The US District Court for the District of Maryland has dismissed a civil rights and wrongful death suit brought against the city of Annapolis and four Annapolis firefighters over the death of a man in 2021. Renardo Green, 51 died on June 1, 2021 after a struggle with police and firefighters.
Green’s estate and family filed suit back in 2022, but that suit was dismissed. The plaintiffs refiled the suit in 2024, this time amending the suit to include four named members of the Annapolis Fire Department. The facts were explained by the court as follows:
- Defendants responded to a 911 call placed by Ms. Naylor requesting assistance for Mr. Green, her spouse, who was under the influence of PCP and suffering from a disturbed mental state with self-inflicted lacerations.
- Officers Bodmer and Woytko were permitted entry into the home at 2:20 a.m., where they observed Mr. Green in a delirious state, flailing his legs, yelling “yeah bitch” repeatedly, and otherwise behaving erratically.
- Upon deciding to place Mr. Green in protective custody, Officers Bodmer and Siminyuk rolled Mr. Green rolled onto his stomach at 2:25 a.m. to handcuff him.
- At 2:26 a.m., Mr. Green was rolled onto his side. Officer Bodmer placed ankle cuffs on Mr. Green. Sgt. Cochran brought shackles to the scene, and they were placed on Mr. Green’s legs.
- Paramedics with AFD brought a white sheet into the kitchen at 2:33 a.m.
- From 2:33 to 2:34 a.m., the AFD Defendants, Sgt. Cochran, Officer Bodmer, and Officer Siminyuk “forcibly rolled” Mr. Green into a prone (face-down) position on the white sheet and held him in that position. At 2:36 a.m., they moved Mr. Green to a portable stretcher, placing him face-down on that stretcher.
- From 2:36 to 2:37 a.m., Sgt. Cochran “forcibly held” Mr. Green in a face-down position while the AFD Defendants strapped him to two stretchers simultaneously, and the AFD Defendants “forcibly placed and tightened straps” over Mr. Green’s legs and back while he remained face down.
- From 2:37 to 2:39 a.m., the AFD Defendants and Officer Bodmer transported Mr. Green out of the residence, with the sides of the portable stretcher squeezing and compressing his body, and placed Mr. Green onto a rolling stretcher, “forcibly” placing and tightening straps over his legs and back.
- At 2:39 a.m., Mr. Green’s movements became slower, and he began lifting his head to breathe. At 2:40 a.m., while in respiratory distress, Mr. Green was loaded into the ambulance by AFD Defendants and Officer Bodmer.
- At 2:41 a.m., Mr. Green was motionless and no longer responsive to emergency medical services personnel. Mr. Green was unstrapped and rolled onto his back from 2:44 to 2:45 a.m. Mr. Green’s pulse was checked at 2:47 a.m., and CPR was started at 2:48 a.m.
The suit claimed that firefighters and police officers used excessive force, violated Green’s civil rights (deprivation of life) by acting with deliberate indifference toward Green’s wellbeing, and were negligent in placing him in a prohibited face-down restraint. The court disagreed:
- Turning to the AFD Defendants, their conduct between 2:34 and 2:45 a.m. included lifting Mr. Green onto the portable stretcher, securing him to the stretcher using straps, carrying him on the stretcher outside the residence, placing the portable stretcher onto a rolling stretcher, securing Mr. Green to the rolling stretcher, rolling the stretcher to the EMS vehicle, loading it onto the vehicle, and then rendering medical attention to Mr. Green on the vehicle.
- Mr. Green remained in a face-down position during most of this period, as his hands were cuffed at his back. The need to secure Mr. Green first to the portable stretcher and then to the rolling stretcher is obvious.
- Mr. Green was in a delirious mental state, in constant movement, and uncooperative with efforts to restrain him so that he could receive medical aid. The force used in applying straps was no greater than necessary to secure Mr. Green to each stretcher.
- In sum, there is no plausible claim that, in applying straps, any AFD Defendant used force that was disproportionate to the obvious need to secure Mr. Green to the stretchers.
- Turning next to “the severity of the security problem at issue; the threat reasonably perceived by the officer; and whether the plaintiff was actively resisting”, Mr. Green presented a significant security problem by kicking his legs, flailing his torso, shouting violent threats (“I’ll fuck you up, bitch!”), and generally resisting efforts to calm him down verbally and restrain him physically.
- All of this … underscored the need to secure Mr. Green to a stretcher in order to transport him safely and attend to his medical needs.
- In sum, the … facts alleged in the Complaint fail to demonstrate any action by any AFD or Officer Defendant that was not “rationally related” to the “legitimate nonpunitive governmental purpose” of securing Mr. Green for purposes of transporting him and rendering him medical aid. Plaintiffs fail to present facts to support any reasonable inference that any AFD or Officer Defendant intended to punish him.
- However, even assuming that the AFD Defendants’ conduct in keeping Mr. Green in a prone, face-down position for approximately ten to eleven minutes violated his due process rights, the Court finds that the AFD Defendants are entitled to qualified immunity.
Here is a copy of the complaint:
