White v. City of Greensboro

WILLIAM Z. WHITE, Plaintiff, v. THE CITY OF GREENSBORO, et al., Defendants.

1:18CV969

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA

March 31, 2021

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

THOMAS D. SCHROEDER, Chief District Judge.

This lawsuit arises out of the arrest and firing of Plaintiff William White, a former Greensboro Police Department officer, after he was investigated for illegal activity stemming from the theft of several commercial-grade lawn mowers. After the criminal charges against White were eventually dropped, he brought this case alleging numerous violations of both federal and North Carolina law against multiple Defendants across four law enforcement agencies.

Before the court are motions for summary judgment by the following remaining Defendants:

• Officers from the Guilford County Sheriff's Office ("GCSO") -- Sheriff B.J. Barnes, James Stalls, and Homer Wilkins -- and Travelers Casualty & Surety Company of America as surety for Sheriff Barnes ("GCSO Defendants") (Doc. 128); • Officers from the Greensboro Police Department ("GPD") -- James Schwochow, Eric Sigmon, Johnny Raines, Jr., William Barham, Brian Williamson, Jason Lowe, and Lindsay Albert (Doc. 136) -- as well as a separate motion by GPD Deputy Chief James Hinson, Jr. (Doc. 102) ("Greensboro Defendants");

• City of Reidsville and officers from the Reidsville Police Department ("RPD") -- Chief Robert Hassell, Lynwood Hampshire, and Shannon Coates ("Reidsville Defendants") (Doc. 131);

• City of Burlington (Doc. 126).

White responded to each motion (Docs. 111, 149-152), and Defendants filed reply briefs (Docs. 112, 156, 157, 159). Also before the court are four motions to seal various documents (Docs. 105, 130, 138, 153) and Defendants' joint motion to exclude expert testimony (Doc. 117), which are all fully briefed (Docs. 108, 123, 143). For the reasons set forth below, the motions will be granted in part and denied in part.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Facts

The facts presented, taken in the light most favorable to White as the non-moving party, show the following:

1. Theft of Lawn Mowers and Investigation

White was a police officer for the GPD from April 2009 untilMarch 6, 2017. (Doc. 111-1 ¶ 3.)¹ During this time, he earned additional money by buying and reselling houses and equipment, including lawn equipment, during his off-duty hours. (Id. ¶ 4.)

On August 22, 2016, the RPD received a report that several commercial-grade lawn mowers were stolen from Scott's Tractor, a lawn mower dealer in Reidsville, North Carolina. (Doc. 140-1.) RPD Lieutenant Shannon Coates responded to the report and assigned RPD Sergeant Lynwood Hampshire to investigate. (Id., Doc. 140-2 at 16:16-20.) Hampshire would serve as the lead investigator for the duration of the investigation. (Doc. 140-2 at 17:1-3.)

On August 24, White purchased a John Deere zero-turn lawn mower from an individual in the parking lot of Sedgefield Lawn and Garden in Jamestown, North Carolina. (Doc. 151-1 at 16:10-14, 20:25-21:7.) White viewed the mower on several occasions before he purchased it. (Doc. 128-6 at 27:20-28:17.) He purchased the mower for potential personal use, business use, and resale. (Doc. 151-1 at 16:15-21.) The seller was a white male who had multiple mowers in a trailer that was towed by a pick-up truck. (Doc. 128-6 at 17:3-20:17.) White does not recall the type of truck, where it was licensed, the seller's name, or the time of day in which he purchased the mower. (Id. at 20:12-17.) He did receive a pamphletwith serialized information from the seller at the time of purchase. (Id. at 31:3-7.)

On August 30, Hampshire inputted the serial numbers of the stolen lawn mowers into the National Criminal Information Center ("NCIC"), a national database that police agencies use to search for missing persons or stolen items. (Doc. 140-2 at 21:14-24.) He also sent an email and pictures of the suspect's vehicle that he acquired from Scott's Tractor's video surveillance on the night of the theft to the Property Investigator's Group, a group of detectives from local jurisdictions that meets to share information about criminal activity to assist in investigations. (Id. at 24:2-10; Doc. 140-3 at 1.) But this group could not provide any helpful information about the theft. (Doc. 140-2 at 24:17-22.)

White's stepbrother is James ("Matt") Stalls, a GCSO deputy.² (Doc. 128-2 at 14:13.) They grew up together from approximately the age of 5 to 18 years old. (Id. at 14:22-25.) In addition to being stepbrothers, they are also brothers-in-law; their wives are sisters. (Id. at 14:14-15.) The two families spent time together, including for vacations, birthdays, special occasions, and weekly Sunday dinners. (Id. at 17:10-19, 18:17-20:11.) At a Sundaydinner the week before Labor Day 2016,³ White's wife, Christina, asked her sister, Brittany Stalls, to take care of her and her husband's dogs over Labor Day weekend while they were on vacation. (Id. at 21:3-7; Doc. 128-4 at 18:18-22.) Brittany Stalls had done so previously (Docs. 128-4 at 15:22-16:2; 128-5 at 78:10-14), and both Stalls contend that on occasion Matt Stalls would go by himself to care for the dogs without any complaint or objection from the Whites (Docs. 128-2 at 22:4-23:4; 128-4 at 17:16-18:22). According to Christina White, however, she had previously told her sister that she did not want Stalls to feed the dogs because he played too roughly with them, and to her knowledge Stalls had never been over to her house to care for them. (Doc. 128-5 at 82:13-83:17.)

