Livingston Manners v. Officer Ronald Cannella
Opinion
In 2014, Livingston Manners was arrested by City of Hollywood police officers. An altercation ensued. Manners filed suit in federal court regarding the incident and now appeals the district court's grant of *964 summary judgment against his claims-federal civil rights claims for use of excessive force and for malicious prosecution as well as a companion state common-law claim for false arrest. Because the officers had probable cause to arrest Manners and did not violate clearly established constitutional law during his arrest, the officers were entitled to qualified immunity from the civil rights claims. A finding of probable cause also bars a claim for false arrest. Accordingly, we affirm.
I.
A.
Close to three in the morning on June 24, 2014, Livingston Manners was sitting in his car on the side of Plunkett Street, a residential street in the City of Hollywood, Florida ("the City"), before heading to work. Ronald Cannella, a City of Hollywood police officer, was on patrol "in reference to recent crimes of theft in the area," and he drove past Manners. Soon after Cannella drove by, Manners pulled out and turned south on 26th Avenue. There is a dispute about what happened next. Cannella said he saw-through his rearview mirror-that Manners ran a stop sign. Manners claimed that he came to a complete stop.
Cannella made a U-turn and followed Manners down 26th Avenue. At some point between Plunkett Street and Pembroke Road, a distance of some four or five blocks, Cannella activated his emergency lights and also ran his sirens, although there is some dispute about when exactly this happened. Manners admitted that, some three blocks past Plunkett Street, he saw Officer Cannella behind him and that the officer's lights and sirens were on. Cannella said that he "activated [his] emergency lights and sirens, as [he] hit the intersection of Pembroke Road and 26th Avenue" and that he was directly behind Manners's vehicle at that intersection.
On this record, however, and taking the evidence in a light most favorable to the plaintiff, it is undisputed that Manners did not stop when he saw Cannella behind him, or when he saw Cannella's lights and sirens activated. Manners knew that the vehicle was a police car, that a police officer was instructing him to stop, and that the lights and sirens meant he was required to stop his car. Instead of stopping, Manners continued along 26th Avenue, through a traffic light at Pembroke Road, and stopped at a gas station across the intersection. We know this because Manners has said repeatedly, and explicitly, that he did not stop when directed to do so. In a sworn deposition, Manners offered the following explanation:
Q: Why did you not stop?
[Manners]: Because it was dark. It was very dark.
Q: And you had no doubt that it was police officer pulling you over, correct?
A: Yes, ma'am. That's why I slowed down.
Manners has also clearly described why he chose not to stop immediately-because he was afraid of being hit or killed by a police officer:
Q: So when an officer puts his lights and sirens on to you that means slow down?
A: No. That means stop, but in this particular-in this particular instance-ma'am, I ran into situations before. ... I've ran into situations before where I've got punched or hit by a police officer because of my [stature]. I'm big and black.
In testimony at his criminal trial in Broward County, Manners offered the following answers:
Q: Now, did you pull over upon seeing the flashing lights?
*965 [Manners]: No, I d[id] not.
Q: Why didn't you pull over immediately?
A: It was late at night, sir .... I was in fear for my life.
Manners offers that because he was afraid, he continued driving until he reached a well-lit gas station where video surveillance was available. By Manners's own account, the distance he intentionally travelled after seeing the officer behind him with lights and sirens, but before coming to a stop, was about three blocks, one-tenth of a mile, or 176 yards. He continued to drive after being directed to stop for 14.4 seconds, or, as he said at another occasion in his deposition, for "[a]bout two minutes, two minutes at the most." 1
At the gas station, Cannella stopped behind Manners and approached the driver's side of Manners's car. Cannella asked for Manners's driver's license, which Manners provided. A silent video recording of the entire incident at the gas station was taken from surveillance cameras. Cannella can be seen at Manners's driver's side door, and while Cannella looked in the backseat, Manners stepped out of the vehicle. Cannella and Manners spoke, facing one another, for several seconds. There is no dispute that Cannella informed Manners he was under arrest. Manners knew this; in fact, Manners said he asked Cannella to hurry up so that he could get to work and Cannella said "[y]ou're going to jail." According to Cannella, he repeatedly directed Manners to get back into his car, but Manners refused to do so. Cannella then placed Manners under arrest. Cannella said: "I must have told him at least two to three times [to remain seated in his vehicle] and he said, no, every time." Manners, on the other hand, denied that Cannella ever directed him to stay in the car.
