Court Opinion

ID: 9906116
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-12-01 01:00:38.139445+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:24:06.305166
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-30456        Document: 00516985624             Page: 1      Date Filed: 11/30/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit
                                                                                     United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                              Fifth Circuit

                                     ____________                                           FILED
                                                                                 November 30, 2023
                                      No. 22-30456                                     Lyle W. Cayce
                                     ____________                                           Clerk

   Teliah C. Perkins, individually and as parent and natural guardian of
   D.J., a minor,

                                                                     Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                            versus

   Kyle Hart; Ryan Moring,

                                             Defendants—Appellants.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                        for the Eastern District of Louisiana
                               USDC No. 2:21-CV-879
                     ______________________________

   Before Elrod, Ho, and Wilson, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
         Teliah C. Perkins was arrested by two St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s
   Deputies, Kyle Hart and Ryan Moring, after the Deputies responded to
   reports of a person driving a dirt bike recklessly and without a helmet. The
   Deputies approached Perkins in her driveway and asked for her license,
   registration, and proof of insurance. The situation escalated quickly. The

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
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                                          No. 22-30456

   Deputies initiated an arrest; Perkins resisted but was eventually taken to the
   ground and handcuffed. Perkins’s minor son D.J. and her nephew recorded
   the altercation with their cell phones. At one point, the videos briefly show
   Deputy Hart’s hand on Perkins’s throat as he struggled to get up off the
   ground. Perkins sued, alleging claims of excessive force used against her and
   D.J. She also alleged a First Amendment retaliation claim on behalf of D.J.
           The Deputies moved for summary judgment, raising qualified
   immunity as a defense to the claims. The district court largely denied the
   Deputies’ motion. On appeal, we dismiss in part, reverse and render in part,
   and remand for further proceedings.
                                                I.
                                               A.
           Perkins is a resident of Slidell, Louisiana. 1 On May 5, 2020, she
   observed the Deputies riding down the street on police motorcycles. The
   Deputies turned their motorcycles around, drove to her driveway, and
   shouted for her to come to them. The Deputies asked for her driver’s license,
   registration, and proof of insurance, as they were investigating a complaint
   about a female recklessly riding a dirt bike without a helmet. Perkins mostly
   complied with those requests but was unable to produce proof of insurance.
           After asking if the inquiry was racially motivated, Perkins became
   frustrated and non-compliant. She called 911 to request a supervising officer
   and asked her son and nephew to record the encounter with their cell phones.

           _____________________
           1
            These facts are recounted in the light most favorable to Perkins, as she is the non-
   moving party, see Club Retro, L.L.C. v. Hilton, 568 F.3d 181, 194 (5th Cir. 2009), save for
   facts drawn conclusively from the videos, see Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 381 (2007).

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   The Deputies instructed the boys to return to the porch. D.J. and the nephew
   both filmed the ensuing altercation. 2
           When Perkins continued to act belligerently and refuse to comply with
   their requests, the Deputies attempted to place her under arrest. They seized
   her arms, forced her to the ground, muttered that she was “f—ing slippery,”
   and then, according to Perkins, “leaned on [her] back and neck with their
   knees and elbows, pulled her hair, and forced her face against the driveway
   pavement while wrenching her arms behind her back.” Perkins does not
   deny that she tried to pull her arms away. The Deputies repeatedly told her
   to “stop resisting” but she continued to flail her arms and legs and deny that
   she was resisting. She also repeatedly yelled at and taunted the Deputies—
   telling one, “I’m on the ground, you’re so weak, boy.” Eventually, she was
   successfully handcuffed by Deputy Hart.
           At that point, Deputy Moring stood up and turned his attention to the
   boys, while Hart continued to struggle with Perkins on the ground. Moring
   moved directly in front of D.J., blocking his camera’s view of Perkins and
   Hart. He told D.J. to “get back” and might have pushed him. D.J. and
   Moring continued to quip at each other—“you can’t touch me,” “get back,”
   and so on. Moring eventually held a taser out toward D.J. to keep him at bay,
   and they then sniped about whether Moring could properly do so.
           Meanwhile, on the ground, Hart kept pressure on Perkins’s back for
   about a minute to keep her subdued. As soon as Hart released the pressure,
   however, Perkins flipped onto her back and began kicking and struggling with
   Hart again. At that point, Hart placed his hand on Perkins’s shoulder to

           _____________________
           2
             There is a third video in the record taken by a neighbor, but it does not provide
   any additional insight. We note, too, that the nephew’s video was altered and fast-forwards
   through various moments during the fracas.

