cunningham & Cunningham, Brown & Weaver, West Palm Beach, Fla., for defendants-appellees.

Peter M. Siegel, Randall C. Berg, Jr., Executive Director, Florida Justice Inst., Inc., Miami, Fla., for amicus curiae Florida Justice Institute.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Before FAY and COX, Circuit Judges, and GODBOLD, Senior Circuit Judge.

GODBOLD, Senior Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff Ivory Wright and others sued law enforcement officers of Highlands County, Florida, seeking monetary, injunctive, and declaratory relief for alleged deprivation of their rights arising from the actions of county law enforcement officers who allegedly served as enforcers for private creditors to whom plaintiffs were indebted. The suit was brought under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) (18 U.S.C. Secs. 1961 et seq.), and Florida RICO (Fla.Stat. Secs. 895.01 et seq.). At trial the plaintiffs' claims focused primarily on two defendants, Highlands County Sheriff Joseph Sheppard, now deceased, and Deputy Sheriff Crobmond ("Foots") Livingston, and particularly on actions of Livingston directed against debtors of Albert Williams, a grocer and moneylender in Avon Park, located in Highlands County.

Williams was also named as defendant, but that claim was dismissed for want of prosecution. After a bench trial, the district judge, on February 12, 1988, entered partial findings of fact and conclusions of law orally from the bench. Ten months later, on December 5, 1989, the court entered additional findings and conclusions in writing in a "final order on liability." By the oral findings and the written order on liability the court found against all plaintiffs except Wright. ¹ The court found that Sheriff Sheppard was not liable in either his personal or official capacity as to any claims against him. As to Wright's claims against Livingston, the court found that Livingston struck Wright, causing him personal injury that constituted a battery and entitled Wright to damages for his injuries. It found that Livingston falsely imprisoned Wright by transporting him to Williams' home against his will, by force or under a reasonable apprehension of force. In the December 5 order the court reserved ruling on compensatory damages and directed counsel to file "proofs of past and anticipated future medical expenses and other damages as specified in this Order." It held, however, that Wright was not entitled to punitive damages against Livingston. Thereafter Wright filed an affidavit with attachments.

On June 3, 1989 the court entered a final order, which stated that the matter was before the court on damages; it awarded Wright damages of $569 against Livingston on the battery claim for physical injuries consisting of the loss of two teeth. No award was made to Wright for false imprisonment. We set out in the margin the full text of the order covering damages. ²

As to the plaintiffs other than Wright, we affirm the district court's judgment in favor of the defendants. We affirm the court's rulings against Wright on his RICO claims and on his Sec. 1983 claims against Sheriff Sheppard. We vacate the district court's award of damages, however, and remand for reconsideration of damage issues.

I. The facts

The district court's findings reveal the following: At the time of the events giving rise to this action Wright was a man of about 58 years, of slight build and weighing about 140 pounds. He had a drinking problem. Livingston was a large man, some 6' 2" tall and weighing about 240 pounds. He had been a deputy in the Highlands County Sheriff's Department for about 28 years. In the Avon Park neighborhood, as the district court put it, "he has been 'the man', he has been law enforcement in that community for many years." On the night of October 2, 1983 Livingston, in uniform and in his patrol car, came to Wright's home in Avon Park. He ordered Wright into the patrol car and took him, against his will and under the threat of force, to Williams' home to discuss a debt Wright allegedly owed Williams. At some point in the evening Livingston struck Wright in the face with his hand, knocking out two of Wright's teeth and, in the language of the district court, "causing other bodily injury," but this other injury was never described by the court. Livingston eventually took Wright back to his home. ³

Later in the night of October 2, the Avon Park Police Department received an ambulance call. The ambulance picked up Wright and, on the way to the hospital, Wright told the ambulance personnel that he had been beaten by Livingston. A psychologist, who interviewed Wright at a later time, stated in his report that Wright was seen in the hospital emergency room but not admitted to the hospital. The Police Department contacted the Sheriff's Department, which began an investigation on October 4. Livingston resigned from the Sheriff's Department later in 1983.

The facts relating to Wright's physical and emotional injuries are complicated by a stroke suffered by Wright between the times of the battery and of trial. The record contains no evidence relating to any causal connection between Livingston's blow and the stroke. At trial the plaintiff offered no evidence, other than his own testimony, of physical injury or of past or anticipated medical expense arising from the battery. In response to the court's post-trial order directing plaintiff to file proof of damages, plaintiff filed his own affidavit asserting that the hospital bill for emergency treatment on the night of the incident was approximately $300, although he did not say that he had paid it nor did he submit other evidence supporting this amount. The affidavit stated that as a result of being beaten by Livingston Wright could no longer work at his former employment of picking oranges. He described residual difficulty with his right arm and pain in his mouth. In the affidavit he claimed that because of the beating he had lost his house, lost his job, and lost his wife, who feared that Livingston might return and attack him again. Also he described various emotional difficulties.

Wright attached to his affidavit the evaluation of the psychologist mentioned above, who based his opinion of Wright's emotional problems on a single examination and interview. The psychologist referred to the possibility of Wright's needing semi-skilled or possibly skilled nursing services for the rest of his life. But he noted that he had not seen any hospital records and that a much longer evaluation would be necessary to get a more complete picture of Wright's psychological state, intellectual functioning, and emotional life. The psychologist did not relate Wright's psychological condition to his being struck by Livingston. Nor was the psychologist able to determine whether the stroke and the assault were related. Plaintiff also attached a dentist's bill in the amount of $569 covering two extractions, one filling, one cleaning, and one upper partial denture. The dentist noted a "good chance" that further fillings would be necessary, as well as a possibility that Wright could lose additional teeth from his injuries.

After receiving the post-trial material the court entered the order on damages appearing as note 2.

II. Livingston's liability for damages

The judgment finding Livingston liable for battery and false imprisonment, and liable under Sec. 1983, is sound. This case must be remanded to the district court, however, for further consideration of damages. The problems are several.

Damages under Sec. 1983 are determined by compensation principles brought over from the common law. Carey v. Piphus, 435 U.S. 247, 254-55, 98 S.Ct. 1042, 1047-48, 55 L.Ed.2d 252 (1977). The adaptation of common law rules to provide fair compensation for injuries caused by the deprivation of a constitutional right is of some delicacy at times, id. at 258, 98 S.Ct. at 1049. However, "the focus of any award of damages under Sec. 1983 is to compensate for the actual injuries caused by the particular constitutional deprivation. The amount of damages to be awarded should be grounded in a determination of the plaintiff's actual losses." Gilmere v. City of Atlanta, 864 F.2d 734, 739 (11th Cir.) (citing Memphis Community School Dist. v. Stachura, 477 U.S. 299, 106 S.Ct. 2537, 91 L.Ed.2d 249 (1986)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 70, 107 L.Ed.2d 37 (1989). With respect to Wright's physical injury, it is not arguable that fair compensation for injury that consisted of losing two teeth is not limited to the treating dentist's bill. Having teeth has value, just as does having an arm, a leg or an eye, and loss of teeth is a subject for compensatory damages just as is loss of arm, eye, or leg.

The order on damages accepts the dentist's bill in one sentence, and that acceptance of the amount of the bill as an item of damages is not questioned. The rest of the order on damages appears to relate to only the claim of a post-incident stroke. The court did not err in rejecting this claim. There was no evidence of Wright's physical health prior to the blow by Livingston other than...