Jones v. Dist. of Columbia

1

DOUGLAS JONES, Plaintiff, v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, et al. Defendants.

Civil Action No. 21-836 (RC)

United States District Court, District of Columbia

March 28, 2024

MEMORANDUM OPINION GRANTING IN PART DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND REMANDING CASE RE DOCUMENT NO.: 41

RUDOLPH CONTRERAS, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

I. INTRODUCTION

In December 2017, Plaintiff Douglas Jones had a contentious encounter with officers of the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police Department (“MPD”), including Officer Lloyd Coward and Defendant Sergeant Timothy Evans. During the encounter, Mr. Jones vocally criticized Officer Coward; shortly after, Sergeant Evans threatened to arrest Mr. Jones, chased and pushed him, and repeatedly swapped insults with him. Based on these events, Mr. Jones brought several claims against the District, Officer Coward, and Sergeant Evans, but after prior motions were resolved in this case, only his claim brought under 18 U.S.C. § 1983 for an alleged violation of his rights under the First Amendment and a common law tort claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress (abbreviated as “IIED”) remain, both brought against Sergeant Evans. Now, Sergeant Evans moves for summary judgment. For the reasons explained below, the Court grants the motion in part and remands the remainder of the case to the Superior Court for the District of Columbia.

II. BACKGROUND

This case is about an incident between Mr. Jones and Sergeant Evans that lasted “approximately four and a half minutes.” See Defendant's Statement of Material Facts as to Which There is No Genuine Dispute (“DSMF”) ¶ 42, ECF No. 41; see also Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (“Mot. Summ. J.”), ECF No. 41. Almost the entire duration of this encounter was captured on video, at times from multiple angles. See Officer Coward Body-Worn Camera Video (“Coward BWC”), Def. Ex. 2, ECF No. 41-2; Sergeant Evans Body-Worn Camera Video (“Evans BWC”), Def. Ex. 5, ECF No. 41-5; Officer Thermidor Body-Worn Camera Video (“Thermidor BWC”), Def. Ex. 7, ECF No. 41-7.^[1] The parties disagree at times about how to characterize the behavior and intent of Mr. Jones and Sergeant Evans. Still, the general course of events is beyond any reasonable dispute.

1. The December 5, 2017 Incident

On December 5, 2017, at approximately 12:45pm, both Mr. Jones and Sergeant Evans were outside the King-Greenleaf Recreation Center in Southwest D.C. DSMF ¶ 1; Pl.'s Statement of Material Facts as to Which a Genuine Dispute Exists (“PSMF”) ¶ 1, ECF No. 42. While Mr. Jones was walking through the Recreation Center's courtyard on his way to use a restroom inside the building, see DSMF ¶ 1, Sergeant Evans was helping Officer Ivens Thermidor with an investigatory stop near the building's entrance, id. ¶ 2. Sergeant Evans ran the government-issued identification card of a second individual who had been near the first individual before Sergeant Evans and Officer Thermidor initiated the stop, and Sergeant Evans relayed the first individual's name to dispatch. Id. ¶¶ 3-5.

As Mr. Jones walked down the pathway to the Recreation Center, he spoke out on his belief that law enforcement did not contribute to justice but instead was part of white supremacy. PSMF ¶ 2; Coward BWC 0:05-0:34. According to Mr. Jones, he was unaware that MPD officers were conducting an investigatory stop near the Recreation Center's entrance, PSMF ¶ 7, although Officer Coward was directly in his field of view and appears to have at least partially inspired Mr. Jones's comments, Coward BWC 0:02-0:34. Video footage shows other civilians were near the entrance, including one riding a bike on the same path in the area where Mr. Jones was heading. See, e.g., Coward BWC 0:02-0:34.

As Mr. Jones walked on, Officer Coward intercepted Mr. Jones and blocked him from proceeding. Id. 0:30-0:34. Officer Coward also pressed his arm against Mr. Jones, although this movement was relatively light and did not involve much pressure. Id. In response, Mr. Jones told Officer Coward that he was “minding my business.” Id. Officer Coward continued to hold his arm up against Mr. Jones to block him, telling Mr. Jones that “we busy down here.” Id. Mr. Jones immediately raised both of his hands above his shoulders in a surrender position and asked Officer Coward to “get your hands off me.” Id. 0:34-0:37. Officer Coward told Mr. Jones to “mind [his] business” and “don't come down here bro.” Id. 0:34-0:40. Mr. Jones responded “don't put your hands on me, don't touch me, don't none of y'all touch me” as he pointed his finger at Officer Coward, who by then was no longer touching Mr. Jones. Id. 0:38-0:44. Mr. Jones continued to yell that Officer Coward had “put his hands” on him. Id.