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   control her, or to try to get up. His hand then slipped onto Perkins’s neck for
   less than two seconds, and Perkins yelled “you’re choking me!” Her nephew
   then yelled “y’all are choking a lady.” All this time, Moring’s back was
   turned, as he and D.J. interacted. Moments later, Hart and Perkins stood and
   walked toward the street. A neighbor told the boys to “go inside, go inside,
   please go inside.” Perkins agreed, telling them to “go inside.” Their videos
   then end.
          The Deputies arrested Perkins for resisting a police officer with force
   or violence, battery of a police officer, no proof of insurance, and no safety
   helmet.     She was detained overnight.     The District Attorney’s Office
   amended her bill of information to “R.S. 14:108 Resisting an Officer,” for
   which she was tried and convicted.
                                         B.
          Perkins sued the Deputies, asserting claims individually and on behalf
   of D.J. under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of their rights under the First,
   Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments. The Deputies filed a motion for
   summary judgment, principally contending that they were entitled to
   qualified immunity.
          The district court granted the motion as to Perkins’s unlawful seizure
   claim but denied summary judgment as to all other claims. Weighing
   Perkins’s excessive force claim, the district court dissected the videos of her
   arrest, specifically emphasizing the elbow pressure on her back, her cries of
   pain, and Deputy Hart’s hands on Perkins’s throat after she had been
   handcuffed. In light of “the minor nature of [Perkins’s] crime and [the
   Deputies’] own admittance of that fact,” the court “determine[d] that there
   [was] sufficient evidence that a jury could determine that the [Deputies’]
   actions during the arrest were disproportionate . . . .”        Adopting the
   perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, the court reasoned—again,

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   relying on the videos—that Perkins was pacing back and forth in her driveway
   when the arrest began and, while she resisted, there was “no evidence
   whatsoever that [Perkins] threatened the [Deputies] or made any reference
   to a weapon in her home.” The district court acknowledged that Perkins
   admitted she initially resisted arrest, a fact confirmed by the videos. But the
   court explained that this circuit’s “law has long been clearly established that
   an officer’s continued use of force on a restrained and subdued subject is
   objectively unreasonable.” The court concluded that “a disputed issue of
   material fact exists regarding the amount of force used by Defendants while
   attempting to arrest Plaintiff and after she was handcuffed and subdued.”
          Turning to D.J.’s excessive force claim, the district court again
   marshalled through the evidence and concluded that Deputy Moring violated
   clearly established law and used excessive force. The court found that
   Moring had no justification to display and threaten to use his taser against
   D.J., a minor who was neither fleeing nor under arrest. Further, the court
   determined that D.J.’s filming of the incident was a lawful activity, so no non-
   retaliatory grounds justified Moring’s interference with D.J.’s First
   Amendment rights. Thus, the court concluded that Moring’s conduct
   violated D.J.’s clearly established First Amendment rights and was not
   “objectively reasonable in light of clearly established law.”
          The Deputies noticed this interlocutory appeal, challenging the
   district court’s denial of qualified immunity.
                                         II.
          “To determine whether a public official is entitled to qualified
   immunity, we decide ‘(1) whether the facts that the plaintiff has alleged make
   out a violation of a constitutional right; and (2) whether the right at issue was
   clearly established at the time of the defendant’s alleged misconduct.”
   Ramirez v. Martinez, 716 F.3d 369, 375 (5th Cir. 2013). “[A]n order denying

