Opinion ID: 3065514
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts/evidence1

Text: 1 Northern District of California Civil Local Rule 56-1(a) states that “Unless required by the assigned Judge, no separate statement of undis- 3662 ESPINOSA v. SAN FRANCISCO Initially, further consideration of the facts/evidence is warranted.2 On June 6, 2006 at approximately 8:28 p.m., a dispatch call went out over the San Francisco Emergency Communications Department (“ECD”) system for an officer to conduct a premises check at 2 Garces Drive located in the Park Merced apartment complex.3 San Francisco Police Department Officer Paulo Morgado responded at 8:33 p.m. After he had opened the door to the premises and saw the bloody T-shirt hanging on an interior door, between 8:40 and 8:43 p.m., he made requests over the ECD system for another police unit to assist in conducting a walk-through to check out the premises. In doing so, he specifically referenced “a T-shirt . . . hanging on the door with blood all over it.” Officers Michelle Alvis and John Keesor heard Morgado’s transmission and responded at about 8:50 p.m. Additional police units also arrived thereafter. Morgado, Alvis, Keesor puted facts or joint statement of undisputed facts shall be submitted.” The record herein, does not contain any separate or joint statement of undisputed facts. Furthermore, aside from Defendants’ Second Objection to and Motion to Strike Evidence Offered by Plaintiffs in Support of their Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment (which mostly challenged the evidentiary basis for plaintiffs’ expert’s opinions), no evidentiary objections (or rulings thereon) have been provided. The following factual summary has been made from a review of the entire record submitted on this appeal, noting any relevant factual disputes. 2 As observed in Blanford v. Sacramento County, 406 F.3d 1110, 1115 (9th Cir. 2005), an analysis of an excessive force claim under the objective reasonableness standard of the Fourth Amendment requires “consideration of the totality of the facts and circumstances in the particular case [emphasis added].” 3 The specified times cited herein are based upon the transcript of the audio dispatch recording of the communications over the ECD system that were made while the events herein were transpiring (“transcript”). The ECD system automatically records the times at which the calls are generated. A copy of that transcript was placed into the record, apparently without objection as to its accuracy. ESPINOSA v. SAN FRANCISCO 3663 and Officer Yukio Oshita entered the premises, announcing that they were San Francisco police officers. They did not encounter anyone on the first floor. Moving up to the second floor, there were a number of closed doors, one of which was to a bathroom. The door to the first bedroom was locked, but there were sounds of movement from within. The officers again announced that they were police officers and ordered the occupants to open the door. After a period of time, entry was obtained and the officers encountered Jason Martin. The officers ordered Martin to the ground. He complied and was handcuffed. While dealing with Martin, the bedroom closet door was open and the officers heard movement above them. Believing that another person was trying to gain access to the roof, Morgado announced through the ECD system that “we got one going on the roof.” Keesor went back downstairs and out of the building to determine if he could locate anyone on the roof. Eventually, personnel from the apartment complex informed Keesor that there was no roof-top exit from the attic, and he called in that information. Keesor then returned to the second floor of the premises and, with other officers, checked out a second bedroom. It was unoccupied. Although it had a closet, there was no access to the attic from that room. Upon Keesor’s return to the first bedroom, Martin was searched for weapons and a four inch “ninja” knife was located in his back pocket. It did not appear to have any blood on it. At about 8:56 p.m., Officer Erik Leung spoke with Keesor about setting up a perimeter. Morgado spoke with the dispatcher (“Dispatch”) about getting a search dog unit. Around 9:02 p.m., Dispatch reported that it was “negative” as to the dog unit. The officers elected to investigate the attic. Access to the attic was solely through an approximate 2-2½ foot hole at the top of the first bedroom’s closet. To enter one had to utilize the closet’s shelving to lift oneself up. Once inside, the attic 