Tiandre Williams v. Miami Dade County , 516 F. App'x 899 ( 2013 )

Case: 12-11533 Date Filed: 04/16/2013 Page: 1 of 3
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 12-11533
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D.C. Docket No. 1:10-cv-21045-FAM
TIANDRE WILLIAMS,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
versus
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY,
OFFICER JOSE DE LA PAZ,
individually,
OFFICER ROLAND GARCIA,
individually,
Defendants - Appellees.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
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(April 16, 2013)
Before DUBINA, Chief Judge, BARKETT and FAY, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Tiandre Williams appeals the district court’s order granting summary
judgment to Miami-Dade County (“County”), Officer Jose de La Paz, and Officer
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Roland Garcia. Mr. Williams brought suit under 42 U.S.C. §1983 and state tort
causes of action after Officer de La Paz arrested him and subjected him to a
chokehold, which he contends caused him to have a seizure and pass out. Mr.
Williams raises four issues on appeal. First, he contends that the district court erred
in holding that Officer de La Paz did not violate his clearly established rights to be
free from excessive force. Second, he argues that the district court erred in
dismissing his failure to intervene claim against Officer Garcia. Third, he takes
issue with the district court’s holding that Miami-Dade Police department’s Use of
Force Policy did not constitute an official municipal policy upon which Monell
liability could be based. Finally, Mr. Williams argues that the district court erred in
dismissing his state tort law claims.
After reviewing the record, we affirm the district court’s grant of summary
judgment as it relates to the County’s liability under Monell and the state tort law
claims against the County and the individual officers. However, we conclude that
the district court erred in granting summary judgment against Mr. Williams’ §1983
claims as they relate to Officer de La Paz and Officer Garcia. Viewing the
evidence in the record in the light most favorable to Mr. Williams, as we must at
the summary judgment stage, summary judgment was improperly granted on these
claims because if Mr. Williams’ version of the events was accepted as true, a
reasonable jury could conclude that Officer de La Paz used excessive force in
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arresting Mr. Williams and that Officer Garcia failed in his constitutional duty to
intervene to prevent the use of excessive force in his presence. Although the
officers dispute Mr. Williams’ version of the events at issue in this case, a dispute
of material facts must be resolved by a jury and precludes the entry of summary
judgment.
Therefore, we AFFIRM IN PART, REVERSE IN PART, and REMAND the
case to the district court for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
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