LOUISE W. FLANAGAN, District Judge.
This matter is before the court on the parties' cross motions for summary judgment, (DE 34, DE 56), as well as defendants' motion for sanctions, (DE 39), and plaintiff's motion to show cause, (DE 41). The matters have been fully briefed, and in this posture the issues raised are ripe for ruling. For the reasons that follow, the court grants defendants' motions and denies plaintiff's motions.
Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, initiated this action by filing complaint on March 21, 2018, against individual defendants Brian Nicholas High ("High"), Lewis L. Hatcher ("Hatcher"), Tracey Ward ("Ward"), and Rene Trevino ("Trevino"), all law enforcement officers, as well as North Carolina Western Surety ("surety"). Plaintiff alleges violations of his Fourth Amendment rights and negligent infliction of emotional distress. He brings vicarious claims and claims for supervisor liability, based on three events transpiring on two different days: 1) defendant High's traffic stop of plaintiff conducted on March 8, 2018; 2) defendant Trevino's alleged assault of plaintiff on March 16, 2018, following plaintiff being held in civil contempt in child support proceedings at Columbus County courthouse ("courthouse"); and 3) defendant Ward's alleged responsibility for plaintiff being retained at the Columbus County detention center ("detention center"), also on March 16, 2018, following plaintiff's purge of the civil contempt charge.
The parties have engaged in an ongoing and contentious discovery dispute regarding the March 16, 2018 security camera footage from both the courthouse and detention center, which is the subject of the plaintiff's instant motion to show cause filed October18, 2018, (DE 41), as well as plaintiff's previously filed September 10, 2018 motion to compel, which was denied October 25, 2018. Defendants maintain plaintiff has received the requested unedited footage in its entirety, stating the security camera footage disclosed
(DE 55 at 3-4).
On October 4, 2018, plaintiff filed instant motion for summary judgment. (DE 34). In support, plaintiff relies on previously-discussed footage as well as affidavits by plaintiff, Connie Robinson ("Robinson"), and Gerald Hemingway ("Hemingway"); plaintiff's medical records; and receipts signed by Magistrate Judge Gregory Greene ("Magistrate Judge Greene") evincing plaintiff's civil contempt purge.
On October 16, 2018, defendants filed the instant motion for sanctions, seeking sanctions for plaintiff's failure to appear at his duly-noticed deposition scheduled for Monday, October 1, 2018 in Whiteville, North Carolina. (DE 39). On November 16, 2018, defendants filed instant motion for summary judgment, (DE 56), also relying on previously-discussed footage as well as affidavits of all individual defendants, Magistrate Judge Greene, detention officers Mitra Jenkins and Bernetta Crawford, attorney Michael Stephens, and Clementine Thompson ("Thompson"); court orders regarding plaintiff's civil contempt; and plaintiff's medical records.
Except as otherwise noted, the undisputed facts may be summarized as follows.
On March 8, 2018, while driving in his marked Columbus County sheriff's patrol car near Whiteville, North Carolina, defendant High observed a vehicle, towing a trailer, pull out from a stop sign onto North Carolina Highway 701 without properly yielding to oncoming traffic, nearly causing a traffic accident. (High Affidavit (DE 52-2) ¶ 4). Defendant High initiated a traffic stop of the vehicle, which was operated by plaintiff.
Defendant High advised plaintiff that he stopped plaintiff because he pulled out in front of oncoming traffic and almost caused a collision. After confirming the validity of the vehicle registration as well as plaintiff's driver's license, defendant High returned to the vehicle and observed plaintiff recording the interaction on plaintiff's cell phone. (
The traffic stop lasted approximately six minutes.
On the morning of March 16, 2018, Judge William A. Fairley held plaintiff in civil contempt for plaintiff's failure to pay child support as ordered by the court, also ordering that plaintiff be taken into custody and detained in the detention center until such time as he paid the sum of $4,150.00 to purge his civil contempt. (DE 36-8, DE 28-4, Travino affidavit (DE 52-3) ¶¶ 5-6)). Plaintiff was taken into custody by the bailiffs, including defendant Travino.
Plaintiff was secured in a holding cell at the courthouse prior to being moved to the detention center. Prior to transporting plaintiff, security camera footage shows defendant Travino opened a locker in a adjoining room to the holding cells and retrieved a set of restraints. Defendant Travino then entered the area of the holding cells and opened the door to plaintiff's holding cell, entering the cell at approximately 10:41:15 a.m.
