Court Opinion

ID: 9900941
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-20 20:00:57.735388+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:21:22.942735
License: Public Domain

USCA11 Case: 23-11410     Document: 30-1     Date Filed: 11/20/2023   Page: 1 of 12

                                                    [DO NOT PUBLISH]
                                    In the
                 United States Court of Appeals
                          For the Eleventh Circuit

                           ____________________

                                  No. 23-11410
                            Non-Argument Calendar
                           ____________________

        LONDON R. BOUVIER,
                                                       Plaintiﬀ-Appellee,
        versus
        CITY OF COVINGTON, GEORGIA, et al.,

                                                             Defendants,

        OFFICER STARR SMITH,
        #211 in her Oﬃcial capacity & Personal capacity,
        OFFICER BRANDON WILKERSON,
        #205 in his Personal & Oﬃcial capacities,
        OFFICER SCOTT FAIRBURN,
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        2                     Opinion of the Court                 23-11410

        #228 in his Personal & Oﬃcial capacities,

                                                    Defendants-Appellants.

                            ____________________

                  Appeal from the United States District Court
                     for the Northern District of Georgia
                     D.C. Docket No. 1:21-cv-04597-VMC
                           ____________________

        Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, and NEWSOM and ANDERSON,
        Circuit Judges.
        PER CURIAM:
               Sergeant Starr Smith and Officers Brandon Wilkerson and
        Scott Fairburn appeal the denial of their motion for judgment on
        the pleadings against London Bouvier’s complaint of unlawful sei-
        zure and excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
        42 U.S.C. § 1983. After our review of the relevant video recordings,
        we reverse the denial of qualified immunity and remand with in-
        structions to dismiss the complaint against the officers.
               The facts are not reasonably in dispute because the encoun-
        ter between Bouvier and the officers was recorded on two
        body-worn cameras, and neither party disputes the authenticity of
        the videos on appeal. We accept Bouvier’s allegations as true, but
        where the video clearly contradicts her allegations, we view the
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        23-11410                Opinion of the Court                          3

        facts “in the light depicted by the videotape.” Scott v. Harris,
        550 U.S. 372, 380–81 (2007).
                On August 18, 2018, the officers responded to a 9-1-1 call
        from Lance Taylor, a contract security guard for Piedmont Hospi-
        tal Newton, regarding a disturbance in the labor-and-delivery unit.
        Smith was the first to arrive. Taylor told Smith that the hospital
        staff “were trying to give this girl an epidural” but that another girl,
        later identified as Bouvier, “was refusing to leave the room after
        she was asked numerous times by the staff. We asked her. She
        wouldn’t leave.” Taylor said that the staff “finally just got the pro-
        cedure done anyway,” but the doctor said that he wanted “her to
        follow the rules.” Taylor also told Smith, “[I]f she’s gonna act like
        that all day, . . . if she’s gonna be interfering with the staff and all
        that, she’s probably gonna end up having to go.” He explained it
        was up to the hospital representative to decide whether to remove
        Bouvier.
                Inside the hospital room, Smith asked the representative,
        “Do you want her to stay or no?” The representative whispered,
        “No,” and then hesitated, “I don’t know. . . . If they were able to do
        the procedure, then—then I’m cool. Um, but if this continues, then
        yes, she’s going to have to . . . because she’s putting the patient at
        risk.” Smith relayed that the doctor was able to administer the epi-
        dural and said, “[I]f you want her out, she’ll be out. I don’t want
        her giving y’all a hard time all day long.”
              Wilkerson and Fairburn arrived and stood outside the room
        while Smith waited to speak to one of the nurses. As the nurse was
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        4                      Opinion of the Court                23-11410

