United States Court of Appeals,
Fifth Circuit.
No. 94-50465.
Danny Ray EASON, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
Billy HOLT, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
Jan. 26, 1996.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.
Before POLITZ, Chief Judge, and JONES and PARKER, Circuit Judges.
POLITZ, Chief Judge:
Danny Ray Eason, a prisoner in the Texas Department of Criminal justice, Institutional
Division, appeals the dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint alleging the excessive use of force
by various prison officers in the Hobby Unit. Concluding that the district court erred in dismissing
the complaint for failure to state a claim, we vacate and remand.
Background
Eason, who is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, filed the instant complaint against
prison field officer Billy Holt. Eason alleged that on October 13, 1992 while quietly standing in a line
waiting to go to work, Holt called his name and told him to stop talking. Holt stood directly in front
of Eason, remarked that he was tired of the way Eason was eying him, and grabbed Eason's shirt
collar and attempted to throw him to the ground. Eason claimed that Sergeant Craig Hughes and
Officers Steve Finley and James Holder then helped Holt shove him down. The officers handcuffed
Eason and proceeded to kick him. Eason alleged that he did not provoke the officers and that he
posed no threat.
At a Spears1 hearing before t he magistrate judge, Eason testified that the excessive use of
force caused injuries to his left shoulder and arm, bruises on his legs, and scratches on his back. He
described the four officers' involvement in the incident. The magistrate judge, noting that Eason's
1
Spears v. McCotter, 766 F.2d 179 (5th Cir.1985).
complaint had named only Holt as a defendant, directed Eason to amend the complaint to add the
other officers. Eason complied. The defendants moved to dismiss Eason's complaint under
Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). The magistrate judge recommended granting the motion to dismiss, finding
that Eason had not alleged "any injury whatsoever" in his original or amended complaints and thus
had failed to state a legal claim.2 In a footnote the magistrate judge acknowledged that Eason had
alleged some injury at the Spears hearing, but concluded that such injury was de minimis and
therefore did not support the claim. Agreeing that Eason had not identified any injury, the district
court adopted the magistrate judge's findings and recommendations and dismissed the complaint with
prejudice. Eason timely appealed.
Analysis
We review the district court's dismissal of a 12(b)(6) motion de novo,3 accepting all well
pleaded averments as true and viewing them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.4 Dismissal
is not proper unless it appears, based solely on the pleadings, that the plaintiff can prove no set of
facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.5
To prevail on an eighth amendment excessive force claim, a plaintiff must establish that force
was not "applied in a good-faith effort to maintain or restore discipline, [but] maliciously and
sadistically to cause harm," and that he suffered an injury.6 In basing dismissal of the complaint on
its finding that Eason had not alleged injury stemming from the challenged incident, the district court
ignored Eason's Spears hearing testimony. This appeal presents the question of the proper
relationship between Spears testimony and filed pleadings.
In Spears, we authorized an evidentiary hearing in the nature of a Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(e) motion
2
The magistrate judge relied upon Jackson v. Culbertson, 984 F.2d 699 (5th Cir.1993).
3
Jackson v. City of Beaumont Police Dept., 958 F.2d 616 (5th Cir.1992).
4
Hernandez v. Maxwell, 905 F.2d 94 (5th Cir.1990) (citing Rankin v. City of Wichita Falls,
762 F.2d 444 (5th Cir.1985).
5
Id.
6
See Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 7, 112 S.Ct. 995, 999, 117 L.Ed.2d 156 (1992);
Culbertson.
for more definite statement, as we confronted the difficulties of selecting meritorious prisoner
complaints from the "surfeit of meritless in forma pauperis complaints in the federal courts,"7 and
sought an effective way to protect the right of indigent prisoners with valid claims to access to the
courts under 28 U.S.C. § 1915.8 The Spears hearing is neither a trial on the merits nor a mini-trial;
rather, it aims to flesh out the allegations of a prisoner's complaint9 to determine whether in forma
pauperis status is warranted or whether the complaint, lacking an arguable basis in law or fact, should
be dismissed summarily as malicious or frivolous under section 1915(d).10
The Spears hearing grew out of the belief that allowing a district or magistrate judge to
question the prisoner regarding the nature of his or her complaint, in a controlled setting,11 would be
more effective than the widely-used tool of sending questionnaires to prisoners for explication of their
allegations.12 Like the questionnaires, we reasoned, a hearing would bring into focus the factual and
legal bases of prisoners' claims.13 In authorizing the hearing in lieu of such questionnaires, we
7
Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 326, 109 S.Ct. 1827, 1832, 104 L.Ed.2d 338 (1989). The
Court explained that the cost of filing suit and fear of financial sanctions do not deter frivolous in
forma pauperis suits.
