Opinion ID: 1609968
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Summary Judgment Granted to Howie and Hendricks

Text: ś 32. The trial court granted summary judgment as to Howie and Hendricks. On appeal, the primary focus of Modener's argument addressed summary judgment for the City without arguing in detail to reverse summary judgment granted as to Hendricks and Howie. [1] This Court will address summary judgment as to Howie and Hendricks separately.
ś 33. As to Howie, the trial found that the police chief was not liable, stating: It follows, that since the City of Columbia cannot be liable under a respondeat superior theory and that Modena (sic) has not established any liability under a failure to train a supervise theory, the [d]efendant[,] Chief Jerry Howie[,] is not liable, and therefore, also dismissed from this lawsuit. See Thompson v. Upshur County, Texas, 245 F.3d 447, 459 (5th Cir.2001). ś 34. The Fifth Circuit has held: Under section 1983, supervisory officials are not liable for the actions of subordinates or any theory of vicarious liability. Thompkins v. Belt, 828 F.2d 298, 303 (5th Cir.1987). A sheriff not personally involved in the acts that deprived the plaintiff of his constitutional rights is liable under section 1983 if: (1) the sheriff failed to train or supervise the offices involved; (2) there is a causal connection between the alleged failure to supervise or train and the alleged violation of the plaintiff's rights; and (3) the failure to train or supervise constituted deliberate indifference to plaintiff's constitutional rights. Smith v. Brenoettsy, 158 F.3d 908, 911-12 (5th Cir.1998); Doe v. Taylor Independent School District, 15 F.3d 443, 452-54 & nn. 7-8 (5th Cir.1994) (en banc) (adopting the City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 109 S.Ct. 1197, 1205 n. 10, 103 L.Ed.2d 412 (1989)) ... Proof of more than a single instance of the lack of training or supervision causing a violation of constitutional rights is normally required before such lack of training or supervision constitutes deliberate indifference. Snyder v. Trepagnier, 142 F.3d 791, 798-99 (5th Cir.1998); Belt, 828 F.2d at 304-05. The plaintiff must generally demonstrate at least a pattern of similar violations. Snyder, 142 F.3d at 798. Furthermore, the inadequacy of training must be obvious and obviously likely to result in a constitutional violation. City of Canton, 109 S.Ct. at 1205 n. 10 (1989); Snyder v. Trepagnier, 142 F.3d at 799. Standing alone, an expert's opinion is generally not enough to establish deliberate indifference. Id. Thompson v. Upshur County, Texas, 245 F.3d 447, 459 (5th Cir.2001). ś 35. Modener's proof failed to create a jury issue under this standard. Therefore, this Court finds that the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment as to Howie. This issue is without merit.
ś 36. The trial court also granted summary judgment in favor of Hendricks. While finding that Modener did not allege any violation of Eddie's constitutional rights by Hendricks, the trial court first examined whether officers were entitled to qualified immunity for constitutional violations as a defense to the § 1983 action. The trial court stated: The current test for whether or not an officer is entitled to qualified immunity for constitutional violations was articulated by the United States Supreme Court in Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). 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. Id. at 818, [102 S.Ct. at] 2738. Stated another way, a plaintiff will be unable to recover under § 1983 unless they can show that a governmental agent's actions violated clearly established constitutional rights of which a reasonable officer would have known. ś 37. As cited by the trial court in the case sub judice, Glenn provided the scope of the qualified immunity defense. Glenn v. City of Tyler, 242 F.3d 307, 312 (5th Cir.2001). In Glenn, the Fifth Circuit held: Qualified immunity protects government officials who perform discretionary functions from liability unless their conduct violates clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. Gibson [v. Rich], 44 F.3d [274,] 276 [(5th Cir. 1995)]. The qualified immunity analysis is a two-step process. First, a court must determine whether the plaintiff has alleged the violation of a constitutional right. Hale, 45 F.3d at 917. Second, if the plaintiff has alleged a constitutional violation, the court must decide if the conduct was objectively reasonable in light of clearly established law at the time that the challenged conduct occurred. Id. The touchstone of this inquiry is whether a reasonable person would have believed that his conduct conformed to the constitutional standard in light of the information available to him and the clearly established law. Goodson v. Corpus Christi, 202 F.3d 730, 736 (5th Cir.2000). This means that [e]ven law enforcement officials who `reasonably but mistakenly [commit a constitutional violation]' are entitled to immunity. Id. (quoting Hunter v. Bryant, 502 U.S. 224, 227, 112 S.Ct. 534, 116 L.Ed.2d 589 (1991)). 