Opinion ID: 515717
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: considering facts gathered through discovery

Text: 24 Defendants argue that if we find that they are not entitled to qualified immunity on the basis of the allegations in the complaint, they are nonetheless entitled to immunity because the undisputed facts gathered through discovery regarding their conduct show that they violated no clearly established law. While Bonitz, 804 F.2d 164, would preclude us from considering this argument, defendants maintain that Bonitz is no longer valid law after Anderson v. Creighton, 107 S.Ct. 3034.
25 As already stated, this court held in Bonitz, 804 F.2d 164, that its jurisdiction in an interlocutory appeal of a denial of qualified immunity was limited to scrutinizing the allegations in the complaint to determine whether the alleged acts, if proven, violated clearly established law at the time of the alleged incident. See also Juarbe-Anqueira v. Arias, 831 F.2d 11 (1st Cir.1987), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 1222, 99 L.Ed.2d 423 (1988); Roure v. Hernandez Colon, 824 F.2d 139 (1st Cir.1987); Cheveras Pacheco v. Rivera Gonzalez, 809 F.2d 125 (1st Cir.1987). But see Emery v. Holmes, 824 F.2d 143, 145 (1st Cir.1987). In setting a narrow boundary on interlocutory review of a defendant's entitlement to immunity, the Bonitz court characterized the qualified immunity inquiry as only focusing on the alleged harm suffered by plaintiff. The court refused to permit any inquiry into whether a defendant's actual conduct, as established by undisputed facts developed during discovery or through affidavits, violated clearly established law. Bonitz, 804 F.2d at 167. Consequently, since in our view immunity depends only upon the clarity of the right allegedly violated, the only 'facts' we need to know are those that constitute the harm alleged by the plaintiff. Id. at 168. 3 This characterization of the qualified immunity question was based on an interpretation of Mitchell, 472 U.S. 511, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 86 L.Ed.2d 411, and Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). Bonitz, 804 F.2d at 166-68, 175. As the court wrote, the critical point for us is that Mitchell envisions the interlocutory appeal of qualified immunity as a straightforward matter of assessing the law and not as a procedure for sorting out facts--even for the purpose of determining whether they are undisputed. Id. at 168. 26 Hence, in Bonitz itself, the panel refused to consider a defendant's well documented claim that the undisputed facts regarding his actual conduct showed that he could have violated no clearly established law. That contention, no matter how correct, was considered to be outside the scope of the qualified immunity inquiry. The court felt it did not have jurisdiction in an interlocutory appeal to consider what it perceived was simply a question of causation going to the merits. Id. at 167, 173-75. 27 Soon after Bonitz, the Supreme Court's decision in Anderson v. Creighton, 107 S.Ct. 3034, came down. We now conclude that Bonitz 's narrow definition of the scope of the qualified immunity inquiry must be set aside as inconsistent with the Court's analysis in Anderson. In Anderson, the Supreme Court made it clear, contrary to Bonitz, that a public official's undisputed conduct, as revealed through discovery materials, is relevant. Public officials must be able to 28 anticipate when their conduct may give rise to liability for damages. Davis, 468 U.S., at 195.... It should not be surprising, therefore, that our cases establish that the right the official is alleged to have violated must have been clearly established in a more particularized, and hence more relevant, sense: The contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right. 