SMITH, Circuit Judge.
William Edward Royster filed an eight-count second amended complaint against, inter alia, Kansas City, Missouri Police Officer Tommy Nichols; the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners ("the Board"); Kona Macadamia, Inc. d/b/a Kona Grill ("Kona Grill"); George D. Rosenkoetter; and Chesley Brown International, Inc. d/b/a Plaza Security ("Plaza Security"),
"As this is an appeal from the grant of summary judgment, we review and recite the facts in the light most favorable to [Royster] as the non-moving party." Fisher v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 619 F.3d 811, 814 n. 3 (8th Cir.2010).
On February 28, 2006, Royster went to the Kona Grill between 3:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Upon his arrival, he handed a Kona Grill employee his American Express credit card to open a tab. While at the Kona Grill, Royster and a friend ordered 15 Gray Goose vodka drinks, totaling $156.00 with tax.
Around 8:00 p.m., Rosenkoetter, the Kona Grill manager on duty, asked Royster to leave the establishment because of Royster's unacceptable conduct. According to Rosenkoetter, he contacted Plaza Security stating that he "need[ed] someone escorted out" because Royster was "refusing to leave the restaurant." Before security arrived, Royster left the Kona Grill without reclaiming his American Express credit card and without signing a credit-card receipt. Plaza Security sent Officer Nichols, a Kansas City, Missouri police officer working off-duty for Plaza Security, in response to the call. According to Officer Nichols, Plaza Security "[d]ispatch advised of a disturbance, a party refusing to pay." Officer Nichols testified that, upon his arrival at the Kona Grill, he "was told [by Rosenkoetter] that the parties were being told to leave from an inappropriate comment and that they refused to pay their tab."
Shortly after leaving the Kona Grill, Royster returned to get his American Express credit card. Viewing the facts in the
Thereafter, Rosenkoetter went back into the Kona Grill and asked the server to close Royster's tab. To close the tab, the server swiped Royster's credit card through the credit-card machine. The credit-card receipt did not show an itemized receipt of the drinks purchased. The server's normal practice was to print the "itemized receipt along with [the] credit[-]card receipt," but she did not "remember... 100%" whether she had done so that evening. After the server closed out the tab and printed off the credit-card receipt, she handed the card, the receipt, and all other items back to Rosenkoetter. Rosenkoetter then exited the Kona Grill with "a fistful of what appeared to be receipts" and Royster's credit card. Royster then "reached across through the police office[r] toward [Rosenkoetter] and... grabbed [his] card back." Royster testified that after he obtained his card, Officer Nichols told Royster "to sign the receipts." In response, Royster told Officer Nichols that he "hadn't seen the receipts, that [he] do[es]n't just sign blindly something [he] ha[s]n't looked at." Royster informed Officer Nichols, "I'm not going to sign something that I haven't looked at."
According to Rosenkoetter's testimony, which Royster credits,
After Royster again informed Officer Nichols that he was "not signing anything [he] ha[s]n't seen," Officer Nichols replied, "Then you're under arrest." In summary,
When Officer Nichols began handcuffing Royster's hands behind his back, Royster informed Officer Nichols that he had "service-connected injuries from [his] Naval service from an ejection that [he] sustained." He told Officer Nichols that he had "a shoulder injury and a back injury." Royster further requested that Officer Nichols "not handcuff [Royster] behind [his] back" but instead to "please handcuff [Royster] in front." Officer Nichols handcuffed Royster behind his back despite Royster's request that he be handcuffed in front due to an old shoulder injury.
