Patricia Littrell v. Daniel Jake FranklinPatricia Littrell v. Daniel Jake Franklin
On February 9, 2001, Officer Daniel Jake Franklin responded to a concerned motorist‘s report of possible drunk driving. When Officer Franklin arrived on the scene, he initiated a traffic stop of Patricia Littrell‘s vehicle. Ms. Littrell readily admitted she was intoxicated, and Officer Franklin attempted to place her undеr arrest. The apprehension ultimately resulted in a deep laceration on Ms. Littrell‘s forehead and a broken right arm. Believing she was the victim of the unconstitutional use of excessive force, Ms. Littrell filed suit under
I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
This is an appeal from the district court‘s entry of judgment as a matter of law in favor of Officer Franklin following a jury verdict that found he used excessive force when he apprehended Ms. Littrell. Officer Franklin stopped Ms. Littrell‘s vehicle after he received a report that she was driving erratically. Ms. Littrell testified that when she pulled her car over, she knew she was intoxicated and immediately put her arms behind her back in preparation for being handcuffed and arrested. She asserted that she did not struggle until after Officer Franklin broke her arm. At that point, she admitted that she resisted Officer Franklin‘s attempts to handcuff her because she was in extraordinary pain. Contrary to Ms. Littrell‘s account, however, Officer Franklin testified that Ms. Littrell was uncooperative and swung at him after he handcuffed her right wrist. He contended that he did not execute the “straight arm bar takedown” that broke Ms. Littrell‘s arm until she became confrontational.
In addition, Ms. Littrell maintains that she made clear she was seriously injured, yet Officer Franklin disregarded her obvious pain, handcuffed her, and put
The concerned motorist who initially contacted the police about Ms. Littrell‘s driving, Robbie Freeman, watched the scene unfold. He testified that Officer Franklin was very aggressive and slammed Ms. Littrell intо her car‘s back window. In addition, Mr. Freeman testified that he thought Officer Franklin had “gone too far” and felt he needed to call the police again—this time to report Officer Franklin. Mr. Freeman characterized Officer Franklin‘s actions as a “vicious attack.” Contrary to Mr. Freeman and Ms. Littrell‘s testimony, Officer Franklin testified that he was calm throughout the arrest, that Ms. Littrell did not complain of pain in her arm, and that he did not slam Ms. Littrell into the rear window of her car.
Following trial, а state court convicted Ms. Littrell of resisting arrest. The district court in the present civil case provisionally granted Ms. Littrell‘s motion in limine and excluded evidence of her state conviction. The district court did allow the parties and witnesses to testify as to their observations and perceptions. During cross-examination, Ms. Littrell volunteered that she “resisted arrest.” She stated that, after Officer Franklin injured her arm, she “totally resisted arrest” and fought to keep him from handcuffing her beсause she was experiencing horrific pain. Thereafter, Ms. Littrell stipulated to the admission of her state court conviction for resisting arrest.
Because of its affirmative response to the second interrogatory, the jury was instructed not to answer the third and fourth questions on the verdict form, which pertained to damages. In accordance with the jury‘s response to the second interrogatory, the district court entered judgment in favor of Officer Franklin, finding that he was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the basis of qualified immunity. These appeals followed.
In Ms. Littrell‘s appeal,1 she argues that the district court‘s submission of the second interrogatory to the jury was erroneous because the reasonableness of an
II. Discussion
“Qualified immunity shields government officials from suit unless their conduct violated a clearly established constitutional or statutory right of which a reasonable рerson would have known.” Yowell v. Combs, 89 F.3d 542, 544 (8th Cir. 1996); accord Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818 (1982) (“We therefore hold that government officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.“). “What this means in practice is that ‘whether an official protected by qualified immunity may be held personally liable for an allegedly unlawful official action gеnerally turns on the “objective legal reasonableness” of the action, assessed in light of the legal rules that were “clearly established” at the time it was taken.‘” Wilson v. Layne, 526 U.S. 603, 614 (1999) (quoting Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 639 (1987)). The Supreme Court has generously construed qualified immunity protection to shield “all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law.” Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 341 (1986). In other words, “officials are not liable for bad guesses in gray areas; they are liable for transgressing bright lines.” Maciariello v. Sumner, 973 F.2d 295, 298 (4th Cir. 1992).
