Chastang v. Levy
Chastang v. Levy
Opinion of the Court
This case is about a police officer's response to a triggered burglar alarm at a family's home that resulted in the shooting of two pet dogs, one of which died. Plaintiffs are the six members of the Chastang Family who each sue Defendant Gilad Levy ("Deputy Levy "), the officer responsible, for damages under
*1247I. BACKGROUND
A. Chastang Family
The Chastang family consists of six members: father Lawrence, Sr. ("Lawrence, Sr. "), mother Dora Patricia ("Patty "), eldest child Lawrence, Jr. ("Lawrence, Jr. "), second child Miles Christian ("Christian "), daughter Adriana Patricia ("Adriana "), and youngest child Winston ("Winston "). (Docs. 20-3, p. 5:22-24; 20-4, p. 7:1-5.) Lawrence, Jr. is 28, Christian is 26, Adriana is 24, and Winston is 22 or 23. (Docs. 20-2, p. 5; 20-5, p. 9:6; 20-6, p. 5:12; 20-4, p. 7:13.)
The family home is in Winter Garden, Florida. (Doc. 24-1, p. 2, ¶¶ 2-3.) Sitting on a one-acre lot, the property contains the house, a pool, and a detached garage. (Docs. 20-5, p. 53:14-16; 24-1, p. 5.) A long driveway leads up to a large courtyard where numerous vehicles can be parked. (Doc. 24-1, p. 2, ¶ 6.) Before entering the house, at the beginning of the driveway on the right side, this sign is posted:
(Doc. 24-1, p. 2, ¶ 4, p. 7.) At the end of the driveway, on either side of the courtyard, are two additional signs:
(Id. at 2, ¶ 4; pp. 8, 12.) The "remain safely" sign is on the left; "sound your *1248horn" is on the right. (Id. ). The home is inside a gated community that requires an access code to enter. (Doc. 20-8, pp. 22:20-25, 23:1-4.)
Lawrence, Sr. and Patty have lived in this home for thirty years. (Doc. 24-1, p. 2, ¶¶ 2-3.) The children grew up there, but all moved away for college. (Doc. 20-4, pp. 6:21-25, 8:8-15.) Since then, they've sporadically stayed at the family home for breaks and visits, or longer stretches between other living arrangements. (Id. at 8:8-15.) Currently, Adriana is the only child staying there full-time; Lawrence, Jr. lives in the Cayman Islands; Christian lives at his own home in Oakland, Florida; and Winston, the Chastang still in school, lives by campus in Boca Raton, Florida. (Docs. 20-2, p. 8:5-7; 20-4, p. 8:12-13; 20-6, p. 5:14-15; 20-7, p. 5:14-15.)
B. Dogs Growing Up
The Chastangs are dog people. When Lawrence, Jr. was an infant, Lawrence, Sr. and Patty had a Collie named Prince. (Doc. 20-4, pp. 38-39.) But the first family dog was Sandy, a yellow Labrador the children grew up with. (Doc. 20-3, pp. 6-7.) She passed about ten or eleven years ago of natural causes and the family buried her in a marked site on their land. (Id. at 7:3-11; Docs. 20-7, pp. 24-24; 20-2, pp. 16-17.) Around this time, an ATV was stolen from the Chastangs' front yard, so the family decided to get a new dog. (Doc. 20-5, p. 27:2-18.) Christian took the lead in researching dogs and landed on a Rottweiler from a breeder in Gainesville, Florida. (Doc. 20-5, pp. 14-16.) It was selected as "a dog that would be able to roam around in [the] yard - within [the] yard and provide security so that ... when anybody would walk by [the] home, they would know that there was a big dog on the property and not to come in." (Id. at 16:12-17.) At the same time, the family installed an electronic fence along the perimeter of their property and put up the three yard signs. (Id. at 28-29.) Perhaps appropriately so, they named the dog Kimbo after a street fighter. (See
Between Sandy and Kimbo, the family rescued another dog "for a short time," who didn't stay with them. (Doc. 20-4, p. 39:19-25.) And after getting Kimbo, the family also got a teacup Yorkie, Teddy, who Adriana picked out for her fourteenth birthday. (Doc. 20-2, pp. 23-24.) Teddy died late summer 2016 after being attacked by two Pitbulls in the neighborhood right outside the Chastang home. (Doc. 20-3, pp. 8-9.)
