Opinion ID: 6337343
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Qualified Immunity for the Officers

Text: Legal Background
Section 1983 of Title 42 provides that a person acting under color of state law who “subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States . . . to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured.” 42 U.S.C. § 1983. “Persons sued under § 1983 in their individual capacity may invoke the defense of qualified immunity.” Duda v. Elder, 7 F.4th 899, 909 (10th Cir. 2021). Qualified immunity “protects government officials from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights.” Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 231 (2009) (quotations omitted). When a defendant asserts qualified immunity in a summary judgment motion, the plaintiff must show that (1) a reasonable jury could find facts supporting a violation of a constitutional right and (2) the right was clearly established at the time of the violation. See id. at 232; Duda, 7 F.4th at 909. “A clearly established right is one that is sufficiently clear that every reasonable official would have understood that what he is doing violates that right.” Mullenix v. Luna, 577 U.S. 7, 11 (2015) (per curiam) (quotations omitted). “A Supreme Court or Tenth Circuit decision on point or the weight of authority from other courts can clearly establish a right.” A.N. ex rel. Ponder v. Syling, 928 F.3d 1191, 1197 (10th Cir. 2019) (quotations omitted). “[A] case directly on point” is not 9 Appellate Case: 21-5052 Document: 010110678927 Date Filed: 05/03/2022 Page: 10 necessary if “existing precedent [has] placed the statutory or constitutional question beyond debate.” White v. Pauly, 137 S. Ct. 548, 551 (2017) (per curiam) (quotations omitted).
“When a plaintiff alleges excessive force during an investigation or arrest, the federal right at issue is the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable seizures.” Tolan v. Cotton, 572 U.S. 650, 656 (2014).5 In evaluating a claim of excessive force, courts consider “whether the officers’ actions are ‘objectively reasonable’ in light of the facts and circumstances confronting them.” Lombardo v. City of St. Louis, 141 S. Ct. 2239, 2241 (2021) (per curiam) (quoting Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 397 (1989)). To assess objective reasonableness, we evaluate whether the totality of the circumstances justified the use of force, as “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. In Graham v. Connor, the Supreme Court identified three non-exclusive factors to evaluate whether a use of force was excessive: (1) “the severity of the crime at issue,” (2) “whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others,” and (3) “whether he is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.” Id. 5 The Fourth Amendment applies against state law enforcement officials as incorporated through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 655 (1961). 10 Appellate Case: 21-5052 Document: 010110678927 Date Filed: 05/03/2022 Page: 11 Under the first factor, a minor offense supports only the use of minimal force. See Perea v. Baca, 817 F.3d 1198, 1203 (10th Cir. 2016). A misdemeanor committed in a “particularly harmless manner . . . reduces the level of force that [is] reasonable for [the officer] to use.” Casey v. City of Fed. Heights, 509 F.3d 1278, 1281 (10th Cir. 2007). The second factor “is undoubtedly the most important and fact intensive factor in determining the objective reasonableness of an officer’s use of force.” Pauly v. White, 874 F.3d 1197, 1215-16 (10th Cir. 2017) (quotations omitted). “We must look at whether the officers or others were in danger at the precise moment that they used force.” Emmett, 973 F.3d at 1136 (quotations and alterations omitted). “[A]n officer may use increased force when a suspect is armed, repeatedly ignores police commands, or makes hostile motions towards the officer or others.” Mglej v. Gardner, 974 F.3d 1151, 1168 (10th Cir. 2020) (quotations omitted). As to the third factor, we evaluate whether the suspect “attempt[ed] to flee or actively resist[ed] the arrest or search.” Harte v. Bd. of Comm’rs of Cnty. of Johnson, Kan., 864 F.3d 1154, 1191 (10th Cir. 2017). We consider any resistance during the suspect’s encounter with officers. See McCoy v. Meyers, 887 F.3d 1034, 1051 (10th Cir. 2018) (evaluating whether the suspect engaged in “active resistance” after he had been handcuffed); Dixon v. Richer, 922 F.2d 1456, 1462-63 (10th Cir. 1991) (analyzing suspect’s resistance during and following the officer’s frisk and noting suspect was not under arrest). We “have consistently concluded that a 11 Appellate Case: 21-5052 Document: 010110678927 Date Filed: 05/03/2022 Page: 12 suspect’s initial resistance does not justify the continuation of force once the resistance ceases.” McCoy, 887 F.3d at 1051 (collecting cases). Application Mr. Wilkins argues the officers used excessive force when they forced him to the ground and sprayed him with pepper spray.6 Addressing the two prongs of qualified immunity below, we conclude that the use of pepper spray violated Mr. Wilkins’s clearly established right to be free from the additional use of force after he was effectively subdued. The officers were not entitled to qualified immunity. We thus reverse summary judgment for the officers. a. Prong one - constitutional violation Under the Graham factors, even assuming the officers acted reasonably when they forced Mr. Wilkins to the ground, a reasonable jury could find that the officers’ use of pepper spray was objectively unreasonable. Mr. Wilkins thus showed he suffered a constitutional violation. We address the Graham factors below.
Under the first factor—severity of the crime—only minimal force was warranted. The officers suspected Mr. Wilkins of committing the crime of actual physical control of a motor vehicle while intoxicated, a misdemeanor in Oklahoma. 6 We aggregate the officers’ conduct because they do not seek individualized analysis as to their liability and they “engaged in a group effort.” Est. of Booker v. Gomez, 745 F.3d 405, 422 (10th Cir. 2014); see also Weigel v. Broad, 544 F.3d 1143, 1151-53 (10th Cir. 2008) (analyzing officers’ actions collectively when one officer applied force to individual’s back while the other officer returned to his car). 12 Appellate Case: 21-5052 Document: 010110678927 Date Filed: 05/03/2022 Page: 13 See Okla. Stat. tit. 47, § 11-902(C); Aplt. App., Vol. II at 326-27. “[W]e have held that the first Graham factor may weigh against the use of significant force if the crime at issue is a misdemeanor.” Lee v. Tucker, 904 F.3d 1145, 1149 (10th Cir. 2018). This factor thus weighs against the use of anything more than minimal force.