Plaintiff informed defendant Travino that he was physically unable to enter and ride in the transport van, which required plaintiff to walk up steps to enter the rear of the van, and asked for a personal transport by Sheriff Hatcher in his patrol car. (Travino affidavit (DE 52-3) ¶ 17;
Defendant Trevino drove the two prisoners to the detention center, located approximately a mile away. (Trevino affidavit (DE 52-3) ¶ 6). Upon arrival plaintiff exited the transport van of his own accord and walked inside the door to the detention center. (
Plaintiff alleges that while being transported on the floor of the transport van to the jail, plaintiff suffered an injury to his left ear. (DE 65 at 16).
Robinson, plaintiff's sister, appeared at the detention center on March 16, 2018, at 1:15 p.m. and delivered $4,150.00 to purge plaintiff's civil contempt. (
Plaintiff went to Magistrate Judge Greene's window, located in the detention center, and received the receipt. (
Plaintiff's demand was unusual. (Greene Affidavit (DE 52-5) ¶ 9 ("Mr. Norton's attitude and demands confused me. 1 did not understand why he did not want the receipt and other paperwork to indicate that he had paid the money necessary to purge his contempt . . . . When I asked him why he was not satisfied with the receipt, Mr. Norton advised me that the $4,150.00 that was paid was not his money and he did not want anyone to think that it was.")). While determining what to do about issuing a replacement receipt, Magistrate Judge Greene had plaintiff returned to the holding cell from 2:07 p.m. to 2:28 p.m., during which time Magistrate Judge Green spoke with a clerk from the courthouse for guidance. (
Defendant Ward arrived at the detention center at 2:26 p.m. (Ward Affidavit (DE 52-4) ¶ 6; detention center footage (DE 28-15) at 2:26:16);
After plaintiff was released from the holding cell at approximately 2:28 p.m., defendant Ward attempted to take plaintiff's picture for the detention center's database, which plaintiff attempted to prevent. (Ward Affidavit (DE 52-4) ¶¶ 7-8;
Around 2:56 p.m. plaintiff exited the detention center and left the premises. (DE 36 at 2; Robinson Affidavit (DE 27-2) at 2).
Summary judgment is appropriate where "the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). The party seeking summary judgment "bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of [the record] which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact."
Once the moving party has met its burden, the non-moving party must then "come forward with specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial."
"[A]t the summary judgment stage the [court's] function is not [itself] to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial."
Nevertheless, "permissible inferences must still be within the range of reasonable probability,. . . and it is the duty of the court to withdraw the case from the [factfinder] when the necessary inference is so tenuous that it rests merely upon speculation and conjecture."
Because a routine traffic stop is more like an investigative detention than a custodial arrest, the court evaluates a traffic stop under the test set forth in
Having personally witnessed the plaintiff commit a violation of the traffic code by failing to yield to oncoming traffic, thereby almost causing an accident, defendant High was authorized under the Constitution to initiate a traffic stop of the plaintiff.
Plaintiff argues that "[i]n this case without general information why the stop occurred, without any citations, without an accident or accident report, without any indication to 911 central on a transcript that plaintiff almost caused a wreck by pulling out in front of ongoing traffic, plaintiff denying that he committed any traffic violation, then there's no evidence before this court of any justifiable reason to stop Mr. Norton on March 8, 2018." (DE 65 at 14-15).
Plaintiff offers no authority, nor is the court aware of any, rendering a traffic stop invalid where an officer does not issue a citation, write an accident report, or specify a reason for initiating a traffic stop when reporting his location.
Finally, it is undisputed that the stop was "limited both in scope and duration,"
Therefore, plaintiff's motion for summary judgment is denied and defendants' motion for summary judgment is granted as to the March 8, 2018 traffic stop by defendant High.
In plaintiff's verified complaint, plaintiff alleges that when defendant Trevino came to plaintiff's holding cell on March 16, 2018, he commented "I'm not here to `baby sit' and snatched Plaintiff's right arm regardless [of plaintiff's physical impairments]
Security camera footage shows plaintiff's right arm was not secured, only his left arm, while he was moved to the transport van. (
Plaintiff now alleges in declaration that while being held in the holding cell, awaiting transport,"defendant Rene Trevino [came] back to Norton's holding cell alone and he assaulted this plaintiff by twisting his right arm causing a re-injury, knowingly after being told and warned by this plaintiff that he was disabled suffering from physical impairments of his right arm and knee," (DE 65 at 15), stating "Defendants' argue[ment] that Mr. Norton's right arm was not secured when he walked out of the cell is irrelevant and not persuasive when the assault occurred inside the cell and Norton's rejection and Trevino noticed that he re-injured Mr. Norton's arm, he then only cuffed left arm," (
Plaintiff has failed to create a triable issue of material fact regarding defendant Trevino's actions for multiple reasons. First, "a party cannot create a genuine issue of fact sufficient to survive summary judgment simply by contradicting his or her own previous sworn statement (by, say, filing a later affidavit that flatly contradicts that party's earlier sworn deposition) without explaining the contradiction or attempting to resolve the disparity."
