Opinion ID: 2995520
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Officer Coffey’s display of force was

Text: reasonable Once the McNairs stopped at the gas station, Coffey’s personal involvement in the arrest was limited to: instructing the suspects over the loudspeaker to place their hands on the roof on the inside of the car; ordering the nearby customers pumping gas to clear the immediate area; and waiting for his backup officers to arrive at the scene and allow him to place them under arrest. It is inconceivable to suppose that such a proper display of lawful authority, standing alone without even an allegation of the use of excessive physical force, violates the Fourth Amendment. See Gumz v. Morrissette, 772 F.2d 1395, 1400-01 (7th Cir. 1985); Holland v. Harrington, 268 F.3d 1179, 1191 (10th Cir. 2001) (en banc); see also State v. Richardson, 156 Wis.2d 128 (Wis. 1990). Mindful of these facts and the applicable case law, and in compliance with the Supreme Court’s mandate on remand, I agree and concur with the decision of my colleagues to set aside the jury verdict, although I reach this result for separate and distinct reasons. I see no merit to the plaintiffs’ legal claim, based on nothing but speculation and a foundation of quicksand, that Defendant Coffey violated the Fourth Amendment by calling for backup help with the knowledge that his fellow officers’ response would be unreasonable. Coffey gave undisputed testimony at trial that he did not request any specific number of squad cars or officers to respond to his call for backup assistance. Coffey also gave the unchallenged testimony that he neither knew how many officers would respond, nor how quickly much less whether, in fact, they would respond at all. Nor did he give any directions, signals or orders to the officers as to what actions they should take once they arrived upon the scene. (Tr. 2-98 to -99; 2-154 to -156.) Admittedly, seven officers driving separate squad cars responded to Coffey’s 10-80; four of these officers exited their vehicles and aimed their loaded weapons at the McNair brothers. Yet it is apparent that Coffey did not personally control the acts of other Fitchburg patrolmen, much less the law enforcement officers from the outlying areas. Furthermore, the officers’ collaborative display of firearms conformed with standard police procedures in all respects, and the McNairs never have argued that the procedures themselves authorize an unreasonable response to an officer’s call for assistance. Cf. Monell v. New York Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978); Yang v. Hardin, 37 F.3d 282, 285 (7th Cir. 1994); Byrd v. Brishke, 466 F.2d 6, 10 (7th Cir. 1972). Finally, even assuming that the actions of the officers on the scene could be somehow attributed to Officer Coffey, I am of the opinion that the combined response of all the officers would still pass Fourth Amendment muster. We are fighting a war on drugs at a time when the population is increasingly desensitized to violence, and assaults against police officers are frequently applauded or even encouraged by certain elements of pop culture. An officer, working alone at night without a partner, who has probable cause and encounters what he believes to be three suspects acting suspiciously and fleeing from the vicinity of a known drug house, is entitled to seize the suspects using greater force than is usually necessary during a routine traffic stop. At the time of the seizure, none other than the arresting officer and, perhaps, an officer assisting, laid a hand upon either of the McNairs except to take them into custody and eventually charge Victor McNair with failing to obey an officer’s sign or signal and driving with a suspended license. Where the undue force underlying an excessive force claim primarily consists of an abstract demonstration of force and not its actual use, a justified finding of liability under sec. 1983 would be most unusual. Gumz, 772 F.2d at 1401. The McNairs were in custody for less than an hour at the scene; they were never conveyed to the station and booked; and they experienced only momentary fright during the hour or so following their seizure, along with some later disgust they attributed to their subjective belief of having been victimized. They did not complain at the time of their arrest, nor did they file a formal complaint with the department any time thereafter. They testified that they never sought counseling or visited a doctor, never missed any work or any jam sessions with the music group to which they belonged, and never experienced any subsequent physical or emotional problems. Indeed, they failed to produce even one single independent witness to corroborate their allegations of mental anguish and emotional distress. Because of the lack of objective evidence, and for the reasons previously stated, the jury verdict must be set aside and this case dismissed. See id. (reversing jury award in display of force case); see also Richard v. City of Harahan, 6 F. Supp.2d 565, 573-74 (E.D. La. 1998) (granting summary judgment when plaintiff offered no psychological, medical, or other corroborating evidence to establish an injury.) Very recently, the Seventh Circuit sustained a summary judgment ruling that an officer used reasonable force in a case that is far more egregious and troubling than this one. The police in Smith, 242 F.3d at 744, activated their sirens and followed a suspect for twelve blocks before he finally decided to pull over and comply with the officer’s directions. We reasoned that the suspect’s actions created the appearance of flight, thereby justifying the use of a higher degree of force to protect the community and the officers than that needed for someone who committed only a minor traffic violation. Id. The police forcibly pulled the man from his vehicle, pinned his arms behind his back, slammed him against the hood of the vehicle, and handcuffed him. We held that the officers’ use of force here was not high, let alone excessive under the circumstances. Id. Moreover, it was of no consequence that the man claimed he did not commit a traffic violation, hear the siren, or know he was being followed by police (they were in plainclothes and an unmarked car) because we assessed the factual situation from the officer’s point of view at the time of the arrest, not the suspect’s, as case law mandates./10 See id. The show of force by Officer Coffey and his summoned assisting partners in this case pales in comparison to the force outlined above in Smith, even though the McNairs potentially posed a far more serious safety risk to the law enforcement officials involved--as well as to the general public. Accordingly, in light of Gumz and Smith, and for the foregoing reasons, I am convinced that no rational, properly instructed jury could have found in the McNairs’ favor on their constitutional claim. All of Officer Coffey’s actions were reasonable under the United States Constitution. Therefore, the district judge should have dismissed this suit at the outset, when Coffey first filed for summary judgment.