3664 ESPINOSA v. SAN FRANCISCO was extremely dark with no lighting. The attic was triangularshaped but even at its center there was not enough room for the taller officers to stand. The floor of the attic was transversed at regular intervals by wood beams approximately six inches in height, in between which had been placed copious amounts of cotton-like white insulation material. Also interspaced at regular intervals were both vertical wood beams from floor to ceiling and outstretched diagonal rafters supporting the roof. There were also heating ducts and other obstructions present. Alvis was the first officer up into the attic, followed by Keesor and Morgado. Because of a lack of space, Oshita remained half-way through the opening. They announced themselves as police officers. There was no verbal response. Using their flashlights and with guns drawn, the officers began searching the attic for any persons. Eventually, Alvis spotted Asa Sullivan, who was wearing a black T-shirt, jeans, heavy boots, and eyeglasses.4 Sullivan was sitting/reclining in between two of the wooden beams and was partially covered by insulation. Alvis was the nearest officer to Sullivan, approximately 15 feet away. There were wood beams, rafters and other obstructions between the officers and Sullivan. Alvis ordered Sullivan to show the officers his hands, Sullivan did not comply and verbally indicated that he would not be taken into custody. Morgado announced through the ECD system, “Stand by, he’s gonna be a 148, stand by.” “148” is code for “resisting arrest.”5 At that point, all three officers (i.e., Alvis, Keesor and Morgado) had their flashlights and guns trained on Sullivan. Thereafter, the officers tried to get Sullivan to cooperate. He did not do so and continued to make statements indicating 4 According to the Coroner’s Report, Sullivan was 25 years old, five feet nine inches in height and weighed 208 pounds. 5 Included in the transcript was a table as to the meaning of the code words utilized by the officers during the incident. ESPINOSA v. SAN FRANCISCO 3665 his intent to resist. Dispatch finally made contact with a dog unit that responded that it would be there in a few minutes. Alvis announced to Dispatch, “Be advised, this subject is refusing to show us his hands. I cannot see what is in his hands. Be advised.” Morgado stated, “He’s also said he’s not coming into custody.” Around that point, someone asked whether the officers could use “less than lethal.” “Less than lethal” refers to a shotgun that has been fitted to shoot bean bags rather than pellets, and is usually not deadly unless fired at very close range. Morgado responded over the ECD system, “Hey Sarge, there’s no way we can use less lethal. We’re in the attic with rafters.” At about 9:06 p.m., it was reported that Sullivan had begun to pound the floor with his foot in an apparent attempt to make a hole through the floor into the bathroom below. Leung, who was in the bathroom, stated that “there doesn’t appear to be any access.” At some point, Martin began yelling to Sullivan from the bedroom to “just come on down, it’s okay.” Morgado asked the officers in the bedroom with Martin to inquire if he could tell them the name and date of birth of the person in the attic in order to check on his criminal status. Leung reported that Martin “doesn’t know his name or his date of birth.” At around 9:07 p.m., Sullivan began getting more agitated and made statements of a threatening nature to the officers. Morgado reported via the EDC system that Sullivan was “trying to 801 by cop. Can’t see his hands. He’s claiming to have something.” “801” is code for “person attempting suicide.” During this period, Sullivan had continued to kick on the flooring and had managed to break open a small hole above the bathroom tub. Certain officers tried to use a pole with a hook to enlarge the hole in order to be able to pull Sullivan through it or to secure him. The ceiling material would not give way. At approximately 9:12 p.m., Officer Tracy McCray asked Morgado through the EDC system whether the less than lethal option could be used through the hole. Leung, who was 3666 ESPINOSA v. SAN FRANCISCO in the bathroom, responded that “we can’t identify a target through a dark hole. So why don’t we slow it down, see if we can get a hostage negotiator or something, because this guy’s not listening to us.” Shortly thereafter, Alvis announced through the EDC system, “He’s bringing his hand around, he’s got something, hold on.  