David Habiger v. City of Fargo , 80 F.3d 289 ( 1996 )


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  •                      UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
    _________________
    No. 95-1574
    _________________
    David Habiger,                         *
    *
    Plaintiff - Appellant     *
    *   Appeal from the United States
    v.                                *   District Court for North Dakota.
    *
    City of Fargo; Ann Alzheimer,      *
    in her official capacity and           *
    as an individual; Mike Kjera,      *
    in his official capacity and           *
    as an individual; Scott                *
    Stenerson, in his official             *
    capacity and as an individual;     *
    Don Lawyer, in his official            *
    capacity and as an individual;     *
    Mark Lykken, in his official           *
    capacity and as an individual,     *
    *
    Defendants - Appellees.           *
    _________________
    Submitted: October 18, 1995
    Filed: April 4, 1996
    _________________
    Before WHITE,* Associate Justice (Ret.), McMILLIAN and LOKEN, Circuit
    Judges.
    _________________
    WHITE, Associate Justice (Ret.).
    *
    The Honorable Byron R. White, Associate Justice of the
    United    States Supreme Court, (Ret.), sitting by
    designation, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 294(a).
    I. INTRODUCTION
    Plaintiff-Appellant David A. Habiger ("Habiger") appeals from the
    district court's entry of partial summary judgment and a jury verdict
    against him in his Section 1983 action brought in the wake of his arrest
    for violating a temporary restraining order ("TRO").   The district court
    rejected his unlawful arrest claim, ruling for the police officers on
    qualified immunity grounds and dismissing the claim against the City of
    Fargo ("the City") based on its alleged failure to train its police
    officers.   Habiger v. City of Fargo, No. A3-93-81 (D.N.D. filed Jan. 23,
    1995).   A jury then found that neither the City nor its officers were
    liable for using excessive force in arresting Habiger.        Habiger now
    appeals, complaining that the district court erred in (1) granting summary
    judgment to the officers on qualified immunity grounds; (2) dismissing the
    illegal arrest/failure to train claim against the City; and (3) refusing
    to instruct the jury that it should consider the legality of the arrest in
    determining whether the officers' use of force in arresting Habiger was
    objectively reasonable.   For the reasons stated below, we reject each of
    these claims of error, and AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.
    II. BACKGROUND
    A.
    On October 28, 1991, a North Dakota state trial court issued a TRO
    restricting the protesting activity of pro-life demonstrators in the
    immediate vicinity of the Fargo Women's Health Organization, Inc. ("FWHO"
    or "the clinic").   Fargo Women's Health Organization, Inc. v. Lambs of
    Christ, No. 91-1953 (Cass County Dist. Ct. filed Oct. 28, 1991).        The
    operative provisions of the TRO enjoined the pro-life protestors from:
    -2-
    (a). trespassing on, sitting in, blocking, impeding or
    obstructing ingress or egress from FWHO facilities and the
    homes and residences of Plaintiffs Miks, Wicklund, and Bovard,
    as well as the homes and residences of any staff (paid or
    volunteer) or patients of FWHO.
    (b). harassing, intimidating or physically abusing
    persons entering, leaving or working at FWHO facilities;
    (c). obstructing the work of the persons located at FWHO
    facilities by any means -- including singing, chanting,
    yelling, shouting, or screaming -- that substantially
    interferes with the provision of medical services including
    counseling, with[in] such facility;
    (d). going within 100 feet of the property line of FWHO
    during such times as they are open for business, except that
    one person may quietly and peacefully picket such facility, so
    long as that person does not interfere with the operations of
    said facility as provided herein.
    (e). following, harassing, photographing, videotaping,
    and intimidating, or speaking to staff and patients of FWHO who
    have indicated that they do not wish to be spoken to.
    (f). distributing leaflets or brochures to any person who
    has indicated orally or by gesture that such person does not
    wish to receive such literature.
    (g). inducing, encouraging, or directing others to take
    any of the actions described in paragraphs (a). - (f). above.
    . . .
    IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT THE Cass County Sheriff, Fargo
    Police Department, and any other Law Enforcement Authority may
    enforce this order and may make arrests for the violation of
    this order.
    
    Id. at 2-4.
