Irma Woodward v. City of Tucson

870 F.3d 1154, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 17896
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 15, 2017
Docket16-15784
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 870 F.3d 1154 (Irma Woodward v. City of Tucson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Irma Woodward v. City of Tucson, 870 F.3d 1154, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 17896 (9th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION

ROBRENO, District Judge:

This interlocutory appeal arises from the district court’s denial of qualified immunity for Tucson police officers Allan Meyer and Robert Soeder (“Defendants”) from Plaintiffs claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for unconstitutional seizures and use of excessive force. The claims stem from the officers’ warrantless entry into a vacant apartment and use of deadly force on Michael Duncklee, who aggressively attacked them while growling and brandishing a broken hockey stick inside the apartment.

Because the district court erroneously denied Defendants qualified immunity regarding both the warrantless entry into the apartment and the use of force on Duncklee, we reverse and remand.

L FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

As stated by the district court, “[t]his case presents an unusual circumstance in which the facts are largely undisputed,” and as acknowledged by Plaintiff, “[v]ery little is disputed, and certainly nothing that is significant.” Answering Brief at 2 (ECF No. 21). 1 The district court summarized the facts of the case as follows: 2

At 8:58 p.m. on May 21, 2014, the Tucson Police Department (“TPD”) received a call from “Zee.” Zee reported she was employed by an apartment complex landlord, and former tenants were inside an apartment that was supposed to be empty. Zee stated she did not know how the tenants got inside. She also stated she was not on the scene and had learned of the former tenants’ presence from a neighbor who called her, but did not want to leave their name.
When the call was first received, the dispatch operator categorized it as a trespass with a priority level three. On a range of one to four, level one has the highest priority for the most pressing situations, and level four has the lowest priority. At 9:20 p.m., the lead police officer in the area updated the call to note that it could be downgraded to a level four and placed on hold. The officer did so because the property was a vacant location, the person who witnessed the reported activity did not want to be a part of the investigation, there was no one on the scene to verify the allegations, and the owner was not on the scene.
Nearly two hours later, at 11:14 p.m., the operator dispatched the call. Officer Meyer responded and arrived at the apartment at 11:22 p.m. In his deposition, Officer Meyer testified that the metal security door was closed when he arrived. He turned the doorknob of the security door and learned that it was unlocked. He thereafter opened the security door, turned the doorknob of the front door and opened it enough to learn that it was also unlocked, and then closed the front door. Officer Meyer left the security door open. He then radioed for backup on the grounds that he had an apartment with an open door. Officer Soeder responded and arrived on the scene at 11:32 p.m. The officers both stated they did not see any sign of forced entry, although Officer Soeder noted that the security door was swung wide open when he arrived.
At this point, both officers drew their guns, knocked on the door, and announced that they were police. When no one answered the officers’ call, they opened the door and entered the apartment. They did not have a warrant. Upon entering the apartment, neither officer called for radio silence. Radio silence is requested when officers encounter a scene that they believe is likely to create an emergency such'that they need the radio channels to be clear in case they need to radio for assistance.
Once in the apartment, the officers realized that space in the room was limited because there were numerous belongings stacked against the wall and taking up approximately half of the room. The officers cleared the front living room and determined that no one else was present. They saw a closed door to what is the apartment’s only bedroom and could hear a radio playing inside the enclosed room. 3 The officers approached the closed door and arranged themselves such that Officer Soeder was to the left of the door and Officer Meyer was to the right. Officer Meyer then knocked on the door and announced their presence, at a volume he believed was loud enough to be heard over the radio playing in the room. No one responded.
Officer Soeder then opened the door. Because of his position he could not see into the bedroom. Officer Meyer, however, stated that he saw Mr. Duncklee holding “a large stick,” with a woman behind him. Officer Meyer stated that Mr. Duncklee was holding the stick in a way that would allow him to strike at Officer Meyer’s head. Officer Meyer stated the following in his affidavit:
As soon as the door swung open enough to see Duncklee, he started charging 4 at me with the stick raised where it could strike at my head, chest or arms. As Duncklee ,charged he was also yelling something like “aaahh”. [sic] From the instant I first saw Duncklee, I perceived that he was a serious and potentially deadly threat to me. He came at me in an aggressive manner with a scream .and the stick raised over his shoulder. He was initially about five to six feet from me. Duncklee came through the door frame holding the stick in, a swinging position with the end above his shoulder. I immediately started backing up, but knew that I couldn’t back up very far because of the small size of the room and the clutter in it. I yelled “Police, stop” at Duncklee, Duncklee kept coming at me. I fired at Dunck-lee’s chest.
Officer Soeder had a different perspective. He stated in his affidavit that when he first opened the door to the closed room,
I heard a growling noise as if it were an animal. Immediately after' that, [Mr. Duncklee] burst through the door into the front room where we were. He was charging at me in a very aggressive manner holding a big, huge stick that appeared to be a hockey stick which he was starting to bring towards my head in a downward motion.... Duncklee had the hockey stick up and I remember seeing about 2 feet of the stick raised and coming down to hit my head. I heard a gunshot. There wasn’t room to back up because of the clutter and because Duncklee was charging so fast. I tried taking a step or- two backwards and hit something behind me which made me start leaning backwards as I shot at Duncklee. I believe that my shot hit Duncklee’s head because I was starting to lean backwards at that point from whatever was behind me. Dunck-lee was only about the distance I could reach if I stretched my arms straight out when I shot him. He was close enough at that point where he could hit me with the, hockey stick. Once- shot, Mr. Duncklee fell to the
floor and did not move. Officer Soeder believed that he had shot Mr. Duncklee in the head and Officer Meyer could see the head wound. The woman, Amber Watts, screamed and was subsequently ordered to come out of the room.

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Bluebook (online)
870 F.3d 1154, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 17896, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/irma-woodward-v-city-of-tucson-ca9-2017.