Xingru Lin v. Dist. of Columbia

• Decision Date: 02 September 2022
• Docket Number: 20-7111
• Citation: 47 F.4th 828
• Parties: Xingru LIN, Appellant v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, et al., Appellees
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

47 F.4th 828

Xingru LIN, Appellant
v.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, et al., Appellees

No. 20-7111

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued December 16, 2021
Decided September 2, 2022
Reissued September 13, 2022

Kelsey Dennis, Student Counsel, argued the cause for appellant. On the briefs was Aderson Francois.

Thais-Lyn Trayer, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, argued the cause for appellees. With her on the brief were Karl A. Racine, Attorney General, Loren L. AliKhan, Solicitor General, Caroline S. Van Zile, Deputy Solicitor General, and Ashwin P. Phatak, Deputy Solicitor General.

Before: Millett, Rao and Walker, Circuit Judges.

Opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part by Circuit Judge Walker.

Millett, Circuit Judge:

In February 2016, Xingru Lin was working as a bus ticketing agent in Washington, D.C. when Yokasty Rodriguez attempted to sneak onto a bus headed to New York without a ticket. After Lin ordered Rodriguez off the bus and attempted to photograph her, the two women got into a scuffle. When District of Columbia Metropolitan Police officers arrived in response to Rodriguez's call reporting Lin for assault, Lin, whose first language is Mandarin, was unable to communicate her version of events effectively due to her limited English proficiency. Although Lin was seated, calmly cooperating with the police and attempting to explain the circumstances of the assault, officers grabbed Lin, pressed her against the wall, and then

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forced her to the floor and handcuffed her. Lin Opening Br. 5; Gov't Br. 3. The police charged her with simple assault on Rodriguez and with assaulting a police officer while resisting arrest.

Lin subsequently sued the District of Columbia and the police officers, alleging civil rights violations during this arrest and a second arrest that occurred in April 2016. She appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the District and its officers.

We agree in part and reverse the district court's grant of summary judgment for the District and its officers on Lin's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 wrongful arrest, common law false arrest, and respondeat superior claims. We affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment as to Lin's other claims.

I

A

Lin's claims arise from two separate encounters with police in 2016. The first occurred on the evening of February 15, 2016, while Lin was working as a ticketing agent for Focus Travel Agency.¹ J.A. 83. As part of her job that evening, she supervised the boarding of a bus headed to New York. J.A. 83. A security video shows that, after the tickets were collected and the passengers were seated, Lin, the bus driver, and another person who appears to be a colleague prepared the bus for departure by walking around the outside of the bus, finalizing the loading of the luggage compartment, and checking the tires. Pl. Ex. 1 at 00:30–5:19. At her deposition, Lin said that, after the loading process was complete and the doors were closed for departure, Rodriguez, who did not have a ticket, opened the front door of the bus and attempted to sneak on. J.A. 1197, 1199. Lin approached and, without entering, told Rodriguez that she had to get off the bus. J.A. 1200.

Security footage shows that, after the bus pulled away from the curb, Lin and her colleague talked outside of the agency. Pl. Ex. 1 at 6:20. Lin observed Rodriguez sitting down on some nearby steps and cursing at her. J.A. 1205–1206. So Lin pulled out her cellphone and attempted to photograph Rodriguez. Pl. Ex. 1 at 6:20–6:32. Pursuing a fleeing Lin, Rodriguez grabbed at Lin's phone and began hitting her. Pl. Ex. 1 at 6:38; J.A. 1206. Lin immediately hit back, and they both scratched each other. Pl. Ex. 1 at 6:39; J.A. 1207.

After a further exchange of heated words, Pl. Ex. 1 at 6:51–7:04, Lin retreated into the safety of the travel agency office, and both Lin and Rodriguez called the police. Pl. Ex. 1 at 7:10–7:49; J.A. 84, 1217.

Officers Corey Vullo and Blake Johnson were the first to arrive in response to Rodriguez's call. Plaintiff's Resp. to Defs’. Statement of Material Facts ("Pltf's Stmn. of Material Facts"), J.A. 877. Outside the travel agency office, they encountered Rodriguez, who was crying and had a cut on her face. Gov't Br. 2; Pltf's Stmn. of Material Facts, J.A. 878. Rodriguez told them that Lin had attacked her "for no reason" as Rodriguez said goodbye to her boyfriend. Gov't Br. 21; Pltf's Stmn. of Material Facts, J.A. 878. Rodriguez pointed to the office and said that a "Chinese woman" inside was the one who attacked her. Gov't Br. 2, 21; Pltf's Stmn. of Material Facts, J.A. 878.

Meanwhile, Lin was on the phone with the police, waiting to be connected to the Metropolitan Police Department's Language

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Line interpretation service. Lin Deposition Tr. 39:20–40:6 (Oct. 4, 2018), J.A. 1216–1217. When Officer Vullo approached the office, Lin immediately opened the door for him. Lin Opening Br. 4. While holding a cellphone to her ear, she nodded her head, gesturing for him to come in. Lin Opening Br. 4. Although Lin communicated that she was on the phone with the police, Officer Vullo demanded that she hang up. Lin Opening Br. 4. He began speaking with Ms. Lin, but she had significant trouble communicating due to the language barrier. Gov't Br. 2; Pltf's Stmn. of Material Facts, J.A. 879. Officer Vullo asked Lin if she wanted an interpreter, but she declined. Gov't Br. 2.