C. Acquisition of Bane and Pepper
In 2014, two more dogs entered the Chastang fold. (Docs. 20-4, p. 12:10-12; 20-6, p. 12:16-18.) Lawrence, Jr. was living in Greenville, South Carolina with his then-girlfriend following his college graduation. (Doc. 20-4, p. 12:17-25.) For his birthday, she gifted him a seven-week old Rottweiler-she knew of his affinity for Kimbo, so selected the same breed for the puppy present. (Id. at 10:17-20, 12:10-12; Doc. 20-2, p. 18:7-21.) The pup was a total surprise, and Lawrence, Jr. named it Bane after the Batman character. (Doc. 20-4, pp. 23:2-6, 10:24-25.) Bane was the first dog Lawrence, Jr. owned in his own right, and he considers Bane his dog. (Id. at 17:19-23.) As such, Lawrence, Jr. took care of Bane's veterinary needs (id. at 17-19) and made the decision to put him in specialized alert and off-leash recall training (id. at 23-32).
*1249Wherever Lawrence, Jr. went, Bane went: When Lawrence, Jr. and his then-girlfriend relocated from Greenville to a townhouse in Orlando, Florida, Bane came along. (Id. at 13.) Then, around May 2016, Lawrence, Jr. and his girlfriend separated. (Id. at 13:21-25.) Taking Bane, he moved out of the townhouse to stay with his parents while he figured out next steps-his move to the Cayman Islands, where he intended to bring Bane, if possible. (Id. at 13-14.) While Lawrence, Jr. and Bane stayed at the family home, Patty helped take care of Bane by feeding him and letting him out. (Id. at 20-23.) As Lawrence, Jr. trained Bane on the electric fence, he was free to roam the property. (Id. at 72-73.)
That same year, Christian got a dog-a black Labrador he named Pepper. (Doc. 20-6, pp. 9-12.) He chose to rescue her during "a lonely year at UCF." (Id. at 29:22-25.) The decision was made without involving his family. (Id. at 30:8-10.) As he describes it, he "was living in a oneone apartment and no one really wanted to come hang out with [him] because a oneone apartment's boring, so [he] got the dog and hung out with her." (Id. ) He selected her from a rescue facility in Orange County; during his visit, she was "just brought in." (Id. at 11:6-10.) He asked about her, paid a $15 adoption fee, and the three-month old pup was his. (Id. at 11:6-16.) He named her Pepper based on her coloring and a "laylow" "soft" reggae band that matched her personality. (Id. at 11:21-25, 12:1.) Since adopting her, Christian trained her, got her vaccinated and took care of her veterinary needs. (Id. at 11-13.) He also taught her surfing. (Id. at 13.)
After Christian graduated from college in May 2015, he and Pepper stayed at the family home while looking for his own home to purchase or rent. (Id. at 6:13-18, 34-36.) Since moving to his Oakland home in October 2016, Pepper has a crate in both houses and shares time between them. (Id. at 8:24-25, 9:1-5, 36:1-7.) Even with this shared situation, Christian considers Pepper his dog as, among the other family dogs, "Pepper's the one that ... for the first year and a half of her life ... spent her time with [him]." (Id. at 6:22-25, 7:1-5.)
D. Incident
The summer of 2016, Lawrence, Sr. and Patty had a full house. Lawrence, Jr., Christian, and Adriana were staying at the family home, which meant Bane and Pepper were there, too, along with Kimbo and Teddy. (Doc. 20-2, pp. 8:1-4; 22:13-17, 28:20-25, 29:1-2.) But leading up to the Fourth of July holiday, the family was scattered: Lawrence, Sr. and Patty were at the family's condos in Cape Canaveral and Adriana was visiting her friend in the Bahamas. (Id. at 15:19-22; Docs. 20-3, p. 15:20-22; 20-5, p. 38:12-22.) Winston came up to join his brothers for the holiday, so he, Lawrence, Jr., and Christian manned the family home. (Doc. 20-7, pp. 11-12.)
On the afternoon of July 2, all of the boys were out, leaving the dogs home alone in their crates. (Docs. 20-7, p. 14:10-14; 20-6, p. 16:2-3; 20-4, p. 53:10-12). Patty's sister, Marianna Trejos ("Marianna "), was in town assisting a friend at a gun show and made plans with Patty to stay at the family home. (Doc. 20-11, pp. 8-9.) She arrived there around 5:15 p.m., when no one else was home, and parked her vehicle near the detached garage in the courtyard. (Id. at 10:3-19.) As is her habit, she headed to the backyard to tend to the plants and bushes. (Id. at 9, 11, 12.) Soon after, she popped into the house to use the restroom-the back door was unlocked, so she let herself in. (Id. at 13:8-15.) Opening the door triggered the house alarm, and a *1250continuous beeping noise sounded. (Id. at 14-15.) Marianna called her sister for the code, deactivated the alarm, and the noise stopped. (Id. at 18.) She then used the restroom and let Kimbo, Bane, and Pepper out of their kennels. (Id. at 22:13-16.) They headed out to the backyard, and Marianna returned to trimming bushes back by the family pool. (Id. at 22:17-25.)
Unbeknownst to Marianna, entering the alarm code did not resolve the triggered alarm. Rather, it was the first step, after which the alarm monitoring company puts out a call to the Chastangs' landline and asks for a second access code. (Doc. 20-3, pp. 15-17.) But because Marianna went outside after she deactivated the alarm, she missed the call from the alarm company to check on the house. (Doc. 20-11, pp. 18-19.) Without fulfilling this second step, the alarm company notifies the police. (Doc. 20-3, 17:3-6.)
At that time, Deputy Levy was on duty. (Doc. 20-9, pp. 42-43.) The call about the Chastangs' alarm was dispatched as a general burglary alarm to another deputy, and Deputy Levy responded. (Id. ) Alone, he arrived at the residence at 6:03 p.m. and entered the property. (Id. at 43:5-6, 16-22.) He saw the lawn sign at the front of the driveway saying, "No Admittance Without Prior Authorization"-the sign had no meaning for him since he was authorized to enter as a law enforcement officer on duty responding to a call. (Id. at 47:11-25, 48:1-5.) When he saw the vehicle parked at the end of the driveway, Deputy Levy had the dispatcher call inside the home to check if someone was in the residence before approaching further. (Id. at 21:22-25, 22:1; see also Doc. 20-12, p. 6.) He was told no one answered (Doc. 20-12, p. 6), so he parked his patrol car and walked up the driveway (Doc. 20-9, p. 100:15-21). He reportedly didn't see either lawn sign at the end of the driveway, so was unaware that dogs may be on the premises when he approached the house. (Id. at 48-50, 99.)
Standard protocol dictated Deputy Levy check all doors. (Id. at 47:4.) Following this, he went first to the detached garage to check the door, and found it unlocked. (Id. at 47, 56-57.) He then radioed his finding of an unsecured door and started walking back toward the entryway. (Doc. 20-12, p. 6.) He saw a black dog-Pepper-running toward him from the back of the house. (Id. ; Doc. 20-9, pp. 56-57.) Surprised at the dog's presence and approach, Deputy Levy took a step back in retreat, pulled out his service issued .45, and yelled, "Get back, get back!" (See Doc. 20-9, pp. 12-22, 119-120; Doc. 20-8, p. 25:17-18; see also Doc. 20-K.)
