Sammy Ussery v. Mansfield

Filing

PUBLISHED AUTHORED OPINION filed. Originating case number: 5:11-ct-03124-BO. [999585678]. [14-7096]

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PUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 14-7096

SAMMY USSERY,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
SGT. MANSFIELD; JAMES DUNLOW; TIMOTHY RUFFIN,
Defendants - Appellants,
and
DUSTIN WILKINS; SHELTON
GILLIAM; SHERI WILLIAMS,

HARDISON;

STACY

HOGGARD;

LILLIAN

Defendants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Raleigh.
Terrence W. Boyle,
District Judge. (5:11-ct-03124-BO)

Argued:

April 8, 2015

Before MOTZ and
Circuit Judge.

GREGORY,

Decided:

Circuit

Judges,

and

May 19, 2015

DAVIS,

Senior

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Motz wrote the opinion, in
which Judge Gregory and Senior Judge Davis joined.

ARGUED: Kimberly D. Grande, NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellants.
David
Alexander Strauss, NORTH CAROLINA PRISONER LEGAL SERVICES, INC.,

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Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.
ON BRIEF: Roy Cooper,
North Carolina Attorney General, NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellants.

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DIANA GRIBBON MOTZ, Circuit Judge:
Sammy
§ 1983,

Ussery

brings

maintaining

that

this
a

action
team

pursuant

of

to

42

correctional

U.S.C.

officers

employed excessive force when they forcibly extracted him from
his prison cell.

The district court denied the officers’ motion

for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity.

The

officers appeal and, for the reasons that follow, we affirm.

I.
The cell extraction at the center of this case occurred on
July 9, 2008.

At that time, Ussery was incarcerated at Bertie

Correctional Institution in Windsor, North Carolina, where the
appellants -- Sgt. David Mansfield and Officers James Dunlow and
Timothy Ruffin -- were employed.
correctional
removed

officers,

Ussery

from

The parties agree that the

supervised
his

cell,

by
but

involved in the cell extraction.
light

most

favorable

to

Sgt.

Mansfield,

they

dispute

forcibly

many

facts

We consider the facts in the

Ussery,

the

non-movant.

See

PBM

Products, LLC v. Mead Johnson & Co., 639 F.3d 111, 119 (4th Cir.
2011).
Ussery

contends

that

he

and

Sgt.

Mansfield

had

“an

antagonistic relationship,” in part because of racial tension.
He maintains that correctional officers had searched or “tossed”
his cell numerous times in the days immediately preceding the
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extraction, but never found any weapons or other contraband.

On

the morning of July 9, Sgt. Mansfield approached Ussery’s cell
and ordered him to exit.

Ussery, fearing that his cell would be

ransacked, refused to do so.

In response, Sgt. Mansfield shot a

burst of pepper spray into Ussery’s cell.

Ussery still would

not leave the cell.
Sgt. Mansfield then assembled an extraction team of five
correctional officers, including Officers Dunlow and Ruffin.
sixth

officer

policy.

videotaped

the

extraction,

pursuant

to

A

prison

Sgt. Mansfield told the extraction team that Ussery had

a weapon and had threatened to harm anyone who entered his cell.
Ussery maintains

he

made

no

such

threat,

and

apparently,

no

weapon was ever found.
Sgt.
extraction

Mansfield
team

ordered

entered

Ussery’s

and

cell

restrained

unlocked,

Ussery

on

and

the

the

floor.

According to Ussery, members of the extraction team then beat
him repeatedly in the head and face with batons, punches, and
kicks; he maintains that Sgt. Mansfield “kicked and stomped” on
him.

Eventually

the

extraction

team

cuffed

Ussery’s

hands

behind his back, shackled his feet together, and carried him out
of

his

position

cell

–-

Ussery

holding

him

characterizes

by

the

as

cuffs

and

“hogtied.”

shackles
At

least

in

a

one

witness reported seeing blood on the floor, marking the path
from Ussery’s cell to the holding cage, to which the officers
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took

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him.