The Board establishes the policies and procedures for officers to follow in the operations of the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD). When Officer Nichols arrested Royster, he was dressed in a KCPD uniform. The handcuffs and the gun that Officer Nichols carried were "Police Department issue." Off-duty officers like Officer Nichols are bound by all KCPD policies. KCPD policy provides, in relevant part, that
The charges against Royster for theft of restaurant services were eventually dismissed, and Royster then brought the instant suit against, inter alia, Officer Nichols, the Board, Plaza Security, the Kona Grill, and Rosenkoetter. In his second amended complaint, Royster brought § 1983 claims against Officer Nichols, the Board, Plaza Security, the Kona Grill, and Rosenkoetter. In Count I, he alleged that Nichols and Rosenkoetter "knew or should have known that they had no probable cause to seize and arrest Royster, or to cause his arrest," resulting in an "unconstitutional application of excessive force and ... an unreasonable seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment."
In addition to the § 1983 claims, Royster also brought the following state-law claims against Officer Nichols, Plaza Security, the Kona Grill, and Rosenkoetter: (1) false arrest and unlawful imprisonment (Count V); (2) an alternative claim for negligence resulting in wrongful arrest and detention (Count VI); (3) malicious prosecution (Count VII); and (4) the tort of outrageous conduct (Count VIII).
All of the defendants moved for summary judgment on all claims, which the district court granted. See Royster, 2010 WL 5067605; Royster v. Nichols, No. 08-0141-CV-W-FJG, 2011 WL 2011479 (W.D.Mo. May 23, 2011) (unpublished).
On appeal, Royster argues that the district court erroneously granted summary judgment on all of his claims to Officer Nichols, the Board, Plaza Security, the Kona Grill, and Rosenkoetter. According to Royster, the district court improperly weighed the facts in determining that all of his claims failed.
"This court reviews a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo and may affirm the district court on any basis supported by the record." St. Martin v. City of St. Paul, 680 F.3d 1027, 1032 (8th Cir.2012).
According to Royster, Officer Nichols lacked probable cause to arrest him for a simple civil dispute between a customer and a proprietor over a bill for restaurant services. Royster contends that, prior to his arrest, Officer Nichols did not allow Royster to review the credit card charge and the check even after Royster advised him that he would not sign a receipt that he had not seen. He concludes that, under the totality of the circumstances, Officer Nichols lacked probable cause to believe that Royster had actually committed the crime of theft of restaurant services. Royster contends that Officer Nichols based his decision to arrest solely on Rosenkoetter's complaint.
"A warrantless arrest is consistent with the Fourth Amendment if it is
Generally, an officer is "entitled to rely on the veracity of information supplied by the victim of a crime." Id. at 817 (quotation and citation omitted). "In considering information given by a victim of a crime, an officer need not conduct a `mini-trial' before effectuating an arrest although he cannot avoid `minimal further investigation' if it would have exonerated the suspect." Borgman v. Kedley, 646 F.3d 518, 523 (8th Cir.2011) (quoting Kuehl v. Burtis, 173 F.3d 646, 650 (8th Cir.1999) (holding that no probable cause existed where officer only spoke with suspect for 20 seconds, ignored exculpatory evidence, and disregarded eyewitness account)). "When an officer is faced with conflicting information that cannot be immediately resolved, however, he may have arguable probable cause to arrest a suspect." Id. Although "[i]t is usually not possible for an officer to be certain about a suspect's state of mind at the time of a criminal act, ... he need not rely on an explanation given by the suspect." Id. at 524 (internal citations omitted). Thus, the officer may "rely on the implications of the information known to him when assessing whether a suspect possessed the state of mind required for the crime." Id. (quotation and citation omitted). Ultimately, "Fourth Amendment analysis ... turns on what a reasonable officer could have believed under the circumstances, not on the state of mind or subjective beliefs of the[ ] particular officer[ ]." McKenney v. Harrison, 635 F.3d 354, 359 (8th Cir.2011).
"Viewing the record and drawing all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to [Royster], while simultaneously viewing the facts from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene,
Second, Rosenkoetter identified Royster to Officer Nichols as the individual who had not paid his bill, stating, "That's the guy." See Fisher, 619 F.3d at 817 ("Christeson confidently identified Fisher to Sergeant Loney as the person at the front desk who had brought the fake money orders.").
