Dyer v. Fyall

322 F. Supp. 3d 725
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedJune 6, 2018
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 3:15-CV-2638-B
StatusPublished

This text of 322 F. Supp. 3d 725 (Dyer v. Fyall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dyer v. Fyall, 322 F. Supp. 3d 725 (N.D. Tex. 2018).

Opinion

JANE J. BOYLE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This civil-rights case arises from the tragic death of eighteen-year-old Graham Dyer (Graham). Graham's parents (the Dyers) claim that the police officers1 named in this case (collectively "the officers") violated Graham's Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by subjecting him to excessive force and depriving him of necessary medical care while he was in their custody. Before the Court is the officers' motion for summary judgment, in which they assert qualified immunity as a defense to the Dyers' claims.2

I.

BACKGROUND3

A. Factual Background

The Dyers attached to their summary-judgment response a video recording of most of the contested events. See Doc. 78-10, Pl. Summ. J. App.4 The following factual account mostly tracks the video, but the Court will note when affidavits, deposition testimony, or other evidence contradicts or clarifies the video.

On the evening of August 14, 2013, Graham Dyer was walking near a middle school in Mesquite, Texas with some friends. Doc. 72, Def. Summ. J. App., 43-48. Witnesses say Graham was behaving strangely-falling on the ground and nearly stumbling into traffic. Id. And one of Graham's friends may have tackled him. Doc. 78-6, Pl. Summ. J. App., 270. Someone called 911 to report Graham's strange behavior. Id. at 274. When Graham and his friends parted ways, Graham remained at the middle school. Id. at 275.

Officer Gafford responded to the 911 call first. Doc. 72, Def. Summ. J. App., 6. When Officer Gafford arrived at the school, he observed Graham lying under some bushes in the fetal position. Id. at 7. When Officer Gafford approached Graham, Graham rose and began to approach Officer Gafford while screaming. Doc. 78-10, Pl. Summ. J.

*731App., :03. Officer Gafford ordered Graham to stop, but Graham, still screaming, continued faster toward Officer Gafford. Id. at :06. Officer Gafford backed up and drew but did not fire his taser. Id. at :07.

What happened next is unclear. Graham got close to Officer Gafford, who attempted to deploy his taser. Id. at :09. But although sound from the video confirms Officer Gafford's testimony that the taser "arced," Officer Gafford claims that the prongs of the taser-the projectiles the taser fires to connect the taser to the target-did not deploy. Doc. 72, Def. Summ. J. App., 7; Doc. 78-10, Pl. Summ. J. App., :09. Graham immediately fell to the ground, rolled away from Officer Gafford, and came to rest face down on the ground. Doc. 78-10, Pl. Summ J. App., :12. Whether Graham fell to ground because of an electric shock from the taser or for some other reason is unclear. Officer Gafford continued to aim his taser at Graham, who was on the ground screaming. Id. at :13. When Officer Gafford told Graham to put his hands behind the back, Graham complied but continued to scream. Id. at :21.

Then Officer Houston arrived. Id. at :22; Doc. 72, Def. Summ. J. App., 14-15. Officer Houston ran toward Graham and Officer Gafford, who was still pointing his taser at Graham. Doc. 78-10, Pl. Summ. J. App., :30. When Officer Houston got to Graham and began to bend over him, Graham attempted to get up. Id. at :31. Officer Houston then kicked Graham and told him to "get down." Id. at :32. Graham fell back to the ground and rolled away from Officer Houston toward Officer Gafford, who backed up and continued to point his taser at Graham. Id. at :33. Officer Houston then put his foot on Graham's lower back before moving it to the back of Graham's upper right leg and handcuffed Graham while telling him to calm down. Id. at :39. Graham screamed, "I swear to God," "What the fuck," "What the fuck are we doing," and other things, but not everything Graham said is clear. Id. at :43.

After Officer Houston handcuffed Graham, he continued to tell Graham to calm down and rolled Graham over onto his back. Id. at :44-1:04. Graham then kicked both of his legs up in the air such that only his upper back, shoulders, and head were on the ground. Id. at 1:14. The kick struck neither Officer Houston nor Officer Gafford. Id. One of the officers said, "Stay right there," and Officer Gafford put one of his feet on Graham's left arm. Id. at 1:16. Graham yelled, "I don't know what the fuck we're doing anymore." Id. at 1:17. Officer Houston then put one of his hands on or near Graham's chest and twice said, "I'm gonna tell you" and again told Graham to calm down. Id. at 1:21-:22. Officer Houston proceeded to ask Graham his name, and Graham responded by telling the officer his name. Id. at 1:25. But when the two officers asked Graham, "What did you take?" and "What are you on?" Graham yelled, "I ain't doin' shit. I swear to God" and screamed loudly. Id. at 1:31. Officer Houston continued to tell Graham to calm down, but Graham screamed, "Oh shit." Id. at 1:35.

Two more officers arrived. Id. The four officers stood over Graham for several seconds while Graham continued to scream, "I don't know what the fuck we're doing," "What the fuck are we doing," and "Oh shit." Id. at 1:40-:44. At the same time, Officer Gafford told one of the newly arrived officers about his encounter with Graham and how his taser did not deploy correctly. Id. at 2:20. Next, the officers each put one of his feet on each of Graham's arms and legs. Id. One of the officers removed his foot from Graham's right leg and held the leg in place with his hand while searching Graham. Id. at 2:23. Graham continued to scream. Id. at 2:24. The officers then rolled Graham onto his stomach, and one of the officers continued to *732search Graham, who kept screaming. Id. at 2:40-:41. When an officer told Graham to roll back over, Graham rolled over a few times away from the officers, one of whom exclaimed, "His eyes are freaking dilated." Id. at 3:06-:12. During this part of the video, the officers stood close to Graham, but whether the officers' feet were on Graham is unclear from the video. Officer Heidelberg testified that one of the officers had his foot on Graham's head. Doc. 78-2, Pl. Summ. J. App., 141.

As the officers searched Graham, Graham's friend Josef Carpenter arrived. Doc. 78-10, Pl. Summ. J. App., 2:50; Doc. 72, Def. Summ. J. App., 273-74. An officer told him to sit on the ground, and he complied. Id. at 3:04. Carpenter may have told one of the officers that Graham had consumed LSD. Doc. 78-2, Pl. Summ. J. App., 137. An officer handcuffed Carpenter and placed him under arrest for public intoxication. Doc. 72, Def. Summ. J. App., 7; Doc. 78-10, Pl. Summ. J. App., 4:01. Carpenter remained handcuffed and face down on the ground for the next few minutes. Id. at 4:48.

During that same few minutes, two officers stood over Graham. Id. at 4:11. The officers again asked Graham what he had been doing that night and what he had "smoked." Id. at 4:15-:40. Graham screamed, "I swear to God I didn't do anything," "I don't know," and "Where the fuck am I?" Id. at 4:41-5:24. Officer Gafford responded, "I don't know." Id. at 5:24.

The paramedics arrived.

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Bluebook (online)
322 F. Supp. 3d 725, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dyer-v-fyall-txnd-2018.