Lee Johnson v. Michael Niehus

491 F. App'x 945
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedOctober 16, 2012
Docket11-12003
StatusUnpublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 491 F. App'x 945 (Lee Johnson v. Michael Niehus) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lee Johnson v. Michael Niehus, 491 F. App'x 945 (11th Cir. 2012).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Defendants-Appellants Michael Niehus and Michael Humphreys filed this interlocutory appeal following the district court’s denial of qualified immunity. Plaintiff-Ap-pellee Lee Johnson alleges that Officers Niehus and Humphreys used excessive force, thereby violating Johnson’s Fourth Amendment rights in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. For the following reasons, we REVERSE the district court’s decision.

I.

The parties agree that Johnson ignored police officers’ commands during a traffic stop, that he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, and that he was shot. The parties agree on very little else. The physical evidence in the record only supports the facts as stated by the officers on the scene as opposed to Johnson’s inconsistent testimony. Consequently, we give serious consideration to whether Johnson demonstrated any “genuine” issues of material fact. As described below, we conclude that Johnson’s testimony, without more, cannot create a genuine issue of material fact where the physical and other evidence so strongly contradicts his statements. Thus, the version of facts provided by the officers and confirmed by the physical evidence is the lens through which we will view the reasonableness of the officers’ actions.

Appellant Michael Niehus, a Richmond County Sheriffs Deputy, testified in his deposition that while sitting in his patrol car at the intersection of Wylds Road and Milledgeville Road in Augusta, Georgia on the night of October 22, 2004, he observed a black vehicle driven by Appellee Lee Johnson speeding down Milledgeville toward Wheeless Road. The car had a paper tag and was going approximately 15 miles per hour over the speed limit. Niehus turned onto Milledgeville Road to catch up to the vehicle, but he soon lost sight of the car. Once Niehus reached the intersection of Milledgeville and Wheeless, however, he noticed that the vehicle had pulled into the parking lot of the convenience store on the right side of the road. The car was parked close to the building, which Niehus interpreted as an apparent effort to elude him. Niehus radioed Defendants Michael *947 Humphreys and Rachel Hardin, Richmond County Deputy Sheriffs patrolling nearby in Humphreys’ car, for assistance. From the Wheeless Road intersection, Hum-phreys and Hardin testified they saw Johnson walk quickly from behind the convenience store where he had parked and look in both directions up and down the road, as though he was attempting to observe where Deputy Niehus had driven. While Johnson admits that he was aware of the officers’ presence, he contends that he merely pulled his car into a nearby convenience store to use a pay phone to call his nephew, who did not answer. The officers observed Johnson hurriedly return to his car and, several moments later, turn on to Wheeless Road and begin speeding. Humphreys and Hardin followed in their patrol cars. After Humphreys turned his vehicle’s lights on to initiate a traffic stop, Johnson slammed on his brakes, almost causing Humphreys to rear-end the other vehicle. Johnson testified that he panicked and took off when the officers initiated the stop because he was on probation, and had an open container in the car. Johnson then drove forward and abruptly turned into a driveway at 2315 Wheeless Road. While the testimony and physical evidence, including tire tracks and bullet casings, prove that the incident happened at this address, Johnson claimed that the stop and the incident that followed occurred on Milledgeville road.

Humphreys and Hardin exited the patrol car and approached the vehicle; Hum-phreys approached from the driver’s side and Hardin from the passenger’s side. Contrary to the officers’ account, Johnson contends that as soon as he stopped, the three officers rushed up to the sides of his car with their weapons drawn. He claims that they immediately began hitting on the window and pulling on the door latches. However, Humphreys and Hardin testified that upon reaching the driver’s side of the vehicle, Humphreys asked to see Johnson’s driver’s license. Johnson acted as if he didn’t hear or didn’t understand Hum-phreys’ request. Humphreys noticed Johnson fidgeting with his hands and trying to keep his hands from view. Hum-phreys then asked Johnson to put his hands on the steering wheel. Niehus arrived on the scene shortly thereafter and pulled into the driveway behind the other patrol car. From where Niehus was positioned at the rear of the vehicle on the driver’s side, looking through the rear window with his flashlight, he could see the driver’s clinched right hand moving from the steering wheel to his right leg. Hum-phreys and Hardin, who positioned herself close to the vehicle on the passenger side towards the backseat, noticed that Johnson was trying to hide what appeared to be a bag of cocaine with his right hand by his right leg.

Humphreys continued to order the driver to place his hands on the steering wheel. When Johnson finally put his hands on the steering wheel, the only command that he complied with throughout the stop, there was a bag sticking out of the back of his fist which appeared to contain marijuana. The bag appearing to contain cocaine was visible on the seat of the vehicle. Johnson, when asked about the drugs by Humphreys, continued to pretend like he didn’t understand or couldn’t hear what Humphreys was saying. Johnson later testified that he did not have drugs in the vehicle with him. 1 Instead, he claimed that what the officers’ saw in his hand was only a tissue paper. Despite Humphreys’ repeated commands, Johnson *948 refused to turn off the engine, provide his driver’s license or step out of the vehicle. Johnson admits that he sat in the driver’s seat, ignoring the officers’ requests to turn off the motor and exit the vehicle, for at least two minutes. As Humphreys was trying to get Johnson to comply, Hardin saw an opportunity to reach in through the open or partially open rear passenger window to unlock the vehicle. Unable to find the lock, Hardin pulled her upper torso through the open window into the car to have better access. By this time, Johnson was revving the engine of the car. Hum-phreys, realizing that Hardin’s torso was in the vehicle, and recognizing that Johnson might be trying to put the car into reverse, also tried to reach in the car through the open driver’s window to turn the vehicle off. Instead of complying with Humphreys’ commands, Johnson began rolling up his partially cracked window while also trying to move the gear shift to put the car into reverse. Humphreys tried to keep the window from rolling up by pushing down on the window with his fingers. Suddenly, Johnson put the car in reverse and stomped the gas, spinning the tires and slinging gravel from the driveway.

Johnson, by contrast, testified that the car was stationary as the officers continued their assault on the vehicle until one of the male officers said “just shoot him.” Johnson saw a flash of light and felt a bullet, fired by the officer to his left, strike his left arm. Only then, Johnson testified, did he put his car into reverse.

Humphreys was dragged momentarily while he tried to pull his fingers free of the window. Deputy Hardin was thrown back by the car’s sudden movement, losing her balance and almost falling.

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Bluebook (online)
491 F. App'x 945, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lee-johnson-v-michael-niehus-ca11-2012.