Castro v. Kory

662 F.Supp.3d 702

Jose CASTRO, Plaintiff v. Kimberly KORY, Michael Thornton, Carl Kerawalla, Shawn King,Unknown San Antonio Police Officer(s), Defendants

SA-20-CV-01022-XR

United States District Court, W.D. Texas, San Antonio Division

Signed March 17, 2023

Paul A. Jones, Law Office of Paul Jones, San Antonio, TX, Brian Arthur Jones, The Jones Law Firm, San Antonio, TX, Rod Blake Khavari, Khavari & Moghaassi Attorneys at Law PC, Dallas, TX, for Plaintiff.

Hector Xavier Saenz, Law Offices of Charles S. Frigerio, San Antonio, TX, Charles Straith Frigerio, Attorney at Law, San Antonio, TX, for Defendants Kimberly Kory, Michael Thornton, Carl Kerawalla, Shawn King.

ORDER

XAVIER RODRIGUEZ, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

On this date, the Court considered Plaintiff's motion to limit the expert testimony of James R. Holguin (ECF No. 58), the parties' motions for summary judgment (ECF Nos. 59, 63), and the briefing filed in response to the parties' motions. After careful consideration, the Court issues the following order.

BACKGROUND¹

Plaintiff Jose Castro asserts claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights arising out of his detention by four San Antonio Police Department ("SAPD") officers for over an hour on the morning of August 30, 2018, during which the officers allegedly subjected him to an unlawful search and seizure and constitutionally excessive force.

I. The Investigatory Stop

Plaintiff Jose Castro is a pastor who frequently delivers animal supplies to veterinary hospitals between Dallas and San Antonio, Texas. ECF No. 18 at 4. Plaintiff rented an Enterprise box truck to make these deliveries. Id. On August 30, 2018, after completing a delivery to Mission Veterinary Clinic in San Antonio at approximately 4:50 a.m., Plaintiff decided to take a nap before resuming his deliveries. ECF No. 69-3 at 2. Plaintiff parked his truck about 150-200 yards away from the clinic in a vacant, private lot in the same shopping center, Hausman Village, where he had parked in several times before. Id. Plaintiff left the door to the truck ajar for ventilation and fell asleep. Id.

Carl Kerawalla, a detective in the SADP Property Crimes Unit, was patrolling the area that morning in plain-clothes and an unmarked police vehicle that was not equipped with emergency lights. ECF No. 61-2 at 9; ECF No. 63-1 at 35.² Kerawalla noticed a truck parked off the main road with one door ajar. ECF No. 59-4 at 12. Despite receiving no reports of trespassing, criminal activity, or suspicious-persons complaints that were associated with this property, id. at 34, 55, Kerawalla parked behind the truck to investigate, id. at 14.

At that point, Kerawalla saw no weapons on the scene and perceived no "immediate threats" from the truck. Id. at 37-39. He had dispatch run the plates on the truck, which did not come back as stolen. Id. at 22. According to later testimony, Kerawalla "didn't have any facts [indicating] a specific criminal act" had occurred with respect to the truck, but he suspected its possible criminal uses.³ Id. at 21-24. Thus, Kerawalla called for uniformed support and alerted officers that he had identified a suspicious vehicle. Id. at 30. Once the officers were called, Kerawalla waited by his car and conducted no further investigation. Id. Police body cameras and witness video footage captured the events that followed from multiple angles. See ECF No. 59-8 (affidavit authenticating body camera footage cited herein).⁴

Uniformed officers Kimberly Kory and Michael Thornton arrived on the scene within a few minutes. See ECF No. 62-1 at 24. Upon arrival, Kory and Thornton relied on Kerawalla's assessment of the situation and performed no further independent investigation. ECF No. 63-4 at 16; ECF No. 59-7 at 5. All three officers emerged from their respective vehicles with their weapons drawn and pointed at Plaintiff's truck. Thornton did not activate his vehicle's flashing lights.

II. Plaintiff's Arrest

Thornton exited his vehicle and conducted a "ghost call" identifying the officers as members of the San Antonio Police Department and instructing any occupant of the vehicle to "come out with your hands up." Thornton Vid. at 00:01:03. After a couple of moments, Plaintiff told officers that he "can't come out," id. at 00:01:25, apparently because he was not fully clothed. See Kory Vid. at 00:01:40 (Kory stating that the occupant is "not clothed"). Plaintiff and Thornton engaged in a verbal back-and-forth in mixed Spanish and English. At several points, Thornton identified himself as a member of the SAPD and ordered Plaintiff to exit the truck. Plaintiff responded, shouting to the Officers that he was on a delivery. Thornton Vid. at 00:01:32-40. Plaintiff did not exit his car. Id.

