James Schoonover v. Clay County Sheriff's Dept.

Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit·Decided June 15, 2023·No. 20-1680·Unpublished

Opinion

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 20-1680

JAMES RANDY SCHOONOVER, Plaintiff – Appellant,

v.

CLAY COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT, a division of the Clay County Commission; CLAY COUNTY COMMISSION, a political division of Clay County, West Virginia; MICHAEL PATRICK MORRIS, a deputy sheriff of Clay County; JONATHAN HOLCOMB, a deputy sheriff of Clay County,

Defendants – Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, at Charleston. John T. Copenhaver, Jr., Senior District Judge. (2:19-cv-00386)

Argued: December 7, 2022 Decided: June 15, 2023

Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, NIEMEYER, Circuit Judge, and Patricia Tolliver GILES, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, sitting by designation.

Affirmed by unpublished opinion. District Judge Giles wrote the opinion in which Chief Judge Gregory and Judge Niemeyer joined.

ARGUED: John-Mark Atkinson, ATKINSON & FRAMPTON, PLLC, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellant. Drannon L. Adkins, PULLIN, FOWLER, FLANAGAN, BROWN & POE, PLLC, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Wendy E. Greve,

PULLIN, FOWLER, FLANAGAN, BROWN & POE, PLLC, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellees.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

GILES, District Judge:

James Randy Schoonover brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law, arguing, as relevant here, that two deputy sheriffs from the Clay County Sheriff’s Department violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from the use of excessive force. Specifically, Schoonover, whose left arm is amputated, alleged that the deputies used excessive force when they handcuffed his right wrist to his right ankle during his arrest for several minor traffic violations. The district court dismissed this claim, concluding that, while their conduct amounted to a constitutional violation, the deputies were entitled to qualified immunity. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the district court’s judgment.

I.

The following facts are drawn from the Complaint. Appellant James Randy Schoonover is a sixty-five-year-old resident of Clay County, West Virginia. J.A. 7. On September 27, 2018, Schoonover began to experience chest pain and drove to his brother’s house to ask for a ride to the hospital in Charleston. J.A. 8. Schoonover arrived at his brother’s house, exited his car, and started walking up the driveway when Appellee Deputy Sheriff Michael Patrick Morris pulled into the driveway and turned on his vehicle’s police lights. 1 Id. Morris requested Schoonover’s license and registration and asked if he had

1

According to a criminal complaint against Schoonover, Morris conducted a “routine traffic stop” based on an expired vehicle registration. J.A. 45. Morris ran Schoonover’s vehicle registration through the Department of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”), which indicated that the license tags were stolen. Id. Morris also ran Schoonover’s name and date of birth through the DMV, which revealed that his license was suspended for unpaid citations. Id.

insurance. J.A. 8, 45. Schoonover responded that he did not have the requested documents and did not have insurance. J.A. 8, 45. Schoonover stated that he was experiencing chest pain and needed an aspirin. J.A. 9. Morris responded that Schoonover could not get an aspirin right now and stated that he needed to “figure out what’s going on here.” Id. At that point, Schoonover’s sister-in-law asked if she could give him an aspirin, which Morris allowed. Id. Schoonover went into the house and took an aspirin. Id. While inside the house, Schoonover also called a local magistrate, Magistrate Jeffery Boggs, to ask if he could stay after 4:00 p.m. in case Schoonover was going to be brought before him. Id. Schoonover exited the house and Morris asked who he had called. Id. When Schoonover responded, Morris told him that he would be arrested “because he called Magistrate Boggs.” Id.

Appellee Deputy Sheriff Jonathan Holcomb, who had arrived on the scene by that point, arrested Schoonover, handcuffed his right wrist to his right ankle, and placed him in the back of Morris’ vehicle. J.A. 9–10. Schoonover was handcuffed in this manner because he is missing his left arm, which was amputated prior to the events of this suit. J.A. 7. As he was being placed in the vehicle, Schoonover asked for another aspirin and Holcomb raised his arm as if preparing to strike Schoonover, and said: “Shut your mouth, old man, or I’ll shut it for you.” J.A. 10. Neither Morris nor Holcomb informed Schoonover of the reason for his arrest or read him his Miranda rights. Id. When they reached the courthouse, Holcomb took Schoonover out of the police vehicle and said to a group of young men standing outside the courthouse: “You see this criminal here? Be

good or you’ll end up here.” Id. Holcomb and Morris also told their supervisor that they should have made Schoonover “quack like Donald Duck” while he was handcuffed. Id.