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   qualified immunity, to the extent it turns on an ‘issue of law,’ is immediately
   appealable.” Behrens v. Pelletier, 516 U.S. 299, 311 (1996) (quoting Mitchell v.
   Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 530 (1985)). Our interlocutory jurisdiction is limited,
   as the district court’s finding that a genuine factual dispute exists is a
   determination that cannot be reviewed.               Id.     The district court’s
   “determination that a particular dispute is material,” however, “is a
   reviewable legal determination.” Id.; Melton v. Phillips, 875 F.3d 256, 261
   (5th Cir. 2017) (en banc). Thus, we “ask only ‘whether the factual disputes
   that the district court identified are material to the application of qualified
   immunity.’” Kokesh v. Curlee, 14 F.4th 382, 391 (5th Cir. 2021) (en banc)
   (quoting Samples v. Vadzemnieks, 900 F.3d 655, 660 (5th Cir. 2018)).
          Within this limited jurisdiction, we “review de novo defendants’
   invocations of qualified immunity,” but “accept all well-pleaded facts as
   true . . . and view all facts and inferences in the light most favorable to the
   nonmoving party.” Club Retro, 568 F.3d at 194. However, “[w]hen a public
   official makes ‘a good-faith assertion of qualified immunity,’ that ‘alters the
   usual summary-judgment burden of proof, shifting it to the plaintiff to show
   that the defense is not available.’” Joseph on behalf of Est. of Joseph v. Bartlett,
   981 F.3d 319, 329–30 (5th Cir. 2020). That means “[t]he plaintiff must show
   that there is a genuine dispute of material fact and that a jury could return a
   verdict entitling the plaintiff to relief.” Id. at 330; see also Mesa v. Prejean, 543
   F.3d 264, 269 (5th Cir. 2008). “[T]o overcome qualified immunity, the
   plaintiff’s version of those disputed facts must also constitute a violation of
   clearly established law.” Joseph, 981 F.3d at 330. We examine the actions of
   multiple defendants asserting qualified immunity individually.              Solis v.
   Serrett, 31 F.4th 975, 981 (5th Cir. 2022) (citing Meadours v. Ermel, 483 F.3d
   417, 421–22 (5th Cir. 2007)).

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                                         III.
                                         A.
          We begin with Perkins’s claim of excessive force. “To prevail on an
   excessive-force claim, [a plaintiff] must show (1) injury, (2) which resulted
   directly and only from a use of force that was clearly excessive, and (3) the
   excessiveness of which was clearly unreasonable.” Hanks v. Rogers, 853 F.3d
   738, 744 (5th Cir. 2017) (quoting Cooper v. Brown, 844 F.3d 517, 522 (5th Cir.
   2016) (alteration in original)). “[W]hether the force used is excessive or
   unreasonable depends on the facts and circumstances of each particular
   case.” Id. (quoting Deville v. Marcantel, 567 F.3d 156, 167 (5th Cir. 2017)).
   We consider three factors to help make this determination: “(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 [s]he is actively resisting
   arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.” Id. (quoting Graham v.
   Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 396 (1989)).
          Because the district court denied summary judgment to the Deputies
   “on the basis that genuine issues of material fact exist,” it essentially “made
   two distinct legal conclusions: that there are ‘genuine’ issues of fact in
   dispute, and that these issues are ‘material.’” Reyes v. City of Richmond, 287
   F.3d 346, 350 (5th Cir. 2002). We cannot review the first conclusion, but we
   can the second. And while “we review the facts in the light most favorable
   to the non-moving party,” “a plaintiff’s version of the facts should not be
   accepted for purposes of qualified immunity when it is ‘blatantly
   contradicted’ and ‘utterly discredited’ by video recordings.” Trammel v.
   Fruge, 868 F.3d 332, 338 (5th Cir. 2017) (quoting Hanks, 853 F.3d at 743,
   744.); but see Edwards v. Oliver, 31 F.4th 925, 930–31 (5th Cir. 2022)
   (declining to consider video evidence because the district court found that
   the video itself created a genuine factual dispute). Where the video evidence

