Shaffer v. City of Columbus

444 F.Supp.3d 872

Mary SHAFFER, Plaintiff,

v.CITY OF COLUMBUS, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 2:18-cv-1457

United States District Court, S.D. Ohio, Eastern Division.

Filed March 13, 2020

Sean H. Sobel, Sobel, Wade & Mapley, LLC, Cleveland, OH, for Plaintiff.

Michael R. Halloran, Paula Jennings Lloyd, Columbus City Attorney's Office, Amy L. Hiers, Franklin County Prosecutor's Office, Bryan Bonghyun Lee, Office of the Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney, Columbus, OH, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

SARAH D. MORRISON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter is before the Court on Defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment. (ECF Nos. 25, 29.) Plaintiff filed a Memorandum in Opposition (ECF No. 30), and Defendants filed Replies (ECF Nos. 31, 33). These motions are now ripe for decision.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Mary Shaffer lives with her boyfriend, Raymond Birtcher, at 1030 Olmstead Avenue. (Mary Shaffer Dep. 8:10–20, ECF No. 25-7.) Ms. Shaffer is completely deaf. (Id. 24:11, 53:3–6.) She communicates through American Sign Language ("ASL") and has difficulty reading and writing English. (Id. 51:8–13, 103:9–11.) She cannot, for example, read difficult sentences or complex words. (Id. 37:4–12.) She also has difficulty reading lips. (Id. 44:21–22, 52:24.)

On September 3, 2018, at 5:28 p.m., 911 dispatch received a call from "Raymond" alleging that his "wife Mary Jean" had "put [her] hands on" him. (City of Columbus Mot. Summ. J. Ex. A, ECF No. 25-1.) In response, Officers James Kirk and Stephen Hunter (the "Officers") of the Columbus Police Department were dispatched to 1030 Olmstead Avenue. (James Kirk Aff. ¶ 3, ECF No. 25-8.) Upon arriving at the scene, the Officers spoke with Mr. Birtcher who denied that anything had happened and refused assistance. (Id. ) Ms. Shaffer was just arriving home from being out all day and told the Officers that everything was fine. (Shaffer Dep. 68:17–69:7.) The Officers left the scene. (Id. 69:3–6.)

Minutes later, at 5:50 p.m., "Raymond" again called 911, complaining that "Mary [had] assaulted him right after the police left." (City Mot. Summ. J. Ex. B, ECF No. 25-2.) The Officers were again dispatched to 1030 Olmstead Avenue. (Kirk Aff. ¶ 3.) When the Officers arrived, they saw Mr. Birtcher standing in front of 1026 Olmstead Avenue with a neighbor, Craig Ramsey. (Id. ) Ms. Shaffer was inside the house. (Shaffer Dep. 69:13–16.) Mr. Birtcher told the Officers that Ms. Shaffer had kicked him in the head, and Mr. Ramsey confirmed that he had witnessed Ms. Shaffer kick Mr. Birtcher in the head and throw a rock at him. (City Mot. Summ. J. Ex. C, ECF No. 25-3; Kirk Aff. ¶ 3.) Mr. Ramsey filled out a witness statement confirming this information. (City Mot. Summ. J. Ex. D, ECF No. 25-4; Kirk Aff. ¶ 4.)

By this point, Ms. Shaffer had come outside of the house, and the Officers went over to talk to her. (Shaffer Dep. 69:17, 69:24–25.) She asked them for an interpreter but they refused to provide one. (Id. 70:1.) The Officers placed Ms. Shaffer under arrest on suspicion of committing two misdemeanors—domestic violence, in violation of O.R.C. § 2919.25, and assault, in violation of O.R.C. § 2903.13. (ECF No. 25-3.) The Officers handcuffed Ms. Shaffer with her hands behind her back preventing her from being able to sign. (Shaffer Dep. 70:5–12.) Ms. Shaffer did not know why she was being arrested and did not understand what was going on. (Id. 70:2–4.)

At some point, Officer Kirk and Ms. Shaffer exchanged a series of handwritten notes. Ms. Shaffer contends that this notetaking did not take place until after she was arrested. (Id. 84:15–17.) These notes consist of thirty-one pages of notes in a small notebook. (City Mot. Summ. J. Ex. E, ECF No. 5.) After exchanging some notes back and forth, Officer Kirk handcuffed Ms. Shaffer's hands behind her back, which prevented her from being able to write or to sign. (Id. at 5; Shaffer Dep. 33:4–6, 33:24–34:4) Ultimately, Officer Kirk agreed to take one of the handcuffs off, and the exchange of notes resumed. (Ex. E, at 6.)

In her notes, Ms. Shaffer repeatedly denied that she had kicked or hit Mr. Birtcher and accused Mr. Birtcher and Mr. Ramsey of lying. (Id. at 1, 8, 11–12, 14, 15, 17, 20–23.) She also told Officer Kirk that she had a protective order against Mr. Birtcher and that Mr. Birtcher had committed acts of violence against her and had threatened her. (Id. at 7–10, 12, 14–21.)

Officer Kirk responded that because of Mr. Ramsey's witness statement and because of the strictness of domestic violence laws, he had no choice but to arrest Ms. Shaffer. (Id. at 13, 19.) Officer Kirk then checked with his supervisor who confirmed that an arrest was required. (Id. at 24.)