On September 3, Matt and Brittany Stalls went to the Whites' house to care for the dogs. (Doc. 128-2 at 23:21-24:18.) As they entered the garage where the dog food was kept, Stalls noticed a John Deere mower in the garage with a sheet over the seat. (Id. at 23:5-11, 25:25-26:5.) He removed the sheet, sat on the seat, and took a photograph of the mower's vehicle identification number ("VIN"), also known as the serial number. (Id. at 26:6-27:8; Doc. 128-3 at 5.) Stalls states he did this because he was interestedin purchasing a mower for himself. (Doc. 128-2 at 26:11-17.)

Later that day, Stalls texted White asking about the mower. (Id. at 28:17-24; Doc. 128-3 at 6-8.) White told Stalls the mower was not his and he was debating if he wanted to keep it.⁴ Several days later, Stalls checked the mower's model number against a police database. (Doc. 128-3 ¶ 7.) Stalls says he did this because he started to suspect the mower might be stolen because White told him he got it from another police officer, the mower looked brand new, and the asking price was half the mower's value. (Doc. 128-2 at 29:4-23.) The search reflected that the mower had been reported stolen by the RPD. (Id. at 30:3-6.) Stalls thencalled his stepmother, Anita Holder -- who is White's mother and was herself a former GPD police officer, including interim chief of police -- for guidance. (Id. at 30:8-9; Doc. 111-2 ¶¶ 7-10.) Holder told Stalls to confront White about the mower, which Stalls did via text message and a phone conversation on September 19. (Docs. 128-2 at 30:11-31:5; 128-3 ¶¶ 7-9.) Stalls also told at least two other GCSO officers that White was in possession of a stolen mower. (Doc. 128-2 at 31:10-24.)

By this point White had decided to sell the mower. On September 15, he posted an ad on Craigslist. (Doc. 151-1 at 45:20-24.) In part, the ad read: "John Deere 930 commercial zero turn, like new 18 hours . . . garage kept. mowed with 1 season, divorcing and need gone NOW." (Doc. 140-6 at 1.) On September 19 -- the same day Stalls texted him asking to talk about the mower -- White sold the mower to David and Dennie Terry ("the Terrys") who picked up the mower that night at White's house. (Doc. 151-1 at 50:13-25.) White gave the Terrys a bill of sale that he signed "Bill White." (Doc. 140-6 at 2.)

The next day, September 20, the Terrys developed some concerns with the mower. First, the mower's hour reading was in fact 1.8 hours. (Doc. 128-8 ¶ 8.) This was different from White's Craigslist ad that represented the mower had been used for 18 hours or "one season." (Id.) Second, the Terrys were unable to locate the serial number for the mower. (Doc. 140-10 at 4-6.) In thespot where they expected the serial number to be, David Terry observed "sticky residue (as if a sticker had been removed). Etched in the glue residue was the word 'void.'" (Doc. 128-8 ¶ 9.) The Terrys became concerned the mower was stolen. (Id. ¶ 11.) They texted White to express their concerns. (Id.; Doc. 140-10.) In response, White texted: "1TC930MCHGT042903., this is the number I was given on bill of sale, not sure if it helps but I never bought a warranty so not sure." (Doc. 140-10 at 6.) The Terrys requested a picture of the bill of sale that White said he had received from the seller to confirm the serial number, but they never received it. (Id. at 8; Doc. 128-8 ¶ 6.)

Still concerned, the Terrys contacted a John Deere dealer in Roxboro, North Carolina, and provided the serial number White had given them. (Doc. 128-8 ¶ 15.) The dealer told the Terrys that that particular serial number belonged to a mower that was sold in New York the day before. (Id.) The same dealer also told the Terrys that John Deere also attaches the serial number beneath the mower. (Id. ¶ 16.) David Terry took a picture of the serial number for the mower he had purchased from White. The mower's actual VIN was 1TC930MCPGT043684. (Id.; Doc. 140-7.) The Terrys provided this VIN to the John Deere dealer in Roxboro who told them there was no record of a mower with that serial number having been sold. (Doc. 128-8 ¶ 17.)

At this point the Terrys contacted White to request a refund.(Id. ¶ 18.) White responded that he had already spent the Terrys' money to pay other debts. (Id.; Doc. 140-10 at 9.) The Terrys then contacted a friend at the Durham County Sheriff's Office ("DCSO"), Deputy Peter Lilje. (Doc. 128-8 ¶ 19.) Lilje ran the mower's VIN on a police database and it returned a...