Schoonover was charged with four criminal violations: (1) driving with a suspended or revoked license, (2) driving without proof of insurance, (3) improper vehicle registration, and (4) receiving or transferring stolen property. J.A. 44. Schoonover pleaded guilty to receiving or transferring stolen property, and the remaining charges against him were dismissed. J.A. 48, 50–53.

On May 15, 2019, Schoonover filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia against the Clay County Sheriff’s Department, the Clay County Commission, Morris in his individual capacity, and Holcomb in his individual capacity. See J.A. 7. Schoonover alleged he suffered physical injuries to his back, ankle, and wrist because of the way Morris and Holcomb had handcuffed him and alleged claims of excessive force and cruel and unusual punishment under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, state constitutional violations, and negligence against all Defendants. J.A. 11–16. Defendants moved to dismiss all claims. J.A. 18.

On May 21, 2020, the district court granted Defendants’ motion to dismiss.

Regarding Schoonover’s excessive force claim under section 1983, the district court concluded that Morris and Holcomb’s actions constituted excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable seizures. J.A. 99–101. The district court explained that “[h]andcuffing an elderly amputee wrist-to-ankle under these circumstances is so extreme that any reasonable officer on the scene should know that the conduct constituted the imposition of excessive force in violation of the Fourth

Amendment.” J.A. 101. Nevertheless, the district court determined that Morris and Holcomb were entitled to qualified immunity because there was “no indication that the officers were or should have been on notice of a clearly established right not to handcuff one such as [Schoonover] in this way.” J.A. 102.

Schoonover timely appealed the district court’s dismissal of his Fourth Amendment claims of excessive force under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Morris and Holcomb. J.A. 120.

II.

We review the district court’s grant of a qualified immunity-based motion to dismiss de novo. 2 Tobey v. Jones, 706 F.3d 379, 385 (4th Cir. 2013) (citation omitted). We accept as true all of the factual allegations contained in Schoonover’s Complaint and draw all reasonable inferences in his favor. Nemet Chevrolet, Ltd. v. Consumeraffairs.com, Inc., 591 F.3d 250, 253 (4th Cir. 2009) (citing Edwards v. City of Goldsboro, 178 F.3d 231, 244 (4th Cir. 1999)).

2

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

James Schoonover v. Clay County Sheriff's Dept., (4th Cir. 2023).

James Schoonover v. Clay County Sheriff's Dept. (James Schoonover v. Clay County Sheriff's Dept.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Bell v. Wolfish
441 U.S. 520 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Tennessee v. Garner
471 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1985)
Anderson v. Creighton
483 U.S. 635 (Supreme Court, 1987)
Graham v. Connor
490 U.S. 386 (Supreme Court, 1989)
Wilson v. Layne
526 U.S. 603 (Supreme Court, 1999)
Hope v. Pelzer
536 U.S. 730 (Supreme Court, 2002)
Brosseau v. Haugen
543 U.S. 194 (Supreme Court, 2004)
Pearson v. Callahan
555 U.S. 223 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Andre Guite v. James Wright Steven James Lashomb
147 F.3d 747 (Eighth Circuit, 1998)
Edwards v. City of Goldsboro
178 F.3d 231 (Fourth Circuit, 1999)
Charles Kostrzewa v. City of Troy
247 F.3d 633 (Sixth Circuit, 2001)
William Royster v. Tommy Nichols
698 F.3d 681 (Eighth Circuit, 2012)
Aaron Tobey v. Terri Jones
706 F.3d 379 (Fourth Circuit, 2013)
Valladares v. Cordero
552 F.3d 384 (Fourth Circuit, 2009)
Nemet Chevrolet, Ltd. v. Consumeraffairs. Com, Inc.
591 F.3d 250 (Fourth Circuit, 2009)
Demetrius Hill v. C.O. Crum
727 F.3d 312 (Fourth Circuit, 2013)
Aceto v. Kachajian
240 F. Supp. 2d 121 (D. Massachusetts, 2003)
Ferguson v. Hall
33 F. Supp. 2d 608 (E.D. Michigan, 1999)