Dogs gone, Deputy Levy walked away from the garage and car toward the front of the house. (Id. ) He turned his body camera on,
After this initial interaction, additional police showed up on scene. (Doc. 20-8, pp. 33-34.) Christian then drove in, followed soon by Lawrence, Jr. (Doc. 20-6, pp. 18-25.) Lawrence, Jr. found Bane and took him to an emergency animal hospital. (Doc. 20-4, pp. 57-60.) Christian began searching for Pepper, who ran away after getting shot. (Doc. 20-6, pp. 24:22-25, 25:1-4.) When Winston, Lawrence, Sr., and Patty arrived, they all aided Christian. (Id. at 26; see also Docs. 20-3, p. 20:8-12; 20-7, p. 18.) After several hours, Lawrence, Sr. and Christian found her. (Doc. 20-6, pp. 26-27.) Lawrence, Jr. had returned home and he and Christian took Pepper to the same hospital as Bane. (Id. at 27:10-15.)
At the emergency animal hospital, Pepper got X-rays and the vet pronounced she'd make close to a full physical recovery. (Id. at 28:7-20.) Pepper returned to the family home with Christian later that night. (Doc. 20-4, pp. 69:19-23.) Bane's initial prognosis was similarly positive, but it changed once Lawrence, Jr. returned with Pepper. (Id. at 60-62.) Ultimately, to ease his suffering, Lawrence. Jr. made the decision to euthanize Bane. (Id. at 65-66) Lawrence, Jr. stayed with Bane while it happened, and took his body back to bury him in the family plot. (Id. at 66-67.)
E. This Action
Following the shooting, the family initiated this action against Deputy Levy in his *1252individual capacity under
II. LEGAL STANDARDS
Summary judgment is appropriate only if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that [it] is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a) ; Celotex Corp. v. Catrett ,
As to issues for which the nonmovant would bear the burden of proof at trial, the movant has two options: (1) it may simply point out an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case; or (2) it may provide "affirmative evidence demonstrating that the nonmoving party will be unable to prove its case at trial." Four Parcels , 941 F.2d at 1438 (citing Celotex Corp. ,
"A factual dispute is genuine 'if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.' " Four Parcels , 941 F.2d at 1437 (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. ,
III. DISCUSSION
A. Fourth Amendment Framework
The Fourth Amendment protects the "right of the people to be secure in *1253their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." U.S. Const. amend. IV. This language protects two "types of expectations": "searches" and "seizures." United States v. Jacobsen ,
The "reasonableness of a particular seizure depends not only on when it is made, but also how it is carried out." Graham v. Connor ,
To seek relief for an unreasonable seizure, a person must have a cognizable Fourth Amendment interest in the item seized. See Byrd v. United States , --- U.S. ----,
B. Summary Judgment Motions
At first blush, Deputy Levy argues that not all members of the Chastang family have adequate possessory interests in Bane and Pepper to bring their Fourth Amendment claims-which he classifies as a jurisdictional standing issue that the Court must decide before analyzing the reasonableness of the seizure. (Doc. 20, pp. 8-13.) Interestingly, Plaintiffs "agree" that deciding who owned Bane and Pepper is a "threshold jurisdictional question," and argue that each Chastang has "standing to litigate a claim for the unreasonable seizure of the family dogs." (Doc. 24, p. 2; see also id. at 2-8.) Clearly, both sides got mired in "Fourth Amendment standing" and "Article III standing," but the Court will not join them in the bog. Instead, the Court exercises its discretion to first analyze the reasonableness of the challenged seizure-the heart of these summary judgment motions.
Pets are "effects" subject to Fourth Amendment protection. See Altman v. City of High Point, N.C. ,
Under these circumstances, the Court finds that Deputy Levy's actions defending himself were objectively reasonable, as a reasonable officer in his position would have perceived an imminent threat to his personal safety when Bane and Pepper were directly in front of him. See Graham ,
Plaintiffs submit that a reasonable officer in this situation would've seen the lawn sign alerting the presence of dogs, and thus not been so surprised to draw a gun. (Docs. 23, pp. 7-9; 24, pp. 8-9.) This is neither here nor there, as accepting their claim that a reasonable officer could see the third sign does not beget a different outcome. Sheer surprise at Pepper's presence did not elicit Deputy Levy's shooting response; rather, he shot only when: his yells didn't work; he couldn't retreat further; and, most importantly, the two dogs came directly in front of him. At this point-despite Plaintiff's contentions that the dogs posed no clear and imminent danger to Deputy Levy-it is reasonable for an officer to feel threatened and react by shooting. These dogs were not languidly curious, trying to sniff out a new presence. Rather, they ran menacingly toward the unknown presence and, in a combined assault, advanced directly at it. At that moment, Bane and Pepper showed no signs of breaking off their attack or calming. To react by shooting them was objectively reasonable.
