Okeke v. Rose
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
Plaintiff-Appellant Lordrick Okeke appeals the grant of summary judgment to Defendant-Appellees Toledo police officers John Rose, Sally Donovan, Daniel Wagner, ten other named officers, the Chief of Police, and the City of Toledo, Ohio (the “City”) (collectively “Defendants”).
On June 9, 1999, two Toledo police officers were called to a home to investigate a reportedly drunken individual causing a disturbance. Earlier in the day, Okeke, a citizen of the United States and a native of
Okeke violently resisted arrest and could not be subdued even though Donovan sprayed him with mace. During Donovan and Rose’s attempts to handcuff him, Okeke bit Rose’s finger, causing a severe injury. Eventually, at least six other officers were called to the scene to assist in subduing Okeke in order to place him under arrest. During the struggle, Okeke was struck with a baton and kicked several times by Officer Wagner and Okeke suffered a broken arm. Okeke has no memory of the events of June 9 and it was later determined that Okeke was not intoxicated, but rather was suffering from a severe psychotic disorder at the time of his arrest. Okeke filed a seven-count complaint against Defendants alleging that the Defendants had assaulted and battered him during his arrest; that the officers used excessive force against him while he was suffering from a psychiaMc emergency; that he was unlawfully arrested in violation of the Fourth Amendment; that the City and the Chief of Police failed to train and supervise officers to respond properly to individuals suffering from a psychiatric emergency: and that the City and the Chief maintained policies and procedures exhibiting deliberate indifference to the constitutional rights of individuals in Toledo.
The United States District Court of the Northern District of Ohio granted the Defendants summary judgment on Okeke’s claims for use of excessive force and unlawful arrest in violation of the Fourth Amendment under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 (1994). The district court held that Okeke had failed to state a valid claim of excessive force under the Fourth Amendment because the actions of the officers who arrested Okeke were reasonable under the circumstances. The district court found that Okeke’s assault and battery claims under state law against the Defendants were without merit because Okeke was unable to make a valid excessive force claim under the Fourth Amendment. The disMct court also found that the officers had probable cause to arrest Okeke for disorderly conduct, and therefore Okeke was unable to state a claim of unlawful seizure. Finally, the disMct court found that the Okeke was unable to sustain a claim for municipal liability against the City and the police chief for failure to train, failure to supervise, and maintaining policies and procedures that resulted in the use of excessive force and an unlawful seizure, because Okeke was unable to establish any constitutional violation by the individual police officers.
After careful review of the record, all applicable law, and the briefs of the parties, we conclude that the district court’s Memorandum Opinion should be affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Lordrick OKEKE v. John ROSE
- Status
- Published