Adams v. Glaser

138 F. Supp. 3d 727, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 135530, 2015 WL 5798865
District Court, E.D. Louisiana·Decided October 5, 2015·No. Civil Action No. 14-2506·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

ORDER AND REASONS

SUSIE MORGAN, District Judge.

Before the Court is a Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Defendants Alexander Barnes, Zachary Dubourg, Shane Hollis, Vincent Maranti, Ricky Pabst, and Emile Sanchez.1 Plaintiffs oppose Defendants’ motion.2 The Court has considered the briefs submitted by the parties, the record, and the applicable law. For the reasons stated herein, the motion for summary judgment is GRANTED.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

I. The Stop

The facts surrounding the stop and arrest of Joshua Adams, Sr. (“the Decedent”) are, for the most part, not in dispute.3 On January 4, 2014, at approximately 1:50 a.m., Officer Zachary Dubourg (“Dubourg”) of the Kenner Police Department initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by the Decedent.4 Prior to initiating the stop, Dubourg observed that the temporary license plate on Decedent’s vehicle was invalid.5 As a result, Dubourg activated his emergency lights and sirens .and ordered the Decedent to stop his vehicle.6 Upon approaching the vehicle, Dubourg was forced to knock on the window “multiple times” to gain the Decedent’s attention.7 Decedent eventually made eye contact with Dubourg but immediately looked away.8 After Dubourg again knocked, Decedent rolled the window down, at which point Dubourg allegedly detected a “strong odor consistent with burnt marijuana.”9

Dubourg then ordered the Decedent to exit his vehicle, but Decedent refused to comply.10 Instead, the Decedent abruptly reached toward the vehicle’s center console.11 Fearing that the Decedent may be reaching for a weapon, Dubourg opened the driver’s side door and secured Decedent’s left arm.12 However, Decedent was able to grab a “foreign substance”13 with [730] his right hand and place it in his mouth.14 Dubourg then removed the Decedent from the vehicle and brought him down to the ground.15 Dubourg testified that the Decedent “resisted attempts to handcuff him and refused to expel the unknown objeet(s) from his mouth.”16 However, Decedent eventually complied and was placed under arrest without further incident.17 The Decedent was then placed in a police vehicle and driven to the Kenner jail.18

II. . The Booking

Some of the facts regarding what occurred after the Decedent arrived at the Kenner jail are in dispute, but no genuinely disputed facts are material to the Court’s decision. The parties agree that, upon arriving at the jail, Dubourg informed Officer Alexander ■ Barnes (“Barnes”) and Correctional Officer Ricky Pabst (“Pabst”) that the Decedent may have ingested narcotics.19 Accordingly, Dubourg requested that Pabst and Barnes strip search the Decedent, “to determine whether he had contraband on his person.”20 , -

It is undisputed that Pabst and Barnes gave the Decedent instructions on why the strip search was being performed and how it would be performed.21 However, the Defendants state that, while advising the Decedent that a “mouth sweep” was required in connection with the strip search, they observed the Decedent make a “big swallow” or “big gulp.”22 Plaintiffs disagree with the contention that the “Decedent took a big gulp as if he was clearing his mouth.”23 Nevertheless,"the parties agree that the strip search of Decedent failed to reveal any contraband.24

After the strip search had concluded, the Decedent was then returned to his booking cell.25 The Defendants argue that soon thereafter, while Decedent was in the booking cell and not being recorded on video, Dubourg observed the Decedent make a “chewing motion” and “what appeared to be a white substance on his lips.”26 The Plaintiffs dispute this assertion27 but fail to present any competent summary judgment evidence to support their version of the events.28

[731] The Defendants contend that Dubourg feared the Decedent might be ingesting cocaine, so Dubourg “immediately traveled down to the booking cage where [the Decedent] was. located.”29 Lieutenant Emile Sanchez (“Sanchez”) and Officers Barnes, Shane Hollis (“Hollis”), and Vincent Mir-anti (“Miranti”) joined Dubourg at Decedent’s cell.30 Dubourg ordered the Decedent to spit out whatever he had in his mouth, but the. Decedent did not comply.31 The Plaintiffs disagree with the contention that the Decedent refused to open his mouth32 but do not provide any competent summary judgment evidence to support their factual contention. In any event, the parties agree that Dubourg then attempted to remove the Decedent from his cell.33

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Adams v. Glaser, 138 F. Supp. 3d 727, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 135530, 2015 WL 5798865 (E.D. La. 2015).

138 F. Supp. 3d 727 (Adams v. Glaser) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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