Goodson v. City Of Corpus Christi

202 F.3d 730
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit·Decided February 24, 2000·No. 98-41084·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

202 F.3d 730 (5th Cir. 2000)

WILLIAM W. GOODSON, Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross-Appellee,
v.
CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI; CORPUS CHRISTI POLICE DEPARTMENT; POLICE CHIEF; OFFICER B.J. GAINES; and OFFICER F.V. PEREZ, Defendants-Appellees-Cross-Appellants.

No. 98-41084

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS, FIFTH CIRCUIT

January 26, 2000
Rehearing Denied Feb. 24, 2000.

[Copyrighted Material Omitted][Copyrighted Material Omitted]

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas

Before GARWOOD, SMITH, and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges.

BENAVIDES, Circuit Judge:

Appellant William W. Goodson ("Goodson") appeals from the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of appellees City of Corpus Christi ("The City"), City of Corpus Christi Police Department, the Police Chief, and Officers B.J. Gaines ("Gaines") and F.V. Perez ("Perez") (collectively "Appellees") on his 42 U.S.C. 1983 claims. The appellees also cross-appeal, asking for summary judgment, instead of remand to state court, on Goodson's state law claims. Because the district court drew conclusions of law from disputed facts, we reverse and remand.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

At approximately 11:20pm, on April 23, 1995, Gaines heard a BOLO ("be on the look out") for a white male, approximately six feet tall, heavy-set, and dressed like a cowboy, possibly heading to a cowboy bar. The suspect had been involved in a family assault on Violet Road, in Corpus Christi, Texas.

When Gaines heard the BOLO, he was en route to investigate a complaint about loud music at a bar near Leopard and Main Streets. Perez accompanied him in a separate car as back-up. After hearing the BOLO, Gaines noticed the hapless Goodson walking along Leopard Street. Goodson, who is 5' 10" and weighed 260 pounds at the time,1 wore a paint-splattered long-sleeve button-down shirt, khaki pants and a baseball hat. The parties dispute whether he wore boots and a belt; Goodson claims to have worn velcro tennis shoes and no belt. At this initial siting, Goodson was approximately 3 miles from Violet Road, about half a mile from the Whataburger-where he was heading to have a cup of coffee and call his brother for a ride home-and in the vicinity of The Frontier, a cowboy bar.

Gaines and Perez continued to their call on Leopard and Main Streets, determined that the music was within lawful decibel levels, and returned about 10 minutes later to the corner of Leopard and Rand Morgan Streets, where Goodson was crossing the median on his way to the Whataburger across the street.

The parties dispute virtually every aspect of the ensuing interaction. According to Gaines, he turned on the flashing lights on his police car, exited the vehicle and approached Goodson. Gaines says he asked Goodson for identification, which Goodson failed to produce. Instead, Goodson asked if he was under arrest. Gaines testified that he told Goodson that he was being detained because he matched the description of a suspect and again requested identification. Gaines alleges that Goodson again refused to show identification and spoke in a loud and belligerent tone. Gaines responded by telling Goodson to place his hands on the police car so Gaines could frisk him. To this, Gaines says Goodson responded, not by complying, but by asking, again, whether he was under arrest. Gaines states that he repeated that he was merely detaining Goodson and directed him to place his hands on the car. At this point, Gaines testified, Goodson began moving away, so Gaines grabbed his arm. Goodson yanked hisarm away,turned and fled about 40 feet before Gaines and Perez, who gave chase, tackled him.

Goodson, on the other hand, claims that he voluntarily walked toward Gaines' car as he headed to the Whataburger. He insists that Gaines at no point asked for identification or told Goodson that he wasa suspect in an assault. Rather, Goodson maintains that as he approached Gaines, Gaines barked at him to put his hands on Gaines' car. Goodson claims he was startled and asked if he was under arrest. Goodson testified that Gaines told him that he was being detained and to put his hands on the car. Before Goodson could comply, he alleges, Gaines grabbed his arm. Goodson stated that he pulled his arm away from Gaines in surprise and stumbled back in an attempt to regain his balance and maintain a little distance from the police officers. At that point, Goodson claims, Gaines hit his body and Perez grabbed his legs, and the two felled him with their tackle.

The parties agree that Gaines and Perez broke Goodson's shoulder when they tackled him. Goodson testified that he knew his arm was broken immediately because he heard it crack when he hit the ground. Gaines and Perez rolled Goodson over to place him in handcuffs. Goodson told them his shoulder was broken, but they nevertheless jerked his arm back and cuffed him. While they were doing this, one of the officers yelled, "We'll teach you to run from us, you son of a bitch."

At 11:52pm, Gaines radioed the police station and reported that Goodson was hurt. Only a minute earlier, Officer Chris Lynch, who had issued the initial BOLO for a tall, heavy-set white man dressed like a cowboy, radioed that he had apprehended the suspect in question at The Cowboy, a bar approximately eight miles from the corner of Leopard and Rand Morgan Streets.

Goodson spent 8 days in the hospital, at a cost of almost $32,000. He needed a plate and screws inserted into his shoulder, and he will likely need his entire shoulder replaced in the future. As a result of his injury, he missed a year of work.

On May 16, 1995, through a letter written by his attorney, Goodson advised the City of his injury and claim. The City responded by prosecuting Goodson for evading detention or arrest.2 The City filed its complaint on July 13, 1995. Police officers arrested Goodson for this crime on November 10, 1995, while he was at a job interview. The prosecutor eventually dismissed the case on February 24, 1997.

On April 7, 1997, Goodson filed this action in state court, alleging, inter alia, unlawful detention, illegal arrest, excessive force, malicious prosecution, improper training and supervision, and tolerance of a pattern and practice of excessive force in violation of 1983. The appellees removed this case to federal court on May 14, 1997. The district court issued its order granting summary judgment on July 31, 1998.

The district court found that Goodson met the description in the BOLO. It therefore held that Gaines and Perez had reasonable suspicion to stop Goodson, and granted Gaines and Perez qualified immunity on the unlawful detention claim.

The district court also found that Goodson pulled his arm away from Gaines and stepped away from the officers; thus, the officers had probable cause to believe that Goodson was evading a lawful detention, and qualified immunity likewise shielded Perez and Gaines from the illegal arrest claim.

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Goodson v. City Of Corpus Christi, 202 F.3d 730 (5th Cir. 2000).

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