29 Anderson, 107 S.Ct. at 3039 (emphasis added). Thus, it is insufficient to confine the qualified immunity question to the general right [a public official is] alleged to have violated. Id. Under Anderson, the proper inquiry must take into account how this general right applies to the particular facts, including a public official's actual conduct. While emphasizing that qualified immunity questions should be resolved at the earliest possible stage of litigation, the Court stated in Anderson that discovery may be necessary before [defendant's] motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds can be resolved, 107 S.Ct. at 3042 n. 6, given the fact-specific nature of the question. Id. at 3040. In the same footnote 6, the Court in Anderson cited to page 526 of Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 526, 105 S.Ct. at 2815 (citations omitted), a page which contains the following highly significant sentence: 30 Even if the plaintiff's complaint adequately alleges the commission of acts that violated clearly established law, the defendant is entitled to summary judgment if discovery fails to uncover evidence sufficient to create a genuine issue as to whether the defendant in fact committed those acts. 31 Given the Court's opinion in Anderson, we find Bonitz v. Fair, 804 F.2d 164, no longer supportable, and we overrule Bonitz to the extent that it limits the qualified immunity inquiry to a narrow examination of the harm asserted in the allegations of the complaint even where both parties have had a sufficient opportunity to engage in discovery. 4 Anderson plainly invalidates Bonitz 's refusal to go beyond the allegations in the complaint to consider, upon a proper summary judgment motion made after discovery has taken place, 5 whether there is a genuine issue of material fact regarding a defendant's immunity claim. 32 To be sure, Anderson did not involve the precise issue presented in Bonitz--whether a court of appeals has jurisdiction to review facts not contained in the allegations of the complaint in an interlocutory review of a denial of qualified immunity. 6 But it would make no sense to hold that while a district court must look beyond the complaint, the court of appeals may not. After Anderson, a district court is required to examine whether facts gathered through discovery (including facts concerning a defendant's conduct) create a genuine issue of fact regarding the issue of qualified immunity. A court of appeals, on interlocutory review of such a lower court decision, cannot confine itself to just the allegations in the complaint. To apply Bonitz, with such a result, would be tantamount to a stubborn refusal to apply anything but the most literal aspect of the Anderson Court's holding. We would, moreover, be ignoring the Supreme Court's heavy emphasis on sparing the qualifiedly immune defendant the burden of standing trial. Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 525, 105 S.Ct. at 2815; Harlow, 457 U.S. at 816, 102 S.Ct. at 2737. See also Emery, 824 F.2d at 145. As defendants state in their supplemental brief, the qualified immunity right not to stand trial is just as effectively lost if an appellate court does not entertain an appeal of a legally erroneous denial of summary judgment as it is if the district court declines to rule itself on the summary judgment motion. 33 We thus conclude that we have jurisdiction to review a district court's denial of qualified immunity on grounds that a genuine issue of material fact exists as to the factual predicate of a qualified immunity claim. In such a review, we must examine the discovered facts regarding defendants' conduct relevant to the immunity claim and, applying normal summary judgment principles, determine whether a genuine issue does or does not exist concerning qualified immunity. In so holding, we join the other circuits that have considered the question. Turner v. Damon, 848 F.2d 440, 443-44 (4th Cir.1988); DeVargas v. Mason & Hanger-Silas Mason Co., 844 F.2d 714, 718-19 (10th Cir.1988); Green v. Carlson, 826 F.2d 647, 650-52 (7th Cir.1987); Trapnell v. Ralston, 819 F.2d 182, 184 n. 1 (8th Cir.1987); Myers v. Morris, 810 F.2d 1437, 1458-59 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 97, 98 L.Ed.2d 58 (1987); White v. Pierce County, 797 F.2d 812, 814-15 (9th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 932, 107 S.Ct. 1571, 94 L.Ed.2d 763 (1987); Kraus v. County of Pierce, 793 F.2d 1105, 1108 (9th Cir.1986); Jasinski v. Adams, 781 F.2d 843, 846 (11th Cir.1986). We also resolve an inconsistency in our own circuit. Compare Roure, 824 F.2d 139 (following Bonitz in refusing to consider whether there is a genuine issue of material fact regarding qualified immunity claim) with Emery, 824 F.2d 143 (citing Anderson and deciding whether there is such a genuine issue of material fact).