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In

the

holding

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cage,

Ussery

was

belligerent

and

initially resisted efforts to clean him up.
The video of this incident depicts events consistent with
Ussery’s

account

of

the

incident

in

some

respects.

As

the

district court noted, the viewer of the video can see that there
is “a disturbance” in Ussery’s cell during the extraction; that
“someone begins to punch Ussery, but it is unclear which guard
is doing so”; that “[a]t one point, the movement of Mansfield’s
body suggests that Mansfield may be kicking Ussery”; that Ussery
is “cuffed or shackled” and “carried with his body facing toward
the ground . . . by the shackles”; that he appears “bloody and
[has] facial

injuries”

after

the

extraction;

“verbally aggressive in the holding [cage].”

and

that

he

is

But as the court

also noted, a viewer cannot discern additional details about the
extraction because Sgt. Mansfield stood in front of the camera,
“obstructi[ng]”

the

view

of

the

cell,

during

most

of

the

extraction.
Later in the day of the extraction, officers transported
Ussery to Bertie County Memorial Hospital for emergency medical
treatment.

There, doctors prescribed Ussery morphine for his

pain and used antibiotic ointment and wound adhesives to treat
his

contusions.

Ussery

maintains

that

“[a]s

a

direct

and

proximate result” of the officers’ beating, he “suffered severe
lacerations above his right eye and behind his left ear . . .
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[and] extensive bruising of his head, neck, face, chest, and
hands.”

He further maintains that “[m]edical records indicate

that as a result of his injuries, [he] suffered increased bilateral hearing loss, neck pain, loss of vision in his right
eye, chronic swelling and loss of feeling in his hands and knee,
and recurring migraines,” causing him “physical and emotional
pain and suffering, and disability.”
About five months after the extraction, the North Carolina
Department of Corrections requested that the State Bureau of
Investigation

conduct

an

inquiry

into

the

possible

“inappropriate use of force by correctional staff during [this]
cell extraction.”

The investigators were ultimately not able to

reach a definitive determination as to “whether excessive force
was

used,”

officers

but

on

noted

the

that

videotape

the

behavior

“appears

of

too

situation and would be excessive force.”

the

correctional

aggressive

for

the

The district attorney

involved in the state’s investigation of this incident wrote
that Sgt. Mansfield’s apparent blocking of the cell door during
the

video

was

“disturbing”

and

investigating this matter fully.”
of

the

position

of

the

camera

“precluded

[the

state]

from

She concluded that “[b]ecause
operator,

this

has

become

a

situation where it is the inmate’s version versus the officers’
version of events.”

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Acting pro se, Ussery filed this action, advancing Eighth
Amendment excessive force and failure-to-protect claims.
complaint
§ 1915.

survived

a

frivolity

review

pursuant

to

28

The
U.S.C.

Thereafter, the North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services

undertook representation of Ussery in this matter and filed an
amended complaint.
In

response

to

Ussery’s

amended

complaint,

the

officers

admit that they forcibly extracted him from his cell when pepper
spray proved insufficient to compel him to exit; that he was
“escorted” out of his cell by the extraction team; and that he
received

medical

treatment

following

the

extraction.

The

officers, however, deny kicking or punching Ussery during the
extraction.

They contend that he suffered nothing more than de

minimis injuries.
affidavit

of

a

To support that contention, they offer the
doctor

Division of Prisons.

long

employed

by

the

North

Carolina

He opined, based on his examination of the

prison’s records, (not an examination of Ussery himself), that
Ussery “incurred minor injuries including abrasions, contusions,
and lacerations,” which “healed completely without any lasting
ill effects.”

On the basis of this affidavit, the officers

moved for summary judgment, asserting entitlement to qualified
immunity.