Third, Officer Nichols, by Royster's own recitation of the facts, did speak with both parties regarding the dispute. Officer Nichols saw that Rosenkoetter was carrying — in Royster's own words — "receipts" out of the Kona Grill and discussed with Rosenkoetter whether he would prosecute and sign a General Ordinance Summons if Royster "refuses to pay the tab." Officer Nichols informed Royster of the complaint against him — that he did not pay his bill. When Officer Nichols told Royster "to sign the receipts," Royster told Officer Nichols, "I'm not going to sign something that I haven't looked at." In the Stipulation, all parties agree that Royster "did not sign the charge for the $156.00 bill for Kona Grill's restaurant services and product."
We conclude that Royster's refusal to "sign the charge for the $156.00 bill" — even if Royster correctly believed that he did not have to sign — gave Officer Nichols probable cause to arrest Royster for theft of restaurant services. Officer Nichols "was entitled to rely on what he was told by [Rosenkoetter]," i.e., that Royster had not paid his bill. Borgman, 646 F.3d at 523. Moreover, Royster confirmed to Officer Nichols that he was not going to sign the charge. As the district court noted, "[i]t is irrelevant for the probable cause analysis, that the bill was eventually paid by American Express." Royster, 2010 WL 5067605, at *10. The relevant inquiry is "whether, viewing the evidence in [Royster's] favor, [Officer Nichols] ... had probable cause at the time of the arrest; that is, whether the facts and circumstances would have led to a reasonable conclusion that a crime had been committed." Fisher, 619 F.3d at 817 (emphasis added). At the time of the arrest, a reasonable officer would have known that Kansas City, Missouri ordinance § 50-106 provides, in relevant part:
(Emphases added.)
Again, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to Royster, a reasonable officer would know that (1) § 50-106 makes it a crime to leave a restaurant with the intent not to pay, (2) Rosenkoetter identified Royster as the individual who had not paid his bill, and (3) Royster would not and did not, for whatever reason, sign the charge for the $156 bill. Under the totality of the circumstances, we conclude that Officer Nichols had probable cause to arrest Royster for theft of restaurant services.
Royster argues that Officer Nichols cuffed Royster's hands behind his back despite Royster's request that Officer
"All claims that law enforcement officers have used excessive force, whether deadly or not, in the course of an arrest, investigatory stop, or other seizure are analyzed under the Fourth Amendment's objective reasonableness standard." Nance v. Sammis, 586 F.3d 604, 609-10 (8th Cir.2009). "Not every push or shove violates the Fourth Amendment, but force is excessive when the officers' actions are not objectively reasonable in light of the facts and circumstances confronting them." Rohrbough v. Hall, 586 F.3d 582, 585 (8th Cir.2009) (quotations, alteration, and citation omitted). "The key question is whether the officers' actions are objectively reasonable in light of the facts and circumstances confronting them, without regard to their underlying intent or motivation." Nance, 586 F.3d at 610 (quotations and citation omitted). "Objective reasonableness depends on the facts and circumstances of the case, including 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 is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight." Rohrbough, 586 F.3d at 586 (quotations and citations omitted).
"A de minimis use of force is insufficient to support a claim, and it may well be that most plaintiffs showing only de minimis injury can show only a corresponding de minimis use of force." Chambers v. Pennycook, 641 F.3d 898, 906 (8th Cir.2011) (internal citation omitted). "The degree of injury is certainly relevant insofar as it tends to show the amount and type of force used." Id. However, the possibility exists for a plaintiff "to prove an excessive use of force that caused only a minor injury." Id.
