Walter Franklin, II v. Lucas Peterson

United States Court of Appeals

For the Eighth Circuit

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No. 16-4429

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Walter Louis Franklin, II, Trustee for the Estate of Terrance Terrell Franklin

lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee

v.

Lucas Peterson, individually, and in his official capacity; Michael Meath,

individually, and in his official capacity; Janee Harteau, Chief of Police for the

Minneapolis Police Department, individually and in her official capacity; City of Minneapolis

lllllllllllllllllllll Defendants - Appellants

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Appeal from United States District Court

for the District of Minnesota - Minneapolis

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Submitted: October 19, 2017

Filed: December 26, 2017

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Before LOKEN, BEAM, and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges.

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BEAM, Circuit Judge.

After the shooting death of Walter Louis Franklin, II, at the hands of

Minneapolis police officers, Franklin's estate ("the estate") brought this action against

two officers, the City of Minneapolis and the Chief of Police claiming excessive

force, wrongful death, and negligence. The defendants moved for summary

judgment, which the district court1 denied on all but the negligence claim. The

officers appeal the denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity.2 We

dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

I. BACKGROUND

Herein we recite the facts as stated by the district court. This case is unique in

that the bulk of the facts set forth by the district court are those advanced by the

moving party because Franklin is deceased and was the only other individual at the

scene with the officers.

On May 10, 2013, police became involved with Franklin after being contacted

by a bystander who believed that Franklin was the person he had seen on security

footage from an apartment building that had been previously burglarized. Police

officers were dispatched to a parking lot where Franklin was located. Three officers

initially responded. After the officers arrived, Franklin fled the scene in a vehicle he

was driving and struck the door of one of the officers' squad cars as he did so.

1

The Honorable Donovan W. Frank, United States District Judge for the

District of Minnesota.

2

The Notice of Appeal states "All Defendants, in their official and individual

capacities" appeal the district court's order denying qualified immunity under 42

U.S.C. § 1983 on the excessive force claim. However, qualified immunity is a

personalized inquiry and courts are charged with evaluating the officials' conduct

individually. Wilson v. Northcutt, 441 F.3d 586, 591 (8th Cir. 2006) ("Liability for

damages for a federal constitutional tort is personal, so each defendant's conduct must

be independently assessed."). It is for this reason, we presume, that only Officers

Peterson and Meath are referenced in the briefing and counsel clarified at oral

argument that the appeal from the denial of qualified immunity necessarily only

involves the two officers. On remand the district court should properly address the

status of the City of Minneapolis and Chief Harteau in this action.

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After fleeing from the parking lot, Franklin broke into a home and hid in the

basement. Officers from the Minneapolis Police Department located Franklin,

including Officers Peterson, Meath, Durand, Muro and Sergeant Stender with his K-9,

Nash. According to the officers, K-9 Nash located Franklin behind a water heater in

a small closet under the basement stairs in the home. K-9 Nash bit Franklin's clothing

and tried to pull Franklin out from behind the water heater. Sergeant Stender claims

that he ordered Franklin to "show his hands" several times but Franklin remained in

his hiding spot and did not show his hands. The officers claimed that in an effort to

compel Franklin to respond and comply with the officers' orders, Sergeant Stender

approached Franklin and struck him in the head with a closed fist, and, when Franklin

did not respond, Sergeant Stender hit Franklin with his flashlight. When Franklin

continued to refuse to show his hands, Sergeant Stender moved into the closet and

attempted to pull Franklin out by putting Franklin into a headlock. Sergeant Stender

stated that Franklin resisted.

To assist, Officer Meath attempted to subdue Franklin by grabbing his

shoulders, pulling him backwards, and delivering two to three knee strikes to

Franklin's upper body. Officers Peterson and Durand stated that they heard Officer

Meath yell "are you grabbing for my gun?" Officer Meath claimed that Franklin then

forced his way out of the closet.

