Floyd v. City of Carencro

149 So. 3d 387, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 268, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2334, 2014 WL 4851787
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 1, 2014
DocketNo. 14-268
StatusPublished

This text of 149 So. 3d 387 (Floyd v. City of Carencro) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Floyd v. City of Carencro, 149 So. 3d 387, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 268, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2334, 2014 WL 4851787 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

CONERY, Judge.

_JjIn this case, the plaintiff, Dominique Floyd (Mr. Floyd), seeks individual damages and damages on behalf of his minor children K.F. and N.F. resulting from an incident whereby Mr. Floyd was detained by officers from the Carenero Police Department who were responding to a “domestic in progress” call. After a trial on the merits, the trial cóurt found in favor of the defendants, the City of Carenero and Chief Carlos Stout, in his Official Capacity as Chief of Police of the City of Carenero, and dismissed plaintiffs’ case with prejudice. For the following reasons, we affirm.

[389]*389FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On May 3, 2011, Corporal Gregory Do-mingue and Officer Kaylon Begnaud, officers employed by the City of Carenero Police Department, responded to a 911 call from Anastasia Zenon (Ms. Zenon) seeking assistance for a “domestic in progress.”

Upon arrival at the Zenon home, the two officers questioned Ms. Zenon, who reported a dispute in which she was shoved by her ex-boyfriend, James Coleman. According to Ms. Zenon, Mr. Coleman was driving a green Tahoe with a paper license plate on his previous visit to her apartment, and Mr. Coleman’s residence was right down the street in another part of the apartment complex. Both officers testified that upon reaching the scene of the alleged domestic incident, “Ms. Zenon pointed to a dark SUV passing on the street directly in front of them.” Ms. Zen-on indicated that the individual driving the vehicle was James Coleman, the alleged perpetrator.

Although Ms. Zenon initially testified at trial she did not identify the dark SUV to the officers as the vehicle of the alleged perpetrator, Ms. Zenon’s | ^identification of the dark SUV to the officers is documented in her May 3, 2011 written statement. Ms. Zenon’s identification of the dark SUV as the vehicle owned by Mr. Coleman is further supported by the trial testimony of Ms. Zenon’s mother, Tabatha Zenon. Tabatha Zenon testified that she heard her daughter identify the dark SUV to the officers as the vehicle belonging to her ex-boyfriend, James Coleman.

Corporal Domingue immediately got into his police unit and followed the SUV to a parking space in the parking lot of an adjacent apartment building and parked his unit behind the SUV. Corporal Do-mingue approached the driver’s side window and repeatedly asked the driver, Mr. Floyd, to hang up his cell phone, exit the vehicle, and provide identification. All of Corporal Domingue’s requests were refused. At this point, Corporal Domingue radioed for back-up from Officer Begnaud and other officers in the vicinity.

At- trial, Mr. Floyd testified that he had his four children in the vehicle, including his two-year old twins, R.F. and N.F., as well as two older minor children he supports financially. He was unaware of why he was stopped. He allegedly asked the officers to speak with his father on his cell phone. His father was an officer with the Lafayette Police Department.

When Mr. Floyd finally exited the vehicle, he was handcuffed. The witnesses at the scene, in particular Ms. Melissa Gotch and Ms. Brenda Bernard, testified they could hear Mr. Floyd shouting at the officers. A video of the incident confirms the officers’ testimony that, while still handcuffed, Mr. Floyd attempted to walk away from the officers. In response, the officers immediately placed him in the police unit.

|sMr. Floyd claimed that the officers slammed him against the hood of the police unit and kneed him in the back, injuring his back, shoulder, and wrist. None of the witnesses who testified at trial saw the officers knee Mr. Floyd in the back. There is nothing on the video to support such a claim.

Mr. Floyd also denied that he was trying to resist arrest or walk away from the officers while handcuffed. Yet, the video shows that he did try to walk away. Ms. Bernard, a resident of the apartment complex identified by Mr. Floyd as a witness to the incident, testified that she did not see the officers either kick or knee Mr. Floyd in the back. She only witnessed their attempts to detain him and then place him in the police unit.

[390]*390Ms. Zenon was later summoned to the scene; and informed officer Begnaud that Mr. Floyd was not Mr. Coleman, and therefore not the individual who was a part of the domestic dispute. Mr. Floyd was detained for only eleven minutes by the officers before he was released. No arrest was made and no charges were filed against Mr. Floyd for resisting the officers.

Subsequent to the incident, Mr. Floyd went to the Emergency Room of Lafayette General Medical Center (“LGMC”). The record reflects that Mr. Floyd told the personnel at LGMC the following:

[Patient] states the police “mistaked” him for someone else and threw him on the ground and kicked him in the back and handcuffed him, then realized he was the wrong person and let him go. No marks seen to lower back. [Complains of] lower back pain and right wrist pain. Comment: Small amount of swelling and small abrasion noted to right wrist, [patient] is able to move right wrist but states that it hurts, [also] [complains of] pain with palpation.

All of the tests conducted on Mr. Floyd were normal. Based on his complaints of pain, he was prescribed Lortab and muscle relaxers. Mr. Floyd ^subsequently treated with Dr. Maureen Brennan, a psychologist, and claimed the two younger children, K.F. and N.F., have suffered nightmares since the incident.

On April 11, 2012, Mr. Floyd filed suit individually and on behalf of the two minor children, K.F. and N.F., against the City of Carenero and Chief Carlos Stout, in his Official Capacity as Chief of Police of the City of Carenero, claiming that he “was the victim of police harassment and brutality and deliberate physical and mental abuse and humiliation caused by negligence.”

A bench trial on the merits was held on November 18 and 19, 2013. On December 5, 2013, the trial court issued its “Reasons For Ruling” (Reasons) finding that “the officers did not use excessive or unreasonable force in restraining Floyd, considering the exigency of the situation in which they were placed.” The trial court found that the officers acted in “good faith” pursuant to La.R.S. 46:2142 and, pursuant to the provisions of the statute, found “this statute provides immunity to these officers while responding to a domestic abuse situation.” The trial court further stated, “There is no evidence that the officers failed to exercise good faith or due care in their handling of the situation or in their detention of Floyd.”

■ The trial court also found that no evidence had been presented pursuant to the allegations in plaintiffs’ petition for “negligent hiring, training and /or supervision of the officers,” and thus those claims were dismissed. The trial court also dismissed Mr. Floyd’s claims of violation of his Miranda rights based on the lack of evidence presented that “Floyd was ever interrogated or placed under arrest.”1

|sOn December 27, 2013, a judgment dismissing with prejudice all of plaintiffs’ claims and taxing all costs to plaintiffs was signed by the trial court, from which the plaintiffs have lodged a timely appeal.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

Plaintiffs assert the following assignments of error on appeal:

I. The trial court erred in its determination that Officer Kalen Begnaud [391]

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Bluebook (online)
149 So. 3d 387, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 268, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2334, 2014 WL 4851787, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/floyd-v-city-of-carencro-lactapp-2014.