Ms. Shaffer was taken to the Franklin County Corrections Center, where she was held overnight. (Kirk Aff. ¶ 5; Shaffer Dep. 67:8–9.) Upon arriving at the jail at approximately 12:54 a.m., Ms. Shaffer was processed by Franklin County Sheriff's Office ("FCSO") Deputy Rodnetta Jones. (Rodnetta Jones Aff. ¶¶ 2, 10, ECF No. 29-1; Sheriff Baldwin Mot. Summ. J. Ex. A ("Ex. A").) A booking area video provides a visual of what happened while Ms. Shaffer was being booked, although it is grainy and has only a small amount of discernible audio. (See generally Ex. A.)

The video shows that Ms. Shaffer's handcuffs were removed less than two minutes after she arrived at the station. (Ex. A, at 12:55:40.¹ ) They remained off for the duration of the booking process. (See generally Ex. A.) Almost immediately after her handcuffs were taken off, Ms. Shaffer, Deputy Jones, and a nurse exchanged a number of notes back and forth for approximately seventeen minutes until Ms. Shaffer was taken into another room to change into a jail uniform. (Id. 12:56:34–1:13:10; Jones Aff. ¶ 14.)

After Deputy Jones brought Ms. Shaffer back to the booking area, she and FCSO Deputy Radebaugh assisted Ms. Shaffer for much of the next hour in four ways. First, both deputies exchanged a substantial number of notes with Ms. Shaffer. (Ex. A 1:28:12–1:31:35, 1:32:50–1:35:57, 1:58:08–2:29:19.) The FCSO did not save these notes, so their content is in dispute. (Jones Aff. ¶ 41.) Ms. Shaffer claims that she repeatedly requested an interpreter in these notes. (Id. 43:20–23.) Construing the facts in the light most favorable to her, the Court assumes that she did.

Second, Deputy Jones gave Ms. Shaffer a packet of placards with a number of written and visual requests on them, including one requesting an interpreter. (Id. 40:20–24; ECF No. 29-5; Ex. A 1:32:22.) The interpreter placard says "I need an interpreter" and has a picture of two signing hands on it. (ECF No. 29-5, at 8.)

Ms. Shaffer claims that every time someone approached her, she either showed them the interpreter placard or wrote them a note requesting an interpreter. (Shaffer Dep. 41:5–42:25, 44:6–15.) The video does not support this contention. The video shows that Ms. Shaffer flipped through the placards from time to time, but mostly either held them without showing them to anyone or left them sitting beside her. (Ex. A 1:32:22–1:32:47, 1:36:01–1:37:06, 2:23:45–2:24:03, 2:30:34–2:31:04.) On two occasions she appears to hold up one of the placards but does so for only a split second and in no apparent effort to get anyone's attention. (Id. 2:24:03, 2:37:10.)

Similarly, while Ms. Shaffer may have written notes to Deputy Jones, Deputy Radebaugh, and the nurse requesting an interpreter, she did not write notes to anyone else. The video shows that one time, for approximately one minute, Ms. Shaffer is standing at the back of the booking area, writes something down, and holds up her notepad a couple of times in what appears to be an effort to get someone's attention across the room. (Id. 1:40:14–1:43:53.) She does not walk across the room. (Id. ) Otherwise, she never appears to try to get the attention of anyone at the jail. This is true even when Ms. Shaffer is standing at or near a counter behind which multiple FCSO deputies and staff are standing. (Id. 1:48:22–1:48:55.) One other time Ms. Shaffer holds up her notepad for one or two seconds but then begins to fan herself with it. (Id. 1:43:56–1:44:20.)

Third, Deputy Jones showed Ms. Shaffer the FCSO's Video Relay Service ("VRS") device and assisted her with trying to use it. (Id. 1:31:33–1:32:10; Jones Aff. ¶ 16.) The VRS is a touch-screen device that allows deaf or hard-of-hearing inmates to make a videophone call that allows the inmate to communicate using ASL. (Jones Aff. ¶ 5.) Ms. Shaffer tried to use the VRS but was unable to get the VRS to function until after she returned from court in the morning. (Ex. A 1:37:21–1:39:10; Shaffer Dep. 46:19–22, 47:2–17, 48:2–16.)

Fourth, at approximately 1:56 a.m., Ms. Shaffer was given her cell phone. (Ex. A 1:56:10.) She continued to have her phone for the next thirty-four minutes, although she used it very sparingly. (Id. 1:56:10–2:30:10.) This is contrary to Ms. Shaffer's claim that she was unable to use her cell phone except to send one text message. (Shaffer Dep. 46:1–11.)

While Ms. Shaffer was trying to use the VRS, FCSO Deputy Radebaugh placed some documents next to Ms. Shaffer. (Ex. A 1:39:17.) It appears that these documents were a witness statement. (Jones Aff. ¶ 21.) Ms. Shaffer reviewed these documents herself, she reviewed them with Deputy Jones, and she exchanged notes with Deputy Jones about them. (Ex. A 1:44:20–1:48:22.)

Ultimately, Ms. Shaffer wrote out a statement that says: "I'm ok with writing to communicate + I don't need [an] interpreter until I go to court in the morning." (ECF No. 29-4, at 9; Shaffer Dep. 39:7–19, 40:5–18.) Ms. Shaffer signed this statement and attested that this statement was "a true and accurate account of the events" that had taken place and that she had given this statement "freely and voluntarily." (ECF No. 29-4, at 9; Shaffer Dep. 38:19–23.) Ms. Shaffer now claims that she only wrote these words because "the policeman" told her to write them. (Shaffer Dep. 40:5–18.)

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