As Lin was indicating to Officer Vullo that she could only speak Mandarin, Officer Johnson entered the travel agency and promptly ordered Lin: "Turn around, turn around, you understand turn around don't you?" Lin Opening Br. 4–5; D.C. Ex. 2 at 2:09–2:14. Lin did not understand. J.A. 84, 1267. Officer Johnson moved her to a chair by twisting her arm behind her back, forcing her to sit down. Lin Opening Br. 5; Lin Deposition Tr. 91:17–92:18, J.A. 1268–1269. Once on the chair, she sat calmly while Officers Johnson and Vullo held her arms. Lin Opening Br. 5; Lin Deposition Tr. 91:17–92:18, J.A. 1268–1269. Lin's colleague, who was also in the room, attempted to explain that Lin had actually been trying to call the police for help, but Officer Johnson shouted him down.

The two officers then yanked Lin out of the chair and pushed her against the wall. Pltf's Stmn. of Material Facts, J.A. 880. Security footage shows that Lin stood motionless as the two officers held her. At this point, two more officers, Officers Albert Salleh and John Merzig, entered the travel agency and immediately joined in restraining Lin. Lin Opening Br. 5. The four officers forced Lin onto the floor and handcuffed her as Lin cried out. Pltf's Stmn. of Material Facts, J.A. 880–881; Lin Opening Br. 5.

After the handcuffing, Officer Vullo asked for an interpreter, who arrived several minutes later and gathered Lin's side of the story. Lin. Opening Br. 5; Gov't Br. 4.

Officer Vullo then talked to Rodriguez, who was still standing outside. Gov't Br. 4. Rodriguez stated that she "was just gonna go say bye" to her boyfriend when Lin told her she "ha[d] to go." Gov't Br. 4; D.C. Ex. 2 at 3:35–3:45. Rodriguez claimed that she tried to reassure Lin that she was not getting on the bus, but that Lin shouted at her to "get out right now." D.C. Ex. 2 at 3:50–4:05. Rodriguez then made an illustrative pulling motion with her hand. Gov't Br. 4. According to Rodriguez, Lin then exclaimed that she would call the police and scratched her face. Gov't Br. 4.

While Officer Vullo spoke with Rodriguez, Officer Merzig viewed the travel agency's outdoor and indoor security footage in a back room. Lin Opening Br. 6; Gov't Br. 4. Lin's colleague helped Officer Merzig play the security footage and provided his perspective on the evening's events.

The security cameras showed at least three different angles on the bus. When Officer Merzig observed footage of Rodriguez sneaking onto the bus, he reacted with, "Hmm. Yeah, no. I just, I just saw her go on." Gov't Br. 4; Pltf's Stmn. of Material Facts, J.A. 882; D.C. Ex. 4 at 12:38–12:42. As the officer continued watching the recordings, Lin's colleague explained that the physical altercation between the two women happened after the bus left. Gov't Br. 4; Pltf's Stmn. of Material Facts, J.A. 882. He then enthusiastically gestured at the footage and emphasized that it was Rodriguez who had attacked Lin, not the other way around. Officer Merzig agreed that the security video footage

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demonstrated that, contrary to Rodriguez's story, the assault occurred after the bus had departed, and Rodriguez was "the aggressor." Gov't Br. 4; Pltf's Stmn. of Material Facts, J.A. 882.

Officer Merzig brought Officer Vullo back to view the footage. After seeing the videos, Officer Vullo agreed with Officer Merzig that they would have to cut Lin loose. Officer Zhang Deposition Tr. 225:14–225:19 (Jan. 17, 2019), J.A. 1521; D.C. Ex. 2 at 18:39–18:41. Officer Merzig replied, "Yeah, oh yeah, I mean, that's my opinion." Ex. 2 at 18:41–18:44. They determined that Rodriguez should be arrested for unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle and assault. Pltf's Stmn. of Material Facts, J.A. 882. The officers then removed Lin's handcuffs. Pltf's Stmn. of Material Facts, J.A. 882.

The police investigation shifted to determining if Lin should be arrested for assaulting a police officer on the theory that she resisted arrest when they tried to handcuff her. Lin. Br. 6. Officer Vullo told the supervising officer on scene, Sergeant Christopher Ritchie, that Lin had pulled and yanked when they tried to arrest her. Gov't Br. 5. Sergeant Ritchie then questioned the other officers on the scene about the handcuffing. Gov't Br. 5. Officer Johnson reported: "She wasn't flailing at us, she was just not allowing us to handcuff her." Gov't Br. 6; D.C. Ex. 4 at 19:57–20:02. Sergeant Ritchie asked, "So she was actively resisting you?" D.C. Ex. 4 at 20:02–20:04. Officer Johnson replied...