A review of the video recording clearly establishes that a physical struggle ensued when Cannella attempted to place Manners under arrest. Manners's efforts to thwart the arrest are equally evident from the video. The first attempt to handcuff Manners occurred outside the vehicle-Cannella apparently grabbed Manners's wrist as Manners either sat or fell back into his car. A struggle ensued in the car; Cannella leaned or fell on top of Manners, and he tried to pull Manners out of the vehicle. The parties disagree about what happened inside the car. Manners conceded that he pulled back, asked why he was under arrest, and said Cannella punched him three times while lying on top of him. Cannella, in turn said Manners screamed at him and struck him (Cannella) three to four times.
After the details of an indiscernible struggle occurred inside the car, the video recording shows that Cannella pulled Manners out of the car. Cannella flipped Manners onto the ground and went on top of him. Manners, in turn, is seen shoving at Cannella, and Cannella is seen punching Manners in the head. Cannella then flipped Manners onto his stomach and attempted to bring Manners's arms together behind his back, evidently attempting to handcuff Manners. Manners is seen pulling his arms away, flailing, and then rolling onto his back. Manners is also seen bringing his leg up and onto Cannella's upper back, and grabbing and holding Cannella's wrists for an extended period.
*966 Officer Sabillon arrived on the scene as backup; she said it "looked like [Cannella] was trying to take Livingston Manners into custody, but he couldn't because of the constant power struggle between the both of them with their hands." On the video recording, Sabillon is seen deploying her taser on Manners's stomach. Manners flailed on the ground, and both Cannella and Sabillon are seen attempting to handcuff him for about a minute, deploying one or both of their tasers. Eventually, Sabillon is seen lying across Manners, while Cannella placed Manners in handcuffs. More officers arrived, and four or five of them surrounded Manners and attempted to fully restrain him. Manners is eventually seen lying on his back, handcuffed, and subdued. At no point thereafter was he struck or tased by the officers.
The parties disagree about what Cannella and Manners said to one another during the incident. Both sides agree, however, that Cannella advised Manners during the incident that he was being placed under arrest. The video recording makes it abundantly clear that Cannella (and later Sabillon) attempted to place Manners under arrest, and Manners is clearly visible resisting those attempts for some time, a little more than three full minutes. The parties agree that at the time of the incident, Manners was 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 240 pounds while Cannella was 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighed 215 pounds.
After the incident, Manners was initially charged by the State Attorney in Broward County with attempted homicide, resisting arrest with violence, and battery on a law enforcement officer. He was detained in a maximum security prison. Manners ultimately went on trial on charges of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting a police officer without violence; he was acquitted of both counts by a jury. As a result of the charges, he incurred approximately $30,000 in legal fees.
B.
Thereafter, Manners brought this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, lodging four claims relevant to the appeal: two
The district court granted the defendants' motions for summary judgment. As for the officers, they were entitled to qualified immunity because they violated no clearly established constitutional right. According to the district court, the officers had probable cause to stop and arrest Manners. Cannella testified consistently that Manners failed to heed a stop sign, and, the district court reasoned, even accepting Manners's version, a "mistaken but reasonable observation" that Manners had run the stop sign was enough to give Cannella probable cause for the arrest.
The district court also determined that the officers had not used excessive force. The video recording of the incident revealed that Manners repeatedly resisted *967 Cannella's efforts to handcuff him. The district court concluded that the officers had used reasonable force to arrest Manners. As the district court put it, a reasonable officer could have concluded that Manners, a "larger individual, who ... actively resisted Cannella's efforts," "posed an immediate threat" so that tackling and punching Manners was necessary. Nor was the use of tasers unconstitutionally excessive under Eleventh Circuit precedent. Since no violation of a clearly established constitutional right had been shown, the district court found that the officers were entitled to qualified immunity from the excessive force claims. Having found probable cause to arrest Manners, the district court also concluded that the defendants were entitled to summary judgment on the malicious prosecution and false arrest counts. Probable cause defeated a § 1983 suit for malicious prosecution as well as the companion state common-law false arrest charge.
The district court denied Manners's motion for reconsideration, and this timely appeal ensued.
II.
We review a grant of summary judgment
de novo
, and we construe all of the facts in favor of Manners, the non-moving party.
See, e.g.