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   is conclusive, we should thus “view[] the facts in the light depicted by the
   videotape.” Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 381 (2007).
           “An officer challenges materiality when he contends that ‘taking all
   the plaintiff’s factual allegations as true no violation of a clearly established
   right was shown.’” Reyes, 287 F.3d at 350 (quoting Cantu v. Rocha, 77 F.3d
   795, 803 (5th Cir. 1996)). The Deputies argue that Perkins cannot meet her
   burden to overcome qualified immunity and the district court erred in
   holding otherwise, particularly because the court’s conclusions were
   “contrary” to the evidence—the videos taken by Perkins’s son and nephew.
   See Edwards, 31 F.4th at 930. 3 The Deputies contend that the video evidence
   so clearly exonerates their actions that a reasonable viewer has no choice but
   to conclude the district court erred. We agree that the video footage
   conclusively shows the Deputies’ use of force was not “clearly
   unreasonable,” Hanks, 853 F.3d at 744, under the circumstances.
           We first analyze whether Moring is entitled to qualified immunity,
   then Hart. See Solis, 31 F.4th at 981 (“We examine each officer’s actions
   independently to determine whether he is entitled to qualified immunity.”).
                                                1.
           Analyzing the Graham factors, the district court determined there
   were genuine issues of fact as to whether Perkins suffered an injury during
   the altercation, whether her purported crime was severe, and whether she
           _____________________
           3
                While the Deputies ostensibly challenge materiality, their brief repeatedly
   contests the district court’s conclusion that genuine fact disputes exist. Thus, “despite
   giving lip service to the correct legal standard,” much of the Deputies’ argument
   improperly challenges genuineness rather than materiality of the fact disputes found by the
   district court. Reyes, 287 F.3d at 351. And the Deputies’ briefing often “does not take the
   facts in a light most favorable to [Perkins].” Id. at 350. Those deficiencies aside, we assess
   the Deputies’ arguments viewing the facts most favorably to Perkins except where the facts
   are otherwise conclusively established by the videos. See Trammell, 868 F.3d at 338.

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   posed a threat to the safety of the officers or others. We cannot, and do not,
   question those conclusions. See Ramirez, 716 F.3d at 373. But the court also
   found that Perkins actively resisted the Deputies when they tried to arrest
   her—a fact the videos conclusively prove, and which proves conclusive in
   assessing whether the Deputies, particularly Deputy Moring, are entitled to
   immunity.
          “‘[A] suspect’s refusal to comply with instructions’ may indicate that
   physical force is justified . . . .” Joseph, 981 F.3d at 332 (quoting Deville, 567
   F.3d at 167–68); see also Hutcheson v. Dallas Cnty., 994 F.3d 477, 480 (5th Cir.
   2021) (“Resisting while being handcuffed constitutes active resistance and
   justifies the use of at least some force.”). However, “[t]he timing, amount,
   and form of a suspect’s resistance are key to determining whether the force
   used by an officer was appropriate or excessive.” Joseph, 981 F.3d at 332.
   “To stay within constitutional bounds, an officer must use force ‘with
   measured and ascending actions that correspond[ ] to [a suspect’s] escalating
   verbal and physical resistance.’” Id. (alterations in original) (quoting Poole v.
   City of Shreveport, 691 F.3d 624, 629 (5th Cir. 2012)). Notably, “[f]orce must
   be reduced once a suspect has been subdued.” Id. at 335.
          The videos demonstrate that Deputy Moring “stay[ed] within
   constitutional bounds.” Id. at 332. Deputy Hart first approached Perkins
   and attempted to place her hands behind her back. When she pulled away,
   Moring approached to assist, and both Deputies repeatedly warned Perkins
   not to resist. Perkins then sat on the ground and refused to place her hands
   behind her back. As both Deputies attempted to cuff Perkins, she continued
   to pull away and verbally antagonize them. The Deputies eventually forced
   Perkins onto her stomach, after which Moring placed his elbow on her back
   while Hart attempted to place handcuffs on her. Critically, as soon as Hart
   put the handcuffs on Perkins, Moring stood up and walked towards D.J.

