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GAIL CLOY VERSUS HARRY LEE, SHERIFF OF JEFFERSON PARISH, ET AL

FIFTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF LOUISIANA
NO. Ol-CA-920

APPEAL FROM THE TWENTY-FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF JEFFERSON, STATE OF LOUISIANA NO. 537-838, DIVISION "H" HONORABLE KERNAN A. HAND, JUDGE JANUARY 15, 2002

JAMES L. CANNELLA JUDGE

Panel composed of Judges Edward A. Dufresne, Sol Gothard and James L. Cannella

GARY W. BIZAL PIERCE & BIZAL 639 Loyola Avenue, Suite 1820
New Orleans, Louisiana 70113

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT GAIL CLOY DANIEL R. MARTINY MARTINY & CARACCI l31 Airline Highway, Suite 201
Metairie, Louisiana 7000 l

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEES SHERIFF HARRY LEE, DEPUTY CHAD GAUTREAUX AND DEPUTY ISAAC MCPHERSON

AFFIRMED.

In this personal injury case, Plaintiff, Gail Cloy, appeals from the
judgment of the trial court which dismissed her case against Defendants, Sheriff Harry Lee and Deputies Chad Gautreaux and Isaac McPherson. For the reasons

which follow, we affirm.
On April 18, 1998, Deputy Gautreaux responded to a 911 call from
Plaintiff s residence. Plaintiff's niece, Nadine Lagrange (Lagrange), had

witnessed an argument between Plaintiff and her daughter. Following the argument, Plaintiff was very upset so she packed some clothing, a picture of her
deceased husband, and some prescription medication and told the family that she was leaving to join her husband. She placed her belongings in her car and

attempted to leave home. Lagrange became very upset and attempted to stop Plaintiff from leaving. In Plaintiff s attempt to back out of the garage and avoid
Lagrange's vehicle, she scraped her automobile on the track for the garage door

which protruded from the garage door frame. Plaintiff left in her automobile.
Lagrange placed the 911 emergency call and reported it as an attempted suicide.

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When Deputy Gautreaux arrived at the residence, he realized that he had
been there before on another suicide alert. He spoke briefly with Lagrange when

Plaintiff drove past the house in her automobile. Deputy Gautreaux returned to
his vehicle and drove after Plaintiff. He turned on his lights and siren and called

to Plaintiff on the loud speaker, instructing her to pull over. She did not pull over but instead, for about five minutes, drove through the neighborhood with Deputy Gautreaux behind her. Next, she returned home, parked her vehicle and went inside into the kitchen. Deputy Gautreaux followed Plaintiff inside.
Another Deputy remained outside and looked in the vehicle which Plaintiff was

driving and found a large quantity of prescription medication and a picture of Plaintiff's deceased husband. In the kitchen, Deputy Gautreaux spoke with Plaintiff and, in his view, she responded irrationally. He informed Plaintiff that
she needed a psychiatric evaluation. She did not agree. Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) arrived on the scene. Officer Gautreaux informed Plaintiff

that she could either go with the EMTs voluntarily or he would take her to the
hospital. She refused to go with the EMTs and they left. Then, in accordance

with department policy, the two deputies restrained Plaintiff by handcuffing her

hands behind her back. They then walked her through the house and out into the
garage. Following inquiry by Plaintiff, she was informed that the deputies were taking her to Charity Hospital. She did not want to go there so she stopped walking and "plopped" down on the ground in a sitting position. Deputy Gautreaux testified that he told her that if she did not get up the deputies would carry her to the car. She refused to get up. When the two deputies attempted to lift her, one holding her arms near the armpits and the other holding her ankles, she struggled and moved about, causing the deputies to put her back down. Plaintiff claims that they dropped her. She was in a prone position screaming
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that her back hurt. Officer Gautreaux called for a supervisor to come to the scene. Lieutenant Jamie Monfra's arrived and another ambulance was called to the scene. Plaintiff was unhandcuffed and taken by ambulance to the hospital.

On April 15, 1999, Plaintiff filed suit against the Defendants, alleging that
the deputies' misconduct caused injuries to Plaintiff's back. The trial was

bifurcated and the liability issue went to trial on April 11, 2001. After the
parties rested, the trial court rendered a verdict on May 6, 2001 in favor of the Defendants, dismissing the action with prejudice. In so ruling, the trial judge
stated that "the police officers acted reasonable [sic] under the circumstances

existing on the date of the incident, therefore the Court also finds that the plaintiff failed to meet her burden of proof, therefore the Court dismissed plaintiff's case, at her cost." It is from this judgment that Plaintiff appeals. On appeal Plaintiff argues that the trial court's determination, that the
force used was reasonable under the circumstances, was clear error. Plaintiff

argues that she proved that the deputy's decision to take her involuntarily was
improper under department policy and that the officer used excessive force in

attempting to transport her to the hospital. Thus, she argues that the trial court erred in finding no liability on the part of Defendants.
The Defendants argue to the contrary that the trial court's decision is

neither manifestly erroneous nor clearly wrong in its determination that Deputies
Gauthreaux and McPherson did not use excessive force and were not negligent

during their encounter with Plaintiff, who was belligerent, uncooperative and potentially suicidal and was properly taken into protective custody.
It is we

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