Ussery opposed the motion –- relying on his account

of his injuries, statements from some officers and inmates, his

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medical records, the video, and the report of the state Bureau
of Investigation.
The district court granted the officers’ motion as to the
failure-to-protect

claim,

but

denied

the

motion

as

to

the

excessive force claim against Sgt. Mansfield and Officers Dunlow
and Ruffin. 1

The officers timely noted this appeal.

II.
The

Supreme

Court

has

explained

that

“the

qualified-

immunity defense shields government agents from liability for
civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly
established

statutory

or

constitutional

reasonable person would have known.”

rights

of

which

a

Behrens v. Pelletier, 516

U.S. 299, 305 (1996) (internal quotation marks and alterations
omitted).

As the parties agree, the law clearly established at

the time of the extraction governs the entitlement to qualified
immunity here.
F.3d

1259

(4th

Further, they agree that Norman v. Taylor, 25
Cir.

1994)

(en

banc),

provides

the

legal

framework for determination of that question.

1

Ussery’s complaint also names as defendants several other
officers but he did not perfect service on them.
The district
court therefore dismissed the complaint as to them.
In
addition, the complaint alleges a state law negligence claim not
addressed by the parties in the summary judgment papers or
resolved by the district court.
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In

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Norman,

this

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court

held

that

“absent

the

most

extraordinary circumstances, a plaintiff cannot prevail on an
Eighth

Amendment

minimis.”

excessive

Id. at 1263.

force

claim

if

his

injury

is

The Supreme Court expressly abrogated

Norman in Wilkins v. Gaddy, 559 U.S. 34, 38-39 (2010).
Court held

in

beaten

guards

by

Wilkins
does

de

that

“[a]n

not

lose

inmate
his

who

is

ability

The

gratuitously

to

pursue

an

excessive force claim merely because he has the good fortune to
escape

without

serious

injury.”

Id.

at

38.

We

have

subsequently concluded, however, that where the alleged use of
force occurred prior to Wilkins, a defendant’s entitlement to
qualified immunity turns on whether that force “was objectively
reasonable in view of the clearly established law at the time of
the alleged event” -- i.e., the law as set forth in Norman.

See

Hill v. Crum, 727 F.3d 312, 321, 322 (4th Cir. 2013).
To prevail, then, an inmate like Ussery, seeking relief for
excessive force deployed before the issuance of Wilkins in 2010,
must establish either that he sustained more than de minimis
injuries or that the defendants’ use of force was “of a sort
repugnant

to

the

conscience

of

mankind

outside the de minimis force exception.”

and

thus

expressly

Norman, 25 F.3d at

1263 n.4 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
this standard in mind, we turn to the case at hand.

9

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III.
Before
claim,

reaching

we

must

the

first

merits
address

of

Ussery’s

our

excessive

jurisdiction

force

over

this

interlocutory appeal.
In

Mitchell

v.

Forsyth,

472

U.S.

511,

530

(1985),

the

Supreme Court held that “a district court’s denial of a claim of
qualified immunity, to the extent that it turns on an issue of
law, is an appealable ‘final decision’ within the meaning of
28 U.S.C.

§

1291

notwithstanding

the

absence

of

a

final

judgment.”
The Court clarified the scope of interlocutory review of a
denial of qualified immunity in Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304
(1995).

There, a unanimous Court held that when a district

court denies summary judgment to a defendant seeking qualified
immunity “only” on the basis of “‘evidence sufficiency,’ i.e.,
which facts a party may, or may not, be able to prove at trial,”
the

order

appeal.

does

not

Id. at 313.

provide

the

basis

for

an

interlocutory

See also Iko v. Shreve, 535 F.3d 225, 234

(4th Cir. 2008) (separating “purely legal questions relating to
qualified

immunity

that

can

and

should

be

resolved

at

this

[summary judgment] stage in the litigation” from “the district
court’s assessment of whether genuine issues of material fact
make summary judgment inappropriate,” which is not an appealable
final order).
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resolving

the

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officers’

contention

that

qualified

immunity entitles them to summary judgment on Ussery’s excessive
force claim, the district court first determined that “[t]aking
the facts in the light most favorable to plaintiff, there was
some injury to plaintiff.