The second factor weighs against the officers because Mr. Wilkins did not pose an immediate threat after the takedown. He was facedown on his stomach, handcuffs secured his arms, officers were on him, Officer Emberton held his legs, and he did not resist. Aplt. App., Vol. I at 102, 167; Aplt. App., Vol. II at 261, 338, 340; Rangel BodyCam Footage, pt. 1 at 4:27. During the nearly 30 seconds preceding the pepper spray, Mr. Wilkins said “please, man,” “you’re breaking my f--- ing wrists,” and “I’m not doing nothing to you.” Rangel BodyCam Footage, pt. 1 at 4:08-4:35. He did not present an immediate threat when Officer Mortensen sprayed him with pepper spray. See Emmett, 973 F.3d at 1136 (after tackling suspect, officer “had effectively neutralized any safety concerns”); see also Vette v. K-9 Unit Deputy Sanders, 989 F.3d 1154, 1170 (10th Cir. 2021) (no immediate threat because suspect was under the officers’ control). Officer Mortensen testified that “[t]here was a possibility [Mr. Wilkins] could hurt [the officers] with a weapon” before he was fully searched. Aplt. App., Vol. I at 146-47; see also id. at 167 (Officer Emberton testifying that there is a safety risk before an officer completes a search because “there could be a weapon” and Mr. Wilkins “was a risk . . . since he had not been fully searched”). Even so, it was not 13 Appellate Case: 21-5052 Document: 010110678927 Date Filed: 05/03/2022 Page: 14 reasonable to pepper spray Mr. Wilkins “solely on the basis of that suspicion.” Dixon, 922 F.2d at 1463. And nothing in the record shows the officers believed or had reason to believe that Mr. Wilkins had a weapon or even that they asked if he was armed. No gun was reported or seen, Mr. Wilkins was not suspected of committing a crime involving a weapon, his hands were handcuffed behind his back, and he did not threaten harm. Officer Mortensen’s detailed incident report, completed within hours of the incident, does not indicate that any officer believed Mr. Wilkins was armed. Aplt. App., Vol. I at 170. Our precedent confirms there was no immediate threat under the circumstances. In Davis v. Clifford, 825 F.3d 1131 (10th Cir. 2016), we concluded the suspect did not pose an immediate threat because there was “no evidence that [she] had access to a weapon or that she threatened harm to herself or others.” Id. at 1135. We said the second Graham factor showed the officers used excessive force by pulling the suspect through her broken car window after she refused to exit her vehicle following a traffic stop. Id. In Walker v. City of Orem, 451 F.3d 1139 (10th Cir. 2006), we determined the suspect did not pose an immediate threat because, though he held a small knife, he “made no threats[,] was not advancing on anyone,” and “had not affirmatively led anyone to believe that he had a firearm.” Id. at 1159-60. We said that, based on the angle of the suspect’s hands and the lighting at the scene, the officer unreasonably believed that the suspect was pointing a gun at him. Id. 14 Appellate Case: 21-5052 Document: 010110678927 Date Filed: 05/03/2022 Page: 15 Even assuming the officers reasonably believed Mr. Wilkins was armed, they neutralized any immediate threat by taking him to the ground, gaining control over him, and preventing him from reaching a weapon. Indeed, Officer Emberton testified that officers take suspects to the ground “to prevent the individual from accessing a weapon of any sort.” Aplt. App., Vol. I at 167.7
Under the third factor, no force was justified after the takedown based on resistance of attempt to flee. Mr. Wilkins was on the ground in a prone position, secured by three officers, and pleading with the officers to stop. Rangel BodyCam Footage, pt. 1 at 4:04-4:44. The officers contend Mr. Wilkins resisted while on the ground by “grabbing [Officer] Mortensen’s fingers and . . . attempting to stand.” Aplee. Br. at 6. But Mr. Wilkins stated he did not “grab any officer’s hand” or “resist the searching of his person.” Aplt. App., Vol. II at 285 ¶¶ 5, 6. The video does not contradict Mr. Wilkins’s statement. Indeed, in the seconds leading up to the officers’ use of pepper spray, the video does not even show Mr. Wilkins. Rangel BodyCam Footage, pt. 1 at 4:38-4:44. We must credit his version of the events on summary judgment. See Emmett, 973 F.3d at 1135. “At trial, the factfinder will have to decide” whether Mr. 7 The officers’ expert said in his report that he had “reviewed cases where a subject handcuffed behind their back was able to grab a weapon and fatally shoot the officer.” Aplt. App., Vol. I at 228 ¶ 109. But the report cites no cases, nor does it provide any factual context. In particular, it does not address when three officers have effectively subdued a suspect. 15 Appellate Case: 21-5052 Document: 010110678927 Date Filed: 05/03/2022 Page: 16 Wilkins resisted, id., but at this stage, we view the facts in the light most favorable to Mr. Wilkins and draw all reasonable inferences in his favor, Rowell, 978 F.3d at 1171. Mr. Wilkins was effectively subdued and not resisting when Officer Mortensen sprayed him. See Henderson v. Munn, 439 F.3d 497, 503 (8th Cir. 2006) (reasonable jury could decide suspect not resisting when pepper sprayed because he was handcuffed and face down on the ground even if he had previously resisted). The third Graham factor thus weighs against the officers’ use of force following the takedown.