The suspect’s under the insulation, cannot see it, he’s making movement.” An officer on the ground reported that the canine unit had arrived. At about 9:15 p.m., McCray shouted over the EDC “shots fired, shots fired!” The evidence as to what happened immediately before the shooting started varies somewhat among the four officers who were in the attic. Each officer was in a different location from the others.6 In the recorded interview of Alvis taken in the early morning of June 7, 2006 by inspectors from the San Francisco Police Department Investigations Unit, Alvis stated that she repeatedly asked Sullivan to show the officers his hands but he did not do so. He then began to move his right hand under the insulation and behind his back and then rapidly moved his right arm up. She heard a “pop” and saw what she thought was a “muzzle flash.” Believing that she was being fired on, Alvis shot her own weapon. Alvis’s February 22, 2008 deposition testimony and her June 16, 2008 declaration are consistent with her interview statements except that in her deposition and declaration she said that, when she saw Sullivan suddenly move his right arm, she “moved”/“fell backward,” then heard the sound she believed was gunfire and saw the muzzle flash, and made the decision to fire her weapon. Also, in her deposition, Alvis stated that, just before the 6 Alvis was standing and closest to Sullivan (about fifteen feet away). Morgado was a number of feet behind and to the left of Alvis. Keesor was even further away from Alvis but in a prone position on the attic floor. Oshita was still half-way through the opening into the attic. ESPINOSA v. SAN FRANCISCO 3667 shooting, Sullivan did bring up his left hand and was doing something with it, but she is certain he did not have a weapon in that hand. Keesor in his June 7, 2006 interview stated that just prior to the shooting he had been talking to Sullivan trying to get him to cooperate. Sullivan — who had been responding verbally — stopped and gave Keesor “this weird look; and he takes a deep breath.” Thereafter, he saw Sullivan appear to raise his hand(s)7 holding a “black oblong thing” which looked to Keesor to be a barrel of a gun. He then heard a “pop” and Alvis fell from his peripheral field of vision. Believing that Sullivan had shot Alvis, Keesor opened fire. Keesor’s February 12, 2008 deposition testimony and his June 18, 2008 declaration are generally consistent with his interview statements except that in his declaration it is unclear whether he fired his weapon upon seeing Sullivan raising his hand(s) with the dark object therein or if it was after also hearing what he though was gunfire. Keesor in his deposition stated that he did not see any muzzle flash coming from Sullivan’s direction. In his June 7, 2006 interview, Morgado stated that Sullivan had been repeating “tell my mom, tell my girlfriend I love them,” followed by Alvis saying something that he couldn’t understand, and then shots were fired. Upon hearing gunfire, Morgado was about to also fire his weapon but Keesor got in front of him and he elected not to shoot his gun. In his deposition, when asked when he first realized that “a gun had gone off in the attic,” Morgado responded that it was when he “saw sudden movement of Mr. Sullivan . . . . I saw his right shoulder move in a forward direction over his waist to the left . . . .” In his June 16, 2008 declaration, Morgado stated that: While the Suspect was seated, after he made the statements that caused me to believe he may attempt 7 Keesor was unsure if Sullivan raised only one hand or both hands. 3668 ESPINOSA v. SAN FRANCISCO to force us to shoot him, he made a sudden move- ment with the right side of his body that I thought was consistent with producing a firearm. Believing he was about to shoot at us, I began to depress the trigger on my weapon. Before I could fire, however, I realized that Officer Keesor may be in my way and I held fire. As a result, I did not discharge my weapon during this incident. Shortly after I saw the sudden movement of the right side of the Suspect’s body I heard the sound of gunshots, some of which I believed were coming from the Suspect. In his June 10, 2008 declaration, Oshita stated that before the shooting, Sullivan said: “hey, tell my mom that I love her, and tell my girl that I love her. You guys, I’m gonna make my move and you’ll be sorry.” Shortly thereafter, he heard gunshots and saw muzzle flashes. No firearm or other weapon was found on or near Sullivan’s body. A dark eyeglass case was located underneath his right forearm.