The degree of injury suffered is at

most unclear within the record before the court.”

The court

continued that, “regardless of the extent of the injury, on the
record before the court . . . there remains a question of fact
as to whether there are extraordinary circumstances so repugnant
to the conscience of mankind that even in spite of de minimis
injuries plaintiff could prevail on his excessive force claim.”
(internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
court

concluded

that

“[b]ased

on

the

record

The district
before

[it],

defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity.”
Johnson prohibits us from reviewing on interlocutory appeal
the

district

court’s

conclusion

that

the

record

does

definitively indicate the extent of Ussery’s injuries.

not

Thus we

cannot and do not review the district court’s assessment of the
evidence.
court

However, in denying summary judgment, the district

necessarily

standard.

held

that

Ussery

could

satisfy

the

Norman

To be sure, the court did not expressly state that

Ussery could establish a violation of clearly established law
under Norman.

But to deny the officers’ motion for summary

judgment,

court

the

had

to

reach
11

that

conclusion.

We

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jurisdiction

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undoubtedly

have

to

review

that

purely

legal

conclusion.

See Smith v. Ray, 781 F.3d 95, 100 (4th Cir. 2015)

(“[O]n appeal from the denial of summary judgment on the basis
of qualified immunity, we merely decide whether on the facts
assumed by the district court for summary judgment purposes, the
defendant was entitled to qualified immunity.”). 2

Indeed, while

Ussery contends in his brief that we lacked any jurisdiction
over this appeal, at oral argument, he conceded that we do have
jurisdiction to resolve this limited question.
Our jurisdiction in cases such as this is circumscribed but
critical.

For the Supreme Court has made plain that qualified

immunity “is an immunity from suit rather than a mere defense to
liability” and “is effectively lost if a case is erroneously

2

We note that an order denying summary judgment on the
basis of qualified immunity would be entirely unreviewable if
the defendant officers conceded that Ussery’s version of the
facts would establish that the officers violated clearly
established law. For example, in Culosi v. Bullock, the parties
agreed that the qualified immunity inquiry turned on a factual
question: was the shooting death of the plaintiff the result of
an intentional act by a police officer, or an accidental
discharge of the officer’s gun?
596 F.3d 195, 200 (4th Cir.
2010).
The defendants did not argue that even if the shooting
was intentional, they would nonetheless be entitled to qualified
immunity -- so no purely legal dispute remained between the
parties.
Rather, “the version of facts ultimately accepted by
the
fact
finder
w[ould]
dictate
the
outcome
of
the
constitutional inquiry.”
Id. at 200 n.6 (emphasis in original
omitted). Accordingly, we lacked jurisdiction over that appeal.
By contrast, the officers in this case challenge both legal and
factual conclusions of the district court, and our interlocutory
jurisdiction permits review of the legal conclusions.
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permitted to go to trial.”

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Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 526 (emphasis

in original).

IV.
We

thus

turn

jurisdiction:

to

the

whether

sole

the

question

district

over

court

which

properly

we

have

concluded

that the officers were not entitled to summary judgment under
Norman.
The officers contend that Ussery suffered only de minimis
injuries and so cannot satisfy the requirements for an excessive
force claim under Norman.

Blue Br. 8, 16-21.

We disagree.

During the decade when Norman was good law, we never articulated
a precise definition of what constitutes a de minimis injury.
Nevertheless, our opinions from that period clearly illustrate
that

whether

a

plaintiff

has

satisfied

the

Norman

standard

caused

“severe

depends on the particular facts of his case.
Ussery

maintains

lacerations,”
hearing

loss,”

swelling

and

“physical

and

that

“extensive
“loss
loss

of

of

emotional

the

officers

bruising,”
vision

in

his

“increased
right

feeling,”

“recurring

pain

suffering”

and

bi-lateral

eye,”

“chronic

migraines,”
--

all

resulted in “last[ing] physical and emotional damage.”

of

and
which

Many of

these injuries could have an enduring impact on health and wellbeing.

