Stanton v. Dunn, CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:17-cv-102-TFM-N

JIMMY STANTON Plaintiff, v. JEFFERSON DUNN, et al., Defendants.

CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:17-cv-102-TFM-N

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA SOUTHERN DIVISION

February 27, 2020

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Plaintiff Jimmy Stanton, an Alabama prison inmate proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, filed a complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This matter is before the Court on Defendants' respective Answers and Special Reports which the Court converted to motions for summary judgment.¹ See Docs. 101, 120.

For the reasons discussed herein, it is ordered that this motion be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

I. BACKGROUND AND FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS²

A. Complaint.

Plaintiff Stanton alleges that members of the Alabama Department of Corrections Emergency Response Team ("CERT Team") used excessive force against him on November 9,2016,³ when the CERT team entered B-Dorm at approximately 6:30 a.m. and immediately began assaulting and harassing inmates.⁴ (Doc. 1 at 5). In his complaint, Stanton specifically details:

I was handcuffed almost immediately with zipties that instantly cut off my circulation to my hand and I was then snatched out of my bed and made to stand beside two C.E.R.T. members and slapped by a third, who was told by another officer to do so and to throw me on the floor, in front of my bed with numerous other inmates bunched together tightly. They then actually stepped on and walked back and forth on top of our backs as though we were a carpet rug, saying, "youll aint shit without your homeboys". Then after a long time I was picked up, and placed on top of another inmate in a homosexual position as C.E.R.T. members watched & laughed at the degrading spectacle as we refrained from saying anything about it, afraid we would be beat further. Then I was placed in the shower from having pissed on myself in my wheelchair.

(Doc. 1 at 6) (alterations in capitalization).

Plaintiff Stanton alleges that the force used on November 9, 2016 was precipitated by an incident that occurred on November 7, 2016. According to Stanton, on November 7, 2016, members of the CERT Team, as well as other correctional officers, entered B-Dorm to conduct an institutional count of the inmates. (Doc. 1 at 5). On that date, inmates had placed "makeshift tents" on their beds to "gain some space from the inmate he shares the 5'x 6' living area with", and officers ordered inmates to remove the tents. (Id.). Stanton claims while the inmates removed the tents, one of the CERT Team members "aggressively" broke a stick from inmate Quandarian Faulkner's bed which "resulted in a reaction from the C.E.R.T. Members, Correctional Officers present andthe Inmates, after a brief stillness, the count was conducted and the C.E.R.T. Team Members and Count Team exited the dorm." (Id.). Stanton explains:

Approximately two days later on November 9, 2016, at approximately 6:30 a.m. over 50 members of the Alabama Department of Corrections C.E.R.T. Team, entered Bravo Unit armed with their Riot Gear (helmets with face shields, neck collar, body vest, shields, while at least One-Hundred (100) of the One-Hundred and Fourteen (114), inmates assigned to Bravo Unit was sound asleep, and immediately assaulted the inmates like they were animals, without provocation, because the majority of the inmates were harmlessly asleep, after about 35 to 45 minutes of assaulting the inmates, the C.E.R.T. Team members, placed plastic restraining tyes[sic] on the inmates to lay face down on their beds while other C.E.R.T. Team members was parading up and down Bravo Unit still assaulting and harassing the inmates. . . .

(Doc. 1 at 5) (alterations in capitalization). He further alleges that "Head Warden Cynthia Stewart came to the front of B Unit and said, "I did what had to be done, to teach youll[sic] a lesson." (Id. 1 at 6).

Plaintiff Stanton is suing Defendants⁵ for multiple constitutional violations, including excessive force, assault and battery, failure to protect or intervene, and denial of medical care. Stanton seeks $200,000 against each "liable Defendants; Compensatory, Punitive, Declaratory andInjunctive Relief; Trial by Jury; State Law Claims of Assault & Battery; Slander; Harassment and such other relief as the Law and this Court Deem just." (Doc. 1 at 17).

B. Defendants' Answers and Special Reports.

The defendants have answered the suit denying in full the allegations against them and filed special reports in support of their positions.⁶ (Docs. 13, 15, 18, 22, 33, 34, 40, 41, 60, 61, 64, 65, 87, 88, 98, 92, 99, 116, 117, 125). As part of their special report, Defendants have submitted pertinent prison documents which include the November 9, 2016 Incident Report, Use of Force Report, Duty Officer Report, I&I Investigative Report, disciplinary records, medical records, and defendant officers' affidavits. (Doc. 34).

