King v. Saloon

WILLIAM KING, JR. v. THE NAUTI-GOOSE SALOON ET AL.

No. 2183

COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND

September Term, 2017

December 4, 2019

Circuit Court for Cecil County

Case No. 07-C-16-000229

UNREPORTED

Wright,* Graeff, Kehoe, JJ.

Opinion by Graeff, J.

* Wright, J., now retired, participated in the hearing and conference of this case while an active member of the Court; after being recalled pursuant to Maryland Constitution, Article IV, Section 3A, he also participated in the decision and adoption of this Opinion.

*This is an unreported opinion, and it may not be cited in any paper, brief, motion, or other document filed in this Court or any other Maryland Court as either precedent within the rule of stare decisis or as persuasive authority. Md. Rule 1-104.

In the early morning hours of August 24, 2013, William King, Jr., appellant, and four of his friends were in the parking lot outside the Nauti-Goose Saloon (the "Nauti-Goose"), a restaurant/bar located in Cecil County, Maryland. Trooper Richard Woollens, a Maryland State Police officer working approved secondary employment as a security officer at the Nauti-Goose, approached appellant, who was intoxicated. After Mr. King stated that he was going to stab Trooper Woollens, the trooper executed a takedown maneuver on Mr. King, which caused Mr. King to hit his head on the pavement.

In February 2016, Mr. King filed a civil suit in the Circuit Court for Cecil County, which he amended several times. He asserted multiple claims, including use of excessive force and negligent hiring, against multiple defendants. The court ultimately issued a judgment in favor of appellees: (1) 200 West Cherry Street, LLC ("Cherry Street"), the restaurant and bar that does business as the Nauti-Goose; (2) TTS Properties, Inc. ("TTS Properties"), a corporation that co-owns the premises of the Nauti-Goose; (3) Anchor Boats, Inc. ("Anchor Boats"), a corporation alleged to co-own the premises of the Nauti-Goose; (4) Trooper Woollens; and (5) the State of Maryland.

On appeal, Mr. King raises the following questions for this Court's review, which we have revised slightly, as follows:

1. Did the trial court err in granting summary judgment in this excessive force suit where Trooper Woollens claimed that Mr. King uttered a verbal threat, and the court therefore concluded the force was appropriate, when that threat was not heard by other individuals within earshot?

2. Did the trial court employ an impermissible analysis into Trooper Woollens' alternatives to the force employed, or purported lack thereof, when it evaluated his conduct?

For the reasons set forth below, we shall affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A.Incident at the Nauti-Goose

On August 23, 2013, at approximately 6:00 p.m., Mr. King and several of his friends—William Nolan, Domenic DiSantis, Royce Dorman, Sean McComsey, and Colt Givler—boarded Mr. King's 27-foot sailboat at the Hances Point Yacht Club. They "cruis[ed] around" for a while, and at approximately 7:30 p.m., Mr. King anchored the sailboat at North East Harbor, a short distance from the Nauti-Goose. The friends then boarded a motorized dinghy that they detached from the sailboat, and Mr. King piloted the dinghy the remaining distance to the Nauti-Goose.¹ When they arrived, Mr. King docked the boat, and he and his friends entered the bar. While inside the Nauti-Goose, the friends drank alcohol and dispersed to different locations in the bar.

At approximately midnight, Mr. King was visibly intoxicated and was dancing barefoot on the dance floor. Mr. Nolan testified that all the friends were "pretty hammered" while they were inside the Nauti-Goose.

Mr. Dorman, who also was intoxicated, was on the second-floor deck of the restaurant and threw a beer bottle off the deck into the river. A bouncer escorted Mr. Dormman out of the bar. Moments later, Mr. DiSantis, who had observed Mr. Dorman's ejection from the bar, met up with Mr. Givler and Mr. McComsey, told them what happened, and said that they needed to leave.

Mr. DiSantis and Mr. McComsey left the Nauti-Goose and walked to the parking lot, which was located at the side of the bar approximately 50 feet from the bar entrance and 20-40 feet from the dinghy. Mr. Nolan, who had left the bar earlier because he felt ill, was sitting on a bench located at the edge of the parking lot.² Mr. Givler remained inside the restaurant looking for Mr. King. He eventually left, however, leaving Mr. King inside.

Mr. DiSantis and Mr. McComsey were standing a short distance from Mr. Nolan in an area with picnic tables. At some point, Mr. DiSantis grabbed two empty beer bottles from the tables and tossed them into a storm drain behind Mr. Nolan.

