Hurd v. Adams

1

RICKY HURD, PLAINTIFF, v. WADE ADAMS and UNKNOWN DEFENDANTS,

DEFENDANTS.

Civil Action No. 7:20-CV-00047-EBA

United States District Court, E.D. Kentucky, Southern Division, Pikeville

June 30, 2023

MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER

EDWARD B. ATKINS, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

I. BACKGROUND

On the night of April 6, 2019, Plaintiff Ricky Hurd's truck broke down on the side of the highway, forcing him to walk home. [R. 47-1 at pg. 3]. Hurd alleges that, after walking for about a mile, a Toyota Camry pulled over beside him. Hurd recognized the driver as a former high school classmate and acquaintance, Andy Oliver. [Id.]. Oliver asked Hurd if he wanted a ride, and Hurd accepted the offer. [Id.]. Shortly after getting into the vehicle Oliver remarked to Hurd that there was a cop behind their vehicle. Hurd alleges that he didn't think anything of the comment. Then, blue lights came on. Hurd thought that Oliver was about to pull over when the vehicle slowed, but Oliver “swirled around” and accelerated in the opposite direction, “running away from [the police].” [Id. at pg. 4].

The police officer in pursuit of Oliver and Hurd was Kentucky State Trooper Chadd Daniels, who radioed dispatch about the chase and the Camry's dangerous maneuvers. For instance the Camry turned down a dead-end driveway, with Daniels following close behind. The Camry “back[ed] up and drove parallel past the front” of Daniels' cruiser, side-swiped his driver- side door, and continued to flee down KY-15. At one point, Daniels reported that the Camry abruptly locked up his breaks “in an attempt to get him to rear end the Camry,” perhaps “to harm him or disable his cruiser.” [Id. at pg. 11]. Later, on a steep curve, the Camry struck the passenger side of the cruiser, performed a U-turn in the parking lot of a business, and sped off in the opposite direction at an estimated speed of 70 miles per hour. [Id.].

Responding to Daniels' radio report, KSP Trooper William Adams and Sergeant Derrick Sturgill deployed tire deflation devices, spike strips, at the intersection of KY-15 and KY-160. [Id.]. Even after the Camry crossed the strips and the tires burst, it continued to travel at speeds around 50 miles per hour. Another KSP Trooper, Bobby Roberts, attempted a moving roadblock until he noticed oncoming traffic cresting over a hill. [Id.]. Finally, Daniels then obtained Sergeant Sturgill's permission to conduct a PIT maneuver, which involved Daniels using his cruiser to physically stop the Camry by making contact with the Camry's rear passenger panel. Daniels executed the maneuver and the Camry careened off to the side of the road, striking the guardrail passenger side first.

When Trooper Adams exited his cruiser on the scene of the crash, “there was a lot of screaming and commotion.” [R. 47-2 at pg. 5]. As he approached the Camry, he saw a side window explode and heard a loud popping noise. He later learned that Trooper Daniels had “taken his flashlight and slung it and busted it through” the car window but, at the time, he thought the sound could have been a gunshot. [Id.]. While the other troopers “struggle[ed]” to apprehend a non-cooperative Oliver on the driver's side of the car, Adams approached the passenger's side. [Id. at pg. 6]. He was the only officer on the scene to do so. The windows were heavily tinted, and he could hear Sergeant Sturgill on the other side of the vehicle yelling, “tase him” repeatedly.

Adams used his flashlight to bust out the back windshield, the back passenger window, and then the front passenger window. [Id. at pg. 7-8]. Hurd claims that when the front passenger window shattered, he was struck in the head more than once. [R. 47-1 at pg. 5]. Meanwhile, Adams commanded Hurd to get out of the car and put his hands up. Hurd admitted later that he was “addled” and “groggy” after Adams broke out his window, but he did not recall hearing the instructions over all the other noise. [R. 47-1 at pg. 20]. After a few seconds, Adams reached over the guardrail, through the car, and pulled Hurd through the window. [R. 47-2 at pg. 9]. After getting Hurd out of the car, Adams stepped back, and they both tumbled over an embankment on the other side of the guardrail. [Id.].

Once they were at the bottom of the hill, Adams attempted to handcuff Hurd. To do so, Adams struck Hurd on the back to encourage him to give up his hands. [Id. at pg. 11]. After Hurd was handcuffed, Adams claims that he left Hurd lying prone while he returned to the Camry to assist the other troopers in apprehending the driver. [Id.]. But Hurd claims he was hit or kicked on his sides, his back, and his head after he was handcuffed.