        leaving the room, she widened her eyes at the hospital representa-
        tive and inhaled. When the hospital representative asked if the
        nurse wanted Bouvier removed, the nurse raised her eyebrows,
        made a face, and said that she only had ten minutes left on her shift
        so Bouvier could “f**k off for all I care.” The representative told
        Smith, “She’s okay for now.”
               Smith walked into the room and said to Bouvier, “Ma’am.
        Ma’am. Come here for me.” After Bouvier ignored her, Smith said,
        “[Y]ou’re giving a problem. So instead of removing you—listen, lis-
        ten—instead of removing you, I just need to speak with you.” Bou-
        vier asked “[a]bout what?” and Smith stated, “About the whole
        thing. So, so you can stay here with [your friend], put the cup down
        and come talk to me.” Bouvier’s friend told Bouvier to talk to
        Smith and asked Smith to promise that Bouvier could come back.
        Smith said, “Yes, if she cooperates with me,” and again told Bou-
        vier to come talk to her.
               Outside the room, Smith asked Bouvier if she had identifica-
        tion on her, and Bouvier said she did but asked, “For what?” Smith
        explained that Bouvier could make this as simple or as hard as she
        wanted to, and Bouvier responded, “You guys are doing too
        much.” Bouvier then told her friend’s boyfriend, Mr. Young,
        “They’re kicking me out of the hospital.” Smith said, “No I’m not.
        If you’ll listen to me, I want your ID, and I want you to cooperate.
        And then you can stay.” Bouvier said, “For what? I didn’t get
        stopped by an officer.” The other officers explained, “We’re here
        for you,” and, “We’re here for a reason. The law says you have to
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        23-11410               Opinion of the Court                         5

        give us your ID.” During this exchange, Smith explained to Young
        that his girlfriend wanted Bouvier to stay, but Bouvier was not co-
        operating with staff or the officers. After Bouvier complained about
        the hospital’s service and told the officers that they were “starting
        problems,” she tried to walk past Smith to re-enter the room, but
        Smith extended her arm across the doorway. Bouvier said that
        Smith had committed a battery and began shouting, “My boy-
        friend’s mother is an officer,” and “Don’t make me make those
        calls.”
               Because of the shouting, a nurse closed the door to the
        room. At that point, Smith announced to Bouvier and the other
        officers, “There are other people here. We’re fixin’ to get out of the
        hospital.” Bouvier said she was making a phone call to an officer
        she knew and grabbed onto the railing on the wall behind her with
        both hands. Smith grabbed Bouvier’s arm and said three times, “It
        is time for you to leave,” while moving her away from the door. A
        few seconds later, Bouvier, who was arguing with Fairburn and
        Wilkerson, pulled her arm away from Smith. Smith announced
        that Bouvier was under arrest and instructed twice, “Give us your
        hands now.” Bouvier instead pulled her hands up to her chest so
        that Smith could not handcuff her.
               Bouvier alleges that she was wrestled to the floor. Because
        the video is unclear about whether she dropped or was forced to
        the floor, we accept Bouvier’s allegation. In either event, after Bou-
        vier was face down on the floor, Smith shouted six times, “Give us
        your hands,” but Bouvier screamed and refused to unlock her
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        6                      Opinion of the Court                 23-11410

        arms. One officer used a pressure-point technique to keep Bouvier
        on the floor, but Smith and the other officer still were unable to get
        both of Bouvier’s hands behind her back to be handcuffed. After
        the officers announced “Taser” eight times, one of the officers de-
        ployed his Taser in a five-second burst, a two-second burst, and a
        three-second burst, over the course of 17 seconds. An officer ex-
        plained to Young that they were tasing her “[be]cause she won’t
        comply.”
               After Bouvier put her hands behind her back and was hand-
        cuffed, the officers pulled Bouvier to her feet and walked her out
        of the labor-and-delivery unit while she continued yelling at and
        struggling with them because she wanted to go back for her cell
        phone. Smith told Bouvier three times that she was “still not obey-
        ing orders.” Bouvier was charged with misdemeanor disorderly
        conduct, O.C.G.A. § 16-11-39(a), and misdemeanor obstruction, id.
        § 16-10-24(a).
                Bouvier complained that the officers violated her Fourth
        Amendment rights by unlawfully seizing her and using excessive
        force. 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The officers submitted the video from
        Smith’s body-worn camera and moved for judgment on the plead-
        ings based on qualified immunity. The officers argued that, when
        they arrived at the hospital, they had probable cause to detain or
        arrest Bouvier for criminal trespass based on the 9-1-1 call plus Tay-
        lor’s statement that she had refused the staff’s instructions to leave
        a patient’s room during a sterile medical procedure. The officers
        argued that, instead of arresting Bouvier upon arrival, they
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        23-11410               Opinion of the Court                          7

