Date: 06-06-2023

Case Style:

Kody Austin Ketring v. City of Loveland, et al.

Case Number: 1:21-CV-582

Judge: Matthew W. McFarland

Court: United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Hamilton County)

Plaintiff's Attorney:

Defendant's Attorney: Larwrence Edward Barbiere

Description: Cincinnati, Ohio civil rights lawyers represented Plaintiff who sued Defendants on an excessive force theory.


Following a police investigation which resulted in a bite from a police dog, Plaintiff Kody Ketring brought this lawsuit against the City of Loveland and several police officers. The defendants removed the matter to federal court. (Doc. 1.) Following discovery, Defendants moved for summary judgment. That motion is now ripe for the Court's review. (Doc. 18.) For the reasons explained here, the Court GRANTS the motion for summary judgment.

FACTS

Kyle Bibelhausen, an officer with the City of Loveland Police Department, was in uniform in the early morning hours of September 1,2019. (Expert Report, Doc. 18-2, Pg. ID 654-55.) He and his canine partner, Mack, were dispatched to Mohican Drive in Loveland on a report that someone had been shot. (Id. at Pg. ID 654.) He was the first officer to arrive on scene. When he arrived, Brandon Carey was lying in a driveway. (Bibelhausen Dep.z Doc. 12, Pg. ID 103-04.) He had gunshots to his legs and there was a puddle of alcohol-smelling vomit next to his head. (Offense Report, Doc. 17-1, Pg. ID 554.) Several other people were also there. One of them told Officer Bibelhausen that someone had shot Brandon, and that the shooter was either Kody Ketring or Tyler Ketring. (Bibelhausen Dep., Doc. 12, Pg. ID 103, 107; Expert Report, Doc. 18-2, Pg. ID 654.)

Lieutenant Kevin Corbett arrived on scene. He would later report that the sister of the gunshot victim, Brianna Carey, told him it was Tyler Ketring who shot her brother. (Offense Report, Doc. 17-1, Pg. ID 554.) He instructed Officer Bibelhausen to begin tracking the suspect with his police dog. Officer Bibelhausen took Mack out of the cruiser. Mack picked up a scent and began to track. (Bibelhausen Dep., Doc. 12, Pg. ID 111, 113.) It was understood that Officer Bibelhausen had authority to use the dog to "end the threat" if a "suspect refused to follow commands." (Corbett Dep., Doc. 16, Pg. ID 437.)

The canine track led to an address on Sunrise Drive. Officers formed a perimeter around the house and tried to make contact with the occupants. A female initially refused to exit but, after about twenty minutes, left the residence with a child. A male-matching the description of the shooting suspect-appeared at the front door. (Expert Report, Doc. 18-2, Pg. ID 654.) It was Kody Ketring, but the officers didn't know that yet. (Ketring Dep., Doc. 15, Pg. ID 326-27,339.)

From the doorway, Kody told the police officers to come back with a warrant. He was using profanity and screaming through the door. He told the officers he was not coming out. He did not tell the officers that he was Kody Ketring. But eventually he stepped outside on the front porch with his hands up. (Id. at 327-44) In his telling, he
"spun around to show that [he] was unarmed," then turned to go back in. (Id. at Pg. ID 346.) At around that point, Officer Bibelhausen released Mack. (Id.) Video footage shows Ketring quickly reaching back to open the screen door-he was still within an arm's reach. Mack came racing up the steps toward Ketring. (Ex. C, K9 Apprehension, Doc. 22, 0:45-1:05.) By then, because he was just outside the front door, Ketring had made it into the threshold. He shut the screen door on Mack's head and he got back inside the house. (Id.; Ketring Dep., Doc. 15, Pg. ID 347-49.) He slammed the main door shut. The police ran up to the front door and opened it. That's when Mack ran in and bit Ketring on the shoulder. Officer Bibelhausen pulled the dog off Ketring and handcuffed him. (Ketring Dep., Doc. 15, Pg. ID 347-52.)

;Ketring was placed in an ambulance. In the ambulance, Lieutenant Corbett told him that they had been looking for his brother Tyler because he had shot somebody. Then Ketring was taken to a hospital for medical care. (Id. at Pg. ID 352-57.) There he found out that he had been charged with obstructing official business. After that, the police took him to the Hamilton County Justice Center. He posted bond and went home. (Id. at Pg. ID 366-67.) The charge against him was eventually dismissed. (Doc. 18-1, Pg. ID 632, ¶ 41.)...

Outcome: Defendants' motion for summary judgment granted.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: