Mitchell v. Parker

271 F.Supp.3d 1364

Keith Dashaun MITCHELL, Plaintiff,

v.Sergeant O.B. PARKER and Officer Aaron Dowling, Defendants.

CIVIL ACTION FILE NUMBER 1–16–cv–00253–TCB

United States District Court, N.D. Georgia, Atlanta Division.

September 25, 2017

Mark Andrew Begnaud, Nathanael A. Horsley, Horsley Begnaud, LLC, Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiff.

Brenda Ann Raspberry, Laura K. Johnson, Nikisha L. McDonald, Elizabeth Louise Fite, Decatur, GA, for Defendants.

ORDER

Timothy C. Batten, Sr., United States District Judge

This case comes before the Court on Sergeant O.B. Parker and Officer Aaron Dowling's motion for partial summary judgment on the claims filed against them by Plaintiff Keith Dashaun Mitchell [29–1]. Defendants also argue that partial summary judgment is warranted on nearly all the remaining claims stemming from the November 27, 2013 arrest of Mitchell at the Tanqueray Lounge in Decatur, Georgia.

I. Background

The facts surrounding the arrest are disputed by the parties. Both Sgt. Parker and Officer Dowling were employees of the DeKalb County Police Department. At the time, Parker also worked as an off-duty security guard at the lounge. Mitchell had been a periodic customer of the lounge since it opened approximately twenty years ago. Non-party Stacie Friday was also a periodic customer of the lounge and was a witness to several of the relevant events.

On February 23, 2012, Parker and Mitchell had their first encounter at the lounge. Mitchell was engaged in a heated exchange with other customers in the lounge, including Friday. Parker intervened and told Mitchell to leave. Mitchell stated he was about to leave. Once outside the lounge, Parker and Mitchell had their own heated exchange, which resulted in Parker arresting Mitchell for disorderly conduct and public intoxication. Parker testifies that during this incident, with the permission of the lounge manager, he gave Mitchell a criminal trespass warning and told him not to return to the lounge.

On April 14, 2012, Parker and Mitchell had another encounter at Echelon Bistro, where Parker was also working off-duty security. Another argument occurred, wherein Parker yelled, "Oh, am I reckless eyeballing you now?" and told Mitchell he could not enter Echelon Bistro. Mitchell left the establishment without being arrested.

On April 17, 2012, Mitchell filed a complaint against Parker with DeKalb County Police Internal Affairs alleging Parker had falsely arrested him in February and further harassed him during the Echelon Bistro incident.

Parker testifies that in early 2013, following Mitchell's ongoing ban from the Tanqueray Lounge, Friday requested that Mitchell be allowed back into the lounge. Parker refused the request, telling Friday, "[Mitchell] already made an Internal Affairs complaint on me, which Internal Affairs referred to my supervisor, it came down to what they call a line-level complaint." [29–3] at 78. Mitchell and Friday both testify that Parker's alleged warning and ban on February 23, 2012 never occurred. Friday asserts that her alleged conversations with Parker regarding Mitchell's ban from the lounge were also fabricated by Parker.

On November 27, 2013, Parker again saw Mitchell inside the lounge. Parker requested an officer be dispatched due to Mitchell's trespassing. Officer Dowling arrived and Parker informed him that there was a patron in the lounge trespassing who needed to leave. Parker and Dowling approached Mitchell, who was sitting at the bar, and Parker informed him that he was not supposed to be in the lounge. Mitchell refused to leave, and a physical altercation ensued among Mitchell, Parker, Dowling, and Deputy A. B. Malone, who was off-duty in the lounge and came to assist Parker and Dowling. Eventually, Mitchell was handcuffed, stood up, escorted outside, and placed in a patrol car.

On July 13, 2015, Mitchell's criminal case from February 2012 was dismissed. The dismissal stated that the investigation revealed Mitchell "may have had permission from one of the three owners of the establishment to continue his patronage of the business."

A. Disputed Material Facts Asserted by Parker and Dowling

Parker's and Dowling's versions of the events are similar to each other. Parker testifies that during the prior incidents with Mitchell, Mitchell was belligerent and threatening, specifically making threats of violence and retaliation against Parker. Parker testifies that while he knew Friday, he did not have a substantial relationship with her and at no point had or expressed any romantic interest in her, nor did he have any personal ax to grind with Mitchell. Parker testifies that after banning Mitchell from Tanqueray Lounge in February 2012, Friday requested he be allowed to return to the lounge and after Parker denied this request Friday became angry and "cursed [him] out" in front of the lounge. [29–3] at 79.