242 F.3d at 312. ś 38. In Thompson, the Fifth Circuit identified the standard for entitlement to qualified immunity. Thompson, 245 F.3d at 456. The court stated: The doctrine of qualified immunity served to shield a government official from civil liability for damages based upon the performance of discretionary functions if the official's acts were objectively reasonable in light of then clearly established law. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2738, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). As we said in Pierce v. Smith, 117 F.3d 866, 871-72 (5th Cir.1997): Where, as here, a section 1983 defendant pleads qualified immunity and shows he is a governmental official whose position involves the exercise of discretion, the plaintiff then has the burden `to rebut this defense by establishing that the official's allegedly wrongful conduct violated clearly established law. Salas v. Carpenter, 980 F.2d 299, 306 (5th Cir.1992). We do `not require that an official demonstrate that he did not violate clearly established federal rights; our precedent places that burden upon plaintiffs.' Id. The first step in the qualified immunity analysis is to determine whether the plaintiff has alleged the violation of a clearly established federal constitutional (or federal statutory) right. Hare v. City of Corinth, 135 F.3d 320, 325 (5th Cir.1998) (Hare III) ; Pierce, 117 F.3d at 872. If the plaintiff does so, the Court must then assess whether the defendant's conduct was objectively reasonable in light of clearly established law. Hare III, 135 F.3d at 326; Pierce, 117 F.3d at 872. Unlike the first step, the step two inquiry applies the law that was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation. To ensure that qualified immunity serves its intended purpose, it is of paramount import, during step two, to define clearly established law at the proper level of generality. Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 3039, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987); Petta v. Rivera, 143 F.3d 895, 899 (5th Cir.1998); Pierce 117 F.3d at 872. Clearly established means that the contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right. Anderson, 107 S.Ct. at 3039. The defendant's acts are held to be objectively reasonable unless all reasonable officials in the defendant's circumstances would have then known that the defendant's conduction violated the United States Constitution or the federal statute as alleged by the plaintiff. Id. at 3040; Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 106 S.Ct. 1092, 1096, 89 L.Ed.2d 271 (1986); Pierce, 117 F.3d at 871. The defendant's circumstances includes facts know to the defendant. However, because qualified immunity turns only upon the objective reasonableness of the defendant's acts, a particular defendant's subjective state of mind has no bearing on whether that defendant is entitled to qualified immunity. Anderson, 107 S.Ct. at 3040, Pierce, 117 F.3d at 871 n. 5. An official is eligible for qualified immunity even if the official violated another's constitutional rights. Goodson v. City of Corpus Christi, 202 F.3d 730, 736 (5th Cir.2000); Pierce, 117 F.3d at 872. 245 F.3d at 456-57. ś 39. The trial court applied the two step process set out by the Fifth Circuit in Glenn to determine if Hendricks were entitled to qualified immunity. The trial court found that Modener's claim against Hendricks did not pass the first step. The trial court held that Modener failed to allege any actions by Hendricks which constituted a constitutional violation against Eddie and dismissed all claims against Hendricks. ś 40. The facts of this case at hand established that Hendricks was only one of the officers present at Eddie's home when the events in question transpired. Nothing in the record points to the fact that Hendricks ever used any force against Eddie. We find that the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment as to Hendricks.