8
See Wilson v. Barrientos, 926 F.2d 480 (5th Cir.1991).
9
In Spears we suggested that the hearing would help to "dig beneath the conclusional
allegations; to reduce the level of abstraction upon which the claims rest; to ascertain exactly
what scenario the prisoner claims occurred, as well as the legal basis for the claim." 766 F.2d at
180.
10
See Neitzke. Although the initial IFP determination is based solely upon the prisoner's
economic status, the court retains the right to revoke IFP status and to dismiss the complaint
upon a finding that the complaint is malicious or frivolous. See Cay v. Estelle, 789 F.2d 318 (5th
Cir.1986), abrogated in part by Booker v. Koonce, 2 F.3d 114 (5th Cir.1993). In many cases the
court will be able to make this determination without a Spears hearing. See Barrientos.
11
Barrientos, 926 F.2d at 482. Although "the court may dispense with some of the typical
formalities of judicial proceedings," the judge must ensure "that the evidence considered is
authentic and reliable[; w]itnesses should be sworn; appropriate cross-examination should be
allowed; and documents should be properly identified and authenticated." Id. at 483. The judge
may also consider the credibility of witnesses to a limited extent. See Cay.
12
Spears; Watson v. Ault, 525 F.2d 886 (5th Cir.1976).
13
Spears, 766 F.2d at 181. See Eason v. Thaler, 14 F.3d 8, 9 (5th Cir.1994) (referring to
Spears hearing and questionnaire as the "principal vehicles which have evolved for remedying
inadequacy in prisoner pleadings").
emphasized that the questionnaires "do not constitute an independent pleading."14 Similarly
amplifying the allegations in the prisoner's complaint,15 the Spears testimony likewise becomes a part
of the total filing by the pro se applicant.16
The Supreme Court has underscored that a complaint's inadequacy under Rule 12(b)(6) does
not signify necessarily that it has raised a wholly insubstantial federal claim warranting section
1915(d) dismissal.17 Accordingly, the district judge may dismiss a complaint on the basis that it fails
to state a claim when the defendant has moved to dismiss the complaint under Rule 12(b)(6).18 In
such circumstances, the Spears hearing testimony, modifying the complaint, bears on the evaluation
of the legal sufficiency of the claim.19
In the instant case, the court properly reached the question whether the complaint failed to
state a claim. The court erred, however, in disregarding Eason's relevant testimony during the Spears
hearing, for that testimony, as it related to essential allegations, was incorporated into the pleadings.
Further, the relevant Spears testimony remained a part of the pleadings after Eason amended his
14
Spears, 766 F.2d at 181. See Holloway v. Gunnell, 685 F.2d 150 (5th Cir.1982) (explaining
that questionnaire supplemented allegations in complaint).
15
See Watson; Jackson v. Vannoy, 49 F.3d 175 (5th Cir.) (stating that complaint amended by
a Spears hearing), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 148, 133 L.Ed.2d 93 (1995); Adams v.
Hansen, 906 F.2d 192 (5th Cir.1990); Riley v. Collins, 828 F.2d 306, 307 (5th Cir.1987)
(explaining that Spears hearing gave plaintiff opportunity to orally "clarify, amend, and amplify"
the written pleadings).
16
See Cay, 789 F.2d at 323 (explaining that "questionnaire is ... made a part of the pleadings").
17
Neitzke. The Court explained that "the failure to state a claim standard of Rule 12(b)(6) and
the frivolousness standard of § 1915(d) were devised to serve distinctive goals, and that while the
overlap between these two standards is considerable, it does not follow that a complaint which
falls afoul of the former standard will invariably fall afoul of the latter." 490 U.S. at 326, 109
S.Ct. at 1832. See also Moore v. Mabus, 976 F.2d 268 (5th Cir.1992).