"The degree of injury should not be dispositive, because the nature of the force applied cannot be correlated perfectly with the type of injury inflicted." Id. This is because some people are "thicker-skinned than others, and the same application of force will have different effects on different people." Id. Therefore, "[t]he rule ... focus[es] ... on whether the force applied is reasonable from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene at the time the force is used." Id. In Wilkins v. Gaddy, ___ U.S.___, 130 S.Ct. 1175, 1178, 175 L.Ed.2d 995 (2010), the Supreme Court "reinforce[d] two propositions that are relevant [to an excessive-force claim under the Fourth Amendment]: `The extent of the injury may ... provide some indication of the amount of force applied,' but `[i]njury and force ... are only imperfectly correlated.'" Id. at 906 n. 3 (quoting Wilkins, 130 S.Ct. at 1178) (third, fourth, and fifth alterations in original).
Here, KCPD policy provides that an officer should "[m]ake every attempt to place handcuffs behind the arrest[ee]'s back." "[H]andcuffing [of an arrestee's] hands behind his back [is] a routine police procedure." Dunn v. Denk, 79 F.3d 401, 403 (5th Cir.1996). "Standard police practice called for cuffing an arrestee's hands behind [his] back and [Officer Nichols's] decision not to deviate from this practice was a judgment call, pure and simple." Calvi v. Knox Cnty, 470 F.3d 422, 428 (1st Cir.2006). "Although ... handcuffing a suspect behind the back in the face of a severe and obvious medical injury [may] constitute[ ] excessive force, the evidence does not support the assertion that [Royster's] arm injury was obvious." Blosser v. Gilbert, 422 Fed.Appx. 453, 459 (6th
Therefore, based on our review of the record, "[t]he aggravation of [Royster's] old injury was not attributable to the excessive component of the force used. Rather the aggravation of [Royster's] old shoulder injury was claimed to have been caused by handcuffing his hands behind his back, a routine police procedure." Dunn, 79 F.3d at 403 (emphasis added). Accordingly, the district court correctly granted summary judgment to Officer Nichols on Royster's excessive-force claim.
Royster brought three state-law claims against Officer Nichols: (1) unlawful imprisonment, (2) negligence resulting in wrongful arrest, and (3) malicious prosecution. On appeal, Royster argues that "[b]ecause there is evidence that [Officer] Nichols'[s] arrest of Royster was without probable cause, all of the state[-]law claims are viable against [Officer Nichols]."
We hold that all of these claims fail as a matter of law because Officer Nichols had probable cause to arrest Royster. See Gibbs v. Blockbuster, Inc., 318 S.W.3d 157, 170 (Mo.Ct.App.2010) ("[N]o action for false imprisonment may be maintained for an arrest which is lawful, no matter at whose instigation nor for what motive the arrest was made. If the arrest of the plaintiff was lawful, an action for false arrest will not lie, and it can make no difference at whose instigation it was made or what the motive was. This must be so in reason, for there can be no trespass where the arrest is by warrant of law." (quotations and internal citations omitted) (emphases added)); Bramon v. U-Haul, Inc., 945 S.W.2d 676 (Mo.Ct.App. 1997) (explaining that because "[n]egligent causation of arrest claims are not intentional torts," the plaintiff must prove, inter alia, "negligent discharge [of the] duty [of care]" (quotation and citation omitted)); Sanders v. Daniel Int'l Corp., 682 S.W.2d 803, 807 (Mo.1984) (en banc) ("A person suing on a theory of malicious prosecution must plead and prove ... the want of probable cause for the prosecution....").
Royster argues that Plaza Security and the Board are vicariously liable for Officer Nichols's unlawful seizure and detention of his person and liable pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for failure to train and supervise.