        The pro-life protestors challenged the constitutionality of the TRO,
    but the North Dakota Supreme Court, ten months after the arrest challenged
    in this case, upheld those provisions of the TRO that are directly involved
    in this case.   See Fargo Women's Health Organization, Inc. v. Lambs of
    Christ, 
    488 N.W.2d 401
    (N.D. 1992).1   Specifically,
    1
    More precisely, the North Dakota Supreme Court reviewed the
    preliminary injunction that superseded the TRO and that contained
    the identical provisions. See Fargo Women's Health 
    Org., 488 N.W.2d at 405
    . For the sake of convenience, we shall refer to
    the injunction as a TRO.
    -3-
    the court upheld the excessive noise restriction contained in paragraph
    
    (c), supra
    , which is involved here, on the ground that the noise created
    by the protestors had been so loud and invasive as to substantially
    interfere with the provision of medical services. 
    Id. at 409-10.
      On this
    appeal, Habiger does not challenge this judgment and does not contest the
    facial validity of paragraph (c) or any other provision of the TRO.2
    In its opinion, the North Dakota Supreme Court described the events
    leading up to the issuance of the TRO:
    Since 1981, the Fargo Women's Health Organization has
    operated a clinic which provides a full range of gynecological
    medical   services   including   first  trimester   abortions.
    Approximately 75 demonstrations by anti-abortion protestors
    have been held in the vicinity of the clinic. It appears that
    most of these demonstrations were peaceful, consisting of
    picketing, leafleting, and speaking to people in the area near
    the clinic. Beginning March 29, 1991, the character of the
    protests changed. On that day, 26 people stormed the clinic,
    broke down a door, occupied its rooms, and locked themselves
    together using bicycle locks.    The demonstrators refused to
    leave, were arrested, and were removed by Fargo police after
    their locks were removed by a locksmith.
    On nine other occasions in the ensuing seven months,
    demonstrators were arrested for criminal acts committed in
    conjunction with anti-abortion protests. As a result of these
    actions, patients were confronted and jostled as they attempted
    to walk to the clinic. Some patients were able to reach the
    clinic only with the assistance of
    2
    As for the other provisions of the TRO, the North Dakota
    Supreme Court upheld paragraph (b), as well as paragraph (e) as
    construed, except for its "speaking" prohibition, which was
    stricken. Fargo Women's Health 
    Org., 488 N.W.2d at 410-11
    . The
    court also determined that the 100-foot place restriction in
    paragraph (d) was content neutral and served a "significant
    governmental interest." 
    Id. at 407-09.
    However, the court
    concluded that paragraph (d) was not narrowly tailored as
    required by the First Amendment, and thus, remanded that
    provision for sufficient narrowing. 
    Id. at 409.
    In any event,
    the area restriction is not involved in this appeal. Finally,
    the court invalidated paragraph (f) in its entirety. 
    Id. at 411.
    Paragraphs (a) and (g) were apparently not challenged.
    -4-
    volunteer "escorts" or professional security officers who
    walked them through groups of hostile, screaming protestors
    that surrounded them, stood in their way, forced leaflets into
    patients' hands and otherwise impeded patients' access to the
    clinic. Protestors struck, pushed, and threatened escorts and
    guards with physical harm. One protestor was arrested trying
    to climb the clinic's fence in order to reach a patient using
    the clinic's rear entrance.
    Patients who attempted to drive to the clinic were
    confronted at the entrance to the clinic parking lot.
    Protestors stood in the way of the cars, climbed onto the
    vehicles' hoods or under the cars. Some protestors attempted
    to fasten themselves to the frames of cars in order to delay
    their removal from the site.      On one occasion, protestors
    placed blocks against the tires and attempted to cut a cable in
    order to disable a car after they succeeded in stopping it in
    the clinic's driveway. On another occasion, protestors waited
    across the street from the clinic for a car to approach the
    parking lot at which point they rushed into the street, stopped
    the car, and blocked the public road. As a result of these
    tactics, the clinic was effectively blockaded; patients and
    staff could not enter or leave the clinic for hours at a time.
    The protestors called these blockades "rescues." At
    anti-abortion rallies held after the "rescues" began, spokesmen
    for the associations asked volunteers to participate by being
    jailed for rescuing babies. The rescues were to be part of a
    two-year campaign to force the clinic to close.
