William Windham v. Harris County, Texas, 875 F.3d 229

Background

On May 30, 2011, Harris County deputies Thomas Pasket and Matthew Dunn stopped William Windham after he rear-ended another vehicle and a witness reported he appeared intoxicated and had fallen asleep; Windham said he had taken a prescription painkiller and had been awake ~20 hours.
Windham has cervical stenosis causing his neck to be involuntarily flexed downward; he carried a doctor’s note warning that neck extension risked neurologic injury but the note did not define the limitation or identify specific accommodations.
Pasket administered initial sobriety screening (including a gaze nystagmus test) with inconclusive results and called Dunn, a certified drug-recognition expert.
Dunn administered gaze nystagmus and other field sobriety tests; Windham complained that lifting his head hurt but did not request an accommodation or refuse the tests; he completed testing and was released within ~90 minutes.
Windham sued the deputies and Harris County under Title II of the ADA (failure to accommodate), 42 U.S.C. § 1983/Fourth Amendment (unjustified detention and excessive force), and Monell (failure to train). District court granted summary judgment for defendants; Fifth Circuit affirmed.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether County violated Title II (failure to accommodate)	Windham: officers knew his cervical stenosis and should have accommodated avoiding neck extension during gaze nystagmus	County: officers lacked notice of the specific limitation and needed accommodation; Windham never requested an accommodation	No ADA liability — Windham did not request a specific accommodation and his doctor’s note plus vague statements did not make the limitation and needed accommodation obvious
Whether detention lacked reasonable suspicion or became de facto arrest	Windham: officers lacked reasonable suspicion and 90‑minute detention effectively was an arrest requiring probable cause	County: facts (accident, witness report of intoxication, bloodshot eyes, confusion, sleep, meds) gave reasonable suspicion; certified expert’s arrival and testing justified duration	No Fourth Amendment violation — reasonable suspicion supported the stop and detention did not amount to a de facto arrest
Whether administration of gaze nystagmus was excessive force under Fourth Amendment	Windham: test aggravated preexisting neck condition causing injury; this was excessive force	County: even if injury occurred, officers reasonably administered a standard test and had no notice the test would injure him	No excessive-force liability — force would have been reasonable and officers lacked notice that the test would aggravate his condition
Monell municipal liability for failure to train	Windham: County failed to train officers on administering sobriety tests to those with neck injuries	County: no underlying constitutional violation occurred	No Monell liability — absent constitutional violation, municipal claim fails

Key Cases Cited

Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372 (video evidence credited when it clearly contradicts plaintiff’s account)
Delano-Pyle v. Victoria Cty., 302 F.3d 567 (Title II can reach police failures to accommodate disabilities during detention)
Hainze v. Richards, 207 F.3d 795 (discussing Title II exigent‑circumstances limitation in police encounters)
Taylor v. Principal Fin. Grp., Inc., 93 F.3d 155 (plaintiff must identify disability‑related limitations and request accommodation unless limitations/accommodation are obvious)
Dunn v. Denk, 79 F.3d 401 (preexisting condition may be aggravated by excessive force; aggravation does not bar recovery but unknown conditions limit officer liability)
Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (excessive‑force reasonableness standard)
Monell v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (municipal liability requires underlying constitutional violation)
City of Indianapolis v. Edmond, 531 U.S. 32 (standards for seizures and individualized suspicion)