,
Oliver v. Fiorino
,
The central question is whether the officers were entitled to qualified immunity. Qualified immunity is total immunity from suit, rather than a defense to a particular charge. Such immunity allows government officials to "carry out their discretionary duties without the fear of personal liability or harassing litigation."
Oliver
,
In order to be entitled to qualified immunity, the officers first must establish that they were acting within their discretionary authority during the incident.
See, e.g.
,
Qualified immunity is appropriate if the officers' conduct did "not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known."
Hill v. Cundiff
,
III.
Each of Manners's claims rises or falls on whether there was probable cause for his arrest. In order to establish probable cause, an arrest must be "objectively reasonable based on the totality of the circumstances."
Probable cause "does not require convincing proof" that the offense was committed.
Bailey v. Bd. of Cty. Comm'rs of Alachua Cty.
,
Probable cause for an arrest may be found if there is probable cause to believe any crime was committed, whether or not there is probable cause for the crime the arresting officer actually believed had been committed.
See, e.g.
,
Lee
,
Moreover, for purposes of granting qualified immunity to law enforcement officers, it is enough that there is "arguable probable cause" for a warrantless custodial arrest.
See, e.g.
,
Lee
,
Reading together what the defendants argued in the district court and argued before us, four theories are offered in support of probable cause. The defendants first claimed that there was probable cause to arrest Manners for running a stop sign; then they argued that the officers could arrest Manners for obstruction of justice when he allegedly refused to remain in his car, or for resisting arrest with violence; and, finally, they urged that he could be arrested for fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer. On appeal, only two arguments have been offered-that Manners was lawfully arrested for running a stop sign, and, alternatively, for fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer. Because the appellees have dropped the theories of resisting arrest and obstruction of justice, we discuss only the first and fourth rationales. Of the two, only one works, but that is enough; probable cause need only exist for one offense to justify Manners's warrantless arrest, and on this record there was probable cause for a reasonable officer to arrest Manners for fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer.
A.
The district court found probable cause to arrest Manners for running a stop sign. Even taking (as we must) Manners's version of the facts to be true-that he did obey the stop sign-the district court determined that Cannella's observation could have been mistaken, but a mistaken though reasonable belief could support probable cause. We cannot agree that this resolves the question. Even assuming there would have been probable cause to arrest Manners if he ran the stop sign or if Cannella reasonably but mistakenly believed Manners had done so, on this record, there is an undeniable and material factual dispute that precludes summary judgment. Officer Cannella consistently
*970
said that Manners failed to stop at the sign. He testified that "[a]s [he] pulled through the stop sign, a vehicle came flying past [him] and made a left turn[,] disobeying the stop sign." Conversely, Manners consistently said that he stopped as required, indeed, he asserted that he came to a "complete stop." The street was in some state of darkness. On this record, a reasonable factfinder could find that Cannella neither saw nor reasonably thought he saw Manners run a stop sign. In the face of a direct factual dispute, summary judgment is inappropriate.
See
Kingsland v. City of Miami
,
B.
There was, however, both arguable and actual probable cause to arrest Manners for fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer. Again, probable cause may be found if there was cause to believe
any
crime was committed.
See, e.g.
,
Lee
,
It is unlawful for the operator of any vehicle, having knowledge that he or she has been ordered to stop such vehicle by a duly authorized law enforcement officer, willfully to refuse or fail to stop the vehicle in compliance with such order or, having stopped in knowing compliance with such order, willfully to flee in an attempt to elude the officer, and a person who violates this subsection commits a felony of the third degree....
There is no dispute that Officer Cannella put on his flashing lights and used his siren when he was directly behind Manners's vehicle at three in the morning. There is no dispute that Manners knew Cannella was a law enforcement officer and that he had been ordered to stop. And there is no dispute that Manners willfully failed to stop when directed to do so because Manners tells us as much in his deposition. By Manners's own version of the facts, he continued to drive for three blocks, or one-tenth of a mile, or for 14.4 seconds after seeing that Officer Cannella was behind him with the patrol car's lights and sirens on. Manners himself said that he knew the lights and sirens meant he was obliged to stop his vehicle but that he made a conscious decision not to do so. The facts known to Cannella were the same. Cannella said that Manners continued to drive his car until he reached a well-lit gas station. Although Manners offered that his windows were rolled down and he was travelling at a slower rate of speed (some 25 miles per hour), he does not claim he provided any indication to Officer Cannella that he intended to stop.
The facts known to Officer Cannella would cause a prudent person to believe Manners had committed the offense of fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer.
