915 F.3d 512
8th Cir.2019Background
- Officer Joshua Hastings (LRPD) shot and killed 15‑year‑old Bobby Moore III on Aug. 12, 2012; Moore’s mother (Perkins) sued Hastings, Chief Stuart Thomas, and the City under § 1983 and state law. Hastings was the only defendant tried; jury found Fourth Amendment excessive‑force violation against Hastings. Perkins appealed the district court’s summary judgment dismissal of claims against Thomas and the City.
- Hastings’s pre‑hire record included attendance at a KKK meeting (admitted on polygraph) and one hiring committee member opposed; he was hired in 2007 and had ~1,500 hours of training thereafter.
- During his five‑year tenure Hastings generated multiple disciplinary actions and triggered three Early Intervention System alerts for numerous uses of force (total ~41 use‑of‑force incidents); prior internal investigations mostly exonerated him and led to counseling, training, or brief suspensions. His only pre‑Moore deadly force was none—Moore’s shooting was his first deadly‑force discharge.
- The August 2012 incident facts were disputed: Hastings asserted the car drove toward him and he shot to avoid being run over; physical evidence and occupants’ statements supported that the car was stopped or reversing when Hastings fired; internal and criminal investigations, a deadly‑force review board, and Chief Thomas concluded Hastings violated LRPD deadly‑force policies and was terminated for the shooting and for untruthfulness in a separate incident.
- At summary judgment Perkins relied on an expert statistical report (Roger Clark) arguing a City custom of inadequate investigations and low sustainment rates showed deliberate indifference; the district court rejected that the evidence established a pattern of prior similar constitutional violations and granted summary judgment to Thomas and the City. The Eighth Circuit affirmed.
Issues
| Issue | Perkins’ Argument | Thomas/City’s Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Municipal liability for a custom of inadequate investigations (failure to investigate leading to excessive force) | City’s investigations were a "facade"; low sustainment rates and departmental statistics show a widespread custom of ignoring excessive force | No pattern of prior similar constitutional violations shown; statistics alone insufficient to prove deliberate indifference or causal link | Affirmed: plaintiff failed to show the requisite pattern/deliberate indifference to impose municipal liability under Monell/Brown |
| Monell claim for failure to train/supervise | LRPD training/supervision was inadequate and amounted to deliberate indifference causing Moore’s death | No evidence of a pattern of similar unconstitutional acts; remedial measures were taken after EIS alerts; single hiring/training not a proximate cause | Affirmed: no pattern or notice to establish deliberate indifference (Connick/Canton standard) |
| Individual supervisory liability against Chief Thomas (hiring/retention) | Thomas’s hiring of Hastings (friendship, polygraph irregularities, lieutenant’s warning) made him liable for hiring/retention | Hiring decision was not the ‘‘plainly obvious’’ cause of deadly‑force misuse; prior complaints were not nearly identical to lethal misconduct | Affirmed: no close causal link; Supreme Court’s stringent test for hiring‑based liability not satisfied (Brown/Morris) |
| Probative value of expert statistical evidence (Clark) | Statistics showing low complaint sustainment and frequency of force raise triable issue of systemic indifference | Expert did not examine incidents case‑by‑case or identify prior unconstitutional uses; statistics without incident‑level proof are insufficient | Affirmed: statistics alone did not create genuine dispute of material fact about prior similar constitutional violations |
Key Cases Cited
- Monell v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978) (municipal liability under § 1983 requires a municipal policy or custom that causes the constitutional violation)
- City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378 (1989) (failure‑to‑train liability requires proof of deliberate indifference that training was inadequate)
- Bd. of Cty. Comm’rs v. Brown, 520 U.S. 397 (1997) (rigorous causation and culpability standards for municipal liability; ‘‘pattern’’ ordinarily required)
- Connick v. Thompson, 563 U.S. 51 (2011) (a pattern of similar constitutional violations is ordinarily necessary to show deliberate indifference in failure‑to‑train claims)