Argued: July 31, 2019
Appeal
from the United States District Court for the Western
District of Michigan at Grand Rapids. No. 1:17-cv-00125-Janet
T. Neff, District Judge.
ARGUED:
G. Gus
Morris, MCGRAW MORRIS P.C., Southfield, Michigan, for
Appellants.
Shawn
C. Cabot, CHRISTOPHER TRAINOR & ASSOCIATES, White Lake,
Michigan, for Appellee.
ON
BRIEF:
G. Gus
Morris, MCGRAW MORRIS P.C., Southfield, Michigan, for
Appellants.
Amy J.
DeRouin, CHRISTOPHER TRAINOR & ASSOCIATES, White Lake,
Michigan, for Appellee.
Before: MOORE, COOK, and THAPAR, Circuit Judges.
OPINION
PER
CURIAM
There
are two sides to every story. Here, the two sides read like
they come from different books. What really happened on the
night Officers Daniel Babinec and Robert Atkinson seized
Leticia Rudolph in her home for a psychiatric evaluation
depends on whom you ask. As Rudolph tells it, the officers
violated her rights by seizing and injuring her. As the
officers tell it, they did what any reasonable officer would
have done. Because this is a limited appeal from summary
judgment, we must accept Rudolph's version and thus
affirm the district court's denial of summary judgment on
three of Rudolph's four claims.
I.
BACKGROUND
Late
one night, Leticia Rudolph's ex-husband, Kyle Rudolph,
decided to pay her a visit. Kyle[1] went to check on her after
their son had texted him: "[S]he has the .22 out[, ]
will you go over there[?]" R. 53-3 (Incident Rep.) (Pg.
ID 182). Rudolph, a single mother, slept with her .22 gun out
every night to feel safe. When Kyle arrived at Rudolph's
home, the two spoke for close to an hour about their
daughters and their relationship. Kyle decided to take
Rudolph's gun with him as he left, which Rudolph let him
do. After Kyle left, Rudolph went to sleep. But the night did
not end there.
Later,
around 3:00 A.M., Officer James Hodges stopped Kyle for
speeding. Kyle admitted he was carrying a gun. He explained
that he took it from his ex-wife earlier that night because
he was worried about her. And Kyle showed Officer Hodges the
text message from his son saying Rudolph had her gun out, as
well as a text message from Rudolph saying "good
bye." R. 53-3 (Incident Rep.) (Pg. ID 182). Meanwhile,
Officer Daniel Babinec arrived at the traffic stop to assist
and secure the gun. Ultimately, the officers let Kyle go with
a warning, but they felt obligated to do a wellness check on
Rudolph.
Officer
Babinec, accompanied by Officer Robert Atkinson, went to
Rudolph's home and banged on her doors and windows. She
was asleep, so she did not answer. After Officers Babinec and
Atkinson informed Officer Hodges that they could not get a
response, Officer Hodges followed Kyle into his driveway and
told him to call Rudolph. Rudolph answered and stated on
speakerphone that she was sleeping, and Officer Hodges told
her that his officers were at the door. Rudolph then got up
and opened the door. The officers entered without her
permission and asked her whether she felt suicidal. Rudolph
replied that she was not and felt fine. Rudolph generally
cooperated with the officers, but the officers, without much
further inquiry, gave her the option of going voluntarily to
the hospital or being taken into custody involuntary for a
mental-health check.
Then,
according to Rudolph, things took a turn. Rudolph says that
Officer Babinec grabbed her by the arm without warning,
slammed her body and face into the wall, and handcuffed her.
She told the officers that the handcuffs were "really
tight, " and that the officers were hurting her. R. 54-2
(Leticia Rudolph Dep.) (Pg. ID 570). They responded that she
was suicidal. The officers then "manhandled" her
out of the house, without giving her a chance to put shoes
on, and dragged her across her forty-foot driveway.
Id. (Pg. ID 570–72). Rudolph could not keep up
with the officers and asked them to slow down. They did not.
Rudolph stumbled and hurt her right ankle-so badly that she
would later need two surgeries to treat that injury. She
complained repeatedly to Officers Babinec and Atkinson that
the handcuffs were too tight, but they did not respond.
Once in
the car, Officers Babinec and Atkinson drove Rudolph to the
hospital about ten minutes away. The hospital measured her
blood alcohol level at .153. The doctor had to wait a few
hours for Rudolph's blood alcohol level to go down so he
could perform a psychiatric evaluation. When it did go down,
the doctor performed the psychiatric evaluation and
determined that "[Rudolph] is at extremely low risk of
self harm as she does not appear to want to harm herself, has
not tried to here and is sober and denies any sort of
homicidal or suicidal thought or desire." R. 54-7 (ER
Record) (Pg. ID 718); see also id. (noting that
Rudolph "appears completely sober frankly.").
Rudolph was released. She then sued Officers Babinec and
Atkinson and Fruitport Township, alleging various
constitutional violations.
II.
QUALIFIED IMMUNITY
This
case comes to us after the district court denied Officers
Babinec and Atkinson's motion for summary judgment. In
this limited appeal, we consider only whether the officers
are entitled to qualified immunity. Mitchell v.
Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 530 (1985). Qualified immunity
shields government officials from individual liability if
they did not violate a clearly established right "of
which a reasonable person" in the same situation would
have known. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818
(1982). At this stage, we decide questions of law, not
questions of fact. The parties continue to disagree over what
really happened. But "we must ignore the
defendant[s'] attempts to dispute the facts and
nonetheless resolve the legal issue[s] . . . ."
Bunkley v. City of Detroit, 902 F.3d 552, 560 (6th
Cir. 2018) (internal quotation marks omitted). In doing so,
we accept Rudolph's "version of the facts" and
draw all inferences in her favor. Scott v. Harris,
550 U.S. 372, 378 (2007).
A.
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