34 Finding that we have jurisdiction to do so, we now address the question of whether, reading the pretrial record in the light most favorable to Unwin, a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether defendants' conduct violated Unwin's clearly established rights. 7
35 We find that the undisputed facts show that defendants Campbell and Furlone are entitled to qualified immunity. As to Campbell, there is no evidence at all in the record showing that he had any contact with Unwin. While Campbell entered the dayroom and escorted several inmates to their cells, his only involvement with Unwin occurred when he observed Unwin kicking his cell door after the door had been secured. Campbell had no physical contact with Unwin whatsoever. Trooper Furlone likewise had no physical contact with Unwin. Furlone stated in an affidavit that he went to assist at Inmate Unwin's cell but stayed outside because further assistance was not required. Officer Terhune stated in his deposition that, while several officers were struggling with Unwin in the cell, Furlone stepped into the cell and told Terhune to leave the cell because it was overcrowded. But Terhune also stated that, while Furlone stepped into the cell, Furlone was not involved in the struggle with Unwin. 8 Other than this, and a brief glance at Unwin after Unwin had been locked in a padded cell, Furlone had no involvement with Unwin that night. There was no evidence to the contrary. 36 Because the undisputed facts show that Furlone and Campbell did not cause Unwin's injuries, their conduct did not violate clearly established law and thus they are entitled to qualified immunity. 9 See Kostka v. Hogg, 560 F.2d 37, 40 (1st Cir.1977) (individual who had no personal role in deprivation of constitutional rights cannot be held liable in section 1983 action); Duncan v. Duckworth, 644 F.2d 653, 655 (7th Cir.1981) (same). Unwin had nearly a year to uncover evidence through discovery to connect Furlone's and Campbell's actions to his injuries. But he has presented nothing to suggest such a connection. Summary judgment is appropriate in such circumstances. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Daury v. Smith, 842 F.2d 9 (1st Cir.1988). 37 9 We emphasize at this point that the appealable issue is a purely legal one: whether the facts alleged (by the plaintiff, or, in some cases, the defendant) support a claim of violation of clearly established law. 38 Unwin contends that the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur applies to this case and argues that defendants' liability may be presumed until the defendants identify who was directly responsible. To support his argument that the burden of proof regarding causation should be shifted to defendants, Unwin cites only two tort cases, Summers v. Tice, 33 Cal.2d 80, 199 P.2d 1 (1948), and Ybarra v. Spanguard, 25 Cal.2d 486, 154 P.2d 687 (1944). Summers held two hunters jointly liable for plaintiff's injuries caused by being hit by gunshot negligently fired by both hunters where the defendants were unable to produce testimony as to which one of them had actually inflicted the plaintiff's injuries. Summers is clearly inapposite here because all the evidence shows that Furlone and Campbell, unlike both the defendants in Summers, did not act wrongly. This distinguishes this case from Summers which dealt with one special type of situation in which the usual rule that the burden of proof as to causation is on the plaintiff has been relaxed. It may be called that of clearly established double fault and alternative liability. W.P. Keeton, D. Dobbs, R. Keeton & D. Owen, Prosser and Keeton on Torts Sec. 41, at 270-71 (5th ed. 1984) (hereinafter Prosser and Keeton on Torts). See Burton v. Waller, 502 F.2d 1261, 1282-84 (5th Cir.1974), cert. denied, 420 U.S. 964, 95 S.Ct. 1356, 43 L.Ed.2d 442 (1975). There was no clearly established double fault in this case. 39 We also reject Unwin's argument based on Ybarra. In Ybarra, an unconscious patient undergoing an operation suffered a traumatic injury, and res ipsa loquitur was applied against all of the doctors and hospital employees connected with the operation, although it seemed quite clear that not all of them could have been responsible. The basis of the decision appears quite definitely to have been the special responsibility for the plaintiff's safety undertaken by everyone concerned. Prosser and Keeton on Torts Sec. 39, at 252-53. We decline to follow Ybarra 's approach in this case for the same reasons the Seventh Circuit gave in Wellman v. Faulkner, 715 F.2d 269, 276 (7th Cir.1983) (civil rights action challenging prison conditions), cert. denied, 468 U.S. 1217, 104 S.Ct. 3587, 82 L.Ed.2d 885 (1984): 40 Unlike Ybarra, the defendants here are not the individuals who were immediately responsible for plaintiffs' care. Also, unlike Ybarra in which the standard of liability was mere negligence, in the instant case negligence would not be enough, Estelle, 429 U.S. at 106 [97 S.Ct. at 292].... Finally, although prisoners are to some extent handicapped in identifying who precisely is responsible for their mistreatment, we cannot say that they are so limited in their access to information that the burden of explanation should be shifted to defendants. 