Even assuming that Plaza Security is a state actor for § 1983 purposes, we hold that Royster's claims against Plaza Security and the Board fail as a matter of law. First, "respondeat superior is inapplicable to claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983." Bell v. Kan. City Police Dep't, 635 F.3d 346, 347 (8th Cir.2011) (per curiam). Second, we have already determined that Officer Nichols's did not violate Royster's constitutional rights; therefore, Royster's "failure to train and failure to supervise claims ... [can]not be sustained absent an underlying constitutional violation by the officer." Sitzes v. City of W. Memphis Ark., 606 F.3d 461, 470-71 (8th Cir.2010) (citing City of Los Angeles v. Heller, 475 U.S. 796, 799, 106 S.Ct. 1571, 89 L.Ed.2d 806 (1986) (per curiam); Monell v. Dep't of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 691, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978) ("Congress did not intend municipalities to be held liable unless action pursuant to official municipal policy of some nature caused a constitutional tort."); Sanders v. City of Minneapolis, Minn., 474 F.3d 523, 527 (8th Cir.2007) ("Without a constitutional
In Count I, Royster alleged that Officer Nichols and Rosenkoetter "knew or should have known that they had no probable cause to seize and arrest Royster, or to cause his arrest," resulting in an "unconstitutional application of excessive force and... an unreasonable seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment." In Count IV, Royster claimed that Plaza Security had failed to train and supervise its employees. Finally, in Counts V, VI, and VII, Royster brought state-law claims against the Kona Grill and Rosenkoetter. Royster argues that the district court erroneously granted summary judgment to the Kona Grill and Rosenkoetter on all his § 1983 claims. According to Royster, "[b]ecause there was a lack of probable cause for [his] arrest pursuant to [his] evidence, [the Kona Grill and Rosenkoetter] are subject to liability on all counts." He also argues that the district court erred in granting summary judgment to the Kona Grill and Rosenkoetter on his state-law claims.
We hold that all of Royster's claims against the Kona Grill and Rosenkoetter fail as a matter of law. First, assuming that Rosenkoetter and the Kona Grill acted under color of state law, we have already concluded that Officer Nichols did have probable cause to arrest Royster and that Officer Nichols's use of force was not excessive, meaning that no violation of Royster's constitutional rights occurred. See Part II.A.1. Second, assuming that the Kona Grill is a state actor for § 1983 purposes, Royster's failure-to-train and failure-to-supervise claims against it fail because they "[can]not be sustained absent an underlying constitutional violation by the officer." Sitzes, 606 F.3d at 470. Third, Royster's state-law claims against Rosenkoetter and the Kona Grill fail because Officer Nichols had probable cause to arrest Royster. See Part II.A.3.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
BEAM, Circuit Judge, dissenting.
The district court granted summary judgment to all defendants, finding that Tommy Nichols, a sometimes Kansas City, Missouri, police officer, had probable cause to arrest William Royster. The court majority erroneously affirms this conclusion. Accordingly, I dissent.
The court's determination of the material facts at issue in this case and its conclusion that Nichols was functioning as a sworn Kansas City police officer at all relevant times are both problematic.
I agree with the court that "`[a]s this is an appeal from the grant of summary judgment, we review and recite the facts in the light most favorable to [Royster] as the non-moving party.'" Ante at 684 (second alteration in original) (quoting Fisher v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 619 F.3d 811, 814 n. 3 (8th Cir.2010)). But, the court fails to honor this requirement as to Nichols'
Kona Grill (Kona) was a tenant of the County Club Plaza (Plaza). The Plaza provided security services for its tenants, including Kona, and provided such services through Chesley Brown International, Inc., d/b/a Plaza Security (Chesley Brown). Nichols' day job, so to speak, was as a member of the Kansas City Police Department. However, at all times relevant to this dispute he was an employee of Chesley Brown. Chesley Brown had a security station "right above" Kona which included a jail that was at times referred to as a holding cell. During the time of his interactions with Royster, Nichols was being paid, and perhaps even provided fringe benefits by Chesley Brown, and was directly supervised by Chesley Brown personnel, not by members of the Kansas City Police Department.
The Kansas City Police Department specifically authorized its officers such as Nichols to accept employment as "off-duty [security] officer[s]" and the Department specifically stated that it "[did] not provide workers' compensation or general liability coverage for off-duty employment. The legal authority [of officers working off-duty] is limited to the enforcement of federal law, state statutes and municipal ordinances." But, "[o]fficers cannot use police authority to enforce a private employer's policies and regulations."
