Billy L. Faile, Jr. v. Linna Hart

Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit·Decided May 14, 2024·No. 23-11465·Unpublished

Opinion

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

In the

United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

No. 23-11465

Non-Argument Calendar

BILLY L. FAILE, JR., Landlord//Property Manager, Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus CITY OF LEESBURG, FL, et al.,

Defendants,

LINNA HART, City of Leesburg Police Officer, in her individual and official capacity, ALLEN CARTER, City of Leesburg Police Officer,

2 Opinion of the Court 23-11465

in his individual and official capacity,

Defendants-Appellants.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 5:22-cv-00116-JA-PRL

Before JORDAN, BRASHER, and JULIE CARNES, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:

Defendants Linna Hart and Allen Carter, City of Leesburg police officers, appeal the district court’s denial of their motions to dismiss Plaintiff’s § 1983 and state law claims for unlawful arrest and unreasonable seizure of personal property. Having carefully reviewed the record and the briefs, we find no error and thus affirm the district court.

BACKGROUND

This case arises from an encounter Plaintiff had with Defendants Linna Hart and Allen Carter, Leesburg, Florida police officers , in April 2020. The case is on appeal from the district court’s ruling on motions to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Accordingly, we accept the allegations in Plaintiff ’s complaint as true and construe them in the light most

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23-11465 Opinion of the Court 3

favorable to him. 1 See Gundy v. City of Jacksonville, Fla., 50 F.4th 60, 69 (11th Cir. 2022).

On April 3, 2020, Plaintiff was living in his office at a rental property he managed in Leesburg, Florida. That afternoon, Plaintiff had an altercation with the tenant and her boyfriend during which the boyfriend pushed Plaintiff to the ground. As Plaintiff walked away, he “exposed a small portion of skin on the right side of his lower back and approximately one to two inches . . . of his right upper buttocks,” slapped the exposed area, and told the boyfriend , “[K]iss my ass.” The tenant and her boyfriend recorded a video of Plaintiff as he walked away.

Both Plaintiff and the tenant contacted the Leesburg police to report the altercation, and Defendants Hart and Carter responded to the scene. The officers questioned Plaintiff, the tenant, and her boyfriend about the most recent altercation and the incidents that had occurred previously during the day. The tenant and her boyfriend told Carter during questioning that they had a video recording of Plaintiff exposing his buttocks and possibly his genitalia as he walked away from them earlier. Carter and Hart viewed the tenant’s video on the scene, after which the officers concluded that they “saw the exposure of sexual organs.”

Although Hart previously had advised Plaintiff he could leave the scene, Carter yelled at Plaintiff, who was by this time

1 We take these allegations from Plaintiff’s first amended complaint, the operative complaint in this case.

4 Opinion of the Court 23-11465

inside his truck, to stop and that he was under arrest. Carter then forcefully pulled Plaintiff from the truck, handcuffed him, and placed him in Hart’s patrol car. Hart transported Plaintiff to the police department booking room, where Carter informed Plaintiff that he was being charged with exposure of sexual organs in violation of Florida Statutes § 800.03. Carter seized Plaintiff’s truck and had it towed from the property.

Plaintiff was booked and remained in the Lake County jail until 8:00 p.m. that evening, when he bonded out. Three days later, the State Attorney’s Office dismissed the exposure of sexual organs charge against Plaintiff due to insufficient evidence, and a week after the dismissal the Florida Department of Law Enforcement expunged Plaintiff’s arrest. Plaintiff was unable to retrieve his truck from the towing company until April 6, and he was unable to return to his residence at the rental property until April 10 because of a victim “no-contact” order.

Hart and Carter were disciplined by the Leesburg police department due to their involvement in Plaintiff’s arrest. According to a disciplinary report attached to the complaint, Hart stated in a report written on the day of the incident that she had viewed the tenant’s video and that it showed Plaintiff “pulling his pants down, while bending over showing his sexual organs and buttocks as he walked . . . away from the victim.” Hart concluded that Plaintiff had violated Florida Statutes § 800.03 by “exposing his sexual organs in front of the victim and her boyfriend.” As noted in the disciplinary report, however, it was apparent from the video that

23-11465 Opinion of the Court 5

Plaintiff “did not expose his genitals.” Hart allegedly “resigned in lieu of termination” due to her conduct resulting in Plaintiff’s arrest . Carter received a written reprimand based on the incident.

Plaintiff subsequently filed this action, asserting § 1983 Fourth Amendment claims for: (1) unlawful arrest, malicious prosecution , and unreasonable seizure of real property against both officers , (2) excessive force, unlawful seizure of personal property, and failure to supervise against Carter, and (3) failure to train, unlawful custom, policy, or practice, and negligent hiring and retention against the City of Leesburg. Plaintiff also asserted Florida law claims against both officers for false arrest, battery, malicious prosecution , and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and he asserted Florida law claims against the City based on negligence and an unlawful custom, policy, or practice.

Defendants moved to dismiss all the claims asserted in Plaintiff ’s complaint, and their motions were referred to a magistrate judge. The Magistrate Judge issued a Report and Recommendation (“R&R”) recommending that the motions be granted in full, and Plaintiff filed objections to the R&R. Plaintiff stated in his objections that he did not oppose the dismissal of his § 1983 excessive force, malicious prosecution, and seizure of real property claims against the individual officers, or his § 1983 failure to train and custom , policy, or practice claims against the City. As to his state claims, Plaintiff stated that he did not oppose the dismissal of his battery, state malicious prosecution, and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims against the officers or his negligence

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6 Opinion of the Court 23-11465

claim against the City. Plaintiff then set out specific objections to the R&R’s recommended dismissal of his § 1983 claims for false arrest , unreasonable seizure of personal property, supervisory liability , and negligent hiring and retention, his state false arrest claims, and his claim against all Defendants for attorney’s fees. Plaintiff clarified in his objections that he did not assert a claim for punitive damages, as suggested in the R&R.

The district court dismissed Plaintiff’s conceded claims without further discussion. The court also dismissed all of Plaintiff’s claims against the City, his § 1983 claim against Carter for supervisory liability, his claim for attorney’s fees, and any purported claim for punitive damages, finding no viable basis for those claims.2 As to the remaining claims, the court concluded that Plaintiff’s § 1983 and Florida false arrest claims against both officers and his § 1983 unreasonable seizure of personal property claim against Carter survived the motion to dismiss. Specifically, the court held that when the complaint and its attachments were viewed in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, his allegations were sufficient to state a claim for violation of his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizures arising out of both his arrest and the seizure of his truck by Carter.

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