Small v. Glynn County

77 F. Supp. 3d 1271, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139476, 2014 WL 4928877
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Georgia
DecidedSeptember 30, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. CV 212-115
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 77 F. Supp. 3d 1271 (Small v. Glynn County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Small v. Glynn County, 77 F. Supp. 3d 1271, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139476, 2014 WL 4928877 (S.D. Ga. 2014).

Opinion

LISA. GODBEY WOOD, Chief Judge.

INTRODUCTION

Caroline Small was shot by Glynn County police officers after leading them on a low-speed chase for nearly twenty minutes. Small did not stop moving until she was shot. During the course of the chase, she ran up on a curb, ran off the road multiple times, crossed the center line several times, hit a mailbox, turned in front of oncoming cars, bumped a police car, drove onto a lawn, caused twenty civilian cars to pull off of the road, caused more than one law enforcement officer to believe she was about to hit them with her car, nearly missed hitting one officer who was on foot, and, despite being partially surrounded by police officers, one of whom stated he would shoot if she continued to move the car, put her car in gear, revved her engine, [1275]*1275and continued to advance her car. The officers did fire shots, and she later died from her injuries.

Her family has now sued seeking money damages from the county and the officers who shot her. Very few facts are actually up for dispute. This is because the Court has had the ability, duty really, to watch and hear this tragedy from the perspective of no less than four separate dashboard cameras. Rather than flatly accept any attorney’s characterization of the events, the Court has watched the videos a multitude of times.

Based on the record evidence, two conclusions are clear: Was her death necessary? No. Was it unconstitutional? No. Fundamental to the latter conclusion is the long, strong line of binding cases from the United States Supreme Court and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals that hold that “[w]here the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a threat of serious physical harm, either to the officer or to others, it is not constitutionally unreasonable to prevent escape by using deadly force.” Pace v. Capobianco, 283 F.3d 1275, 1281 (11th Cir.2002) (quoting Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 11, 105 S.Ct. 1694, 85 L.Ed.2d 1 (1985)). Moreover, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has made it clear that such officers are entitled to immunity from suit unless the law preexisting the use of deadly force “was already established to such a high degree that every objectively reasonable official standing in the defendant’s place would be on notice that what the defendant official was doing would be clearly unlawful given the circumstances.” Id. at 1282.

FACTS

The United States Supreme Court recently re-emphasized that at the summary judgment stage, the judge’s function is “not to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial.” Tolan v. Cotton, — U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 1861, 1866, 188 L.Ed.2d 895 (2014) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)). (internal quotation marks omitted). As the high Court stressed, “Our qualified-immunity cases illustrate the importance of drawing inferences in favor of the nonmovant, even when, [as in Tolan], a court decides only the clearly-established prong of the standard.” Id. With that recent pronouncement in mind, the Court has taken due care to credit contradicting evidence in favor of the Plaintiffs and draw evidentiary inferences in favor of the Plaintiffs as the nonmoving party.

In order to view the facts from the perspective of the Plaintiffs’ best case, as must be done at this stage, the following facts are taken from the evidence&emdash;sup-ported portions of the Plaintiffs’ own submissions, the video evidence of the incident, and the unrefuted facts submitted in connection with the summary judgment motions. To the extent any facts are in dispute, they are viewed in the light most favorable to the Plaintiffs. Where competing inferences are possible, based on the evidence, the Court accepts the inference that favors the Plaintiffs.

On the morning of June 18, 2010, Small was sitting in her car, a Buick, in the parking lot of the Embassy Suites Hotel at the Glynn Place Mall. Dkt. No. 1, p. 5. When a hotel employee tried to speak with Small, she looked “spacey” and was doing something with an object in her hands. Dkt. No. 1, pp. 5-6. The hotel employee called 911 and reported that Small was “doing drugs” and was “heating something up in her lap.” Dkt. No. 1, p. 6.

Glynn County Police Officer Peter Far-rick was dispatched to the scene. Dkt. [1276]*1276No. 1, p. 6. The 911 dispatcher related that Small was “possibly shooting up.” Farrick dep., p. 11. After Farrick arrived at the mall, he approached Small’s car on foot and noticed that her engine was running and that her window was slightly lowered. Dkt. No. 1, p. 7. Small did not seem to notice Farrick as he observed her pick at and rub the surface of her seat while also reportedly looking under her armrest. Dkt. No. 1, p. 7. In Farrick’s estimation, Small’s behavior confirmed that she was impaired. Farrick dep., p. 21. Farrick announced his presence and told Small to turn off the car. Dkt. No. 1, pp. 8-9. Small turned her head to Farrick. Her eyes were glassy and red. He ordered her to put her car in park and shut off the engine. Instead, she disobeyed his command and pulled away.

Farrick screamed at her to stop. He ran back to his car and radioed dispatch that “she’s driving off on me.” Farrick dep., pp. 25-29. As she attempted to elude Farrick, Small ran into a curb, blowing out one of her tires. Dkt. No. 1, p. 9. This did not deter her, for she continued to drive away from law enforcement. Dkt. No. 1, p. 9. Small continued to flee by driving through and around the mall parking lot while “weaving in between the lanes.” Farrick dep., pp. 36-37, 39. Far-rick had been the only pursuing officer for several minutes, when Glynn County Police Officer Robert Sasser arrived and joined the pursuit. Farrick dep., p. 41. Next, two more Glynn County officers— Davidson and Dixon — and Georgia State Patrol Trooper Jonathan Malone arrived and participated. Dkt. No. 1, pp. 11-12; Farrick dep., pp. 48-49. The officers had dashboard cameras that give multiple audio and video perspectives of the chase. Four videos were available for review by the Court. The Sasser Video is identified by the Defendants as “A,” the Davidson Video as “B,” the Dixon Video as “C,” and the Malone Video as “D.”

As the chase continued in the parking lot, Dixon stated that “she’s either still doing 10/60 [drugs] or doing something up under the front of her seat.” Dixon Video at 11:48:01. At various points, the videos capture images-of Small narrowly missing civilian motorists. E.g., Sasser Video at 11:48:28. One officer radioed to alert the other officers that Small had possibly been shooting up and to be careful of needles. Dixon dep., p. 150.

After weaving through the mall lot, Small turned onto Scranton Road and began driving away from the mall on the public roadways. Dkt. No. 1, p. 14. At about the same time, Officer Todd Simpson arrived in the vicinity of the pursuit, and he fell in behind the other pursuing police vehicles. Simpson dep., pp. 46-48. While Small was driving on Scranton Road, she swerved such that both of the wheels on the passenger side of her car were off of the road surface and on the adjacent grass. Malone Video at 11:50:03. Small next turned right onto Chapel Crossing Road. Dkt. No. 1, p. 14.

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Related

Varnadore v. Merritt
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598 F. App'x 752 (Eleventh Circuit, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
77 F. Supp. 3d 1271, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139476, 2014 WL 4928877, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/small-v-glynn-county-gasd-2014.