Once out of the closet, Officer Peterson stated that Franklin punched Officer

Peterson in the face and that Officer Peterson grabbed Franklin's hair, ripping off

some of Franklin's dreadlocks. Franklin then turned and tackled Officer Durand,

driving him into the laundry room and to the floor. The officers claimed that as

Franklin and Officer Durand fell, Franklin grabbed the pistol grip of Officer Durand's

MP5 sub-machine gun and pulled the trigger twice. Officers Meath and Muro were

each hit by bullets.

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Officer Durand stated that a struggle ensued with Franklin over the MP5,

during which the flashlight on the muzzle of the MP5 switched on and Officer

Durand yelled out "he's got a gun." Officer Peterson stated that he saw the struggle

over the firearm and that Franklin gained sufficient control of the firearm to point it

at Officer Peterson. Officer Peterson claimed that in response to this perceived threat,

he moved toward Franklin and Officer Durand, reached out in the darkness for

Franklin's head, aimed his handgun, and fired at Franklin five times. Officer Meath,

who had been shot by the MP5, claimed that he saw Franklin sitting on the ground,

with his arms extended, with Officer Peterson "basically kind of on top of" Franklin.

When he spotted a gap between Franklin and Officer Peterson, Officer Meath fired

his handgun. Franklin suffered gunshot wounds to the head and torso of his body and

was pronounced dead at the scene.

The estate presented evidence to the district court in support of its contention

that there is a genuine dispute about the events that took place in that basement that

day. In support of this argument, the estate relied in part on evidence from a video

filmed by Jimmy Gaines ("the Gaines video") as well as a report from a proposed

expert witness who reviewed the Gaines video and offered an analysis. According

to the estate, the Gaines video and the accompanying analysis contradict the time line

and sequence of events set forth by the officers. The estate highlighted a seventy-

second gap of time between when the first shots were fired and the time the officers

fired on Franklin, which the estate argued supported a conclusion that the sequence

of events was not as presented by the officers and there remained a question as to

whether Franklin posed a threat when he was shot and killed.

Too, the estate argued that the evidence gathered at the scene is inconsistent

with the officers' testimony, additionally creating an issue of material fact as to the

threat posed by Franklin when the events transpired. The estate pointed out that

neither Officer Muro nor Officer Meath observed the MP5 being discharged. The

estate additionally noted that the MP5 had no blood on it despite the officers'

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testimony that there was an ongoing struggle when Franklin was shot, and there was

ample amounts of blood on items in the laundry room and on Franklin himself. These

inconsistencies, according to the estate, call into doubt whether Franklin was engaged

in a struggle over the MP5 when he was shot and, more generally, whether he posed

a threat of serious physical harm to the officers.

In its analysis the district court held that despite the officers' contention that the

use of deadly force was reasonable under the circumstances they faced, the estate

raised a genuine dispute as to whether the officers' story was true. The court

specifically highlighted the evidence presented by the estate regarding the time gap

and the absence of blood on the MP5 as circumstantial evidence that Franklin was not

in possession of the MP5 when Officers Peterson and Meath used deadly force

against him. Reviewing jurisprudence regarding the use of deadly force and the

significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others that must

exist when an officer uses deadly force, the court held that "a factual dispute exists

over whether such a situation was present at the time when the officers used deadly

force against Franklin." In the end, although the district court acknowledged the

credible evidence submitted by the officers laying out the circumstances facing the

officers at the time deadly force was used against Franklin, the court held the officers

failed to demonstrate that no genuine dispute of material fact remained. "Indeed, [the

estate's] evidence raises fact questions regarding the sequence of events leading to the

use of deadly force against Franklin, as well as the existence and nature of any threat

posed by Franklin when the officers shot him." Accordingly, the district court denied

summary judgment on the excessive force and wrongful death claims. This

interlocutory appeal followed.