These are the sort of injuries that may affect mobility,
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capabilities,

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emotional

stability,

functions for an extended period of time. 3

and

other

daily

And while we have

held that “temporary swelling and irritation” constitute only de
minimis injury under Norman, see Taylor v. McDuffie, 155 F.3d
479, 484 (4th Cir. 1998), overruled in part by Wilkins, 559 U.S.
34 (2010), we have also recognized that to satisfy Norman an
inmate

“need

deprivation’

not
or

show

that

‘serious’

or

.

.

.

force

‘significant’

caused

an

‘extreme

pain

or

injury.”

Williams v. Benjamin, 77 F.3d 756, 761 (4th Cir. 1996) (quoting
Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 9 (1992)).
Moreover,

on

numerous

occasions,

applying

the

Norman

standard, we have concluded that injuries comparable to –- and
arguably less severe than -- those Ussery maintains he suffered
were not de minimis.

See, e.g., Orem v. Rephann, 523 F.3d 442,

448 (4th Cir. 2008) (holding that just two uses of a taser –even if only “for a few seconds” at a time –- caused more than
de

minimis

injury

when

the

plaintiff

3

“experience[d]

electric

Arguing to the contrary, the officers attempt to ignore
Ussery’s detailed account of his injuries, the medical records
and witness statements he offered, and the video showing him
during and after the extraction.
The officers rely instead on
the affidavit of a longtime prison physician who, without
examination of Ussery, opined that his injuries were not
serious. A factfinder may or may not ultimately agree with that
assessment.
But the district court concluded that “the degree
of injury suffered” by Ussery was “unclear” on the evidence
before it. As we have explained above, we lack jurisdiction to
resolve on interlocutory appeal this issue of “evidence
sufficiency.” Johnson, 515 U.S. at 313.
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shock, pain, and developed a scar”); Young v. Prince George’s
Cnty., 355 F.3d 751, 758 n.3 (4th Cir. 2004) (holding that “a
contusion, cut to his lips, bruises, lesions to his wrist, and a
strained neck and back” exceed the de minimis threshold); Robles
v. Prince George’s Cnty., 302 F.3d 262, 270 (4th Cir. 2002)
(holding

that

where

law

enforcement

officers

restrained

and

abandoned an arrestee for ten minutes, causing him to “fe[el]
frightened,

vulnerable,

and

humiliated

when

left

alone

and

immobile in the dark parking lot,” such that “in the months
following the incident he had trouble sleeping and was scared to
leave his home, . . . [t]he resulting injury was more than de
minimis”).
Finally, we note the telling fact that the North Carolina
Department of Corrections initiated an investigation into the
cell

extraction.

At

the

very

least,

this

investigation

indicates that the state itself regarded the cell extraction as
cause for alarm that might have resulted in more than de minimis
injuries.

The Department would hardly have launched such an

investigation
resulting

from

if

there

that

were

force

no

was

dispute

not

that

excessive.”

“the

injury

Stanley

v.

Hejirika, 134 F.3d 629, 637 (4th Cir. 1998).
Accordingly, given our obligation to take the facts in the
light

most

favorable

to

Ussery,

15

we

must

conclude

that

the

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district

court

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did

not

err

in

Pg: 16 of 16

denying

the

officers’

summary

judgment on Ussery’s excessive force claim. 4

V.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district
court is
AFFIRMED.

4

Having concluded that Ussery has described injuries
sufficient to satisfy Norman’s de minimis threshold, we need not
reach the question whether, in the alternative, Ussery has
presented facts placing this force incident within the ambit of
the “extraordinary circumstances” exception to the de minimis
requirement in Norman.
16