41 We thus refuse to apply the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur to this case and to shift the burden of proof regarding causation to the defendants. 42 We accordingly find that defendants Furlone and Campbell are entitled to qualified immunity and should have been granted summary judgment on this basis. 43
44 While Unwin has not been able to personally identify the law enforcement officers who had contact with him on the night in question, the remaining four defendants, Trooper Ellsworth and Officers Curren, Terhune, and Sambatero, all admit having physical contact with Unwin during the time Unwin was repeatedly beaten. The depositions of the various law enforcement officers indicate that Trooper Ellsworth was the first of appellants to have contact with Unwin that night. After escorting several other inmates to their cells, Trooper Ellsworth saw three to four officers struggling with Unwin in the dayroom. Ellsworth then assisted these officers in their struggle with Unwin. According to Unwin's answers to interrogatories, it was sometime during this struggle in the dayroom that Unwin had been hit from behind, fell to the ground where he was held face down, and struck on the side of his face with fists and nightsticks. Unwin was handcuffed at some point during the struggle in the dayroom. Ellsworth, grabbing Unwin by his arm, moved Unwin to his cell with the help of Officers Sambatero and Terhune, who had come to assist Ellsworth at some point. In his answers to interrogatories, Unwin stated that he was carried to his cell where he was forced into the corner of his cell and repeatedly beaten. Sometime after entering the cell, Trooper Ellsworth and Officer Sambatero, with the help of Officer Terhune, placed Unwin on the bed in the cell. Several other officers, including Officer Curren and Piere Planchet 10 observed the struggle with Unwin outside his cell. Defendants assert that Unwin struggled violently with them. 45 After Unwin appeared to have calmed down and the handcuffs were removed, Trooper Ellsworth asserts that he left the cell. While Officers Terhune and Sambatero were leaving the cell, Unwin sprang off the bed and took a swing at one of the officers, possibly landing a punch on Officer Sambatero's face. Sambatero threw Unwin against the wall of the cell. Several officers rushed into the cell at that point, including Officer Curren. Curren testified that he then struck Unwin in the face in order to subdue him. The officers then locked the cell door as they left the cell. 46 Piere Planchet tells a somewhat different story. According to Planchet, he was outside Unwin's cell when he noticed a state trooper struggling with Unwin while Unwin was crouched on his knees with handcuffs on. While he cannot identify the state trooper, Planchet is certain that it was a state trooper because of the green state police uniform worn by the person. Planchet entered the cell to assist the trooper. While another officer may have been in the cell at first, this officer left when Planchet entered the cell. Planchet pressed his knee against Unwin and pushed him against the toilet in the cell while the trooper removed Unwin's handcuffs. The trooper (not one of the local police officers) then punched Unwin in order to daze him. Planchet and the trooper then left the cell and secured the door. 47 Before it is possible to evaluate the conduct of each of these four defendants to determine whether they transgressed clearly established Eighth Amendment standards, it is necessary first to know the context in which the conduct occurred. Specifically, it is necessary to know whether, on the night in question, there was a disturbance, such as occurred in [Whitley v. Albers ], that indisputably pose[d] significant risks to the safety of inmates and prison staff.... Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312, 320, 106 S.Ct. 1078, 1084, 89 L.Ed.2d 251 (1986). In situations where prison officials are responding to an outbreak of violence, the appropriate standard is  'whether force was applied in a good faith effort to maintain or restore discipline or maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm.'  