Parker testifies that on November 27, 2013 he saw Mitchell in the Tanqueray Lounge for the first time since giving Mitchell the criminal trespass warning in February 2012. Parker then spoke with the lounge's manager and confirmed that Mitchell was not supposed to be in the lounge. After Dowling arrived, Dowling and Parker approached Mitchell and Parker told Mitchell he was not supposed to be in the lounge. Mitchell responded that he was not going anywhere. Parker reached for Mitchell's beer bottle as a safety precaution, and a physical altercation ensued. Mitchell resisted arrest and refused to comply with the officers' verbal commands. Mitchell was eventually handcuffed, taken outside, and placed in a patrol car. Mitchell continued making threats and resisting the officers before, during, and after his arrest.

B. Disputed Material Facts Asserted by Mitchell and Friday

Mitchell and Friday present a different version of these events. Friday alleges that she met Parker in 2008, when he began working at the Tanqueray Lounge. Shortly afterwards, Parker began making repeated romantic advances toward Friday that she consistently rebuffed. Since then, as Friday continued to frequent the lounge, Parker often became visibly upset when Friday spoke with other men. Around the same time, Friday met and became friends with Mitchell, and the two eventually began dating.

After the February 2012 arrest, Friday testified that Parker bragged to her about having arrested Mitchell, played her an audio recording of the arrest, and informed her that Mitchell was married and had children. In May or June 2012, Parker approached Friday in a restaurant and told her about the incident with Mitchell at the Echelon Bistro. Parker made a number of disparaging comments regarding Mitchell, including that Parker would make it his business to send Mitchell to prison if he did not shoot Mitchell first. Parker also told Friday about the internal affairs complaint Mitchell filed.

Friday denies ever speaking with Parker about allowing Mitchell back into the lounge after the criminal trespass warning. She also testifies that she saw Mitchell at the lounge at least thirty times between the summer of 2012 and the incident in November 2013. She testifies that Parker was also at the lounge on nights she was with Mitchell more than fifteen times during that time frame. On those occasions, Parker glared or stared threateningly at Mitchell when Mitchell and Friday were together.

On November 27, 2013, Friday and Mitchell had been seated at the bar in the lounge for a few hours while Parker stared at them. After Donald Harris, an owner of the bar with whom Friday and Mitchell were friends, left for the night, Parker approached the two with Dowling and Malone. Parker told Mitchell he had to leave because he was trespassing. Mitchell responded that he was not trespassing and that he was welcome at the lounge by Harris.

Parker grabbed Mitchell's beer and slammed it onto the bar, then grabbed Mitchell's wrists and yanked Mitchell off the barstool. Parker forced Mitchell into a corner of the bar and slammed Mitchell to the ground while Parker and the other officers struck Mitchell multiple times in the body and legs.

Friday and Mitchell both testify that Mitchell did not resist after being handcuffed. While Mitchell was handcuffed, Parker rammed Mitchell's head into the floor and dropped his knee onto the side of Mitchell's head several times. After the officers picked Mitchell up, Parker gouged Mitchell in the eye and punched him in the face. Mitchell testifies that while handcuffed behind his back outside, Dowling lifted his arms over his head until he heard his shoulders pop. As a result of the entire incident, Mitchell suffered a black eye, a torn frenulum beneath his tongue, two separated shoulders, pinched nerves in his wrists, a bruised torso, and other injuries.

After Mitchell was arrested, Parker approached Friday inside the lounge and said, "I told you I was going to make his life a living hell. That's what he gets."

Friday testifies that she told Parker that Mitchell had done nothing wrong and Parker replied by asking why she would defend someone who had filed an internal affairs complaint against him, saying, "He could have got me in trouble; I could have lost my job." [35–2].

C. Mitchell's Lawsuit

On January 11, 2016, Mitchell filed this action in the State Court of DeKalb County, Georgia alleging several causes of action: (1) § 1983 excessive force against all Defendants; (2) state law assault and battery against all Defendants; (3) § 1983 failure to intervene against Dowling and Malone; (4) § 1983 illegal seizure against all Defendants; (5) state law false imprisonment against all Defendants; (6) § 1983 malicious prosecution against Parker; and (7) § 1983 First Amendment retaliation against Parker. [1–1]. Defendants timely removed the case to this Court. [1].

Following discovery, Mitchell withdrew all claims against Malone and consented to his dismissal from this suit. Mitchell also withdrew counts four, five, six, and seven against Dowling.

The remaining claims are as follows: (1) § 1983 excessive...