Masters v. City of Independence

998 F.3d 827

Bryce MASTERS Plaintiff - Appellee

v.CITY OF INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI; Tom Dailey ; Bryce Blackmore Defendants

Timothy Runnels Defendant - Appellant

Taser International, Inc.; Patrick Smith Defendants

Bryce Masters Plaintiff - Appellant

v.City of Independence, Missouri; Tom Dailey ; Bryce Blackmore Defendants

Timothy Runnels Defendant - Appellee

Taser International, Inc.; Patrick Smith Defendants

No. 19-2199

No. 19-2242

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: November 19, 2020

Filed: May 27, 2021

John Christopher Burton, Law Offices of John Burton, Pasadena, CA, Daniel J. Haus, Haus Law Firm, Belton, MO, Matthew Allen McCoy, Jill Allison Presley, Kirk Rowan Presley, Presley & Presley LLC, Kansas City, MO, for Plaintiff - Appellant.

Dana Tippin Cutler, Keith Anthony Cutler, James W. Tippin & Associates, Kansas City, MO, for Defendant - Appellee.

Before COLLOTON, MELLOY, and KELLY, Circuit Judges.

KELLY, Circuit Judge.

Bryce Masters brought this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that Independence, Missouri police officer Timothy Runnels used excessive force against him during a traffic stop.¹ A jury found in favor of Masters and awarded him compensatory and punitive damages. Runnels appeals, arguing that the district court erred in denying (1) his motion for judgment as a matter of law based on qualified immunity and (2) his motion for a new trial based on the admission of testimony by two of Masters's expert witnesses. Masters cross-appeals, arguing that the district court erred in granting Runnels's request for a remittitur of a punitive damages award. Having jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm in part and reverse in part.

I.

In the afternoon of September 14, 2014, Bryce Masters, then a 17-year-old high school senior, was driving his car on a residential street in Independence, Missouri.² Timothy Runnels, a police officer with seven years’ experience in law enforcement, was on patrol in the area. He ran a license plate check on Masters's car, which revealed an outstanding warrant apparently associated with the plate.³ Runnels then initiated a traffic stop.

After both cars stopped on the side of the road, Runnels approached Masters's front passenger-side window and asked Masters to roll it down. Although the window was fully operable, Masters did not roll it down completely. Runnels then walked around to the opposite side of the car, opened the front driver-side door, and ordered that Masters get out of the car. Masters refused, asking, "For what?" and whether he was under arrest. Runnels told Masters he was under arrest, but he did not explain the reason. During the encounter, Runnels never told Masters why he had been pulled over, and he never asked for Masters's driver's license, vehicle registration, or proof of insurance.

Runnels drew his model X26 Taser,⁴ which was in probe mode, and asked, "Do you really wanna get Tased right here in the middle of your car?" Masters resisted by leaning back onto the passenger-side front seat, saying, "I haven't done anything officer." Runnels re-holstered his Taser then attempted to physically remove Masters from the car by pulling on his shirt and legs. Masters temporarily succeeded in resisting Runnels by pulling away from him, but at no point during the encounter did Masters attempt to hit or kick Runnels nor did he verbally threaten him. After several seconds, Runnels again drew his Taser and pointed it at Masters. He said, "All right, fine, f*** it. Just get out. Out, out right now," and he pulled the trigger.

One Taser probe lodged in Masters's chest while the other lodged in his abdomen, and the Taser began to shock Masters. Masters was nevertheless able to move, get out of the car, and lie face-down on the asphalt, where he fell unconscious. Runnels knelt down, released the trigger, and handcuffed Masters's hands behind his back. Runnels kept the Taser trigger engaged from the time he initially fired the Taser until he knelt down to handcuff Masters. The parties agree that the continuous Taser discharge lasted at least 20 seconds, the equivalent of four cycles of the Taser. During the Taser discharge, Masters complied with all of Runnels's commands until he fell unconscious.

After handcuffing him, Runnels lifted Masters, who was still unconscious, by his arms and dragged him several feet around the rear of the car to a driveway on the edge of the road. Runnels dropped Masters face-first onto the concrete, fracturing four teeth and causing abrasions to Masters's forehead as well as a laceration on his chin. In addition, the Taser discharge had disrupted Masters's heart beat, causing Masters to suffer a convulsion due to a lack of oxygenated blood flowing to his brain 34 seconds after Runnels fired the Taser. One minute and 41 seconds later, Masters fell into cardiac arrest. Emergency medical responders were able to resuscitate Masters, but he suffered hypoxia and anoxic brain injury as a result of his cardiac arrest.

