Sturm v. City of India, 1:14-cv-00848-RLY-MPB

JOHN STURM, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS, OFFICER CATHERINE HEDGES, in herofficial and individual capacities, and OFFICER GREGORY STEWART, in hisofficial and individual capacities, Defendants.

1:14-cv-00848-RLY-MPB

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION

May 18, 2016

ENTRY ON DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

In the early morning hours of September 21, 2012, Plaintiff, John Sturm, was arrested by Officer Catherine Hedges of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department ("IMPD") for public intoxication and resisting law enforcement. Following his acquittal, Plaintiff brought the present action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ("Section 1983") against Officer Hedges and Officer Gregory Stewart, who assisted Officer Hedges that evening, alleging various violations of his Fourth Amendment rights. Plaintiff also brings state law claims against Officer Hedges for battery and malicious prosecution, and state law negligence claims against the City of Indianapolis, Officer Hedges and Officer Stewart. Defendants now move for summary judgment. For the reasons set forth below, Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

I. Factual Background

As this is a motion for summary judgment brought by the Defendants, the court must take the facts and all reasonable inferences that arise therefrom in the light most favorable to the Plaintiff.

On Thursday, September 20, 2012, Plaintiff went to visit his friend, Patrick Schell, who lived at 3258 Davis Drive in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Filing No. 76-1, Deposition of John Strum ("Plaintiff Dep.") at 20-21). While there, Plaintiff consumed three to four beers between 9:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. (Id. at 21-23).

Schell's nephew, Jonathen Fields, lived with Schell. (Filing No. 76-3, Deposition of Johnathen Fields ("Fields Dep.") at 11). After Fields finished his restaurant shift that evening, he arrived home around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. (Id. at 12-13). He went to bed not long thereafter. (Id. at 13).

Sometime between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. on Friday, September 21, 2012, Plaintiff, who was wearing blue jeans and a dark jacket, went out to his 1971 Cutlass Supreme, still parked in Schell's driveway, to retrieve his cell phone charger. (Plaintiff Dep. at 25, 47, 78; Fields Dep. at 18-19). Plaintiff turned on an overhead light, heard a "pop" sound under the hood, and the overhead light went out. (Plaintiff Dep. at 26, 78). Plaintiff attempted to start his car, but it was dead. (Id.). Plaintiff then opened the hood of his car to assess and fix the problem. (Id.). Eventually, Fields came outside to assist Plaintiff and offered to get Plaintiff a lantern. (Id. at 27, 79). After Fields retrieved a lantern, Plaintiff indicated he needed to use the bathroom and went into the backyard for that purpose. (Id.).

Unbeknownst to Plaintiff and Fields, officers with the IMPD had just been dispatched to the area to conduct a security check based on a 911 call. (Filing No. 76-9, Law Enforcement Event History Detail/Computer Aided Dispatch Report ("CAD") at 2:51:22). The 911 call had been placed by a woman who lived on Mooresville Road in the house directly behind Schell's house and whose backyard abutted Schell's backyard. (Id. (showing address of 911 call)). The 911 caller reported that she heard suspicious noises and believed someone was breaking into one of her neighbors' sheds, but that she had not actually seen anything. (Id.; Filing No. 76-6, Deposition of Robert Hatch ("Hatch Dep.") at 14). Officer Hedges and Officer Robert Hatch were dispatched to investigate the matter. (CAD at 2:52:09).

When Officer Hatch arrived in the area of the reported burglary in progress, he parked his marked patrol car on Mooresville Road and went into the 911 caller's backyard to investigate the matter. (Hatch Dep. at 14-16). Officer Hatch heard muffled voices and advised Officer Hedges to approach from Davis Drive to try to get a visual of what he was hearing. (Id. at 16, 17, 19). At about the same time, Officer Stewart and his K-9 Officer joined Officer Hatch in the 911 caller's backyard to assist with the investigation. (Filing No. 76-5, Deposition of Gregory Stewart ("Stewart Dep.") at 17-18). Officer Hedges radioed to Officer Hatch that there were two individuals in the front of the house. (Hatch Dep. at 26).

Fields observed the headlights of an unknown car when Plaintiff stated he had to use the restroom. (Fields Dep. at 21-23). Officer Hedges pulled up to Schell's home inher police vehicle. (Hedges Dep. at 17). At that time, Plaintiff was walking towards the backyard and did not observe Officer Hedges' approach. (Plaintiff Dep. at 31).

When she arrived at the scene, Officer Hedges noticed the hood was up on one of the cars and one of the men had a flashlight. (Hedges Dep. at 16, 40, 46). Officer Hedges "jumped out of her car and ran at [Fields] asking [him] where [Plaintiff] went." (Fields Dep. at 24). Fields told Officer Hedges that he and Plaintiff were working on Plaintiff's car, and that Plaintiff went to the backyard to use the restroom. (Id.; Hedges Dep. at 24, 40). Officer Hedges began to walk around the same side of the house (the right side) where Plaintiff had gone, and then came back to the front of the house to ask Fields questions. (Id.).