Alternatively, the court finds plaintiff's allegations related to this incident are so belied by the record that no rational jury could believe his version of these events. "When opposing parties tell two different stories, one of which is blatantly contradicted by the record, so that no reasonable jury could believe it, a court should not adopt that version of the facts for purposes of ruling on a motion for summary judgment."
Plaintiff has also submitted affidavit evidence from Hemingway who states "Deputy Trevino used excessive force," and that the following events occurred: 1) defendant Trevino opened Hemingway's cell block and let him out, 2) defendant Trevino then opened plaintiff's cell, and 3) "Deputy Trevino used excessive force and snatched Norton's right arm to connect him in hand cuffs and then chain both on his legs as like I was saying he was not here to baby sit." (Hemingway affidavit (DE 31-1) at 2).
However, review of the security camera footage shows 1) defendant Trevino procuring restraints, 2) defendant Trevino opening and entering plaintiff's holding cell, 3) plaintiff and defendant Trevino exiting plaintiff's holding cell less than one minute later, and
Hemingway's version of events contradicts the security camera footage and seems to imply, as plaintiff originally alleged, that plaintiff's right and not left hand was handcuffed. The court does not credit Hemingway's version of events.
Plaintiff's claims regarding his transport to the detention center likewise fail. Without further explanation, plaintiff alleges that while being transported on the floor of the transport van to the jail, plaintiff suffered an injury to his left ear. (DE 65 at 16; DE 36 at 2 ("I respectfully advised defendants of my physical impairments, but they drove off the transport van leaving me on the floor that caused my head to bump the steel beams and puncher my left ear")).
Plaintiff does not explain how his ear could have been injured, particularly where plaintiff was sitting in the transport van and his hands were free. Plaintiff does not dispute that he was able to get into the transport van and was unrestrained during the transport. Neither plaintiff nor Hemingway allege the transport van was driven in an inappropriate way in the mile-long journey. As stated, security camera footage shows that upon arrival at the detention center, plaintiff exited the transport van of his own accord and walked inside. (
Therefore, defendants' motion for summary judgment is granted and plaintiff's motion for summary judgment is denied as to the March 16, 2018 incident regarding defendant Trevino.
Plaintiff alleges generally that on March 16, 2018, he was unlawfully delayed from being released from the detention center after his sister had paid the requisite amount to purge his civil contempt. (
Regarding defendant Ward, plaintiff states as follows:
(DE 65 at 9-10).
Defendant Ward's act of taking plaintiff's photograph took less than three minutes and occurred while plaintiff was still in custody, as Magistrate Judge Greene had yet to release plaintiff. (
The undisputed evidence shows defendant Ward did not violate plaintiff's constitutional rights. Therefore, defendants' motion for summary judgment is granted and plaintiff's motion for summary judgment is denied as to the March 16, 2018 detention and release.
To state a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress, a plaintiff must allege that 1) the defendant negligently engaged in conduct, 2) it was reasonably foreseeable that such conduct would cause the plaintiff severe emotional distress (often referred to as "mental anguish"), and 3) the conduct did in fact cause the plaintiff severe emotional distress.
Plaintiff has put forth no evidence that it was reasonably foreseeable that defendants' allegedly negligent conduct would cause plaintiff severe emotional distress.
Accordingly, defendants' motion for summary judgment is granted and plaintiff's motion for summary judgment is denied as to plaintiff's claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Plaintiff does not allege that defendant Hatcher was personally involved in any alleged violation of plaintiff's rights, and all claims against defendant Hatcher are based on concepts of vicarious liability or supervisor liability. However, because there is no triable issue of material fact that any other defendant violated plaintiff's rights, plaintiff's claims against defendant Hatcher likewise fail.
In sum, plaintiff's motion for summary judgment is denied, and defendants' motion for summary judgment is granted.
Plaintiff seeks a court order directing nonparty Thompson, "for a second time," to produce all security camera footage relating to events that occurred on March 16, 2018, in response to subpoena. (DE 41 at 1).
Defendants respond again that all footage has been produced and that, "[f]or reasons that remain unclear, Plaintiff has persisted in seeking security camera footage from areas of the Columbus County Detention Center on March 16, 2018 that he never went to and which otherwise does not depict him." (DE 55 at 4;
The facts plaintiff seeks to prove via the allegedly missing security camera footage are not in dispute, and plaintiff fails to inform the court what relevant footage is missing that depicts him on the day in question. Plaintiff has not presented evidence that Thompson knowingly failed to comply plaintiff's subpoenas or that plaintiff has been harmed or prejudiced in any way. Plaintiff's motion is denied.