Runnels was subsequently terminated from the Independence Police Department because of this incident and, after an FBI investigation, was indicted on two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law (one for the prolonged use of the Taser and one for dropping Masters to the ground) and two counts of obstruction of justice. On September 11, 2015, Runnels pleaded guilty to the deprivation of rights count related to the drop, the remaining counts were dismissed, and he was sentenced to 48 months’ imprisonment. Judgment in a Criminal Case, United States v. Runnels, No. 15-cr-00106-DW, at Doc. 44 (W.D. Mo. June 1, 2016).

On September 26, 2016, Masters sued Runnels under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violating his civil rights. As relevant to this appeal, Masters initially claimed that Runnels violated his Fourth Amendment right against the use of excessive force by (1) firing a Taser into Masters's chest, (2) prolonging the Taser discharge (the prolonged Taser claim), and (3) picking Masters up after he was rendered unresponsive and dropping him face-first onto concrete (the drop claim).

At the close of discovery, Runnels moved for summary judgment, arguing he was entitled to qualified immunity on Masters's two Taser-related claims. The district court denied the motion. Before trial, Runnels moved to exclude the expert testimony of, among others, Michael Dreiling, a vocational rehabilitation expert, and Dr. Karen Tabak, an economics expert. After a Daubert hearing on November 27, 2018, the district court denied Runnels's motion.

On December 10, 2018, a five-day jury trial commenced. At the close of Masters's evidence, Runnels moved for judgment as a matter of law, again arguing that he was entitled to qualified immunity for Masters's first two claims. The district court denied the motion. Runnels renewed the motion at the close of all evidence, and the district court again denied it.

On December 13, Masters submitted only the second and third claims—the prolonged Taser claim and the drop claim—to the jury. On December 14, the jury found in favor of Masters on both claims, awarding Masters $5,000,000⁵ in compensatory damages for the prolonged Taser claim and $50,000 in compensatory damages for the drop claim. The jury also awarded punitive damages on both claims—$500,000 for the prolonged Taser claim and $1,000,000 for the drop claim.

Runnels filed three post-trial motions. First, he renewed his motion for judgment as a matter of law on the prolonged Taser claim on the ground of qualified immunity. Second, he filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that the district court erred by, among other things, admitting the expert testimony of Dreiling and Dr. Tabak. Third, he filed a motion to alter or amend the judgment by remittitur, arguing that the jury's $1,000,000 punitive damages award for the drop claim was grossly excessive. On May 7, 2019, the district court denied Runnels's motions for judgment as a matter of law and a new trial but granted his motion for remittitur, decreasing the punitive damages award for the drop claim to $236,500.⁶ This appeal and cross-appeal followed.

II.

First, Runnels appeals the denial of his post-verdict motion for judgment as a matter of law, arguing that he is entitled to qualified immunity for Masters's prolonged Taser claim. We review a district court's denial of judgment as a matter of law on the basis of qualified immunity de novo, using the same standards as the district court. See Luckert v. Dodge Cnty., 684 F.3d 808, 816 (8th Cir. 2012). "A motion for judgment as a matter of law is proper only if ‘a reasonable jury would not have a legally sufficient evidentiary basis to find for [Masters].’ " Id. at 817 (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a) ). Our review is "highly deferential to the jury verdict," id., and we must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of Masters "without making credibility assessments or weighing the evidence," Dean v. Cnty. of Gage, 807 F.3d 931, 936 (8th Cir. 2015) (quoting Phillips v. Collings, 256 F.3d 843, 847 (8th Cir. 2001) ).

"Qualified immunity shields government officials from liability in a § 1983 action unless the official's conduct violates a clearly established constitutional or statutory right of which a reasonable person would have known." De Boise v. Taser Int'l, Inc., 760 F.3d 892, 896 (8th Cir. 2014) (quoting Brown v. City of Golden Valley, 574 F.3d 491, 495 (8th Cir. 2009) ). "Qualified immunity gives government officials breathing room to make reasonable but mistaken judgments, and protects all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law." Blazek v. City of Iowa City, 761 F.3d 920, 922 (8th Cir. 2014) (quoting Stanton v. Sims, 571 U.S. 3, 6, 134 S.Ct. 3, 187 L.Ed.2d 341 (2013) (per curiam)). We conduct a two-part inquiry to determine whether qualified immunity protects a government official from liability: "(1) whether the facts shown by the plaintiff make out a violation of a constitutional or statutory right, and ...