Patrick Brown v. Leroy Holiday

Fifth Circuit

Patrick Brown v. Leroy Holiday

378 F. App'x 472

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

DecidedMay 18, 2010

Docket09-30425

StatusUnpublished

This text of 378 F. App'x 472 (Patrick Brown v. Leroy Holiday) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Patrick Brown v. Leroy Holiday, 378 F. App'x 472 (5th Cir. 2010).

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Opinion

PER CURIAM: *

Patrick Brown appeals the district court’s dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint following a bench trial. Brown alleged that he was the victim of constitutionally excessive force by correctional officers Randall Eubanks and Barrett Book while in detention awaiting deportation on an immigration violation at the River Correctional Center in Ferriday, Louisiana.

Factual findings made in a bench trial are reviewed for clear error, while legal issues are reviewed de novo. See Fed. R.Civ.P. 52(a); see also Baldwin v. Stalder, 137 F.3d 836, 839 (5th Cir.1998). For a factual finding to be clearly erroneous, an appellate court must have a firm conviction, based on a review of the entire record, that a mistake has been made. See Justiss Oil Co., Inc. v. Kerr-McGee Refining Corp., 75 F.3d 1057, 1062, 1067 (5th Cir.1996). The burden of showing that the factual findings are clearly erroneous is heavier if, as in this case, the credibility of witnesses is a factor in the trial court’s decision. See Canal Barge Co. Inc. v. Torco Oil Co., 220 F.3d 370, 375 (5th Cir.2000).

In this case, the district court judge’s rejection of Brown’s excessive force claim was based almost entirely on his determinations that Eubanks and Brown were credible in testifying that they did not “beat” or “kick” Brown or witness any other prison official do so, and that Brown’s description of the incident was less credible. Because the record and trial court testimony plausibly supports the district court’s decision to find credible Eu-bank’s and Brown’s assertions, it did not clearly err in dismissing Brown’s excessive force claims. See Anderson v. City of Bessemer City, N.C., 470 U.S. 564, 573-74, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985). Accordingly, we AFFIRM.

*

Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.

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PER CURIAM: *

Patrick Brown appeals the district court’s dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint following a bench trial. Brown alleged that he was the victim of constitutionally excessive force by correctional officers Randall Eubanks and Barrett Book while in detention awaiting deportation on an immigration violation at the River Correctional Center in Ferriday, Louisiana.

Factual findings made in a bench trial are reviewed for clear error, while legal issues are reviewed de novo. See Fed. R.Civ.P. 52(a); see also Baldwin v. Stalder, 137 F.3d 836, 839 (5th Cir.1998). For a factual finding to be clearly erroneous, an appellate court must have a firm conviction, based on a review of the entire record, that a mistake has been made. See Justiss Oil Co., Inc. v. Kerr-McGee Refining Corp., 75 F.3d 1057, 1062, 1067 (5th Cir.1996). The burden of showing that the factual findings are clearly erroneous is heavier if, as in this case, the credibility of witnesses is a factor in the trial court’s decision. See Canal Barge Co. Inc. v. Torco Oil Co., 220 F.3d 370, 375 (5th Cir.2000).

In this case, the district court judge’s rejection of Brown’s excessive force claim was based almost entirely on his determinations that Eubanks and Brown were credible in testifying that they did not “beat” or “kick” Brown or witness any other prison official do so, and that Brown’s description of the incident was less credible. Because the record and trial court testimony plausibly supports the district court’s decision to find credible Eu-bank’s and Brown’s assertions, it did not clearly err in dismissing Brown’s excessive force claims. See Anderson v. City of Bessemer City, N.C., 470 U.S. 564, 573-74, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985). Accordingly, we AFFIRM.

*

Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.

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