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   Moring did not touch Perkins again. In other words, as soon as Perkins was
   subdued, Moring reduced the force he applied, to none at all. See id. at 335.
          The district court’s analysis of the summary judgment record up to
   that point is not problematic, as it aligns with the video evidence. And that
   evidence presents no material issue regarding the force either Deputy used
   in their efforts to cuff and subdue Perkins, who indisputably was resisting
   arrest. But the court thereafter erred by finding a genuine dispute of material
   fact regarding both Deputies’ conduct based on Deputy Hart’s actions after
   Perkins was cuffed—and after Deputy Moring stood up and engaged D.J. In
   other words, the district court impermissibly treated the Deputies in tandem,
   denying both of them qualified immunity because of Hart’s alleged choking
   of Perkins, which the videos demonstrate Moring could not even see as it
   occurred. Assessing Deputy Moring’s conduct individually, Solis, 31 F.4th
   at 981, there is no dispute that his use of force was proportional to Perkins’s
   resistance, and there is no dispute he stopped using force once Perkins was
   subdued. Deputy Moring is therefore entitled to qualified immunity as a
   matter of law. See Hutcheson, 994 F.3d at 481.
                                          2.
          As for Deputy Hart, based on Perkins’s version of events alone, the
   district court’s denial of summary judgment to Hart could withstand
   scrutiny; she alleges Hart choked her, and Hart denies it—a classic dispute
   of material fact. However, when the evidence is “viewed in the light depicted
   by the videotape,” Scott, 550 U.S. at 381, it is clear that Hart is also entitled
   to qualified immunity. The district court, focusing on Hart’s alleged choking
   of Perkins, found a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether the
   Deputies’ use of force was proportional to Perkins’s resistance once she was
   handcuffed. In so doing, the court accepted Perkins’s allegations that “she
   was choked twice.” But the district court should not have adopted Perkins’s

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   version of the facts because “no reasonable jury” could find that Hart choked
   Perkins based on the video. See id. at 380.
           Picking up where we left off above, Perkins’s nephew’s video 4 shows
   that once Hart put the handcuffs on Perkins, Deputy Moring stood up and
   walked towards D.J. Meanwhile, Hart continued to struggle with Perkins on
   the ground. Because Moring was blocking D.J.’s and the nephew’s camera
   angles, much of that struggle is obscured. But Hart kept pressure on
   Perkins’s back for about a minute to subdue her. When Hart released the
   pressure, Perkins flipped onto her back and began kicking and struggling with
   Hart again. At that point, Hart placed his hand on Perkins’s shoulder to bring
   her under control, or to try to get up. For two seconds, the nephew’s video
   shows Hart’s hand on Perkins’s neck, and Perkins can be heard screaming,
   “why you choking me?” Moments later, Hart and Perkins stood up and
   walked toward the street. The video then ends.
           “[V]iewed in the light depicted by the videotape,” id. at 381, Hart’s
   use of force was proportional to Perkins’s resistance. He kept pressure on
   her back for less than a minute and then reduced his force. At that point,
   Perkins flipped onto her back and began kicking, i.e., resumed resisting Hart.
   As they struggled, Hart placed his hand on Perkins’s shoulder, and it slipped
   for a couple seconds onto her neck. Perkins’s exclamation about choking
   notwithstanding, the video shows no choke.                      And Hart’s actions
   “correspond[ed] to [Perkins’s] . . . physical resistance.” See Joseph, 981 F.3d
   at 332–33. And the fact that Hart’s hand was briefly at Perkins’s neck does
   not constitute excessive force. Cf. Williams v. Bramer, 180 F.3d 699, 704 (5th
   Cir. 1999) (finding that an officer’s force was not excessive with respect to an
           _____________________
           4
           As mentioned in note 2, there were three videos taken of the incident. But the
   nephew’s video is the only one that shows the purported choking. D.J.’s video is blocked
   by Moring as the alleged choke occurred, and the neighbor’s video does not show it either.

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   alleged choking that occurred while the officer attempted to search the
   plaintiff’s mouth). The district court erred in basing its denial of summary
   judgment on Perkins’s version of the facts, despite what the video footage
   shows. Deputy Hart is entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law.
                                          B.
          Next, we turn to D.J.’s claim for excessive force. Such claims are
   governed by the Fourth Amendment, which protects the right to be free from
   excessive force during a seizure. Poole v. City of Shreveport, 691 F.3d 624, 627
   (5th Cir. 2012). “A violation of this right occurs when a seized person suffers
   an injury that results directly and only from a clearly excessive and objectively
   unreasonable use of force.” Joseph, 981 F.3d at 332 (citing Poole, 691 F.3d at
   628); see Ontiveros v. City of Rosenberg, 564 F.3d 379, 382 (5th Cir. 2009).
          Here, our task is straightforward because there was simply no seizure
   from which an excessive force claim can stem. See, e.g., Brower v. Cnty. of
   Inyo, 489 U.S. 593, 595 (1989) (“We reasoned that ‘[w]henever an officer
   restrains the freedom of a person to walk away, he has seized that person.’”
   (quoting Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 7 (1985) (alteration in original))); see
   also Graham, 490 U.S. at 395 (explaining that excessive force cases stem from
   the course of an “arrest, investigatory stop, or other ‘seizure’ of a free
   citizen” and should be analyzed under the Fourth Amendment’s
   reasonableness standard). At no point was D.J. prevented from leaving the
   scene—rather, he was repeatedly asked to do so, to “get back” and move
   away while Deputy Moring was securing the perimeter. True, he was
   prevented from further approaching Perkins and Deputy Hart, but that was
   the officers’ prerogative to secure the scene and did not infringe on D.J.’s
   Fourth Amendment rights. See United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544,
   552–55 (1980) (collecting cases, including Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968),