See
Williamson
,
*971 Webster's Third New International Dictionary 814 (2002). "Refuse" means "to show or express a positive unwillingness to do or comply with." Id. at 1910. "Stop" means "to arrest the progress or motion of" or "bring to a standstill." Id. at 2250. But Manners plainly evinced an unwillingness to comply with the officer's command.
Moreover, the officers had arguable probable cause to arrest Manners on the same basis. To be entitled to qualified immunity on the three § 1983 claims, the officers needed only arguable probable cause.
See
Grider
,
It does not alter our evaluation simply because the period of time was short so long as Manners could reasonably and safely have complied with the officer's direction but did not do so. In fact, Florida's courts have found probable cause for the offense of fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer in the absence of lengthy flight and without a high-speed getaway. Thus, for example, Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal found probable cause to stop a motorist for fleeing or attempting to elude an officer when the driver continued at ten miles per hour for five minutes, making five turns, while followed by a police vehicle with lights and sirens activated.
State v. Kirer
,
Manners argues that any belief he fled or attempted to elude a police officer would be unreasonable. We cannot agree. Even if the short interval between Cannella's command to stop and Manners's compliance undermined the state's ability to prove the offense beyond a reasonable doubt, to reiterate, probable cause is not established by proof beyond a reasonable doubt, or by clear and convincing evidence, or even by a preponderance of the evidence. That a reasonable officer could believe Manners failed to stop when directed to do so suffices to establish arguable probable cause. Thus, Officer Cannella had arguable probable cause to arrest Manners for fleeing or attempting to elude him.
Manners argues, however, that he did not have to stop when he was told to do so both because Florida's flight statute was unconstitutional and out of necessity. First, he claims that the fleeing-or-eluding provision is unconstitutionally vague and that it violates the Fourth Amendment as well. We need not, and do not consider today whether Florida's fleeing-or-eluding provision is unconstitutional. Instead, the Supreme Court has instructed us that probable cause for arrest may be found where an officer relies in good faith on a law, even if the law is subsequently found to be unconstitutional.
See
Michigan v. DeFillippo
,
Nor was probable cause lacking because of the affirmative defense of necessity. Manners says he "feared for his life" because he was a black male alone with a law enforcement officer on an empty, dark residential street in the middle of the night, and he "had no reasonable means of avoiding the danger except by driving to [a] safe, well-lit area." The doctrine of necessity requires that
1) the defendant reasonably believed that a danger or emergency existed that he did not intentionally cause; 2) the danger or emergency threatened significant harm to himself or a third person; 3) the threatened harm must have been real, imminent, and impending; 4) the defendant had no reasonable means to avoid the danger or emergency except by committing the crime; 5) the crime must have been committed out of duress to avoid the danger or emergency; and 6) the harm the defendant avoided outweighs the harm caused by committing the crime.
Driggers v. State
,
Even if Manners's explanation might satisfy a jury if he were charged, failing to stop because of a generalized fear of police does not provide a legal basis to vitiate probable cause for the offense of flight. Manners by his own account knowingly stopped when
he
chose to do so, rather than when he was directed to do so, for reasons that may be understandable, but that in no way deprived the police of probable cause. Moreover, there are strong reasons why stopping at the command of a law enforcement officer is important even if the officer's decision to pull over the motorist is a wrongful one. Thus, for example, the Supreme Court has emphasized the serious risk of injury, armed conflict, and the "[r]isk of violence [that] is inherent to vehicle flight" from the police.
Sykes v. United States
,
IV.
Having determined that there was both actual and arguable probable cause to arrest Manners, we turn to each of his claims. The § 1983 claims against Officers Cannella and Sabillon for excessive force fail because, with probable cause to arrest Manners, they were entitled to use that quantum of force reasonably necessary *973 and proportionated to effect his arrest. And Manners's § 1983 claim against Officer Cannella for malicious prosecution fails because there was no Fourth Amendment violation. Thus, both officers were entitled to qualified immunity. As for the state common-law false arrest claim against the City of Hollywood, it fails as well, again, because there was probable cause to arrest Manners.
A.
The officers were entitled to qualified immunity on the excessive force claims unless their conduct violated clearly established constitutional law.
See,
e.g.