However, it quickly became clear to the Officers that Plaintiff did not understand, or did not believe, that Kerawalla, Thornton, and Kory were, in fact, police officers.⁵ After several minutes, Plaintiff turned on his truck. He made no attempt to drive away or flee the scene but activated his vehicle's hazard lights.⁶ Id. at 00:02:10; ECF No. 59-4 at 52-53 (Kerawalla testifying that Castro made no "overt" act to flee the scene); ECF No. 59-5 at 11 (Kory testifying that she did not observe Castro engaging his brake lights). After a minute of no interaction, Thornton activated his squad car's flashing lights and, using his intercom, ordered Plaintiff to leave the vehicle. Thornton Vid. at 00:03:00. Kerawalla exchanged his handgun for his personal AR-15, kept in his unmarked police vehicle. Kerawalla Vid. at 00:00:53; ECF No. 59-4 at 44; ECF No. 63-1 at 36.⁷

Although the Officers kept their weapons trained on Plaintiff, he did not make any verbal threats of violence, bodily injury, or death. ECF No. 63-1 at 39. Instead, it became apparent that Plaintiff was on the phone with 911, and Kerawalla informed the Officers that Plaintiff did not hold a weapon in his other hand. See Thornton Vid. at 00:07:08 (Thornton stating that he "think[s] he called 911"), Kerawalla Vid. at 00:01:45 (stating that one of Plaintiff's hand was holding the phone and the other was empty); Kory Vid. at 00:03:24.

When Plaintiff remained inside the cab of the truck, the Officers' orders escalated. ECF No. 63-1 at 3.⁸ Thornton instructed Plaintiff that "you are thirty seconds away from a trip to the hospital and going to jail." Thornton Vid. at 0:03:15-53. Both Thornton and Kerawalla threatened to shoot the truck's tires. ECF No. 59-4 at 45. Kerawalla had his assault rifle trained on Plaintiff's head. Kerawalla Vid. at 0:04:08 (Kerawalla shouting to colleagues that he has a "red dot" pointed "right on his forehead"). Thornton ordered a K-9 unit to the scene and warned Plaintiff that he was going to "get bit." Thornton Vid. at 00:05:26.⁹, ¹⁰

When Officer Shawn King arrived on the scene, he approached Plaintiff's truck with his firearm drawn. King Vid. at 00:00:43. After holstering his weapon, King tried to pull Plaintiff out of the vehicle, telling him to "get out of the truck." Id. at 00:01:05; Thornton Vid. at 00:07:31. Thornton followed King and ran towards the truck yelling, "You're gonna get tased!" Thornton Vid. at 00:07:36; Kerawalla Vid. at 0:05:40. Kerawalla also joined the fray, encouraging the officers to "tase him, tase him!" Kerawalla Vid. at 0:05:48.

King pulled on Plaintiff's arm, but Plaintiff remained in his seat and said, "One second, sir." Id. at 00:05:50; King Vid. at 00:01:10. In response, King struck Plaintiff in the head and then punched him in the leg. Kerawalla Vid. at 00:05:53 (showing King raising both hands over his head and bringing them down in a striking motion towards Plaintiff's head). Plaintiff repeatedly told the Officers "don't come in" and asked "what I dided? [sic]" King Vid. at 00:01:30. While King and Thornton attempted to pull Plaintiff out of the vehicle, Kory entered the truck from the back seat and ordered Plaintiff to get out of the truck.¹¹ Kory Vid. at 00:08:00. Finally, King pointed his firearm-mounted light into Castro's car, putting the muzzle approximately two feet from Castro's face. King Vid. at 00:05:56.¹²

The Officers successfully pulled Plaintiff from the vehicle and then struck him several times in the stomach and groin area. Kerawalla Vid. at 00:06:00; Garcia Vid. at 00:07:55. Once the Officers struck Plaintiff, he wrapped his hands around his stomach and flinched away with his left hand angled up, defensively, repeating "okay, okay." Kerawalla Vid. at 00:06:05; King Vid. at 00:01:45. King, Thornton, and Kerawalla then threw Castro onto the ground several feet from the truck. ECF No. 62-1 at 58. When the Officers instructed him to put his hands behind his back, Plaintiff repeated "okay" and complied. Kerawalla Vid. at 00:06:13. All three officers worked to handcuff Plaintiff. Thornton Vid. at 00:08:15-22; Kerawalla Vid. at 00:06:25. Thornton warned, "You're going to the hospital if you don't give me that hand." Id. Once Plaintiff was handcuffed, the Officers patted him down for weapons. No weapons or contraband were found on Plaintiff's person. ECF No. 63-2 at 36-37. Kerawalla informed dispatch shortly thereafter that Plaintiff was in custody. Kerawalla Vid. at 00:06:57. Plaintiff was taken to a squad vehicle, where he was placed in the back seat and detained for over an hour.

III. Search of Plaintiff's Vehicle

The Officers began searching Plaintiff's truck immediately after he was handcuffed. Kory searched the driver's side of the cab and identified a delivery manifest. Kory Vid. at 00:09:30-44; ECF No. 59-5 at 15. While she searched the vehicle, Plaintiff explained to Thornton that he was delivering animal supplies. Kory Vid. at 00:09:30-44. Despite hearing this, Kory did not inform the other Officers that the manifest potentially corroborated Plaintiff's statements. Id. at 00:09:44-55; ECF No. 59-5 at 15; ECF No. 62-1 at 62 (Kerawalla stating that he was not told another officer found a manifest)....