Davis v. City of Clarksdale

18 So. 3d 246, 2009 Miss. LEXIS 431, 2009 WL 2960725
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 17, 2009
Docket2008-CA-01439-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 18 So. 3d 246 (Davis v. City of Clarksdale) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis v. City of Clarksdale, 18 So. 3d 246, 2009 Miss. LEXIS 431, 2009 WL 2960725 (Mich. 2009).

Opinions

WALLER, Chief Justice,

for the Court.

¶ 1. Bernita Davis, Administratrix of the Estate of Annie M. Johnson, filed a wrongful-death suit in the Coahoma County Circuit Court against the City of Clarksdale and Coahoma County. After Coahoma County was dismissed, the circuit court granted summary judgment for the City. Aggrieved, Davis now appeals. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. On August 24, 1995, at approximately 5:15 a.m., the City of Clarksdale’s local 911 service received a “hang-up” call from a telephone number located at 246 Yazoo Avenue. This was the address for a store owned and operated by Annie Mae Johnson. Johnson also occasionally resided at the premises. Tina Billups, a friend of Johnson’s, said that she had spoken with Johnson by phone earlier that morning. According to Billups, their conversation ended when Johnson said that she had to hang up and call the police.

¶ 3. Upon receiving the hang-up call, the 911 operator attempted a return call, but the line was busy. The Clarksdale Police Department received notification of the [248]*248911 call at 5:18 ami.1 Officer Alfonzo Maddox was immediately dispatched to the address and arrived on the scene at 5:19 a.m. From his vehicle, Officer Maddox shined a spotlight onto the front of the building. He noticed nothing unusual and checked the rest of the buildings on the block in the same manner. He then returned and shined his spotlight onto Johnson's store a second time. Once again, he observed nothing unusual. Officer Maddox was called to another location at approximately 5:21 a.m.2

¶ 4. At 5:48 a.m., two other Clarksdale police officers were patrolling the area when they saw broken glass in the entrance of Johnson’s store. The officers entered the building and found Johnson lying dead on the floor. The following day, Peter Earl Black was arrested and confessed to Johnson’s murder. Black was convicted of murder, and is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

¶ 5. On August 22,1996, Davis, on behalf of Johnson’s estate and her beneficiaries, filed a wrongful-death action against the City of Clarksdale and Coahoma County. Davis alleged that Officer Maddox’s failure to properly investigate the 911 call constituted reckless conduct, and was a direct and proximate cause of Johnson’s death. Shortly thereafter, Davis dismissed Coaho-ma County as a party to the suit. On December 23, 1996, Davis filed an amended complaint, adding Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center (“NMRMC”), which operated and controlled the City’s 911 emergency service, as a named party. NMRMC was dismissed from the suit per agreed order on May 21, 2008.

¶ 6. On January 9, 2008, the City filed a motion to dismiss on the ground that Davis could not show that the City or its employees had acted with reckless disregard. On July 28, 2008, the trial court dismissed Davis’s suit with prejudice. The trial court found no substantial, credible evidence that Officer Maddox had acted with reckless disregard during his investigation of the 911 call.

¶ 7. Davis now appeals, arguing that the trial court erred in dismissing her suit because a factual question remains as to whether Officer Maddox acted with reckless disregard.

DISCUSSION

Whether the circuit court erred in finding no genuine issue of material fact that Officer Maddox acted with reckless disregard.

¶ 8. Where a trial judge considers matters outside the pleadings, a motion to dismiss is considered a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure. Gulledge v. Shaw, 880 So.2d 288, 292 (Miss.2004) (citing Rein v. Benchmark Constr. Co., 865 So.2d 1134, 1142 (Miss.2004)). The City’s motion to dismiss was accompanied by a memorandum in support. Various exhibits were attached to this memorandum, including depositions, police reports, and Davis’s response to interrogatories. In response to the City’s motion to dismiss, Davis likewise attached transcripts of deposition testimony from two Clarksdale police officers. All of these exhibits are in the record, and the trial judge necessarily considered these exhibits in making his ruling. Therefore, we construe the City’s motion as one for sum[249]*249mary judgment under Rule 56. See Shaw, 880 So.2d at 292.

¶ 9. Grants of summary judgment are subject to a de novo standard of review. Grange Mut. Cas. Co. v. U.S. Fid. & Guar. Co., 853 So.2d 1187, 1190 (Miss.2003). “The facts are viewed in [a] light most favorable to the nonmoving party.” Id. Summary judgment is precluded if a genuine issue of material fact exists. Id. The nonmoving party “must set forth specific facts showing that there exists genuine issues for trial.” Id.

¶ 10. The Mississippi Tort Claims Act (“MTCA”), with certain exceptions, makes governmental entities immune from liability for tortious acts and omissions committed by employees acting within the course and scope of their employment. Phillips v. Miss. Dep’t of Pub. Safety, 978 So.2d 656, 660 (Miss.2008). Under the MTCA, a governmental entity is not liable for injuries caused by actions of its police officers unless the officers acted with “reckless disregard of the safety and well-being” of innocent persons. Miss.Code Ann. § ll-46-9(l)(e) (Rev. 2002). The plaintiff bears the burden to show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the officers acted with reckless disregard. Phillips, 978 So.2d at 661 (citing Simpson v. City of Pickens, 761 So.2d 855, 859 (Miss.2000)).

¶ 11. Reckless disregard is “a higher standard than gross negligence, and it embraces willful or wanton conduct which requires knowingly and intentionally doing a thing or wrongful act.” Phillips, 978 So.2d at 661 (citing City of Greenville v. Jones, 925 So.2d 106, 110 (Miss.2006)). It “usually is accompanied by a conscious indifference to consequences, amounting almost to a willingness that harm should follow.” Miss. Dep’t of Pub. Safety v. Durn, 861 So.2d 990, 995 (Miss.2003) (quoting Maye v. Pearl River County, 758 So.2d 391, 394 (Miss.1999)). It is “more than mere negligence, but less than an intentional act.” Durn, 861 So.2d at 994 (citing City of Jackson v. Brister, 838 So.2d 274, 281 (Miss.2003)). This Court considers the totality of the circumstances in determining whether someone’s conduct constituted reckless disregard. Phillips, 978 So.2d at 661 (citing City of Ellisville v. Richardson, 913 So.2d 973, 978-979 (Miss.2005)). An officer’s actions must be judged objectively, considering all the factors confronting the officer. Phillips, 978 So.2d at 661 (quoting City of Jackson v. Powell, 917 So.2d 59, 72 (Miss.2005)).

¶ 12. Davis argues that Officer Maddox acted in reckless disregard of Johnson’s safety and well-being by failing to properly investigate the 911 call. Davis specifically points to the fact that Officer Maddox did not get out of his car and knock on the door, or perform any further investigation. She cites two cases for support. Neither of these cases, however, concern a police officer’s investigation of a 911 call.

¶ 13. In Maye v. Pearl River County, 758 So.2d 391 (Miss.1999), a deputy speedily backed out of a driveway and slammed into another vehicle. Maye, 758 So.2d at 392.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
18 So. 3d 246, 2009 Miss. LEXIS 431, 2009 WL 2960725, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-city-of-clarksdale-miss-2009.