Laplante v. City of Battle Creek

30 F.4th 572

William LAPLANTE, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.CITY OF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN ; Mikael Ziegler and Brice Kerschen, individually and in their official capacities, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 21-1371

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: January 27, 2022

Decided and Filed: April 8, 2022

ARGUED: Paul D. Hudson, MILLER CANFIELD, Kalamazoo, Michigan, for Appellants. Shawn C. Cabot, CHRISTOPHER TRAINOR & ASSOCIATES, White Lake, Michigan, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Paul D. Hudson, Amanda Rauh-Bieri, MILLER CANFIELD, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Jill Humphreys Steele, CITY OF BATTLE CREEK, Battle Creek, Michigan, for Appellants. Shawn C. Cabot, CHRISTOPHER TRAINOR & ASSOCIATES, White Lake, Michigan, for Appellee.

Before: CLAY, GRIFFIN, and STRANCH, Circuit Judges.

CLAY, Circuit Judge.

Defendants, Officers Mikael Ziegler ("Officer Ziegler" or "Ziegler") and Brice Kerschen ("Officer Kerschen" or "Kerschen"), appeal the district court's order denying their motion for summary judgment in Plaintiff William LaPlante's ("Plaintiff" or "LaPlante") 42 U.S.C. § 1983 excessive force action. Plaintiff alleges that Defendants violated his Fourth Amendment rights when Ziegler threw him to the ground in a takedown maneuver and Kerschen failed to intervene to prevent that use of force. For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM the district court's denial of qualified immunity as to Defendant Ziegler and REVERSE the district court's denial of qualified immunity as to Defendant Kerschen and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

Most of the incident giving rise to this lawsuit was captured on dash-camera video. At 2:58 a.m. on May 27, 2016, while performing patrol duties in Battle Creek, Michigan, Officers Ziegler and Kerschen activated their patrol car lights to stop Plaintiff's vehicle. Plaintiff stopped as soon as the officers activated their lights. At that point, the passenger, Ryan Robbins ("Robbins"), exited the vehicle and began to walk away. Robbins’ exit prompted Officer Ziegler to loudly yell, "Get in the car, now" as he approached the vehicle. (MVR Video, R. 60-2, Ex. B at 00:35–00:40.) With his taser in his extended right hand, Officer Ziegler quickly moved toward the passenger's side of Plaintiff's vehicle. Ziegler then yelled once again, in an even louder tone, ordering Robbins to "Get in the car, now!" (Id. at 00:39–00:40.) Robbins raised his hands in the air and moved back toward the vehicle, and Officer Kerschen approached Robbins. Robbins knelt and put his hands in the air as Kerschen approached him.

Moments later, Officer Ziegler proceeded to the driver's side of the vehicle with his taser still in his right hand. As he approached Plaintiff, Ziegler said, "Hey." (Id. at 00:46–00:47.) Plaintiff, who was in the driver's seat, had opened his car door and placed at least one foot on the ground outside of the vehicle. He was allegedly intoxicated.¹

Plaintiff proceeded to exit the vehicle with an open can of beer in his right hand. At that point, with his taser still in his right hand and in close proximity to Plaintiff, Ziegler stated, "Hey, just show me your hands, now." (Id. at 00:43–00:49.) Plaintiff said, "Dude, I'm not doin ...,’ " and finished exiting the vehicle with his back to Ziegler. (Id. at 00:49–00:52.) Ziegler ordered Plaintiff to put the beer down two times. When Plaintiff failed to put the beer down, Ziegler knocked it to the ground.² At that point, Plaintiff took a step toward the front of the car and extended his hand forward against the car's frame, which caused the car to lurch forward a short distance.³ Ziegler continued to face Plaintiff's back, and Plaintiff moved forward alongside the car. Ziegler then firmly told Plaintiff to "quit moving around" while simultaneously placing the taser against Plaintiff's back.⁴ (Id. at 00:54–00:56.) He then told Plaintiff to put his hands behind his back.⁵ When Plaintiff failed to do so and subsequently bent over,⁶ Ziegler firmly said, "Put your hands behind your back or I'm gonna tase you." (Id. at 00:59–01:01.) At that point, Plaintiff, still bent forward, reached his right hand over the car and placed it at his side. Ziegler said, "Put your fuckin’ hands behind your back, now." (Id. at 01:01–01:03.)