Rule 30(g) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides as follows:
Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(g).
In support of defendants' motion for sanctions, defendants allege that defendants' counsel served first notice of deposition on the plaintiff on July 13, 2018, scheduling plaintiff's deposition for August 1, 2018. (DE 40-2). Plaintiff communicated to counsel that he was unavailable on that day, eventually informing counsel plaintiff could attend a deposition on either August 2 or August 3, 2018.
On July 30, 2018, defendants' counsel agreed to a August 3, 2018 deposition and served amended notice of deposition on plaintiff. (DE 40-3). That evening plaintiff informed defendants' counsel that he would not appear for the deposition, stating as follows:
(DE 40-12 at 3). Thereafter, in response to defendants' counsel seeking alternative days to August 2, 2018, plaintiff informed counsel again, "[w]hen I received your mail and review the footages of my request I will assure you adequate dates for scheduling depositions that I can be available." (DE 40-14 at 2).
Defendants' counsel agreed to postpone deposition again, and requested plaintiff provide dates of availability, but informed plaintiff that if no dates were forthcoming, defendants' counsel would choose a date unilaterally. Following additional and increasingly contentious communication between the parties, on August 29, 2018, defendants' counsel provided plaintiff eight specific dates in September and October to choose from for scheduling of plaintiff's deposition. (DE 40-19 at 1).
On the morning of September 10, 2018, plaintiff informed counsel in part as follows: "As far as deposition I've continuously advised you that the delays of discovery requests are the mere reasons why I have not committed to any deposition." (DE 40-20 at 2). That afternoon at 4:05 p.m., defendants' counsel served second amended notice of deposition on plaintiff with deposition scheduled to occur on October 1, 2018. (DE 40-4; DE 40-21 at 1).
Twelve minutes later, plaintiff informed counsel he was unable to be deposed on October 1, 2018 due to state court proceedings he was scheduled to attend. (DE 40-22 at 2). Plaintiff has submitted to this court the calendar requested he filed in state court at noon on September 10, 2018, requesting hearing on October 1, 2018 regarding a child support matter. (DE 45-2 at 2). Plaintiff provided to defendants' counsel no alternative dates for scheduling his deposition.
On September 11, 2018, defendants' counsel informed plaintiff that "[u]nless and until you provide me with alternative dates that are acceptable to me on which to conduct your deposition, I will continue forward with holding your deposition on October 1, 2018 as scheduled." (DE 40-23 at 2;
Defendants' counsel proceeded to attend the duly-noticed deposition, to which plaintiff did not. Legal assistant to defendants' counsel contacted plaintiff after defendants' counsel has been waiting an hour. Plaintiff informed her he was aware that his deposition had been scheduled for October 1, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. at the Columbus County administrative building, but that he had not consented to the deposition and that he had informed defendants' counsel he had court proceedings at the Columbus County courthouse in Whiteville. Plaintiff further stated "he had already appeared at his court proceeding at the Columbus County Courthouse earlier that morning, that it had been continued to another day, and that he had left the courthouse." (DE 40-5 at 4). Nevertheless, plaintiff "emphatically stated that he would not appear for his deposition." (
As defendants' counsel repeatedly informed plaintiff, plaintiff cannot refuse to attend a duly-noticed deposition because he believes, rightly or wrongly, defendants failed to adequately respond to his discovery requests. The court grants defendants' motion for sanctions in which defendants request the court, at a minimum, reimburse defendants for their attorney's fees, travel time, and court reporter service expenses incurred as a result of plaintiff's refusal to appear for his scheduled deposition on October 1, 2018.
For the foregoing reasons, the court DENIES plaintiff's motion for summary judgment (DE 34) and GRANTS defendants' motion for summary judgement (DE 56). Plaintiff's motion to show cause (DE 41) is DENIED. Defendants' motion for sanctions (DE 39) is GRANTED. The court ORDERS plaintiff to pay attorney's fees, costs, and expenses incurred by defendants as a result of plaintiff's refusal to appear for his scheduled deposition on October 1, 2018. Defendants are DIRECTED to file within seven days from the date of this order a declaration of costs and reasonable attorney's fees incurred. Plaintiff shall have 14 days to respond. Thereupon the court will enter such further order confirming the amount of costs and reasonable attorney's fees payable by plaintiff, as well as a date certain for payment of such costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
SO ORDERED.