Courts employ a two-part inquiry to determine whether а lawsuit against a public official can proceed in the face of the official‘s assertion of qualified
The second step of the qualified immunity аnalysis requires courts “to ask whether the right was clearly established.” Id. This is a fact-intensive inquiry and “must be undertaken in light of the specific context of the case, not as a broad general proposition.” Id. “For a right to be deemed clearly established, the ‘contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right.‘” Buckley v. Rogerson, 133 F.3d 1125, 1128 (8th Cir. 1998) (quoting Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 640 (1987)). We have stated,
The second step of the qualified immunity inquiry will . . . shield the officers from suit . . . if their conduct was objectively legаlly reasonable in light of the information they possessed at the time of the alleged violation. See Harlow, 457 U.S. at 818-19. In other words, if the officers’ mistake as to what conduct the law required is reasonable, they are entitled to the immunity defense. Saucier, 533 U.S. at 205. Defendants will not be immune, however, “[“]if, on an objective basis, it is obvious that no reasonably competent officer would have concluded’ that the defendant should have taken the disputed action.” Winters v. Adams, 254 F.3d 758, 766 (8th Cir. 2001) (quoting Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 341 (1986)).
Here, as to the first step of the qualified immunity analysis, Ms. Littrell asserted that Officer Franklin violated her right to be free from excessive force. We analyze excessive force claims related to arrests under the Fourth Amendment. E.g., Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 395 (1989). To establish a constitutional violation under the Fourth Amendment‘s right to be free from excessive force, “the test is whether the amount of force used was objectively reasonable under the particular circumstances.” Greiner v. City of Champlin, 27 F.3d 1346, 1354 (8th Cir. 1994). “The ‘reasonableness’ of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight.” Graham, 490 U.S. at 396. The Supreme Court has instructed, “[t]he calculus of reasonableness must embody allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments—in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving—about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation.” Id. at 396-97. “Circumstances such as the severity of the crime, whether the suspect posed a threat to the safety of the officers or others, and whether the suspect was resisting arrest are all relevant to the reasоnableness of the officer‘s conduct.” Foster v. Metro. Airports Comm‘n, 914 F.2d 1076, 1081 (8th Cir. 1990). “In addition to the circumstances surrounding the use of force, we may also consider the result of the force.” Crumley v. City of St. Paul, Minn., 324 F.3d 1003, 1007 (8th Cir. 2003); Patzner v. Burkett, 779 F.2d 1363, 1371 (8th Cir. 1985) (stating that, in considering the reasonableness of force used, the extent of any resulting injuries is relevant).
First, that defendant Franklin used force in making the arrest of plaintiff and as a result of such use of force, plaintiff‘s arm was broken аnd she suffered other injuries;
Second, that the use of such force was excessive because it was not reasonably necessary to restrain plaintiff and effectuate her arrest; and
Third, that as a direct result, plaintiff sustained injuries.
In determining whether such force was not reasonably necessary, you must consider such factors as:
The need for the application of force;
The threat reasonably perceived by a responsible officer;
The relationship between the need for force and the amount of force that was actually used;
The nature and extent of the injuries inflicted; and,
Whether a reasonable оfficer on the scene, without the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, would have used such force under similar circumstances.
(Tr. at 436-37.) This instruction tracks
The district court properly submitted the issue of excessive force to the jury, and the jury found that Officer Franklin violated Ms. Littrell‘s constitutional right to be free from excessive force. See Foster v. Metro. Airports Comm‘n, 914 F.2d 1076,
After the jury found that Officer Franklin used excessive force when he apprehended Ms. Littrell, it found (in the form of its response to interrogatory number two) that he reasonably believed his actions were objectively reasonable in light of clearly established law. Ms. Littrell contends that the district court erroneously submitted this second question to the jury because the court—not the jury—is charged with determining whether a defendant is entitled to qualified immunity. Ms. Littrell does not contend that the second interrogatory misstated the law of qualified immunity. Rather, she argues merely that the district court itself should have made the qualified immunity ruling.
