Howard v. City of Atmore

887 So. 2d 201, 2004 WL 318482
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedFebruary 20, 2004
Docket1021312
StatusPublished
Cited by83 cases

This text of 887 So. 2d 201 (Howard v. City of Atmore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Howard v. City of Atmore, 887 So. 2d 201, 2004 WL 318482 (Ala. 2004).

Opinion

887 So.2d 201 (2004)

Gladys Bowens HOWARD, as administratrix of the estate of Marilyn Faye Bowens, deceased
v.
CITY OF ATMORE et al.

No. 1021312.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

December 12, 2003.
As Modified on Denial of Rehearing February 20, 2004.

*202 Charles R. Godwin and Timothy J. Godwin, Atmore, for appellant.

Lawrence M. Wettermark and Thomas O. Gaillard III of Galloway, Smith, Wettermark & Everest, L.L.P., for appellees.

WOODALL, Justice.

Gladys Bowens Howard, as administratrix of the estate of her sister, Marilyn Faye Bowens, deceased, appeals from a summary judgment entered in favor of the City of Atmore; Joseph Daniel McKinley, the police chief of the City of Atmore; and police officer Frank Bryars in Howard's wrongful-death action arising out of the suicide of Marilyn Faye Bowens, while she was in the custody of the police department of the City of Atmore ("the City"). We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

The following facts are undisputed: On May 24, 1999, following convictions for third-degree theft of property, third-degree assault, resisting arrest, and destroying city property, Bowens began serving a 120-day sentence in the City jail. The jail was equipped with a video camera that allowed continuous monitoring of Bowens's cell from a remote location.

At 3:00 p.m. the next day, May 25, Betty Cox completed her eight-hour shift as the jailer/dispatcher. Before leaving for the day, Cox conducted a cell check of the inmates. At that time, Officer Frank Bryars began his shift as the jailer/dispatcher, replacing Cox. At 4:08 p.m., Sgt. Carey Flavors went to Bowens's cell to speak with her. He found Bowens hanging by the neck from bars in the ceiling, to which she had attached herself with her shoe laces. Flavors "yelled for help," and he and Officer Bryars removed Bowens from the makeshift noose. Bowens died without regaining consciousness. Subsequently, Howard filed this wrongful-death action against the City and against Chief McKinley and Officer Bryars, in their individual and official capacities.

The defendants moved for a summary judgment, contending that they are entitled either to "peace-officer" immunity, pursuant to Ala.Code 1975, § 6-5-338, or to "State-agent" immunity under the analysis set forth in Ex parte Cranman, 792 So.2d 392 (Ala.2000), and adopted in Ex parte Butts, 775 So.2d 173 (Ala.2000). The trial court entered a summary judgment for all the defendants, relying expressly on *203 the ground of immunity. Howard appealed.

I. Immunity

Chief McKinley and Officer Bryars contend that they are entitled to peace-officer immunity, as set forth in § 6-5-338(a). That section provides:

"Every peace officer, except constables, who is employed or appointed pursuant to the Constitution or statutes of this state, whether appointed or employed as such peace officer by the state or a county or municipality thereof, or by an agency or institution, corporate or otherwise, created pursuant to the Constitution or laws of this state and authorized by the Constitution or laws to appoint or employ police officers or other peace officers, and whose duties prescribed by law, or by the lawful terms of their employment or appointment, include the enforcement of, or the investigation and reporting of violations of, the criminal laws of this state, and who is empowered by the laws of this state to execute warrants, to arrest and to take into custody persons who violate, or who are lawfully charged by warrant, indictment, or other lawful process, with violations of, the criminal laws of this state, shall at all times be deemed to be officers of this state, and as such shall have immunity from tort liability arising out of his or her conduct in performance of any discretionary function within the line and scope of his or her law enforcement duties."

(Emphasis added.)

By enacting this statute, the Legislature intended to afford municipal law-enforcement officials the immunity enjoyed by their state counterparts. Sheth v. Webster, 145 F.3d 1231, 1237 (11th Cir.1998). Indeed, "[t]his statute, by its terms, extends state-agent immunity to peace officers performing discretionary functions within the line and scope of their law-enforcement duties." Moore v. Crocker, 852 So.2d 89, 90 (Ala.2002) (emphasis added).

In Ex parte Cranman, supra, this Court "restated the law of state-agent immunity in Alabama." Moore, 852 So.2d at 90. Since Cranman, we analyze immunity issues in terms of "State-agent" immunity, rather than "under the dichotomy of ministerial versus discretionary functions." Ex parte Hudson, 866 So.2d 1115, 1117 (Ala.2003). See also Giambrone v. Douglas, 874 So.2d 1046, 1052 (Ala.2003); Ex parte Turner, 840 So.2d 132, 134 n. 1 (Ala.2002). Thus, we will address the applicability of peace-officer immunity under the principles set forth in Cranman. See Moore, supra; Ex parte Duvall, 782 So.2d 244 (Ala.2000).

A. Officer Bryars

Howard's claims against Officer Bryars are based on allegations that Officer Bryars "negligently or wantonly failed to implement reasonable precautionary measures, including, but not limited to, the Atmore Police Department's Standard Operating Procedures, to prevent [Bowens] from committing suicide." Howard's brief in opposition to defendants' motion for summary judgment.

As a threshold matter, Howard contends that Officer Bryars is not entitled to peace-officer immunity, because, she argues, § 6-5-338(a) does not apply to jailers. More specifically, she states: "Because Bryars was not performing any of the duties enumerated in § 6-5-338, but rather was acting as a dispatcher/jailer, he should not be cloaked with § 6-5-338 immunity. His performance of the duties of jailer/dispatcher was outside the `line and scope of his ... law enforcement duties.'" Howard's brief, at 66 (emphasis added). We disagree.

*204 Simply stated, the statute shields every defendant who (1) is a "peace officer," (2) is performing "law enforcement duties," and (3) is exercising judgment or discretion. It is undisputed that Officer Bryars was a sworn law-enforcement officer at the time of Bowens's suicide, and that he was temporarily serving as a jailer/dispatcher while he was recuperating from surgery. The first element is, therefore, satisfied. The second inquiry is whether the guarding of a city jail by a regular police officer is one of the "law enforcement duties" contemplated by the statute.[1] We answer that question in the affirmative.

"All cities and towns of this state ... have the power to establish, erect, maintain and regulate jails, ... and to purchase and provide for any and all things which may be deemed advisable or necessary thereto...." Ala.Code 1975, § 11-47-7. Thus, it requires no stretch of logic to conclude that the operation of jails by municipal police departments is a "law enforcement" function. Indeed, this Court has expressly determined that a "jailer ... is a peace officer," and has adopted the view that the "custodian of a convict" is a "law enforcement officer... engaged in the active discharge of his lawful duty," within the meaning of Act No. 746, § 3, Ala. Acts 1967, formerly codified at Ala.Code 1975, § 13-1-42 (criminalizing assault on a "peace officer or other law enforcement officer ... engaged in the active discharge of his lawful duty") (repealed by Act No. 607, § 9901, Ala.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
887 So. 2d 201, 2004 WL 318482, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/howard-v-city-of-atmore-ala-2004.