II. DISCUSSION

This is an appeal from the denial of qualified immunity as to Officers Peterson

and Meath, a doctrine that "shields a government official from liability unless his

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conduct violates 'clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a

reasonable person would have known.'" Burns v. Eaton, 752 F.3d 1136, 1139 (8th

Cir. 2014) (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818 (1982)). Qualified

immunity protects "all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate

the law." Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 341 (1986). Because it protects officials

from the burden of defending insubstantial claims, as well as from damage liability,

the Supreme Court has "stressed the importance of resolving immunity questions at

the earliest possible stage in litigation." Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 232

(2009) (quoting Hunter v. Bryant, 502 U.S. 224, 227 (1991) (per curiam).

We begin with jurisdiction, which is always our "first and fundamental

question." Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env't, 523 U.S. 83, 94 (1998) (quoting

Great S. Fire Proof Hotel Co. v. Jones, 177 U.S. 449, 453 (1900)). In an interlocutory

appeal from an order denying qualified immunity, we have authority to decide the

purely legal issue of whether the facts alleged by the plaintiff are a violation of clearly

established law. Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 528 n.9 (1985); Jackson v.

Gutzmer, 866 F.3d 969, 975 (8th Cir. 2017) ("The pretrial denial of qualified

immunity is an appealable final order to the extent it turns on an issue of law."). We

do not, however, have jurisdiction to review a district court's interlocutory summary

judgment order that "determines only a question of 'evidence sufficiency,' i.e., which

facts a party may, or may not, be able to prove at trial." Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S.

304, 313 (1995).

As to the excessive force claim, the Fourth Amendment requires us to ask, from

the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, "whether the officers' actions are

'objectively reasonable' in light of the facts and circumstances confronting them,

without regard to their underlying intent or motivation." Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S.

386, 397 (1989). Relevant here, "[t]he use of deadly force is reasonable where an

officer has probable cause to believe that a suspect poses a threat of serious physical

harm to the officer or others." Ellison v. Lesher, 796 F.3d 910, 916 (8th Cir. 2015)

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(quoting Loch v. City of Litchfield, 689 F.3d 961, 965 (8th Cir. 2012)). "But, where

a person 'poses no immediate threat to the officer and no threat to others,' deadly force

is not justified." Id. (quoting Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 11 (1985)).

On the claim that the officers unlawfully used deadly force against Franklin,

the officers argue that the district court accepted nearly all of the facts provided by

the officers as undisputed, including, importantly, that Franklin fought with the

officers, gained control of a sub-machine gun, shot two of them, and then struggled

with an officer over control of the firearm. According to the officers, "[n]one of this

was controverted below; all of it was assumed by the district court." In fact,

according to the officers, the district court accepted all of the facts presented and

focused on only two additional facts–the alleged time gap and the absence of blood

on the MP5–in its denial of qualified immunity. As to these facts, the officers argue

that they are either not material or are blatantly contradicted by the record. The

problem with this argument, however, is that the district court did not hold that the

facts relayed in its recitation were undisputed, and more importantly, we lack

jurisdiction to review the factual issues that abound in this appeal. See Johnson, 515

U.S. at 313-18.

The officers argue that Franklin posed a threat of serious physical harm to each

officer and that the district court's recitation of the undisputed facts supported a

conclusion that the officers' actions were constitutional. However, merely stating the

facts known to the court for purposes of drafting its opinion and conducting its

analysis does not mean the district court found those facts undisputed. There is no

such finding by the district court and, in fact, the court was careful to note throughout

its recitation that the facts relayed were as advanced by the officers. The district court

repeatedly stated that the facts relayed were "[a]ccording to Defendants," or as

"Sergeant Stender claim[ed]," or as "Officers Peterson and Durand state[d]," and the

like. Also, the district court similarly recited the estate's evidence, stating "Plaintiff

contends," and "Plaintiff further argues," etc.