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   delineating the difference between permissible police conduct furthering
   police duty and conduct that constitutes a seizure).
          Thus, even accepting D.J.’s version of the facts as true, he cannot
   prevail on a claim of excessive force because there was no violation of his
   Fourth Amendment rights. See Joseph, 981 F.3d at 330; Ontiveros, 564 F.3d
   at 382. The district court erred in holding otherwise, and the Deputies are
   entitled to summary judgment as to this claim.
                                          C.
          D.J.’s First Amendment retaliation claim against Deputy Moring
   fares better. To establish such a claim, D.J. must show (1) he was “engaged
   in constitutionally protected activity,” (2) Moring’s actions caused him to
   “suffer an injury that would chill a person of ordinary firmness from
   continuing to engage in that activity,” and (3) Moring’s “adverse actions
   were substantially motivated against [D.J.’s] exercise of constitutionally
   protected conduct.” See Keenan v. Tejeda, 290 F.3d 252, 258 (5th Cir. 2002).
   The district court determined D.J. satisfied all three prongs, as he was
   engaged in lawful activity—the filming of the arrest—and there were no non-
   retaliatory grounds to justify Moring’s interference with D.J.’s First
   Amendment rights, particularly because D.J. was not engaged in any illegal
   activity. The district court relied on Moring’s deposition testimony, in
   which he admitted he intentionally stood in front of D.J. and blocked him
   from recording Perkins’s arrest.
          As to the first element, in 2017, we clearly established that “a First
   Amendment right to record the police does exist, subject only to reasonable
   time, place, and manner restrictions.” Turner v. Lieutenant Driver, 848 F.3d
   678, 688 (5th Cir. 2017).          While Moring acknowledges there is a
   constitutional right to film the police, he insists this case is different because

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   D.J. “exceed[ed] that right to the point of interference.” He pegs his
   argument to our recent case, Buehler v. Dear, 27 F.4th 969 (5th Cir. 2022).
          The Buehler court concluded there was not a clearly established right
   to record the police in 2015. Id. at 992. However, while Buehler was
   published after Turner, the events in Buehler happened well before Turner
   was decided. The Buehler court thus did not engage in further analysis
   because the officers were entitled to qualified immunity, as the First
   Amendment right had not been clearly established at the time of the officers’
   actions. Regardless, Moring latches on to Buehler’s opening statement—that
   there is a “line between filming the police, which is legal, and hindering the
   police, which is not.” Id. at 976 (asking, but not answering, “How close is
   ‘too close’ such that the filming, however well-intentioned, becomes
   hazardous, diverting officers’ attention and impeding their ability to perform
   their duties in fast-moving, highly charged situations?”).
          Buehler is easily distinguishable. There, the plaintiff was a police-
   accountability activist who was arrested on notoriously crowded Sixth Street
   in downtown Austin, Texas, while recording police activity. Id. (describing
   Buehler’s actions as “cop watching”). He engaged in repeated verbal
   confrontations with police officers, pushing the boundaries of how close to
   them he was permitted to stand while recording. Id. Buehler was arrested
   for misdemeanor interference with performance of official duties after the
   bickering escalated between him and the police. Id. The situation here is
   fundamentally different. While D.J. was clearly close to the arrest scene—
   the perimeter of which was being secured by Moring—D.J. was not a hazard,
   was not too close, and did not impede the Deputies’ ability to perform their
   duties. Indeed, the Deputies successfully handcuffed Perkins despite D.J.’s
   presence and active recording.

