Muhammad v. Skinner

193 F. Supp. 3d 821, 2016 WL 3457940, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82441
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedJune 24, 2016
DocketCase No.14-cv-12277
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 193 F. Supp. 3d 821 (Muhammad v. Skinner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Muhammad v. Skinner, 193 F. Supp. 3d 821, 2016 WL 3457940, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82441 (E.D. Mich. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (ECF NO. 39)

PAUL D. BORMAN, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

On- June 10, 2014, Plaintiff Jabril Muhammad filed this civil rights action against ten Genesee County Sheriff Deputies: Leon Skinner, Mark Wing, Roy Ec-kert, Phillip Hart, Brian Compeau, Janice Buchanan, Robert Winston, Raymond De-sisto, Jane Doe 1, and Jane Doe 2 (“Defendants”).1 (ECF No. 1.) Plaintiffs claims of excessive force and invasion of privacy arise from his booking into the Genesee County Jail in the early morning hours of July 16, 2011 after being arrested by the Michigan State Police.

Now before the Court is Defendants’ motion for summary judgment which was filed on January 13, 2016. (ECF No. 39.) Plaintiff timely responded to' the motion on February 17, 2016. (ECF No. 46.) Thereafter, Defendants filed a reply. (ECF No. 48.) Plaintiff conceded in his briefing and at the hearing that his claims are now limited only to Defendants Buchanan, De-sisto, Skinner and Wing. (ECF No. 48, Pl.’s Resp., at 1.) Accordingly, the claims against Defendants Eckert, Hart, Com-peau, Winston, and Jane Does 1-2 will be dismissed.

The hearing on this matter was held on June 17, 2016. For the following reasons, the Court will deny Defendants’ motion for summary judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Arrest of Plaintiff

On July 16, 2011, the Michigan State Police arrested Plaintiff for impeding traffic and for resisting arrest. (ECF No. 39, Ex. A, Mich. St. Police Report.) During his arrest, Plaintiff allegedly sustained a scrape on the left side of his face after he refused to obey verbal commands and was “taken down” to the sidewalk and then allegedly proceeded to deliberately hit his face on the pavement. (Id.)

B. Arrival and Booking at Genesee County Jail

Plaintiff arrived at the Genesee County Jail at approximately 2:23 am. (Ex. F, Camera 3 Video 2:23:33-2:24:15.) Plaintiff can be seen on video exiting the police cruiser and being escorted by five deputies into the building without any signs of noncompliance. It is clear from the video that no force was used to remove Plaintiff from the back of the cruiser, or to escort him into the building. (Id.) This video contradicts Defendant Desisto’s testimony that Plaintiff did not comply with officers while he walked into the jail. (Pl.’s Ex. B, Desis-to Dep., at 26; see also Def.’s Ex. I, Buchanan Dep., at 36, testifying she saw nothing on the video indicating that Plaintiff was being resistant during his walk into the jail.)

Plaintiff was then escorted by multiple deputies into the report writing room. (Ex. F, Camera 4, 2:24:26.) Upon entering the report writing room, Defendant Wing guided Plaintiff to a bench. Rather than being sat on the bench, Plaintiff was maneuvered by the deputies such that he stood in front of the bench and faced the wall. (Id., at 2:24:30-33.) Defendant Desisto [825]*825(wearing glasses) and Defendant Skinner then joined Defendant Wing in holding on to Plaintiff while Defendant Wing pushed Plaintiffs head flush into the wall. (Id. .at 2:24:34.) Plaintiffs arms, still handcuffed, were then forced upwards while Defendant Wing removed items from Plaintiffs pockets. (Id., at 2:25:02-25). Defendant Wing then removed Plaintiffs belt and placed it on the bench. (Id. at 2:25:25-31.)

At this point, Defendants Desisto and Skinner pushed Plaintiff more forcefully against the wall. (Camera 4, at 2:25:31-36.) Defendant Wing then struck Plaintiff on the back of the head. (Id., at 2:25:36-37.) Around this same time, Defendant Desisto administered two peroneal knee strikes to the back of Plaintiffs legs. (Id., at 2:25:42, 2:25:45; Desisto Dep., at 34.) Meanwhile, Plaintiff remained pushed against the wall, handcuffed, and held by two officers. (Id.)

Defendant Wing then attempted to remove Plaintiffs left shoe (Camera 4, at 2:26:02-17.) It is unclear if Plaintiff was moving or being moved by Defendants as they forced his arms higher and higher behind his back. (Id. at 2:26-17-24.) Ultimately, Plaintiffs face was pushed down to the bench and his handcuffed wrists were forced against the wall above his head. (Id., at 2:26:17-29; but see Desisto Dep., at 35 testifying Plaintiff was not shoved into a wall and his arms were never lifted above his head.) Plaintiff was kept in this position for nearly a minute while Defendants removed his right shoe and other possessions. (Id., at 2:26-29-2:27:13.)

Plaintiff was then turned and sat upon the bench with his back to the wall. One of the Defendants then.removed Plaintiffs earring. (Id., at 2:27:17-21.) A women identified as Nurse Oscar then evaluated Plaintiff, who nodded in response to her questions. (Id., at 2:28:02-56; Buchanan Dep., at 46.) At one point during Nurse Oscar’s exam Defendant Skinner lifted up Plaintiffs shirt. (Camera 4, at 2:28:21.) Plaintiff was then escorted from the report writing room to safety cell number 2: Defendant Skinner held on to Plaintiffs left arm, Defendant Wing held Plaintiffs right arm while Defendants Desisto and Buchanan followed behind. (Id., at 2:29:17-20; see also Pl.’s Ex. A, Video Still.)

Defendant Buchanan testified Plaintiff was “fighting” officers in the report writing room, by using other parts of his body besides his restrained hands to try to injure the officers.2 (Buchanan Dep., at 44-45.) Defendant Buchanan did not describe exactly how Plaintiff fought with the officers, but agreed that Plaintiff did not kick, hit, spit, tackle, head butt, or shoulder charge any officer in the report writing room. (Id.)

Defendant Buchanan stated in her incident report that upon arrival at the jail Plaintiff yelled “Pull your gun out and shoot me” while pulling away from the deputies and “grabbing on to [Defendant Wing’s] fingers.”3 (Defs.’ Ex. F, Incident Report, at 1; Buchanan Dep., at 77-78.) Defendant Wing testified that he heard Plaintiffs suicidal comments but could not specifically remember what those comments were. (Wing Dep., at 27.) Defendant Desisto, on the other hand, testified that he could not recall Plaintiff making any suicidal threats or behaving in a threatening manner while in the report writing room. (Desisto Dep., at 36.)

Plaintiff initially testified at his deposition that he did not recall making state[826]*826ments, but later testified that he would not have made any suicidal statements as Defendants allege:

Q. Okay. You don’t remember saying anything, okay. So if people heard you say that, you just don’t—you just don’t remember?
A. Right.
Q. Okay.
A. Because I know I didn’t say anything. When I got out of the car, I just had my head down.
Q. Okay. You don’t think you said anything, is that what you’re telling me?
A. Right.
Q. You don’t think you said anything when you got out of that state police car that night?
A. Right.
Q. Nothing at all?
A. Nothing. Nothing.
Q. Nothing. All right.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
193 F. Supp. 3d 821, 2016 WL 3457940, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82441, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/muhammad-v-skinner-mied-2016.