With this for background, I turn to the facts, reviewing them as I must in the light most favorable to Royster, the non-moving party. I agree generally with a good bit of the court's factual recitation. I disagree, however, with several facts adopted by the court and include several material facts omitted by the court.
I agree that Royster went to Kona during the afternoon of February 28, 2006, and that he was asked to leave. The record indicates that this request was triggered when Royster's guest purportedly made an untoward comment to one of Kona's regular customers and Rosenkoetter, Kona's manager, asked the two of them to leave Kona. And, while Royster left without his credit card and without signing a "credit-card receipt," the evidence clearly indicates that he was not asked to sign a receipt, indeed, no such receipt was even generated by Kona until the later confrontation between Rosenkoetter, Nichols and Royster occurred upon Royster's return for his card. Thus, while Royster conceded that Nichols testified that he (Nichols) "was told [by Rosenkoetter] that the parties were being told to leave from an inappropriate comment and that they refused to pay their tab," ante at 684 (alteration in original), Royster did not concede that the statement was true, as stated in the court's footnote 3. Royster's evidence clearly shows that no demand for payment was made nor was a tab prepared and presented until Royster returned for his credit card and was accosted by Rosenkoetter in Nichols' presence.
Of more importance are other omitted facts and acts that occurred at Kona and in Nichols' presence. Royster's server at Kona testified that her (and by clear inference Kona's) normal practice was for a server to print an "itemized receipt along with [the] credit[-]card receipt" to be presented to the customer but she did not 100 percent remember if she had done so at the time of this untoward event. But, on this occasion, she testified that after closing the tab and printing off the credit-card receipt after Rosenkoetter's request, she handed the card, the receipt and all other items to Rosenkoetter. Thus, reviewing these facts in the "light most favorable to
Also, from the evidence viewed favorably to Royster, it does not appear that Nichols actually made the probable cause decision to arrest in this instance, it was Nichols' employer Chesley Brown's client Rosenkoetter who did so. Indeed, before Nichols agreed to seize Royster, Nichols had asked Rosenkoetter if he would "sign a [General Ordinance Summons]." Rosenkoetter said he would sign the complaint on behalf of Kona. Thus, under these circumstances, Nichols' act was, rather than police business, more in the nature of enforcement of a private employer's (Kona's) "policies and regulations," — an action prohibited by the Kansas City Police Department's published procedures.
Finally, as to whether Royster's detention was public or private business, after Nichols seized Royster he did not immediately turn him over to the custody of the police department. He handcuffed Royster, over his seemingly valid protests given the state of his health, the nature of the offense and the conflict of interest Nichols had in the situation, and took him upstairs to the Chesley Brown jail cell. At this location, Royster remained in handcuffs for some time, was refused toilet privileges and held for what appears to have been an unreasonable and an unpleasant period of time.
On the facts considered favorably to Royster, this case must be remanded for trial. I dissent.
But none of these cases cited a specific ordinance — such as in the present case — prohibiting theft of restaurant services. For example, in Allen, the officer acknowledged that he "knew absolutely [that he] did not have the right to take [the plaintiff] to jail for that particular charge." Allen, 73 F.3d at 236 (emphasis omitted). By contrast, § 50-106 gave Officer Nichols a legal basis for the arrest. And, although Allen cited Peterson in support of its conclusion "that a civil dispute cannot give rise to probable cause to arrest," id. at 237, we have explained that "Peterson does not stand for the blanket proposition that civil disputes always negate the elements of criminal intent." Anderson v. Cass Cnty., Mo., 367 F.3d 741, 745-46 (8th Cir.2004). "[A] probable cause determination is fundamentally a fact-specific inquiry." United States v. Khounsavanh, 113 F.3d 279, 285 (1st Cir. 1997). Under the facts of the present case, as explained supra, we find that Officer Nichols did have probable cause to arrest Royster for theft of restaurant services.