Renardo Hudson v. Kevin Knapp

685 F. App'x 740
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedApril 13, 2017
Docket16-16184 Non-Argument Calendar
StatusUnpublished

This text of 685 F. App'x 740 (Renardo Hudson v. Kevin Knapp) 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
Renardo Hudson v. Kevin Knapp, 685 F. App'x 740 (11th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Renardo Hudson brought suit against City of Atlanta Police Officer Kevin Knapp pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He claims his constitutional rights were violated after he was unlawfully arrested based on intentionally fabricated probable cause. Hudson also brought Georgia state law claims against Knapp. Knapp moved for summary judgment, arguing he is entitled to qualified immunity for the federal claims and official immunity for the state law claims. The district court denied Knapp’s motion. After careful review of the record, we affirm.

I.

We review de novo the district court’s disposition of a summary judgment motion based on qualified immunity. Lee v. Ferraro, 284 F.3d 1188, 1190 (11th Cir. 2002). Whether Knapp is entitled to qualified immunity is a legal question. Id. “[O]ur analysis must begin with .a description of the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.” Id.

On the afternoon of February 20, 2013, Hudson was lawfully parked on the side of a street in Atlanta, Georgia, sitting in his car. Knapp saw Hudson sitting in the car, and ran the license plate number. Knapp says he suspected the car was stolen. He claims the registered owner of the car had an active warrant for arrest in the name of "Charles Gray.” Knapp says the warrant listed Hudson’s full name as an alias for Charles Gray.- Hudson, in fact, is not Charles Gray. He does have a close rela *742 tionship with Charles Gray though, and considers him a brother.

Knapp initiated a traffic stop and Hudson gave Knapp his license and registration. In his report, Knapp said he crosschecked the warrant against Hudson’s driver’s license, and found the name, date of birth, social security number, height, and weight all matched. He also said he compared photos of Hudson and Gray, and then confirmed the warrant’s validity.

However, Hudson submitted a variety of exhibits to the court that contradict Knapp’s claims. Hudson gave a copy of his driver’s license to the court. It has his name on it—Renardo Hudson, not Charles Gray—and does not have a social security number printed on it at all. And Hudson managed to get a copy of the “active” warrant against Charles Gray, which he' also submitted to the court. The name, date of birth, height, and weight listed on the warrant did not match Hudson’s driver’s license. Along with it, Hudson provided documentation showing the warrant for Gray had been administratively closed since 2011 because Gray was incarcerated. Hudson also provided the court with a copy of his vehicle’s registration. It listed his name, Renardo Hudson (not Charles Gray), as the vehicle’s registered owner in the state of Georgia. Hudson also says he does not resemble Charles Gray, who is heavier and has much darker skin.

Knapp arrested Hudson, and told him there was a warrant for his arrest as Charles Gray. Hudson told Knapp he was not Gray and that Gray was serving a federal prison sentence in Tennessee or Kentucky. Knapp replied: “I don’t care whether you are or not, I’m locking you up.” Knapp did not take Hudson’s fingerprints or call to check if Gray was, in fact, incarcerated. Knapp tightly handcuffed Hudson—so much so that he says it caused breathing problems as well as wrist, shoulder, arm, and back pain for which he later needed treatment. Knapp placed Hudson in the back of his ear for over an hour, never checking the cuffs.

Knapp took Hudson to the Fulton County Jail. Hudson was held there for two days before two DeKalb County deputies arrived and said it was clear that Hudson was, in fact, not Gray. Hudson was released eight hours later without being charged.

Hudson filed a complaint with the City of Atlanta Police Department, but the complaint was closed. He then sent the City of Atlanta an ante litem notice, as required under O.C.G.A. § 36-33-5, informing the city he intended to bring this action. Hudson filed this action, alleging his rights under the Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments were violated by his unlawful arrest and seizure, as well as the use of excessive force. He also brought several state law claims. Knapp moved for summary judgment, arguing he is entitled to qualified immunity for the federal claims and official immunity for the state law claims. The district court denied Knapp’s motion and this appeal followed.

II.

We conduct a two-step inquiry to decide whether qualified immunity should be granted: (1) “taken in the light most favorable to the party asserting the injury, do the facts alleged show the officer’s conduct violated a constitutional right;” and (2) “[i]f a constitutional right would have been violated under the plaintiffs version of the facts, [we] must then determine whether the right was clearly established.” Lee v. Ferraro, 284 F.3d at 1194 (quotation omitted and alteration adopted). Because it is undisputed that Knapp was acting within the scope of his discretionary authority, *743 the burden is on Hudson to show that qualified immunity is not appropriate. Id.

A.

Hudson argues Knapp violated his Fourth Amendment rights by falsely arresting him and then using excessive force in the course of the illegal arrest. Because Hudson argues the excessive force was a result of an illegal arrest, this claim is “subsumed in the illegal [] arrest claim and is not a discrete excessive force claim.” Jackson v. Sauls, 206 F.3d 1156, 1171 (11th Cir. 2000). Hudson says Knapp intentionally fabricated probable cause to unlawfully arrest him.

In order to be entitled to qualified immunity on a false arrest claim, Knapp must have had “arguable probable cause” to arrest Hudson. Lee, 284 F.3d at 1195. “Whether an officer possesses ... arguable probable cause depends on the elements of the alleged crime and the operative fact pattern.” Brown v. City of Huntsville, 608 F.3d 724, 735 (11th Cir. 2010). “Showing arguable probable cause does not [ ] require proving every element of a crime.” Id. The relevant inquiry is whether “reasonable officers in the same circumstances and possessing the same knowledge as the Defendants could have believed probable cause existed to arrest Plaintiff.” Kingsland v. City of Miami, 382 F.3d 1220, 1232 (11th Cir. 2004) (quotation omitted). We evaluate whether an office had arguable probable cause based on “the information known to the defendant officers or officials at the time of their conduct, not the facts known to the plaintiff then or those known to a court later.” Wilkerson v. Seymour, 736 F.3d 974, 978 (11th Cir. 2013) (quotation omitted).

Knapp does not allege he ever witnessed Hudson commit a crime. Instead, he says he reasonably believed Hudson was Gray, and that DeKalb County had an active, outstanding warrant for Gray’s arrest. If Knapp is to be believed, then he acted on a “reasonable mistake” and did not violate Hudson’s constitutional rights. See Rodriguez v. Farrell, 280 F.3d 1341, 1345-46 (11th Cir. 2002).

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Bluebook (online)
685 F. App'x 740, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/renardo-hudson-v-kevin-knapp-ca11-2017.