Davis v. City of Montgomery

220 F. Supp. 3d 1275, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155945, 2016 WL 6661161
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Alabama
DecidedNovember 10, 2016
DocketCivil Action No.: 2:16cv346-WHA
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 220 F. Supp. 3d 1275 (Davis v. City of Montgomery) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Alabama 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 Montgomery, 220 F. Supp. 3d 1275, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155945, 2016 WL 6661161 (M.D. Ala. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

W. HAROLD ALBRITTON, SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

I. INTRODUCTION

This cause is before the court on Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the City of Montgomery from Counts I, II, III, and IV and Individual Defendants, Officers G. J. Marshall, Lizenby, and Fictitious Defendant, Officer A, from Counts I and IV of the Plaintiffs First Amended Complaint (Doc. #20). Defendants initially filed a Motion to Dismiss (“(First) Motion to Dismiss”) (Doc. # 12) on June 6, 2016, addressed to the original Complaint. The court in granting in part and denying in part the Defendants’ (First) Motion to Dismiss, also granted Plaintiff, Jesse Davis (“Davis”), leave to amend three claims that were dismissed without prejudice.

In response, Davis filed an Amended Complaint on July 22, 2016, asserting all of his un-dismissed claims, claims dismissed without prejudice, and one additional claim against the City of Montgomery (“City”) for failure to train and supervise its police officers (Doc. # 19). Defendants then moved for dismissal (referred to herein as Defendants’ “(Second) Motion to Dismiss”) under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) on the three claims initially dismissed without prejudice and the one additional claim. For reasons to be discussed, Defendants’ (Second) Motion to Dismiss is due to be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

II. MOTION TO DISMISS

The court accepts the plaintiffs factual allegations as true, Hishon v. King & [1279]*1279Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984), and construes the complaint in the plaintiffs favor, Duke v. Cleland, 5 F.3d 1399, 1402 (11th Cir. 1993). In analyzing the sufficiency of pleading, the court is guided by a two-prong approach: one, the court is not bound to accept conclusory statements of the elements of the cause of action and, two, where there are well-pleaded factual allegations, a court should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to entitlement to relief. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678-79, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). “[A] plaintiffs obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his ‘entitle[ment] to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint need not contain “detailed factual allegations,” but instead the complaint must contain “only enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Id. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955. The factual allegations “must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Id. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955.

III. FACTS

The allegations of the Plaintiffs Amended Complaint are as follows:

The Plaintiff, Jesse Davis, was a seventy-six (76) year old man, who, in addition to having extreme hearing loss, also suffers from diabetes. Davis alleges that on June 22, 2014, he was driving home from a store at around midnight when he was pulled over by a Montgomery police officer for changing lanes without signaling. Defendant, G. J. Marshall (“Marshall”), a Montgomery City police officer, conducted the traffic stop. Marshall’s dashboard camera was running and recorded the events alleged in the Amended Complaint.

After pulling Davis over, Marshall apparently thought Davis had been drinking and administered a field sobriety test. Davis was able to walk a straight line. Nevertheless, Marshall continued looking for other evidence to corroborate his suspicions that Davis had been drinking. Dash camera footage shows Marshall entering Davis’s vehicle several times during the traffic stop. However, Marshall never mentioned having seen or smelled any alcohol in Davis’s ear.

During the stop, Davis was not completely compliant with Marshall’s instructions, however, because Davis had difficulty hearing Marshall. Davis told Marshall that he was having a hard time hearing Marshall, and Marshall was apparently aware of Davis’s inability to hear because Marshall began yelling questions and instructions to Davis.

Davis also told Marshall that he suffered from diabetes and needed to go home to take his diabetes medications. Instead of allowing Davis to go home at the end of a long day, Marshall called his supervisors for instructions. Marshall can be heard telling his supervisors, “I don’t have anything on him” (Doc. # 19, p. 4, ¶ 17). Still, Marshall continued looking.

Eventually, Marshall called paramedics to the scene to treat Davis who had been complaining about needing his diabetes medication. Paramedics arrived, along with the other individuals Defendants, Officer Lizenby and Fictitious Defendant, Officer A, and began treating Davis at the scene. The paramedics also had a hard time communicating with Davis because of his hearing problems.

Soon thereafter, a cameraman from a Montgomery Police Department (“MPD”) television show arrived. At that point, the [1280]*1280entire tenor of the traffic stop changed. One of those present, who is believed to be a paramedic, walked to the driver’s side door of Davis’s vehicle and exclaimed, “There it is,” gesturing towards a bottle of rubbing alcohol.1 (Doc. # 19, p. 4, ¶ 22).2

Marshall then arrested Davis for driving under the influence. Marshall got behind Davis and attempted to fasten handcuffs around Davis’s wrists. However, because of Davis’s large wrists, Marshall experienced difficulty tightening the handcuffs. Marshall then compensated by squeezing the handcuffs so tight that they cut through Davis’s skin, reopening a surgical scar on Davis’s wrists, causing him severe pain. Davis told Marshall that he was hurting him and repeatedly asked Marshall, “What do you want me to do?” (Doc. # 19, p. 5, ¶ 28). Davis turned his ear towards Marshall, as he had done throughout the stop, to listen to Marshall’s instructions.

At that point, and apparently for no reason at all, Marshall body-slammed Davis to the pavement, cracking multiple of Davis’s ribs. Marshall landed on top of the seventy-six (76) year old Davis and shoved his knee into Davis’s back. Officer Lizenby and Officer A piled on top of Davis, holding his head to the ground.

Davis was moved to a police vehicle, where he repeatedly complained about pain in his shoulder and ribs and asked to be taken to the hospital. Officer Marshall refused his requests and, between rehearsing lines for an interview with the MPD television show and otherwise ignoring Davis, responded, “It’s too late.” (Doc. # 19, p. 6, ¶ 31). Davis also complained that he needed medicine for his diabetes, to which Marshall responded sarcastically, asking Davis if he needed medicine for ingesting rubbing alcohol.

Marshall then took Davis to jail. On his way to the jail, Davis reiterated that he was in pain, but again, Marshall ignored his complaints, telling Davis to “Shut up.” (Doc. #19, p. 6, ¶ 35).

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Bluebook (online)
220 F. Supp. 3d 1275, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155945, 2016 WL 6661161, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-city-of-montgomery-almd-2016.