The submitted Incident Report provides details of the Nov. 9 search, as well as facts leading to the incident, stating:

On November 7, 2016, the Southern CERT members entered B-Dormitory and ordered all inmates to remove sticks and tied up blankets from their beds. The inmates refused to comply and became very hostile and aggressive toward the CERT members. The inmates gathered in a threatening and intimidating manner around the CERT members stating, "This is 2016, and we run this, slavery is over with, we already done killed one of y'all." Several unidentified inmates were observed with handmade knives in their possession. The CERT members were able to exit the dormitory without incident. The inmates with handmade knives were later identified by the CERT members through IMAS. On November 9, 2016, at approximately 6:35 a.m., the North Central, South Central, and Southern Team CERT Teams entered B-Dormitory to arrest the suspects. . . . All inmates were given orders to report to their assigned beds, lie down, and place their hands behind their back. The following inmates failed to comply with the orders given: . . . Jimmy Stanton B/157689 . . . . The CERT Team used force to include impact weapons and physical force on the above mentioned inmates to get them to comply with the orders given . . . . The inmates were arrested and escorted to the health care unit for medical assessments. . . .

(Doc. 34 at 31). The CERT Team's Nov. 9 search resulted in the confiscation of thirty (30) handmade knives and eleven (11) inmates were charged with failure to obey a direct order of an ADOC employee and allowed to remain in population pending the disciplinary action, while twenty-one (21) inmates, were transferred to segregation pending disciplinary actions for failing to obey a direct order, gathering in a threatening or intimidating manner, and unauthorized possession of a weapon or device that could be used as a weapon (as these inmates were identified as participants in the Nov. 7 incident). (Id. at 32).

Defendants acknowledge that Stanton was not a suspect in the November 7 incident and contend that no force was used against Stanton on November 9. (Doc. 34 at 6). Defendants claim:

On November 9th, once entry was made inside of B-dormitory, all inmates were given orders to lie down on their assigned beds and to place their hand behind their backs. Inmate Jimmy Stanton refused the orders given and remained seated in his wheelchair. He, in fact, made no attempt to get on his bed. Inmate Stanton was not a suspect and was never implicated in the incident that took place on Monday November 7, 2016. Disciplinary action was later initiated against inmate Stanton for Failure to obey a direct order of an ADOC employee. Inmate Stanton was allowed to remain in population dormitory B without further incident. At no time was any type of force used against inmate Stanton by any member of the CERT team.

(Doc. 34 at 10). Defendants specifically deny that Stanton was "snatched out of his bed" as alleged, nor made to stand by two CERT team members, nor slapped by a third CERT team member, nor placed on the floor or thrown to the floor, nor did CERT team members walk on his back, nor place him on top of other inmates in a homosexual position and watch and laugh. (Doc. 34 at 5). Defendants further deny that Stanton was placed in the shower from having urinated on himself and state Stanton "did not get close to the shower". (Id. 6).

In clarifying the discrepancy in Defendants' denial of use of force and the Incident Report's inclusion of Stanton as an inmates on whom force was used, Defendant Warden Streeter, who compiled the Nov. 9 Incident Report, explains that Stanton was capable of walking (with theassistance of a walker), yet he refused the orders given to lie on his bed and remained seated in his wheelchair, without making any "effort to move from his wheelchair to his bed." (Doc. 34-29 at 4). All inmates who refused to obey the CERT team's orders to lie on their beds with their hands behind their backs were written up, which Defendant Streeter declares is the only reason Stanton's name was included in the Incident Report. Defendant Streeter affirms that no force was used on Stanton, and "[a]ny indication whatsoever to the contrary was merely inadvertent and poor proofing [of the Incident Report] on [his] part." (Doc. 34-29 at 5). Defendant Warden Streeter also affirms:

While in B-Dormitory the morning of November 9, 2016, inmate Stanton talked to me and told me that he was glad the CERT team had come in or words to that effect. It appeared that inmate Stanton was trying to make it look like he was working for the Department of Corrections. Inmate Stanton told me that he had been telling staff what was going on in B-Dormitory.

Likewise, the remaining officer defendants declare by personal affidavits that Stanton's claims are "false" and deny that any force was used on Stanton, including handcuffing. Defendants point to the medical records, or lack thereof, as evidence that Stanton was not injured and that force was not used against him as alleged.

The medical defendants have...