18
See Vannoy, 49 F.3d at 176 ("A complaint, as amended by a Spears hearing, may be
dismissed pursuant to a Rule 12(b)(6) motion.") (internal citation omitted) (emphasis added).
Even when a 12(b)(6) motion has been filed, the court must consider the motion
apart from its review under section 1915(d). City of Beaumont.
19
Compare with City of Beaumont (concluding that summary judgment motion filed the same
day as Spears hearing did not constitute part of the pleadings for Rule 12(b)(6) review).
complaint,20 even though the amended complaint itself superseded the original complaint under the
well-settled law of this circuit.21 This view is both consistent with the Spears goal of enabling
preliminary determinations to be based upon specific information, and promotes the rubric that we
are to construe pro se pleadings liberally.22 Requiring a new hearing to particularize the prisoner's
allegations for every amended complaint would lead to an unacceptable waste of judicial resources.
Accordingly, following Eason's Spears testimony the pleadings must be taken to include an allegation
that the challenged use of force resulted in injury; dismissal of the complaint therefore was improper.
Finally, we are not persuaded by the magistrate judge's alternate theory for dismissing Eason's
complaint, notwithstanding the reference to the Spears hearing testimony.23 The magistrate judge
concluded t hat any alleged injury was at best de minimis, and thus indicated a de minimis use of
force. In discounting Eason's allegations of injury, the magistrate judge failed to accept as true, as
he must, the complaint's well-pleaded or articulated facts.24 The alternative rationale does not provide
a basis to support the dismissal of Eason's complaint.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is VACATED and the matter is
20
Ordinarily amendment of the complaint would be unnecessary to incorporate the Spears
allegations. Nevertheless, as the magistrate judge explained, the amendment was necessary here
to apprise the additional defendants of the specific allegations against them, and to enable these
individuals to be served. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 4.
21
City of Beaumont.
22
Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972).
23
Although the district court did not explicitly refer to this rationale, it adopted all the findings
and recommendations of the magistrate judge.
24
Maxwell. See also Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 327, 109 S.Ct. at 1832 ("What Rule 12(b)(6) does
not countenance are dismissals based on a judge's disbelief of a complaint's factual allegations.").
We note that in Hudson v. McMillian the Supreme Court abrogated the significant injury
requirement for excessive use of force claims. The Court also observed, however, that such
claims must allege more than a de minimis use of physical force in order to state a prima facie
case of eighth amendment violation. We express no opinion whether the objective component of
an excessive force claim now requires, in addition to more than a de minimis "use of force," a
threshold showing of some quantity of injury. Compare Hudson, 503 U.S. at 7, 112 S.Ct. at 999
(concluding eighth amendment does not permit in excessive force context "any physical
punishment, no matter how diabolic or inhuman, inflicting less than some arbitrary quantity of
injury"), with Norman v. Taylor, 25 F.3d 1259 (4th Cir.1994) (en banc ) (extrapolating from de
minimis use of force language in Hudson a requirement that plaintiff must show more than de
minimis injury), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 909, 130 L.Ed.2d 791 (1995).
REMANDED for further proceedings consistent herewith.
EDITH H. JONES, Circuit Judge, concurring:
I concur in the court's decision to remand this case for further proceedings. The magistrate
judge acted too hastily in disposing of the factual disputes by means of a Spears hearing and dismissal
on the pleadings. Nevertheless, I do not read this opinion to undermine our previous decisions,
predicated on Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 112 S.Ct. 995, 117 L.Ed.2d 156 (1992), which
require proof of injury "albeit significant or insignificant" in order to recover from state actors for
their use of unconstitutionally excessive force. Knight v. Caldwell, 970 F.2d 1430, 1432 (5th
Cir.1992); Jackson v. Culbertson, 984 F.2d 699, 700 (5th Cir.1993) (spraying of inmate with fire
extinguisher caused no injury and was therefore a de minimis use of physical force not repugnant to
the conscience of mankind).