Officers Hatch and Stewart witnessed Plaintiff walk into the backyard at a normal pace. (Hatch Dep. at 26, 28, 60, 61; Stewart Dep. at 25, 32). The officers observed Plaintiff attempt to open the sliding glass door; when he could not get in, they observed him walk to the privacy fence on the other side of the house and attempt to look over it. (Hatch Dep. at 26-27, 29-32; Stewart Dep. at 27-32). Plaintiff's testimony differs from the officers'; Plaintiff recalls that immediately after he relieved himself near the back porch area, he walked to the front of the house. (Plaintiff Dep. at 27). At any rate, Officer Hatch "alerted Officer Hedges that he was returning to the front yard." (Hatch Dep. at 32; Hedges Dep. at 23).

As soon as Plaintiff returned to the front of the house, Officer Hedges immediately told him, "Put your hands behind your back." (Plaintiff Dep. at 31; see also Fields Dep. at 27; Hedges Dep. at 24-25). As Officer Hedges drew closer to Plaintiff, she smelledalcohol on his breath and felt nervous because he had his hands in his pockets. (Filing No. 76-7, Trial Transcript ("Trial Tr.") at 41). Plaintiff turned away from her and "slowly" started to put his hands behind his back when he turned his head and saw her pull out her handcuffs. (Plaintiff Dep. at 31, 34, 40; Fields Dep. at 29). Plaintiff then put his hands up in the air and asked Officer Hedges, "What's going on?" (Plaintiff Dep. at 31, 34; Fields Dep. at 30). Fields heard Officer Hedges "aggressively" command Plaintiff, "Sir, you need to put your hands behind your back" and "Sir, you need to be quiet." (Fields Dep. at 30-31). At that point, Plaintiff "didn't know what to think" because, as he puts it, there was a "police officer on private property for no reason randomly on my friend's property arresting me for - I'd assume arresting me for no reason . . . ." (Plaintiff Dep. at 35). Plaintiff started to "casually" walk toward the front door of the house "and then [Officer Hedges] shot [him] with a taser" without warning. (Id. at 31, 34; Fields Dep. at 30, 32-33, 35; see also Hedges Dep. at 33 ("Q: Did you announce to him you were going to tase him? A: You know what, I don't recall.")).

According to Officer Hedges, Plaintiff refused to take his hands out of his pockets. (Hedges Dep. at 26). When he finally complied with her order, she told him to turn around and place his hands in the air. (Id. at 27). When she attempted to place handcuffs on his hands, Plaintiff turned around and gave her a "very angry stare" and went into a "fighting stance" with clenched fists. (Hedges Dep. at 28-29). This made "the hairs on her neck stand up, like he was trying to harm [her]." Officer Hedges, who at that time was approximately seven to eight feet away from Plaintiff, yelled, "Don't you move" and announced over her radio that she had a resistor and was tasing. (Filing No. 77, 911 call,Track 4 at 1:51-1:54; Plaintiff Dep. at 39). At that point, Officer Hedges took a step backward, grabbed her taser and deployed it in dart mode on Plaintiff's back. (Hedges Dep. at 32).

After he was hit with the taser Plaintiff felt immense pain, his body locked up, and he fell face forward onto the ground "like a board." (Plaintiff Dep. at 34, 44, 50). His head and upper torso were on the concrete pad of the front porch, and his legs and feet were on the grass. (Id. at 46; Hedges Dep. at 36). Fields described Plaintiff as being in a "contorted" position. (Fields Dep. at 39). According to Officer Hedges, she saw him "try to do a push-up," so she verbally told Plaintiff to stop resisting. (Hedges Dep. at 34). She then deployed the taser on Plaintiff again. (Id. at 37-38). Plaintiff's recollection conflicts with Officer Hedges' account. He remembers feeling completely immobilized and incapacitated but she nevertheless "repeatedly tased me." (Plaintiff Dep. at 34). Fields' recollection conflicts with Officer Hedges' testimony too. Fields testified that Plaintiff did not try to get up because he did not have a chance to; "they continued to tase him, if that's even possible." (Id. at 42). After being tased by Officer Hedges, Plaintiff felt "fuzzy" and "hazy" for a moment. (Plaintiff Dep. at 34, 42).

Officer Hatch and Officer Stewart heard Officer Hedges shouting, so they (including the K-9 Officer) jumped the fence and ran to her location. (Hatch Dep. at 32-33; Stewart Dep. at 43). En route, Officer Stewart could hear the distinctive sound of a taser. (Stewart Dep. at 48). When Officer Stewart arrived at the front porch area of the house, he informed Plaintiff to stay on the ground or risk getting bitten by the K-9 Officer. (Id. at 47-48). Officer Hedges told...