        investigated whether she would be willing to follow the hospital’s
        rules going forward so that she could stay. The officers argued that
        when Bouvier refused to give them her identification, became loud
        and belligerent, and refused to walk away from the room with
        them, they had probable cause to arrest her for hindering their in-
        vestigation. The officers also argued that they used reasonable
        force to arrest Bouvier. In response, Bouvier submitted video foot-
        age from one of the male officers’ body-worn cameras.
                The district court denied the motion and ruled that the of-
        ficers were not entitled to qualified immunity. The district court
        rejected the officers’ argument that they had probable cause to de-
        tain Bouvier for criminal trespass. The district court ruled that the
        officers lacked probable cause to arrest Bouvier for obstruction be-
        cause, although refusing to comply with an officer’s command is
        sufficient to sustain an obstruction charge in Georgia, it was a
        “first-tier” encounter under Georgia law in which Bouvier was free
        to walk away. See, e.g., State v. Walker, 764 S.E.2d 804, 805–06 (Ga.
        2014). The district court ruled that tasing Bouvier was objectively
        unreasonable because it was unclear whether she committed a
        crime, posed an immediate threat, or was required to comply with
        the officers’ commands. Regarding whether the officers violated a
        clearly established right, the district court stated that the officers
        were “mistaken when they contend that the only way to show a
        violation of a clearly established right is by pointing to judicial de-
        cisions” and cited our decision in Fils v. City of Aventura, 647 F.3d
        1272 (11th Cir. 2011).
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        8                      Opinion of the Court                  23-11410

               We review de novo the denial of a motion for judgment on
        the pleadings. Mergens v. Dreyfoos, 166 F.3d 1114, 1116 (11th Cir.
        1999). A motion for judgment on the pleadings is governed by the
        same standard as a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and
        should be granted when there are no issues of material fact, and the
        movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Samara v. Taylor,
        38 F.4th 141, 149, 152 (11th Cir. 2022).
                Qualified immunity shields officials who are acting within
        their discretionary authority from liability when their conduct does
        not violate a constitutional right that was clearly established at the
        time of the conduct. Williams v. Aguirre, 965 F.3d 1147, 1156 (11th
        Cir. 2020). “We are required to grant qualified immunity to a de-
        fendant official” who was acting within her discretionary authority
        unless the plaintiff can prove “(1) that the facts, when construed in
        the plaintiff’s favor, show that the official committed a constitu-
        tional violation and, if so, (2) that the law, at the time of the offi-
        cial’s act, clearly established the unconstitutionality of that con-
        duct.” Singletary v. Vargas, 804 F.3d 1174, 1180 (11th Cir. 2015).
               The officers argue that they are entitled to qualified immun-
        ity because they had probable cause to arrest Bouvier for obstruc-
        tion based on her ongoing disruptive behavior and failure to com-
        ply with orders to walk away from the patient’s room with them.
        A warrantless arrest must be supported by probable cause to be-
        lieve that the suspect committed a crime. See Huebner v. Bradshaw,
        935 F.3d 1183, 1187 (11th Cir. 2019). “Probable cause exists when
        the facts, considering the totality of the circumstances and viewed
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        23-11410               Opinion of the Court                         9

        from the perspective of a reasonable officer, establish ‘a probability
        or substantial chance of criminal activity.’” Washington v. Howard,
        25 F.4th 891, 898–99 (11th Cir. 2022) (quoting District of Columbia v.
        Wesby, 583 U.S. 48, 57 (2018)). To determine whether probable
        cause exists, we ask “whether a reasonable officer could con-
        clude . . . that there was a substantial chance of criminal activity.”
        Id. (omission in original).
               Georgia law defines obstruction as “knowingly and willfully
        obstruct[ing] or hinder[ing] any law enforcement officer . . . in the
        lawful discharge of his or her official duties . . . .” O.C.G.A.
        § 16-10-24(a) (2019). This offense “was made purposefully broad to
        cover actions which might not be otherwise unlawful, but which
        obstructed or hindered law enforcement officers in carrying out
        their duties,” such as refusing to comply with an officer’s directive
        or command, Harris v. State, 726 S.E.2d 455, 458 (Ga. Ct. App.
        2012), or refusing to identify oneself after being lawfully obtained,
        see Draper v. Reynolds, 369 F.3d 1270, 1276–77 n.10 (11th Cir. 2004);
        Pinchon v. State, 516 S.E.2d 537, 538 (Ga. Ct. App. 1999).
                The district court erred in denying the officers qualified im-
        munity from Bouvier’s claim of an unlawful seizure. To start, the
        officers had reasonable suspicion to detain Bouvier outside the hos-
        pital room based on the 9-1-1 call and the circumstances at the hos-
        pital. See United States v. Powell, 222 F.3d 913, 917 (11th Cir. 2000)
        (“[L]aw enforcement may detain a person briefly for an investiga-
        tory stop if they have a reasonable, articulable suspicion based on
        objective facts that the person has engaged in, or is about to engage
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        10                    Opinion of the Court                 23-11410