Ms. Littrell is correct. The law of our circuit is clear. The issue of qualified immunity is a question of law for the court, rather than the jury, to decide: “[I]t is the province of the jury to determine disputed predicate facts, the question of qualified immunity is one of law for the court.” Peterson v. City of Plymouth, 60 F.3d 469,
The issue of qualified immunity, however, is frequently intertwined with unresolved factual questions. Where, as in this case, factual questions prevent a district court from ruling on the issue of qualified immunity, it is appropriate to tailor special interrogatories specific to the facts of the case. This practice allows the jury to make any requisite factual findings that the district court may then rely upon to make its own qualified immunity ruling. “[S]pecial interrogatories related to [the qualified immunity] defense [are] not improper per se,” Lampkins v. Thompson, 337 F.3d 1009, 1014 (8th Cir. 2003), but they must be carefully crafted so that “[t]he factfinder‘s role is limited to determining whether the underlying facts are as the plaintiff has alleged or proved.” McIntosh, 810 F.2d at 1431 n.8; accord Peterson, 60 F.3d at 476 (granting new trial where district court submitted qualified immunity issue to jury and stating “the role of the jury in the new trial should be limited to determining what the officers knew at the time of the arrest. In light of the jury‘s findings, the court should then determine the legal questions of probable cause and qualified immunity.“).
Here, [the plaintiff] alleges that although he did not resist arrest or take an aggressive stance, [the officer] forced him against his truck, twisted his arm, and raised it high behind his back injuring his collar bone, shoulder, neck, and wrist. [The plaintiff] also claims the handcuffs were so tight that they broke his wrist and were not loosened for fifteen minutes despite his repeated complaints. Considering the circumstances, including the offense at issue, the lack of an immediate safety threat, and the lack of active resistance to arrest, we agree that there is a genuine issue of whether the force used was excessive, so the district court properly denied summary judgment to [the officer].
Kukla v. Hulm, 310 F.3d 1046, 1050 (8th Cir. 2002).
In short, where questions of historical fact exist, the jury must resolve those questions so that the court may make the ultimate legal determination of whether officers’ actions were objectively reasonable in light of clearly established law. See Johnson v. Breeden, 280 F.3d 1308, 1318 (11th Cir. 2002) (“It is important to recognize, however, that a defendant is entitled to have any evidentiary disputes upon which the qualified immunity defense turns decidеd by the jury so that the court can apply the jury‘s factual determinations to the law and enter a post-trial decision on the defense.“). The specific contours of a plaintiff‘s rights may be established through reference to prior cases. Carefully drafted interrogatories allow jurors to decide factual issues and preserve the ultimate legal determination for the court. It is error, however, to submit the ultimate question of qualified immunity to the jury.
Our inquiry, however, does not еnd here. The district court relied on Fifth Circuit precedent when it submitted the qualified immunity question to the jury. See Sikes v. Gaytan, 218 F.3d 491, 493-94 (5th Cir. 2000) (affirming the manner in which a trial court submitted the issue of qualified immunity to a jury); Snyder v. Trepagnier, 142 F.3d 791, 800 (5th Cir. 1998) (“So, ‘if . . . there remain disputed issues of material fact relative to immunity, the jury, properly instructed, may decide the question.‘” (quoting Presley v. City of Benbrook, 4 F.3d 405, 410 (5th Cir.
“Plain error is a stringently limited standard of review, especially in the civil context . . . .” Id. at 771. To constitute plain error, there must be an “error,” which is a “[d]eviation from a legal rule,” and that error must be “plain,” which “is synonymous with ‘clear’ or, equivalently, ‘obvious.‘” United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 732-34 (1993). Moreover, “the party claiming plain error [must] demonstrate . . . that [the alleged error] likely altered the outcome[] and . . . that it was sufficiently fundamental to threaten the fairness or integrity or public reputation of the judicial proceeding.” Gray v. Genlyte Group, Inc., 289 F.3d 128, 134 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 1001 (2002). We have repeatedly emphasized the stringency of this standard. See Bradley v. Widnall, 232 F.3d 626, 634 (8th Cir. 2000) (stating that plain error review is “narrow” and confined to “еxceptional” cases); Rush v. Smith, 56 F.3d 918, 922 (8th Cir. 1995) (stating that plain error review permits reversal “only if the error prejudices the substantial rights of a party and would result in a miscarriage of justice if left uncorrected“); Lange v. Schultz, 627 F.2d 122, 127 (8th Cir. 1980) (“Only in extraordinary situations, in order to prevent a plain miscarriage of justice, will a reviewing court reverse a judgment based upon errors not objected to at trial.“) (internal quotation marks omitted).
After reviewing the record and considering the instructions as a whole, it is not clear Ms. Littrell demonstrated that submission of the qualified immunity issue to the jury actually affected the outcome of the proceedings. Regardless of its impact on the
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.