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                                     No. 22-30456

          As we explained in Turner, “[f]ilming the police contributes to the
   public’s ability to hold the police accountable, ensure that police officers are
   not abusing their power, and make informed decisions about police policy.”
   848 F.3d at 689. Such was the case here. D.J., therefore, did not cross the
   “line between filming the police . . . and hindering the police,” Buehler, 27
   F.4th at 976, and was engaged in a clearly established, constitutionally
   protected activity on his family’s private property.
          We also agree that D.J. has substantiated a requisite injury. That
   element “requires some showing that the plaintiff’s exercise of free speech
   has been curtailed.” McLin v. Ard, 866 F.3d 682, 696 (5th Cir. 2017) (quoting
   Kennan, 290 F.3d at 258)). “The effect on freedom of speech may be small,
   but since there is no justification for harassing people for exercising their
   constitutional rights it need not be great in order to be actionable.” Id. at 697
   (quoting Kennan, 290 F.3d at 259).
          The district court found that D.J. suffered an injury when Moring
   pointed his taser at D.J. and verbally threatened him. To be clear, Moring
   was justified in securing the perimeter. However, Moring also verbally
   taunted and shoved D.J. And Moring admitted in his deposition that he
   intentionally moved from side to side to block D.J. from recording the arrest,
   not to control the perimeter or respond to D.J.’s interference. Moring’s
   actions, coupled with the threat of the taser and Moring’s admission, could
   lead a reasonable jury to find that D.J’s speech was chilled and that Moring’s
   actions were “substantially motivated against [D.J.’s] exercise” of his First
   Amendment right. The district court therefore did not err by denying
   Deputy Moring summary judgment as to D.J.’s First Amendment claim.
                                         IV.
          To sum up: The district court erred in denying summary judgment
   for the Deputies as to Perkins’s excessive force claim. The video evidence

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Case: 22-30456     Document: 00516985624           Page: 16   Date Filed: 11/30/2023

                                    No. 22-30456

   conclusively demonstrates that neither Deputy employed excessive force to
   subdue Perkins, who just as conclusively was resisting arrest.
          D.J.’s excessive force claim fails because there was simply no seizure
   from which such a claim could stem. But we agree with the district court that
   D.J.’s filming of the arrest was a clearly established, constitutionally
   protected activity that overcomes Moring’s qualified immunity defense at
   this stage of the proceedings.
          Accordingly, we DISMISS this appeal in part, REVERSE and
   RENDER in part, and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with
   this opinion.

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Case: 22-30456     Document: 00516985624           Page: 17     Date Filed: 11/30/2023

                                    No. 22-30456

   James C. Ho, Circuit Judge, dissenting in part:
          Citizens have an established constitutional right to record police
   interactions with members of the public, under our circuit precedent. See
   Turner v. Lieutenant Driver, 848 F.3d 678 (5th Cir. 2017).
          But this case does not present a violation of that right. To begin with,
   the available video evidence confirms that Officer Ryan Moring did not once
   ask D.J. to cease filming. Nor does it show Officer Moring otherwise trying
   to prevent D.J. from recording his mother’s arrest.
          To the contrary, it shows that Officer Moring was simply trying to
   establish a reasonable perimeter so that his fellow officer could safely detain
   D.J.’s mother, who was behaving in a hostile, abusive, and insulting manner
   toward the officers. See id. at 688 (“[A] First Amendment right to record the
   police does exist, subject only to reasonable time, place, and manner
   restrictions.”). Specifically, the video shows D.J. shouting at the officers
   while Perkins is just a few feet away actively resisting the officers’ attempts
   to pacify her. So Moring understandably asks D.J. to back up. Yet despite
   Moring’s repeated requests to back up and avoid interfering with their work,
   D.J. refuses. Instead, D.J. repeatedly, and with increasing intensity, shouts
   that he refuses to move. A safe distance is eventually established, at which
   time Moring stops standing between D.J. and Perkins.
          In addition, Officer Moring’s affidavit states that, far from trying to
   interfere with anyone’s right to record, he specifically affirmed that D.J.
   could “film from the porch of the residence.” Moring Aff. 6 at ¶28.
          So I would affirm the judgment in its entirety. The Constitution does
   not compel police officers to affirmatively help a citizen secure the ideal
   camera angle while that citizen is actively berating the police just a few feet
   away from an active physical struggle with another person. I dissent in part.

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