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At no point did the district court deem particular facts undisputed, nor did it

conduct a legal analysis based upon assumed facts. What the district court did do is

plainly hold that the estate's evidence raised a genuine dispute as to whether the story

told by the officers is true. For example, the court held that there was at least

circumstantial evidence that Franklin was not in possession of the MP5 when Officers

Peterson and Meath used deadly force against him. This statement by the district

court, read in context, was not a determination that this precise moment was

determinative in the constitutional analysis, but rather that based on the evidence

presented by the estate, the court simply could not determine whether the evidence

presented supported a finding that the officers faced a threat of serious physical harm

when they used deadly force. This doubt informed by the evidence of the lapse in

time and the absence of blood, according to the district court, calls into dispute the

officers' version of the alleged struggle. Because the relevant legal inquiry is whether

the officers believed that Franklin posed a threat of serious physical harm, and there

was a question as to whether the version advanced by the officers was true, the

district court denied qualified immunity in this instance. As stated by the district

court, "[i]ndeed, [the estate's] evidence raises fact questions regarding the sequence

of events leading to the use of deadly force against Franklin, as well as the existence

and nature of any threat posed by Franklin when the officers shot him."

The instant case stands in contrast to appeals from denials of qualified

immunity at summary judgment where this court does conduct a qualified immunity

analysis based on facts the district court assumed, or necessarily assumed, viewed in

the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. For example, in Wallace v. City of

Alexander, Ark., 843 F.3d 763 (8th Cir. 2016), an officer shot a suspect in the back

at or near her police vehicle during an arrest and claimed the shooting was

unintentional. Id. at 766. The district court held that a material fact remained in

dispute as to whether the officer intended to shoot the suspect and denied summary

judgment as to the officer. Id. On appeal in Wallace, this court held it lacked

jurisdiction to review the factual issue regarding intent, but went on to conduct the

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qualified immunity analysis, reviewing the purely legal arguments presented in light

of the undisputed or assumed facts. Id. at 766-67.

The defending officer in Wallace additionally briefed and argued that even if

she intentionally shot the suspect, her conduct did not violate his Fourth Amendment

rights, a purely legal issue this court reviewed. Id. at 767; see also White v. Pauly,

137 S. Ct. 548, 550-52 (2017) (exercising jurisdiction in an appeal from the denial of

qualified immunity to decide the purely legal issue of whether an officer violated

clearly established law and reiterating that the legal inquiry must be particularized to

the facts of the case, accepting as true the plaintiffs' version of the facts advanced

below); Mullenix v. Luna, 136 S. Ct. 305, 308-11 (2015) (reviewing a denial of

qualified immunity, discussing the legal question of whether the violative nature of

particular conduct is clearly established, based upon the specific facts undisputed in

the record and viewed favorably to the nonmoving party); Jackson, 866 F.3d at 974,

976-77 (exercising jurisdiction in an interlocutory appeal from the denial of qualified

immunity, relying upon undisputed facts and facts viewed most favorably to the

plaintiff, to determine whether the plaintiff produced evidence from which a jury

could find the defendant's actions constituted excessive force in violation of the Cruel

and Unusual Punishment Clause); Ellison, 796 F.3d at 914-17 (exercising jurisdiction

in an interlocutory appeal from an order denying qualified immunity to decide the

purely legal issue whether the facts assumed by the district court entitled the officers

to qualified immunity in an excessive force claim in the shooting death of the victim,

and refusing to accept the contradictory facts offered by the officers because it would

require the court to examine a matter over which it lacked jurisdiction); Walton v.

Dawson, 752 F.3d 1109, 1116 (8th Cir. 2014) (exercising jurisdiction in an appeal

from the denial of qualified immunity at the summary judgment stage where the

officials argued that, accepting the district court's factual findings as true, the court

can decide the purely legal issue of a clearly established violation of federal law);

Kahle v. Leonard, 477 F.3d 544, 549-50 (8th Cir. 2007) (exercising jurisdiction in an

appeal from the denial of qualified immunity but careful to note that there was no

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jurisdiction to review issues related to whether an actor actually committed the act of

which he was accused).