After Oliver was apprehended and the situation was under control, Hurd was transported to Whitesburg Appalachian Regional Hospital by ambulance. The EMT treating Hurd noted that he asked, “[c]an I tell you something off the record?” Then, the EMT noted that “[patient] stated that cops beat him in the head.” [47-2 at pg. 13].^[1] Hurd was treated for a cut to the head, a head fracture, and a possible fracture to the orbital socket. [Id. at pg. 11]. At the hospital, Sergeant Sturgill interviewed Oliver, Hurd, and Hurd's treating physician. [R. 46-15]. Ultimately, Hurd was not arrested. Rather, Adams cited him for resisting arrest and menacing. After receiving emergent treatment for his injuries, he left the hospital against medical advice. See [R. 46-13].

II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On April 4, 2020, Hurd filed a Complaint in Knott Circuit Court against Wade Adams and Unknown Defendants,^[2] alleging counts of false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and defamation per se under Kentucky law; and a violation of his constitutional right to be free from an unreasonable seizure by a government official in violation of the Fourth Amendment, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On April 9, 2020, Adams removed the action to this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 because the Court has original jurisdiction over claims arising under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

In their Rule 26(f) Joint Report, the parties advised the Court that they consented to the jurisdiction of a Federal Magistrate Judge for all further proceedings in this matter. [R. 8]. Accordingly, the case was reassigned to the undersigned and a Scheduling Order was entered on May 20, 2020. On November 10, 2020, Hurd moved the Court to stay civil proceedings in this matter, pending the outcome of pending criminal proceedings. [R. 11]. Therein, Hurd advised the Court that his state law claims-particularly the malicious prosecution and defamation per se claims-were contingent upon the outcome of the criminal proceedings. Adams did not file a Response to the motion, so the Court stayed all litigation in this action. [R. 13]. On December 9, 2021, upon being notified that Hurd's criminal proceeding had concluded (almost a year later), the Court lifted the stay.

Although the February 27, 2022 deadline to join parties or amend the Complaint had long passed, Hurd moved to amend his Complaint on September 9, 2022. [R. 39]. On November 16, 2022, Adams filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, claiming that Hurds' federal and state claims are barred by qualified immunity and, alternatively, that there is no genuine dispute of material fact as to either the federal or state claims and that he's entitled to summary judgment. [R. 46].

The pending motions have been fully briefed and are ripe for review.

III. MOTION TO AMEND THE COMPLAINT

The Court will first address Hurd's Motion to Amend the Complaint, as is required in this circuit when there is also a pending dispositive motion. Gresh v. Waste Servs. of Am., Inc., 189 Fed.Appx. 359, 360 (6th Cir. 2006) (“A district court abuses its discretion when it grants a motion for summary judgment without first ruling on a pending motion to file an amended complaint.”).

Hurd seeks to add as a defendant Derrick Sturgill solely invoking Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 21. [R. 39]. Hurd argues an amendment is necessary because Adams “identified [Sturgill] for the first time as Ricky Hurd's assailant” on his July 22, 2022 deposition. [R. 39 at pg. 1]. During that deposition, when Hurd's counsel was questioning Adams about how Hurd could have possibly been injured after being handcuffed, he testified the following:

Q: And so it's not possible that anybody else would've hit Mr. Hurd?- Any other trooper or any other person?

A: Well, another Sergeant, Derek Sturgill did hit him, but it was- I had my back turned and I heard the thumping of- he was kicking him.

Q: Kicking him in the side, kicking him in the head?

A: When I heard the noise, . . . Detective Caudill says something along the nature of, “Oh, no,” or something of that nature. • Because he's looking over his • shoulder. • So I look over my shoulder. • And at that time, I see Sergeant Sturgill kick Ricky in the side, which rolled him up on the side, he kicked him so hard. •And then he kicked him and hit him in the face, with-or kicked him in the eye area.

...

Q: So he kicked him in the side and kicked him in the head?

A: Face. • He kicked him in the face.

...

Q: Is it possible that Officer Sturgill hit him in the head with a flashlight?

A: It's possible.• Like I said, I had my back turned toward him/ I just heard him being hit like-like a boxer hitting a hay bay or something, you could hear a thud.

[R. 47-2 at pg. 11-12].

Notably the Proposed Amended Complaint does not substitute Sturgill as a named defendant, nor amend any of the claims against Adams. The Proposed Amended Complaint adds a § 1983 claim against Sturgill, alleging that he “assaulted and physically battered” Hurd “by repeatedly kicking” him in the “head, face, and torso” while Hurd was handcuffed and not resisting, [R. 39-2 at ¶ 33]; Kentucky common law...