        in, criminal activity.”). When Smith entered the hospital room, she
        knew Bouvier had caused a disturbance with the doctor and staff
        by refusing to leave when instructed to do so, and the disturbance
        had escalated to the point that the hospital security guard sought
        the officers’ assistance. During her investigation, Smith spoke to
        Taylor, the hospital representative, a nurse, and Bouvier. Taylor
        and the hospital representative agreed that Bouvier could not stay
        if she continued to cause issues, and the nurse was visibly affected
        by Bouvier’s behavior. The representative’s statement that Bouvier
        was “okay” was qualified by “for now” and reasonably suggested to
        the officers that the staff was concerned that Bouvier would cause
        another disturbance. So the officers had a reasonable, articulable
        suspicion to detain Bouvier to investigate, and the district court
        erred by applying the tier-approach for detentions under Georgia
        law instead of the reasonableness standard of the Fourth Amend-
        ment. See Virginia v. Moore, 553 U.S. 164, 168 (2008) (“We look to
        the statutes and common law of the founding era to determine the
        norms that the Fourth Amendment was meant to preserve.”).
               Probable cause supported Bouvier’s arrest because a reason-
        able officer could conclude that she was obstructing their lawful
        investigation. After being detained, Bouvier tried to walk away
        from the officers, refused their requests for identification, raised
        her voice, and defied Smith’s instruction that the group walk away
        from the patient’s room by grabbing onto the railing on the wall.
        See Draper, 369 F.3d at 1276–77 (granting qualified immunity where
        the defendant refused to produce requested documents and “acted
        in a confrontational and agitated manner, paced back and forth,
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        23-11410               Opinion of the Court                         11

        and repeatedly yelled at [the officer].”); Harris, 726 S.E.2d at 458.
        Because the officers had probable cause to seize Bouvier, they are
        entitled to dismissal of this claim.
                We also agree with the officers that the district court erred
        in denying qualified immunity because the officers’ use of force
        was reasonable. Neither Bouvier nor the district court cited
        caselaw establishing her right to be free from nondeadly force
        while actively resisting a lawful arrest. The district court cited our
        decision in Fils, but Fils supports the officers’ position. In Fils, we
        held that the use of unprovoked force against a non-hostile, non-vi-
        olent suspect who has not disobeyed instructions violates that sus-
        pect’s rights under the Fourth Amendment. 647 F.3d at 1290. But
        we explained that “where a suspect appears hostile, belligerent, and
        uncooperative, use of a Taser might be preferable to a physical
        struggle causing serious harm to the suspect or the officer.” Id.
        (quotation marks omitted). By contrast, in Oliver v. Fiorino we held
        that tasing a compliant, nonthreatening individual eight times in
        under two minutes, resulting in his death, violated the Fourth
        Amendment. 586 F.3d 898, 906–08 (11th Cir. 2009). We explained
        that, although the initial deployment of the Taser might have been
        justified, repeatedly deploying the Taser and reloading it to con-
        tinue tasing the individual, who was not suspected of a crime and
        did not act belligerently, was unreasonable under the circum-
        stances as a matter of obvious clarity, such that a reasonable officer
        in the situation would have recognized that his actions were un-
        lawful. Id. at 903–08.
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        12                     Opinion of the Court                  23-11410

               Although Bouvier posed no violent threat and was being ar-
        rested for a misdemeanor, her physical resistance to being hand-
        cuffed caused a physical struggle and pile-up in the hallway of a
        maternity ward. Despite eight total commands from Smith to give
        the officers her hands, Bouvier kept her hands pulled up to her
        chest and her elbows locked to avoid being handcuffed. Smith and
        another officer tried to pull her arms back but were unsuccessful.
        In the light of Bouvier’s physical resistance and refusal to comply
        with repeated verbal commands, the application of the Taser for
        10 total seconds within a 17-second period to gain control of her
        and restore order to the hospital unit was not “wholly dispropor-
        tionate to the situation.” Reese v. Herbert, 527 F.3d 1253, 1274 (11th
        Cir. 2008). And because this force was not excessive, it could not
        have been clearly established or apparent to the officers that the
        force was unlawful at the time of the incident. See Charles v. Johnson,
        18 F.4th 686, 701 (11th Cir. 2021).
              We REVERSE the denial of the officers’ motion for judg-
        ment on the pleadings and REMAND with instructions to dismiss
        Bouvier’s complaint against the officers based on qualified immun-
        ity.