A bouncer at the Nauti-Goose heard the bottles shatter and approached Mr. DiSantis, Mr. McComsey, and Mr. Givler. When he asked the three friends who had thrown the bottles, Mr. Disantis did not respond. Mr. Disantis stated in his deposition that the bouncer then began acting aggressively.

Two or three other bouncers came to assist with the situation, including Trooper Woollens, a Maryland State Police ("MSP") officer who was working approved secondary employment. The bouncers insisted that the three friends leave the area. The friends refused because they were waiting for Mr. King to leave the restaurant, and it was not safe for them to wait in the dinghy.³

Around this time, Mr. King was on the deck of the Nauti-Goose and told by a bouncer that he needed to leave the bar. He resisted and began flailing his arms in protest as he was escorted down the stairs. When he and the guard reached the front door of the restaurant, he pushed the bouncer and attempted to finish the beer that was in his hand. Before he could, however, the bouncer grabbed the beer and ordered him to leave the restaurant. Mr. King again resisted, but he ultimately was ejected from the building. He then walked to the parking lot where his friends were arguing with the bouncers.

Trooper Woollens approached Mr. King and ordered him to leave. The two began to argue, and Trooper Woollens then wrapped his arms around Mr. King, raised him off the ground, and executed a takedown maneuver that caused Mr. King to hit his head on the pavement.

Nine witnesses observed Mr. King around the time that Trooper Woollens executed the takedown maneuver. We will briefly set out the description of events from each witness.

In a sworn affidavit, Trooper Woollens stated that, in the early morning hours of August 24, 2013, he was advised that security employees were dealing with disorderly men in the parking area. He went to the parking lot, where he "observed five white males acting in a disorderly manner," i.e., "pushing Nauti Goose security employees and not following commands to leave the premises." He approached Mr. King, "who appeared to be intoxicated," and ordered him to leave the property. Initially, Mr. King began to walk away, but he then came back to Trooper Woollens and "forcibly pushed" him. Trooper Woollens identified himself as a Maryland State Trooper and again advised Mr. King to leave the premises. Mr. King, who had a strong smell of alcohol, then "came towards [Trooper Woollens] in an aggressive manner and stated 'I don't care if you're a cop, I'll stab you."' Trooper Woollens stated in his affidavit:

This statement gave me concern that Mr. King had a concealed knife or sharp weapon. This fact, coupled with his aggressive behavior, his intoxication, and the fact that there were numerous other people around, led me to believe Mr. King would harm me or other people at the scene.

Fearing for my safety, I wrapped my arms around Mr. King to prevent him from assaulting me. I realized the only way to gain control of Mr. King was to execute a takedown, so I executed a take-down technique taking Mr. King down to the ground. I used my weight to leverage him towards his side to take him off his feet and down to the ground. I used only enough force to take him down to the ground as fast as possible. Although Mr. King was taken off his feet, I did not pick him up and slam him. This takedown was in accordance with my training and experience provided by the Maryland State Police.

Trooper Woollens did not intend to injure Mr. King, but rather, to take him "down as quickly as possible to prevent him from assaulting me or other people at the scene." Mr. King, however, did sustain a head injury during the takedown.

Mr. DiSantis testified at his deposition that "he never saw [Mr. King] outside until [Mr. King] was on the ground." He did not observe any of the events that led to Mr. King being taken to the ground. When asked whether he heard "any back and forth between Mr. King and whoever it was that put him on the ground," Mr. DiSantis stated: "No words were spoken, to my knowledge[.]" He stated, however, that he did not hear anything because one of the bouncers put him a chokehold and he almost blacked out.

Mr. McComsey testified at his deposition that he was with the group of friends outside the bar at the time the takedown occurred. When asked what he heard and saw with respect to the incident, the following exchange ensued:

[Mr. McComsey]: I heard [the impact]. I turned around. It was behind us.

[Counsel]: Okay. So you didn't see what happened?

[Mr. McComsey]: Correct.

[Counsel]: And you didn't hear what happened, if anything was said between [Mr. King] and [Trooper Woollens]? [Mr. McComsey]: No.

[Counsel]: Could you hear what was going on between the security

personnel in green and the other members of your group?

* * *

[Mr. McComsey]: I don't remember now.

[Counsel]: Well, you said you heard Mr. King hit the ground?

[Mr. McComsey]: Correct.

[Counsel]: And you said your back was to them at that point?

[Mr. McComsey]: Yeah

[Counsel]: So you didn't hear or see what happened and you didn't hear what precipitated that?

[Mr. McComsey]: Correct.

Herbert P. Wilkins, Jr., a patron at the bar, observed Mr. King as he was being ejected from the...