Unlike Wallace and other cases where this court exercised jurisdiction, what

is at issue here are the facts themselves. The officers here acknowledge that the

material issue is whether Officers Peterson and Meath reasonably believed that

Franklin posed a threat of serious bodily harm or death. To answer that question the

officers argue that the primary facts relied upon by the district court to deny qualified

immunity are either immaterial or blatantly contradicted by the record. Both claims

involve wholly factual issues we are without jurisdiction to review. Ellison, 796 F.3d

at 916 (concluding that an appellate court cannot accept the contention offered by a

defending officer because her advanced theory was premised on a set of facts not

assumed by the district court). These officers do not argue that even if inferences are

made in the estate's favor the use of deadly force was reasonable in this circumstance,

but rather they argue the inferences raised by the estate from the evidence presented

are not plausible–a factual dispute.3 "The Supreme Court made clear [in Johnson

that] we must eschew fact-intensive '[W]e didn't do it!' defenses and confine appellate

review to 'neat abstract issues of law.'" Heartland Acad. Cmty. Church v. Waddle,

595 F.3d 798, 807 (8th Cir. 2010) (alteration in original) (quoting Johnson, 515 U.S.

at 316-17).

3

We are bound by the Supreme Court's holding in Johnson on this factual issue.

515 U.S. at 313. The officers reference Williams v. Holley, 764 F.3d 976 (8th Cir.

2014) for the proposition that not only do we have jurisdiction to conduct a review

on the merits of the claim, but physical evidence is lacking in this case, thus defeating

any claim of a factual dispute. Williams did not address the jurisdictional issue,

however, and we are not bound by its analysis to the extent it contradicts Johnson.

"Questions which merely lurk in the record, neither brought to the attention of the

court nor ruled upon, are not to be considered as having been so decided as to

constitute precedents." Webster v. Fall, 266 U.S. 507, 511 (1925).

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The district court did not make any legal determinations based upon facts

viewed in the light most favorable to the estate, it merely held that the factual dispute

at this stage prevents such an analysis. Whether each officer reasonably believed

Franklin posed a sufficient threat depends on what occurred–a determination the

district court held it could not make based on the evidence presented thus far. Ngo

v. Storlie, 495 F.3d 597, 601 (8th Cir. 2007) ("A denial of summary judgment based

on qualified immunity is immediately appealable [only] to the extent the appellant

seeks review of the purely legal determinations made by the district court." (quoting

Henderson v. Munn, 439 F.3d 497, 501 (8th Cir. 2006)). The district court's basic

conclusion that "it is not clear what happened or what the parties will prove" is not

appealable, as it is not a final order. Johnson, 515 U.S. at 313.

While we have jurisdiction to determine whether conduct the district court

deemed sufficiently supported for purposes of summary judgment constitutes a

violation of clearly established law, we lack jurisdiction to determine whether the

evidence could support a finding that particular conduct occurred at all. Behrens v.

Pelletier, 516 U.S. 299, 313 (1996); Johnson, 515 U.S. at 313-18. It is the latter

situation we find ourselves in today. There are no facts the district court necessarily

assumed that would allow us to conduct a legal analysis, or at least none advanced by

the officers.4 The factual arguments made by the officers on appeal regarding

materiality and sufficiency should be made to a jury and do not run to a legal issue

on appeal. Accordingly, under Johnson, qualified immunity does not prevent suit

here because the precise question for trial is the factual question, an issue which is

inseparable from, and necessarily informs, the legal one. Johnson, 515 U.S. at 314-

4

This holds true, also, for the appeal of the denial of summary judgment on the

state law wrongful death claim. The district court denied summary judgment on the

state law claim given the factual disputes. However, having determined we lack

jurisdiction on the excessive force claim, we decline to exercise jurisdiction over this

state law claim. See Kincade v. City of Blue Springs, Mo., 64 F.3d 389, 394 (th Cir.

1995).

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18. Just as in Johnson, the district court determined that the summary judgment

record raised a genuine issue of fact concerning whether the officers faced a threat of

bodily injury sufficient to support the use of deadly force. Thus, the court's

determination was not a final decision. Id. at 313.

III. CONCLUSION

We dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

LOKEN, Circuit Judge, dissenting.