Sergeant Evans saw Mr. Jones pointing his finger at Officer Coward and shouting at him; he approached the situation as he called for “more units down here” on his radio. Evans BWC, 3:00-3:10. Sergeant Evans asked Mr. Jones “what's going on with you man? Hey, just relax. Just relax. Sir. Sir.” without seemingly attracting his attention. Id. 3:05-3:15. Mr. Jones, still upset that Officer Coward had touched him, persisted in shouting at Officer Coward: “What's wrong with you? You can't put your hands on me. Don't put your hands on me. Don't touch me. You are trained . . . Don't touch me . . . Man, you don't intimidate me. You a coward. You a fucking coward.” Id. 3:05-3:20. Officer Coward then shoved Mr. Jones with enough force to make Mr. Jones take several steps backward. Id. 3:20-3:25. Sergeant Evans moved closer to Mr. Jones, who again put his hands up, yelling “You see that?” Id. Mr. Jones demanded that Sergeant Evans arrest Officer Coward, saying that “[h]e assaulted me in front of you, you arrest him.” Id. 3:20-3:30.

At this point, Mr. Jones and Sergeant Evans were in close physical proximity. Sergeant Evans became agitated that Mr. Jones was so close to him, yelling “Why are you getting in my face?” Id. Mr. Jones answered “Get in your face? You come up on me!” Id. Sergeant Evans then shouted “Do you want to go to jail?” three times at Mr. Jones. Id. 3:30-3:35. Mr. Jones began backing up, while Sergeant Evans said “[y]ou ain't scaring nobody big man. Go on down the road. Go on down the road now. Now!” Id. 3:30-3:40. Mr. Jones started to walk away but commented that Sergeant Evans “stinks” and his “breath stinks.” Id. 3:35-3:40. Sergeant Evans shouted back that “[y]our breath stinks too, ass!” and “[y]ou smell like ass!” Id. 3:40-3:45.

Another officer put his hand on Mr. Jones's arm, who yelled “don't touch me” and ran away toward nearby picnic tables. Coward BWC 1:27-1:35. Sergeant Evans ran after Mr. Jones, screaming “Hey! Hey! Hey!” Id. At this point, Officer Coward remained at a distance for the rest of the encounter, although still close enough to observe and record the interaction between Mr. Jones and Sergeant Evans. See generally Coward BWC. By the picnic tables, two other officers also approached Mr. Jones, who said “don't touch me” and “get the fuck away from me.” Id. 1:27-1:38. Sergeant Evans also yelled back “don't touch me” repeatedly-Mr. Jones was not touching him-and told Mr. Jones “you're on camera.” Id. 1:27-1:40; Evans BWC 3:55-4:00.

Mr. Jones again turned away and was met by Sergeant Evans blocking his path. Thermidor BWC 5:55-6:00. There was brief physical contact between Mr. Jones's stomach and Sergeant Evans's chest. Id. The parties continued yelling, with Sergeant Evans asking “why are you pushing me man” although Mr. Jones did not push Sergeant Evans. Id. 5:50-6:00.

An already heated situation then turned vulgar. Although the Court will spare the reader from the precise language, Mr. Jones began shouting homophobic slurs at Sergeant Evans. Id. Sergeant Evans pushed his chest against Mr. Jones and replied with the same slur. Id. Mr. Jones referenced his genitalia, yelling at Sergeant Evans that he had “a black dick to annihilate you in the birth canal,” which Sergeant Evans responded to with a mocking “ooooo” sound. Id. 6:006:05. Mr. Jones also made a comment about Sergeant Evans's gun, saying “you need a gun” to apparently imply that Sergeant Evans was cowardly and needed a gun to be brave enough for confrontation.^[2] Id.; Evans BWC 4:08-4:09. Mr. Jones again repeated slurs to Sergeant Evans; Sergeant Evans made further insinuations about Mr. Jones's sexual conduct and sexual orientation, calling him an “undercover brother.” Thermidor BWC 6:05-6:14. Both individuals continued to insult one another with vulgar remarks about the other's sexual orientation. Id.

Mr. Jones yelled “hey, look at this dick” to nearby officers-referring to Sergeant Evans as a “dick”-and Sergeant Evans told Mr. Jones that if he “come[s] up talking to us we're gonna talk back to you,” and again shoved Mr. Jones with his chest. Id. 6:15-6:30. Sergeant Evans was irritated that Mr. Jones spoke to a different officer, screaming “you talk to me.” Id. Sergeant Evans then spit on Mr. Jones, who grabbed his face and said “[h]e just spit in my face.” Id. 6:30-6:35.

The parties strongly dispute whether the spitting was intentional. According to Sergeant Evans, “any spit expelled from Sergeant Evans's mouth was unintentional and incidental to his speech.” See Mot. Summ. J. at 5, ECF No. 41. Mr. Jones argues that Sergeant Evans's head “rears back and comes forward in a spitting motion.” Pl. Opp'n to Mot. Summ. J (“Pl. Opp'n”) at 4, ECF No. 42. The video evidence is not entirely conclusive on this issue, but it seems that Sergeant Evans spit accidentally while loudly yelling into Mr. Jones's face.

After the spitting, Mr. Jones again tried to distance himself from the situation, with Sergeant Evans chasing him out of the courtyard and asking him “...