Whitley, 475 U.S. at 320-21, 106 S.Ct. at 1084-85 (quoting Johnson v. Glick, 481 F.2d 1028, 1033 (2d Cir.1973)). In such emergencies, officials cannot be expected to measure nicely the precise amount of force necessary to restore order. However, where institutional security is not at stake, the officials' license to use force is more limited; to succeed, a plaintiff need not prove malicious and sadistic intent. Rather, Eighth Amendment liability will be imposed where the officials' actions involve the wanton and unnecessary infliction of pain as determined by the need for the application of force, the relationship between the need and the amount of force that was used, and the extent of the injury inflicted. Wyatt v. Delaney, 818 F.2d 21, 23 (8th Cir.1987). See Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 105, 97 S.Ct. 285, 291, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976) (deliberate indifference to prisoner's serious medical needs is cruel and unusual punishment). 48 In this case, the context in which defendants' contact with Unwin took place remains unclear. After discovery, there appears to be a genuine issue of material fact as to whether a prison disturbance, as described in Whitley, actually existed. The record, construed in the light most favorable to Unwin, shows that, on the night in question, a dozen or so inmates were in the dayroom of the prison. Unwin, who had spent most of the earlier part of the day watching television and playing cards, was watching several inmates play cards in the dayroom. The other inmates were not doing anything in particular; a few were simply hanging around, while others occasionally engaged in horseplay. None of the inmates in the dayroom were armed, drunk, or acting out. There was intermittent noise emanating from the dayroom, although it is unclear whether the inmates or correctional officers were the source of it. There was various debris strewn about the dayroom floor, and some of the aluminum tables in the room were damaged; it is unclear how long the dayroom had been in such a state. At some point in the night, but after defendants had been called to the prison, an obstreperous inmate, who had earlier been ordered to remain in his cell, came out of his cell and entered the dayroom. This inmate, who was drunk, picked up a chair and threw it. Another inmate, in an attempt to subdue him, began to wrestle with the drunk inmate. The other inmates, including Unwin, were not involved in this struggle. It was after this that defendants and other law enforcement officers, who had come to the prison in response to an emergency call, entered the day room for the purpose of moving the inmates to their cells. There is no evidence indicating that the prison authorities or law enforcement officers had requested the inmates to return to their cells before the officers entered the dayroom. 11 There is some evidence that after the officers had entered the room some of the inmates (not including Unwin) were asked to return to their cells but resisted. Other inmates returned to their cells on their own. As to Unwin, he was immediately knocked to the floor after the officers entered the dayroom, beaten, handcuffed, and then carried to his cell. All of the inmates were in their cells within five to ten minutes after the officers entered the dayroom. 49 We cannot say on the basis of this record that it was undisputed that there was a prison disturbance of Whitley magnitude on the night in question. 12 And with this material issue in dispute, we cannot adequately address the legal issue of whether the actions of each of the four defendants (Ellsworth, Curren, Terhune, and Sambatero) violated clearly established Eighth Amendment standards. Hence, it remains unclear whether to judge their contact with Unwin by a standard requiring Unwin to show that defendants acted maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm. It is also unclear if this is a case within which to balanc[e] competing institutional concerns for the safety of prison staff or other inmates. Whitley, 475 U.S. at 320, 106 S.Ct. at 1084. And it is a question of fact whether the four defendants acted with objective legal reasonableness, Anderson, 107 S.Ct. at 3039, given all the circumstances. Answers to these fact-specific questions, which are essential to the qualified immunity inquiry, cannot be resolved in this case on summary judgment. 50 Consequently, defendants Ellsworth, Curren, Terhune, and Sambatero are not entitled to summary judgment on grounds of qualified immunity. A fuller factual foundation is necessary before the complex legal issue of qualified immunity can be resolved. See C. Wright, A. Miller & M. Kane, 10A Federal Practice & Procedure Secs. 2725, 2728 (1983) (court has discretion to deny summary judgment where resolution of complex questions of law require a more concrete factual development than may be obtained through summary proceedings). See also Berg v. Kincheloe, 794 F.2d 457, 461-62 (9th Cir.1986) (summary judgment inappropriate where it was uncertain whether concern for prison security played a role in defendant's conduct).