,
Wesby
,
Manners claims that a clearly established constitutional violation occurred even if the arrest was lawful because the officers used unnecessary and gratuitous force when they punched and tased him. But law enforcement officers conducting a lawful arrest have the right to take reasonable physical steps to place a suspect under arrest. In fact, "[w]hen an officer lawfully arrests an individual for the commission of a crime, no matter how minor the offense, the officer is entitled ... to effectuate a full custodial arrest."
Lee
,
The Supreme Court has held that "the right to make an arrest ... necessarily carries with it the right to use some degree of physical coercion or threat thereof to effect it."
Graham
,
Gratuitous force used during the course of an arrest is excessive.
See, e.g.
,
Hadley v. Gutierrez
,
The amount of force used by the officers in this case did not violate the Fourth Amendment. The first Graham factor-the severity of the crime in question-cuts in Manners's favor. Manners was only accused of the traffic violation of running a stop sign. The second Graham factor, though, weighs in favor of the officers. A reasonable officer on the scene could believe that Manners posed a threat to Cannella when he moved back into his car and clearly tried to escape Cannella's grasp. Even if, as Manners says, he was merely questioning the arrest and did not use or intend to use any violence against Cannella, we cannot view the facts with the calmness of hindsight. Cannella was alone and was faced with an individual larger than he who plainly was not willing to be arrested. Cannella did not know, at that point, what Manners might have in his vehicle or on his person, or whether Manners intended to hurt him in some way. Indeed, when Officer Sabillon arrived and saw Manners struggling with Cannella, she too could reasonably have concluded that Manners posed a threat to Cannella.
Of the
Graham
factors, the most relevant one here is resisting arrest. From the video recording, it is abundantly clear that Manners refused to be handcuffed beginning with Cannella's first efforts and continuing throughout a struggle with many officers who attempted to subdue him for at least three full minutes. Cannella had to "make split-second judgments-in circumstances that [were] tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving-about the amount of force that [was] necessary."
Graham
,
Substantial force was needed to secure Manners. Manners struggled against Cannella's repeated attempts to place him in handcuffs through physical actions-rolling over, bracing his arms, shoving at Cannella, and, indeed, grasping and holding Cannella's wrists for an extended period of time. When Sabillon arrived on the scene, Manners continued to struggle against both officers. Rather than being gratuitous, the force used was proportional to restrain someone who was six-foot-two and 240 pounds and was actively resisting for an extended period.
Furthermore, it was not clearly established, at the time of the incident, that the amount of force employed violated the Constitution. Although the Fourth Amendment guarantees a general right to be free from the use of excessive force during a custodial arrest,
see, e.g.
,
Oliver
,
Nor was the use of tasers by Cannella and Sabillon unconstitutionally excessive. The use of a taser "beyond [the arrestee's] complete physical capitulation" repeatedly in a short period where an arrestee was mostly cooperative and made no attempt to flee would be excessive.
In short, we agree with the district court's determination that the force used by the officers was not constitutionally excessive, and that no controlling case law suggested otherwise.
B.
As for Manners's § 1983 malicious prosecution claim against Officer Cannella, a finding of probable cause for Manners's arrest made summary judgment appropriate. This Court has determined that malicious prosecution can support a valid § 1983 claim.
See, e.g.
,
Wood v. Kesler
,
C.
Finally, Manners's supplemental, state common-law false arrest claim against the City of Hollywood fails for the same reason. In Florida, a claim for false arrest requires the plaintiff to establish three elements: "(1) an unlawful detention and [deprivation] of liberty against the plaintiff's will; (2) an unreasonable detention which is not warranted by the circumstances; and (3) an intentional detention."
Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach
,
V.
In short, taking the facts in the light most favorable to Manners, this sad incident cannot entitle him to relief on the claims he has raised. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's grant of final summary judgment to the defendants.
AFFIRMED.
At oral argument, counsel for the officer defendants conceded that, whether using Manners's testimony or Cannella's, the time between Cannella activating his emergency lights and Manners pulling over could not have been two minutes. Counsel for the officers also conceded that under Cannella's version of the facts, Manners travelled fewer than 14 seconds after Cannella was directly behind him with lights activated.
Another § 1983 claim for failure to intervene was brought against officer Paul Scheel and was later dismissed by stipulation.
Manners has not argued that there was any other violation of his Fourth Amendment rights.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Livingston MANNERS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Officer Ronald CANNELLA, Individually, Officer Karrie Sabillon, Individually, City of Hollywood, Florida, Defendants-Appellees, Officer Paul Scheel, Individually, Defendant.
- Cited By
- 81 cases
- Status
- Published