Outley v. Moir

District Court, D. Arizona·Decided March 24, 2022·No. 2:19-cv-00019·Unknown

Opinion

SKC WO Michael Dewayne Outley, Jr., No. CV 19-00019-PHX-JAT (JFM) Plaintiff, v. ORDER Sylvia Moir, et al., Defendants.

Plaintiff Michael Dewayne Outley, Jr., brought this pro se civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Defendants Tempe Police Department (TPD) Officers Daniel Gaughan, Joseph Krajcer, Joseph Rowan, Tyler Robinson, and Anthony Trow and former TPD Police Chief Sylvia Moir move for summary judgment. (Doc. 143.) Plaintiff was informed of his rights and obligations to respond pursuant to Rand v. Rowland, 154 F.3d 952, 962 (9th Cir. 1998) (en banc) (Doc. 147), and he opposes the Motion. (Doc. 152.) Defendants filed a Reply. (Doc. 160.) The Court will grant the Motion for Summary Judgment. I. Background On screening Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a), the Court determined Plaintiff stated constitutional claims against Defendant TPD Officers Krajcer, Robinson, Rowan, and Gaughan, TPD Public Liaison Jane/John Doe, and Police Chief Moir in connection with Plaintiff’s January 25, 2018 arrest in Tempe, Arizona and ordered service on all but the Doe Defendant, pending specific identification. (Doc. 13.) The Court stayed the action at that time because the criminal case against Plaintiff arising from his arrest was still pending. (Id.) Approximately one year later, the Court lifted the stay, and Plaintiff filed a Motion to Amend and a proposed Second Amended Complaint. (Docs. 50, 51.) On screening the Second Amended Complaint, the Court found Plaintiff stated constitutional claims in Count One against Defendant Officers Krajcer, Gaughan, Robinson, Rowan, and Blair, stemming from his arrest, and constitutional privacy claims in Count Two against Defendants TPD Public Liaison John/Jane Doe and Police Chief Moir, stemming from their alleged disclosure and release of Plaintiff’s juvenile crime records; the Court dismissed the remaining claims and Defendants. (Doc. 110 (granting and amending in part Magistrate Judge Metcalf’s Report and Recommendation at Doc. 79).) Plaintiff later substituted Defendant Officer Trow for Defendant John/Jane Doe in Count Two (Doc. 114), and the Court subsequently dismissed Defendant Officer Blair from Count One without prejudice for failure to serve. (Doc. 140.) II. Legal Standards A. Summary Judgment A court must grant summary judgment “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23 (1986). The movant bears the initial responsibility of presenting the basis for its motion and identifying those portions of the record, together with affidavits, if any, that it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323. If the movant fails to carry its initial burden of production, the nonmovant need not produce anything. Nissan Fire & Marine Ins. Co., Ltd. v. Fritz Co., Inc., 210 F.3d 1099, 1102-03 (9th Cir. 2000). But if the movant meets its initial responsibility, the burden shifts to the nonmovant to demonstrate the existence of a factual dispute and that the fact in contention is material, i.e., a fact that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law, and that the dispute is genuine, i.e., the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmovant. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 250 (1986); see Triton Energy Corp. v. Square D. Co., 68 F.3d 1216, 1221 (9th Cir. 1995). The nonmovant need not establish a material issue of fact conclusively in its favor, First Nat’l Bank of Ariz. v. Cities Serv. Co., 391 U.S. 253, 288-89 (1968); however, it must “come forward with specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587 (1986) (internal citation omitted); see Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1). At summary judgment, the judge’s function is not to weigh the evidence and determine the truth but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249. In its analysis, the court must believe the nonmovant’s evidence and draw all inferences in the nonmovant’s favor. Id. at 255. The court need consider only the cited materials, but it may consider any other materials in the record. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(3). B. Video Evidence Where video evidence is available in an excessive use-of-force case, the Supreme Court has directed that courts “should [] view[] the facts in the light depicted by the videotape.” Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 380−81 (2007). This does not mean that courts no longer take the nonmovant’s version of the facts as true where video evidence, seen in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party, leaves room for genuine dispute. Courts must still draw all reasonable inferences in the nonmovant’s favor. Williams v. Las Vegas Metro. Police Dep’t, No. 2:13-CV-1340-GMN-NJK, 2016 WL 1169447, at *4 (D. Nev. Mar. 22, 2016) (“[t]he existence of the video does not change the usual rules of summary judgment: in general, the court will draw all reasonable inferences from the video in plaintiff’s favor”) (citing Blankenhorn v. City of Orange, 485 F.3d 463, 468 n.1 (9th Cir. 2007)). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III. Count One: Fourth Amendment Claims A. Facts 1. High-Speed Pursuit On January 25, 2018, at 4:09 a.m., TPD Officers Gaughan, Krajcer, Rowan, and Robinson heard radio traffic that a caller had reported that a grey Chevy Trailblazer with license plate AEZ5939, going eastbound on Baseline Road, had run a red light and stop sign and almost hit her vehicle. (Doc. 144 (Defs.’ Statement of Facts) ¶ 2.) Plaintiff disputes that the caller gave the license plate number, but audio of the call confirms that the caller complained about the Trailblazer’s driving, speculating that the driver “must be drunk or something,” and a male passenger called out the license plate number. (Doc. 144, Ex. 1 (audio recording) at 00:20−00:42.)1 Radio traffic further conveyed that the Trailblazer had been stolen in a strong-armed robbery earlier that month when one of the suspects punched the victim in the back of the head. (Doc. 144 ¶ 4.) It was also reported that the current driver, later determined to be Plaintiff, had received directions from a clerk at the Chevron station on Baseline Road for the Red Roof Inn at 2135 W. 15th Street. (Id. ¶ 5.) At about 4:24 a.m., a non-Defendant TPD officer in a marked patrol car attempted to pull over the Trailblazer, using lights and sirens, but the driver did not pull over and instead sped away. (Id. ¶¶ 7−8.) Plaintiff admits to driving a grey Chevy Trailblazer, stopping at the Chevron station for directions to the Red Roof Inn, and that a TPD officer in a marked patr

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