Filed: Oct. 14, 2004
Latest Update: Feb. 12, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 04-1081 LINDA MOZEE, Plaintiff - Appellant, versus WAYNE DAVID BURLEY, in his individual capacity; CHESTER ARNOLD, in his individual capacity, Defendants - Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. James C. Fox, Senior District Judge. (CA-02-155-7) Submitted: September 24, 2004 Decided: October 14, 2004 Before WILKINSON, WILLIAMS, and TRAXLER, Circuit Jud
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 04-1081 LINDA MOZEE, Plaintiff - Appellant, versus WAYNE DAVID BURLEY, in his individual capacity; CHESTER ARNOLD, in his individual capacity, Defendants - Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. James C. Fox, Senior District Judge. (CA-02-155-7) Submitted: September 24, 2004 Decided: October 14, 2004 Before WILKINSON, WILLIAMS, and TRAXLER, Circuit Judg..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 04-1081
LINDA MOZEE,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
versus
WAYNE DAVID BURLEY, in his individual
capacity; CHESTER ARNOLD, in his individual
capacity,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. James C. Fox, Senior
District Judge. (CA-02-155-7)
Submitted: September 24, 2004 Decided: October 14, 2004
Before WILKINSON, WILLIAMS, and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
David Vernon Hartley, THE LAW OFFICE OF DAVID V. HARTLEY,
Lillington, North Carolina, for Appellant. Scott C. Hart, SUMRELL,
SUGG, CARMICHAEL, HICKS & HART, P.A., New Bern, North Carolina, for
Appellees.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Linda Mozee appeals the district court’s order granting
summary judgment to Defendants in her action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983
(2000). Mozee asserts the district court erred in granting summary
judgment to Defendants on her claim that they used excessive force
when arresting her. Finding no error, we affirm.
This Court reviews a district court’s grant of summary
judgment de novo. Higgins v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.,
863
F.2d 1162, 1167 (4th Cir. 1988). Summary judgment is proper “if
the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and
admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that
there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the
moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.
R. Civ. P. 56(c); see Celotex Corp. v. Catrett,
477 U.S. 317, 322
(1986). The Court construes the evidence and draws all reasonable
inferences in the light most favorable to the non-movant. See
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.,
477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986).
Claims of excessive force during arrest are governed by
the Fourth Amendment and are analyzed under an “objective
reasonableness” standard. Graham v. Connor,
490 U.S. 386, 395-96
(1989). “Fourth Amendment jurisprudence has long recognized that
the right to make an arrest or investigatory stop necessarily
carries with it the right to use some degree of physical coercion
or threat thereof to effect it.”
Id. at 396. Determining whether
the force used was reasonable requires that we weigh “the nature
and quality of the intrusion on the individual’s Fourth Amendment
interests against the countervailing governmental interests at
stake.”
Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).
Factors considered include “the severity of the crime at
issue, whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety
of the officers or others, and whether he [was] actively resisting
arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.”
Id. “[T]he
question is whether the officers’ actions [were] ‘objectively
reasonable’ in light of the facts and circumstances confronting
them, without regard to their underlying intent or motivation.”
Id. at 397 (citations omitted). “The ‘reasonableness’ of a
particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a
reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision
of hindsight.”
Id. at 396.
We agree with the district court that when taken in the
light most favorable to Mozee, the facts alleged do not establish
that Defendants used excessive force. It is undisputed that Mozee
was actively resisting Defendants’ authority and her arrest, and
some force was necessary to effect the arrest. Moreover, Mozee’s
allegations that her handcuffs were too tight and officers applied
pressure to the back of her head while handcuffing her are
insubstantial as a matter of law. See Carter v. Morris,
164 F.3d
215, 219 n.3 (4th Cir. 1999). Because the district court properly
determined that Defendants’ conduct did not violate a
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constitutional right, the court likewise properly determined that
it need not address any further issues of qualified immunity. See
Jones v. Buchanan,
325 F.3d 520, 526 (4th Cir. 2003). Accordingly,
we affirm.
We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before
the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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