Plaintiff next turned his face slightly toward Ziegler and stated "Dude, I'm not movin’ around, man, I'm sorry." (Id. at 01:04–01:06.) He then moved his hands toward his back. Plaintiff leaned slightly back and looked at Ziegler in the eyes, at which point Ziegler pulled Plaintiff toward him and firmly said, "Well don't move!" (Id. at 01:05–01:07.) In response, Plaintiff said, "Alright!" (Id. at 01:07.) Ziegler then said, "Stay right there," and he put his taser, which was in his right hand, back in its holster. (Id. at 01:08–01:09.) Plaintiff then asked, "What's wrong, dude?" (Id. ) Ziegler said, "You are what is wrong! You're driving." (Id. at 01:08–01:11 (emphasis added).) Plaintiff brought his hands forward, removing them from the position behind his back. He then raised his hands in the air above his head, with a ninety-degree bend at each of his elbows. Ziegler once again stated, "Put your fuckin’ hands behind your back." (Id. at 01:11–01:14.) As Ziegler said those words, Plaintiff took one step with his right foot and proceeded to bend his knees into a squat stance. Simultaneously, he rotated his hands down from over his head so that his arms were perpendicular to his body. Ziegler then grabbed Plaintiff's shoulders, bent his knees, and pulled Plaintiff towards the ground,⁷ causing Plaintiff to land on the street in a prone position.

As this occurred, Officer Kerschen ran over from the passenger's side of the vehicle after securing Robbins’ handcuffs. The officers struggled to handcuff Plaintiff, who continued to move once he was on the ground.⁸ Amidst various groans, Plaintiff stated, "What the fuck, man?" (Id. at 01:19–01:21.) Ziegler once again told Plaintiff to put his hands behind his back. Plaintiff continued to groan. Plaintiff then said, "I ain't doing nothing, dude!" (Id. at 01:34–01:36.) Ziegler once again told Plaintiff to put his hands behind his back. Plaintiff then exclaimed, "Here, take my hands! God damn! Take them!" (Id. at 01:37–01:40.) Ziegler then firmly said, "put ‘em behind your back." (Id. at 01:40–01:42.) Plaintiff then said, "Take them! I ain't do nothin,’ dude. Go ahead!" (Id. at 01:42–01:48.) Officer Ziegler repeated his request that Plaintiff put his hands behind his back. Plaintiff then said, "I am not doin’ nothin.’ " (Id. at 01:50–01:51.) Ziegler then stated, "Put ‘em behind your back and don't move." (Id. at 01:51–01:54.) Plaintiff immediately said, "Alright! God damn, man." (Id. at 01:54–01:55.) Ziegler then loudly exclaimed, "Stay right there!" (Id. at 01:55–01:57.) Plaintiff then stated, "I am not fuckin’ doin’ nothin,’ man." (Id. at 01:50–02:01.) Several seconds later, Ziegler announced over his radio that Plaintiff was in custody. Plaintiff was standing at this point, with his hands cuffed behind his back. It took approximately one minute and thirty seconds to effectuate Plaintiff's arrest.

Following his arrest, Plaintiff had several scrapes and lacerations on the left side of his face, particularly around his brow ridge and cheekbone. Plaintiff also began to complain about pain in his elbow. He loudly grunted and cried out in pain as he paced next to the police vehicle, and he eventually bent down. Simultaneously, Ziegler discussed information regarding the incident via radio.

Less than a minute after the officers effectuated Plaintiff's arrest, Officer Ziegler notified police dispatch that Plaintiff was experiencing pain in his elbow. Afterward, Plaintiff and Ziegler then discussed whether Plaintiff had complied with Ziegler's orders prior to the arrest.

Officer Ziegler then proceeded to inspect Plaintiff's vehicle, specifically the front left bumper area that allegedly hit the car that was parked in front of it. He picked up the beer can and looked inside Plaintiff's vehicle from which he recovered an item for inspection. He subsequently returned the item to the vehicle. Plaintiff then stated, "I've done nothing but cooperate, my handcuffs are put on me so tight I can't even feel my hands." (Id. at 05:17–05:19.) At that point, Ziegler said, "Okay, we'll fix ‘em." (Id. at 05:21–05:23.) Ziegler loosened the handcuffs at Plaintiff's request.

Plaintiff continued to insist that he did not do anything, and Ziegler stated in response that, "You get handcuffed when you're in the car and people act like that." (Id. at 05:35–05:39.)

Plaintiff was later treated by Lifecare Ambulance Services ("Lifecare"). Lifecare transported Plaintiff to Bronson Battle Creek Hospital for additional treatment, and he was later taken to Calhoun County Jail. Medical personnel determined that Plaintiff had dislocated his left elbow and sustained a small avulsion fracture. In the criminal case related to this incident, Plaintiff pleaded guilty to a felony charge of operating while under the influence of alcohol and a high misdemeanor charge of attempted obstruction of a police officer.

The police report relating to this incident fills some gaps left by the video, photographs, and Joint Statement. First, it indicates the officers’ alleged reasons for initially stopping Plaintiff's vehicle. The report states that they "observed a silver 4-door vehicle ... rapidly accelerating and breaking [sic] ... [and] squeeling [sic] the tires and swerving on the roadway ... [so they] decided to catch up to this vehicle and make a traffic stop on it for careless driving and suspected OUIL" (Police Report, R. 60-7, Ex. G, Page ID # 617.) Officer Kerschen allegedly attempted to call dispatch before the officers exited the police car, however, both officers claim he was unable to do so because Robbins immediately attempted to flee, and they decided to give chase. The police report further indicates that the...