McQueen v. Bedsole ( 1996 )

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
MURREL MCQUEEN, Individually and
as Administrator of the Estate of
Ivory Virginia McQueen, Deceased,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
MORRIS BEDSOLE, as Sheriff of
Cumberland County, North
No. 95-1033
Carolina; BOB CLARK, Individually
and as Lieutenant, Cumberland
County Sheriff's Department;
REGINA ROBERTSON, Individually and
as Deputy, Cumberland County
Sheriff's Department; CUMBERLAND
COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA,
Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Fayetteville.
W. Earl Britt, District Judge.
(CA-93-55-3-BR)
Submitted: March 19, 1996
Decided: April 3, 1996
Before MURNAGHAN and NIEMEYER, Circuit Judges, and
PHILLIPS, Senior Circuit Judge.
_________________________________________________________________
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
_________________________________________________________________
COUNSEL
Murrel McQueen, Appellant Pro Se. Bobby Grey Deaver, Fayette-
ville, North Carolina; Douglas Edward Canders, CUMBERLAND
COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, Fayetteville, North Carolina, for
Appellees.
_________________________________________________________________
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
Local Rule 36(c).
_________________________________________________________________
OPINION
PER CURIAM:
Murrell McQueen appeals from the district court's orders granting
judgment as a matter of law, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a), to the
Defendants in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1988) action. McQueen sought
damages from Cumberland County, Sheriff Morris Bedsole, and two
of his deputies (Clark and Robertson) as a result of the shooting death
of his wife, Ivory McQueen, during an attempt by the deputies to
serve an involuntary commitment order on her on June 27, 1991.
Our review of the record and the transcript of the trial reveals no
reversible error by the district court. McQueen failed to establish lia-
bility on the part of either Cumberland County or its Sheriff's Depart-
ment with respect to the actions of the two deputies. See Monell v.
Department of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 694 (1978) (doctrine of
respondeat superior generally inapplicable to § 1983 suits); Slakan v.
Porter, 737 F.2d 368, 372 (4th Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1035(1985). Further, the evidence at trial, which was undisputed as to any
material fact, established that Robertson and Clark were entitled to
qualified immunity because a reasonable officer in their position
could have believed that the use of deadly force was objectively rea-
sonable in light of the circumstances. At the time of the shooting,
Ivory McQueen had a butcher knife in her hand and was about to stab
Deputy Clark, after just attacking and stabbing her sister and father.
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See Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 11 (1985) (police officer may
use deadly force when "the officer has probable cause to believe that
the suspect poses a threat of serious physical harm, either to the offi-
cer or to others."); see also Rowland v. Perry, 41 F.3d 167, 173 (4th
Cir. 1994). Accordingly, we affirm the district court's orders granting
judgment as a matter of law to all Defendants. We dispense with oral
argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately pres-
ented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the
decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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