Finally, Plaintiffs maintain that non-lethal force should have been used instead. (See Docs. 23, pp. 7-12; 24, pp. 10-14.) This argument does not carry the day. Although lethal force may not have been the best possible response, that is not the test-reasonableness is. See Altman ,
Having found Deputy Levy's actions reasonable, the Court has no basis to find a constitutional violation occurred here. Thus, Plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment claims fail, and summary judgment is due to be granted to Deputy Levy and denied for Plaintiffs.
IV. CONCLUSION
Accordingly, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED as follows:
1. Defendant Gilad Levy's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 20) is GRANTED .
2. Plaintiffs Lawrence J. Chastang, Dora Patricia Chastang, Lawrence Chastang, Jr., Miles Christian Chastang, Adriana Patricia Chastang, and Winston Chastang's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. 23) is DENIED .
3. The Clerk is DIRECTED to:
a. Enter judgment in favor of Defendant Gilad Levy and against Plaintiffs Lawrence J. Chastang, Dora Patricia Chastang, Lawrence Chastang, Jr., Miles Christian Chastang, Adriana Patricia Chastang, and Winston Chastang;
b. Terminate any other pending motions and deadlines; and *1257c. Close the file.
DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers in Orlando, Florida, on August 13, 2018.
For the purpose of resolving a summary judgment motion, the Court ordinarily presents the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. See Battle ,
These facts are derived from Deputy Levy's body camera footage, which both parties attach as exhibits and submit is the best version of facts for the shooting. (See Docs. 20; 23, ¶ 3; 25, ¶ 8.) The Court refers to the body camera footage as "Def. Ex. K ," which is how Deputy Levy submitted it.
The first thirty seconds of Deputy Levy's body camera recording have no audio. (Def. Ex. K.) This is a manufacturer design, which features a preset 30-second delay. (See Doc. 20-10, pp. 35:20-25, 36:1-5.) The camera operates by always recording, but not everything is captured. (Id. at 36:5-10.) Only when the camera is activated by the individual officer does audio recording start, yet the thirty seconds prior are also captured in the recording. (See
Plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment claims are brought pursuant to
Under the qualified immunity lens, Deputy Levy argues that his actions were objectively reasonable and no seizure occurred when he shot Bane and Pepper. (Doc. 20, pp. 13-15.) In response, without addressing qualified immunity, Plaintiffs argue that an unreasonable seizure occurred because under those circumstances, it was unreasonable to shoot the dogs. (Doc. 24.) Plaintiffs repeat this argument in their partial motion for summary judgment (Doc. 23), which Deputy Levy responds to with largely the same argument advanced in his motion for summary judgment-his actions were reasonable (Doc. 25). Thus, the focus at summary judgment is whether Deputy Levy's conduct amounted to a Fourth Amendment violation, so the Court analyzes this without reference to qualified immunity-even though such analysis is essentially the first prong of qualified immunity, which asks whether a constitutional violation occurred. See Pearson v. Callahan ,
See, e.g., Viilo v. Eyre,
See also, e.g., Grant v. City of Houston ,
Again, the Court relies chiefly on the body camera footage, which both parties agree is the best evidence for what occurred on July 2, 2016. (Docs. 20, 23, ¶ 3, 25 ¶ 8); see Mathis v. Adams ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Lawrence J. CHASTANG Dora Patricia Chastang Lawrence Chastang, Jr. Miles Christian Chastang Adriana Patricia Chastang Winston Chastang v. Gilad LEVY
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published