TAYLOR v. CITY OF BIXBY

2018 OK CIV APP 18, 415 P.3d 537
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedMay 1, 2017
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2018 OK CIV APP 18 (TAYLOR v. CITY OF BIXBY) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
TAYLOR v. CITY OF BIXBY, 2018 OK CIV APP 18, 415 P.3d 537 (Okla. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

TAYLOR v. CITY OF BIXBY
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TAYLOR v. CITY OF BIXBY
2018 OK CIV APP 18
415 P.3d 537
Case Number: 114686
Decided: 05/01/2017
Mandate Issued: 03/21/2018
DIVISION II
THE COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA, DIVISION II


Cite as: 2018 OK CIV APP 18, 415 P.3d 537

GERON R. TAYLOR, Plaintiff/Appellant,
v.
THE CITY OF BIXBY, OKLAHOMA, a municipal corporation, Defendant/Appellee.

APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF
TULSA COUNTY, OKLAHOMA

HONORABLE DANA L. KUEHN, TRIAL JUDGE

AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART AND
REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS

Steven R. Hickman, FRASIER, FRASIER & HICKMAN, LLP, Tulsa, Oklahoma, for Plaintiff/Appellant

Thomas A. LeBlanc, Matthew B. Free, BEST & SHARP, Tulsa, Oklahoma, for Defendant/Appellee

JOHN F. FISCHER, PRESIDING JUDGE:

¶1 Geron Taylor appeals the district court's judgment in favor of the City of Bixby in this civil rights action. The appeal has been assigned to the accelerated docket pursuant to Oklahoma Supreme Court Rule 1.36(b), 12 O.S. Supp. 2013, ch. 15, app. 1, and the matter stands submitted without appellate briefing. The City is entitled to judgment with respect to Taylor's tort claims and his State and federal constitutional claims except in one respect. It cannot be determined from the summary judgment record whether Taylor has a claim based on the ten days he served in the City's jail after his arrest for speeding and driving without a license. In all other respects, the district court's judgment is affirmed. This case is remanded for a determination of whether Taylor has a claim based on his ten-day incarceration.

BACKGROUND

¶2 On September 8, 2011, Taylor was stopped by a Bixby police officer for driving 49 miles per hour in a 40-mile per hour speed zone. During the interrogation that followed, Taylor failed to produce a driver's license, admitted that he did not have a driver's license and admitted that he had never possessed a valid driver's license. Taylor was arrested and charged with speeding and driving without a license. It was subsequently determined that Taylor had been convicted of driving without a valid driver's license on nine previous occasions. On October 4, 2011, Taylor appeared in the Bixby Municipal Court pro se and entered a plea of guilty to both the speeding and driver's license charges. He was fined $703 and sentenced to ten days in the City jail. Taylor served the jail time but did not pay the fine.

¶3 Represented by counsel, Taylor filed this case on January 20, 2012, after his release from jail, asserting violations of his Oklahoma and federal constitutional rights as well as Oklahoma tort law claims. In support of these claims, Taylor alleged facts concerning his arrest, conviction and the conditions of his confinement and treatment while incarcerated. The City was named as the only defendant and removed the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. The City filed a motion for summary judgment to which Taylor responded. By order dated December 12, 2012, the federal court granted the City's motion, in part, denied it in part, and remanded the case to the state district court for further proceedings. With respect to some of the issues, the federal court determined that Taylor had failed to exhaust available state remedies. The following day, Taylor filed a pro se application for post-conviction relief in Bixby Municipal Court.

¶4 In his post-conviction application, Taylor argued that prior to pleading guilty, he was not advised of his right to counsel, right to a jury trial, right to appeal, right to bond pending appeal and that he was fined in excess of the maximum permitted by law. On May 3, 2013, the Bixby Municipal Court allowed Taylor to withdraw his original guilty plea, vacated the October 4, 2011 judgment and granted Taylor a new trial. The court's order states Taylor "was not advised of his right to appeal the decision of the Court or the right to withdraw his plea . . . ." The City appointed counsel to represent Taylor and his case was tried to a jury on August 1, 2013. The jury found Taylor guilty of driving without a valid driver's license.1 The Judgment and Sentence was entered on February 6, 2014. This time Taylor was fined $300, the maximum fine allowed for driving without a license, and ordered to pay court costs in the amount of $51, both of which he paid. The Judgment and Sentence does not impose or refer to any jail time.

¶5 The City then filed a motion for summary judgment in this case and Taylor filed a response. Taylor appeals the district court's January 8, 2016 Final Order and Journal Entry of Judgment granting the City's motion for summary judgment, and finding that Taylor had not and would not be able to state a claim for relief based on the circumstances of his arrest, conviction and incarceration.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶6 Title 12 O.S.2011 § 2056 governs the procedure for summary judgment in this case. A motion for summary judgment "should be rendered if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Id. If the moving party has not addressed all material facts, or if one or more of such facts is not supported by acceptable evidentiary material, summary judgment is not proper. Spirgis v. Circle K Stores, Inc., 1987 OK CIV APP 45, 743 P.2d 682 (approved for publication by the Oklahoma Supreme Court). The de novo standard controls an appellate court's review of a district court order granting summary judgment. Carmichael v. Beller, 1996 OK 48, ¶ 2, 914 P.2d 1051.

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Bluebook (online)
2018 OK CIV APP 18, 415 P.3d 537, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-city-of-bixby-oklacivapp-2017.