I respectfully dissent. When reviewing an interlocutory appeal from the denial

of qualified immunity, we have jurisdiction to determine whether “a given set of facts

violates clearly established law.” Johnson v. Jones 515 U.S. 304, 319 (1995). In

conducting this review, “the court of appeals can simply take, as given, the facts that

the district court assumed when it denied summary judgment for that (purely legal)

reason.” Id.

In White v. Pauly, a recent case involving a police officer’s use of deadly force,

the Supreme Court in reversing the denial of qualified immunity observed:

Today, it is again necessary to reiterate the longstanding principle

that ‘clearly established law’ should not be defined ‘at a high level of

generality.’ As this Court explained decades ago, the clearly established

law must be ‘particularized’ to the facts of the case. . . . [The Court of

Appeals] failed to identify a case where an officer acting under similar

circumstances . . . was held to have violated the Fourth Amendment.

137 S. Ct. 548, 552 (2017). In Mullenix v. Luna, another deadly force case, the Court

reversed the denial of qualified immunity, explaining: “The relevant inquiry is

whether existing precedent placed the conclusion that [the officer] acted unreasonably

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in these circumstances ‘beyond debate.’ The general principle that deadly force

requires a sufficient threat hardly settles this matter.” 136 S. Ct. 305, 309 (2015).

In this case, it is uncontroverted that police officers cornered Walter Franklin

hiding in the basement of a home he broke into while fleeing the police. Franklin

refused to surrender, and a violent struggle ensued. Franklin grabbed an officer’s gun

and fired, wounding two officers. Officer Durand continued to struggle with Franklin

and yelled, “he’s got a gun.” Officers Peterson and Meath fired their handguns,

mortally wounding Franklin.

In denying qualified immunity, the district court stated the general principle

that it is clearly established a police officer may not use deadly force unless the

suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or

others. The court then reasoned:

While it is certainly true that Officers Peterson and Meath were faced

with a situation that posed a significant threat of death or serious

physical injury to them or others, a factual dispute exists over whether

such a situation was present at the time when the officers used deadly

force against Franklin.

The court’s basis for that factual dispute? The “Gaines video,” filmed from across

the street; a proposed expert’s opinion that the video established a twenty- to seventy-

second gap between the first shots and the shots that killed Franklin; and the fact that

no blood was found on Officer Durand’s MP5 when officers testified that Durand and

Franklin were struggling for the gun when they shot Franklin.

In my view, accepting as true the alleged seventy-second gap between the shots

that wounded two officers and the shots that killed Franklin, and the lack of blood on

Durand’s MP5, there is no existing precedent establishing “beyond debate” that

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Officers Peterson and Meath acted unreasonably in using deadly force. Indeed,

numerous Eighth Circuit cases have held that officers acted in an objectively

reasonable manner when they employed deadly force in similar situations. For

example, in Aipperspach v. McInerney, 766 F.3d 803, 807 (8th Cir. 2014), we upheld

the grant of qualified immunity for the use of deadly force, explaining:

The responding officers were confronted with a suspect who held what

appeared to be a handgun, refused repeated commands to drop the gun,

pointed it once at [an officer], and then waved it in the direction of

officers deployed along the ridge line in an action they perceived as

menacing.

In Aipperspach, the gun turned out to be a toy gun, and a video filmed from an

overhead news helicopter showed the suspect making movements that might have

been an attempt to surrender or an indication that he had lost his balance, rather than

threats to shoot at the officers. Id. at 805-06. But the video did not clearly contradict

the officers’ version of the incident and therefore “shed no material light” on whether

the officers who used deadly force reasonably feared for their lives or the lives of

fellow officers. Id. at 808. Here, of course, the officers were not dealing with a

suspect who was threatening serious injury. Two officers had already been shot.

On this record, I conclude the district court erred in failing to rely on Supreme

Court and Eighth Circuit precedents demonstrating that the alleged unreasonable use

of deadly force was not beyond debate. Therefore, I would reverse the denial of

qualified immunity to Officers Peterson and Meath.

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