    Away from the clinic, protestors followed clinic staff
    members in cars, and into grocery stores, airports, and other
    public buildings. Their activities were particularly intense
    against one of the clinic's doctors.      During a five month
    period, groups as large as 30 demonstrated at the gate of her
    home, congregating in predawn hours, shouting and honking car
    horns, and attempting to block the departure of the doctor and
    her family members. Some protestors roamed on the doctor's
    property, leaving a banner draped over a car, a baby stroller
    and basket on her porch. During times when the protestors were
    near the site, the doctor's house and garage were vandalized.
    Protestors followed the doctor in cars as she drove to Fargo or
    to the airport.     Groups waited for the doctor in airport
    parking ramps and rushed at her, yelling and flashing cameras.
    They leafleted cars at the school of the doctor's daughter, and
    two protestors were asked to leave the school building when
    they attempted to obtain a photo of her daughter. A car full
    of protestors also followed the daughter of one of the clinic's
    volunteers.
    -5-
    
    Id. at 404-05.
    B.
    On the morning of October 31, 1991, Habiger and approximately
    seventy-five other individuals participated in a protest near the clinic
    to protest the issuance of the TRO.        During the protest, several police
    officers, including Sergeant Don Lawyer ("Lawyer") were in front of the
    clinic to enforce the TRO.     After Habiger walked over to Lawyer, Lawyer
    told him that he could not cross the red-line marking the 100 foot radius
    around the clinic.   Habiger responded that, "this is quite a country we got
    here.    We're living on the edge of socialism.    It's more like a communist
    regime." Habiger, slip op. at 5.
    After several of the protestors refused to stand behind the line,
    approached within 80 feet of the clinic property, sat down, and refused to
    move, the police officers began arresting them for violating the terms of
    the TRO.    About the time that the officers began arresting the protestors,
    Habiger, from behind the line, began to criticize loudly the officers'
    conduct.    Lawyer repeatedly asked Habiger to quiet down.   Despite Lawyer's
    requests, Habiger continued to condemn the police officers in loud tones:
    This is a dictatorship in this town. An evil city. You work
    for evil people that are killing human beings in there. You
    don't care. If you had any guts, you'd get out of that uniform
    and take a stand for life. What's that job mean to you? It
    ain't gonna mean nothing when your life is over. Take a stand
    for Jesus Christ. They're killin' human beings in there and
    nobody cares.    And you stand there with that smirk on your
    face. When you stand before God, you're going to answer for
    it.
    
    Id. at 6.
       Lawyer again asked him to quiet down.     This provoked an even
    more emphatic response from Habiger:
    I can talk all I want. It's a free country. I'm behind the
    line. If you guys had any guts, you'd take them
    -6-
    uniforms off and we'd all storm that place and close it down.
    They're killing children in there. Yet nobody does nothin'.
    Everybody stands back. They're killing children. This town's
    a dictatorship. Its a communistic-it's communistic. You're
    evil. You're all evil. They're standing up for murderers.
    They're killing children that have a right to live. We had, we
    got a right to our lives. I don't care.
    
    Id. at 6-7.
         Finally, Lawyer told Habiger that he was under arrest.
    Habiger asked "For what?, " and Lawyer responded, "Court order." Habiger
    then stated, "For what? I'm just talking." Lawyer replied, "You're yelling
    too loud." 
    Id. at 7.
           Habiger resisted the arrest, and several other
    officers (Lawyer's co-defendants in this action) came to assist Lawyer in
    restraining Habiger.
    After the police brought Habiger to the ground and completed the
    arrest, he complained of pain in his arm, and the police called an
    ambulance to assist him.       After he was treated at a local hospital, police
    officers brought Habiger to jail.        The following day, Habiger was charged
    with    disorderly   conduct    and   preventing   arrest.     Habiger   posted   the
    necessary bond, but as a condition of his release, he was ordered to stay
    away from the clinic.      On or about March 25, 1992, the Cass County State
    Attorney's    Office    dismissed      the   charges   on    First   Amendment    and
    insufficiency of the evidence grounds.
    On May 7, 1993, Habiger filed this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action, claiming
    that several of the City's police officers and the City violated his First
    and Fourth Amendment rights.      As to the officers, Habiger alleged that they
    arrested him for violating the noise restriction contained in paragraph (c)
    of the TRO without probable cause and that they used excessive force in
    arresting him.   As to the City, Habiger charged that its failure to train
    the defendant officers led to his unconstitutional arrest.                Habiger's
    complaint also alleged state law claims of false arrest, false imprisonment
    -7-
    and assault and battery.           Magistrate Judge Klein,3 on summary judgment,
    concluded that the officers were protected by qualified immunity on the
    probable cause and First Amendment issues and dismissed the claim against
    the City for its alleged failure to train the officers.                 Similarly, Judge
    Klein       ruled   that   the   state   law    claims   of   false   arrest    and   false
    imprisonment were barred under North Dakota's immunity doctrine.
    The court, however, denied the summary judgment motion on Habiger's
    excessive force and state law assault and battery claims, ruling that these
    claims should be tried to a jury, which then occurred.                The jury found for
    the officers and the City.         Habiger then filed this appeal.        He argues that
    the district court erred in (1) granting summary judgment to the officers
    on the unconstitutional arrest claims; (2) granting summary judgment to the
    City on the alleged failure to train its officers; and (3) not instructing
    the jury to consider the lawfulness of the arrest in determining whether
    the officers, use of force was objectively reasonable.                         We exercise
    jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we now AFFIRM.
    III.   DISCUSSION
    We begin by setting out the legal propositions that are not in
    dispute.       First, to withstand a motion for summary judgment on qualified
    immunity grounds, a civil rights plaintiff must (1) assert a violation of
    a constitutional right; (2) demonstrate that the alleged right is clearly
    established; and (3) raise a genuine issue of fact as to whether the
    official would have known that his alleged conduct would have violated
    plaintiff's clearly established right.               Foulks v. Cole County, Mo., 
    991 F.2d 454
    , 456 (8th Cir. 1993).           Second, Habiger had a clearly established
    right under the Fourth Amendment not to be arrested unless there was
    probable cause for his arrest.
    3
    This case was tried to a magistrate judge by consent of the
    parties.
    -8-
    Third, Habiger also had a clearly established right to express his views
    about abortion in a public forum; but this right is not absolute since it
    is subject to proper time, place and manner regulations, such as the
    excessive noise prohibition contained in paragraph (c) of the TRO.   Fourth,
    the validity of the TRO, of which Habiger had notice, is not in dispute;
    hence, if the police officers had probable cause to believe that Habiger
    was violating the TRO by yelling or screaming so as to substantially
    interfere with the provision of medical services (e.g., counseling), his
    arrest was valid and would not violate either the Fourth or the First
    Amendment.   Fifth, "[t]he issue for immunity purposes is not probable cause
    in fact but arguable probable cause," Myers v. Morris, 
    810 F.2d 1437
    , 1455
    (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 
    484 U.S. 828
    (1987), that is, whether the officer
    should have known that the arrest violated plaintiff's clearly established
    right, Foulks v. Cole County, 
    Mo., 991 F.2d at 456
    .      Sixth, in granting
    summary judgment in favor of defendant officers on immunity grounds, the
    court did not need to rule on whether there was actual probable cause to
    arrest Habiger.   Seventh, although the City may not be held liable for the
    mistakes of its officers on a respondeat superior basis, it is not entitled
    to the shield of qualified immunity afforded to its officers.   See Owen v.
    City of Independence, 
    445 U.S. 622
    , 657 (1980).     Thus, if there was not
    actual probable cause to arrest Habiger, the City could be held liable on
    a failure to train theory unless its failure to train its officer did not
    lead to Habiger's unlawful arrest, which the district court held was the
    case and which is an issue in this appeal.
    A.   THE QUALIFIED IMMUNITY ISSUE
    We review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo.
    Firemen's Fund Ins. Co. v. Thien, 
    8 F.3d 1307
    , 1310 (8th Cir. 1993).     We
    address first whether a reasonably competent officer could believe there
    was probable cause to arrest Habiger.     As the district court recounted,
    when officer Lawyer arrested Habiger, he stated that Habiger was violating
    the court order by "yelling too loud."    Thus, Lawyer
    -9-
    must have thought that Habiger's repeated yelling substantially interfered
    with the clinic's operation and violated the noise restriction contained
    in paragraph (c) of the TRO.            The court posed the issue as whether " a
    reasonable police officer could have believed that Habiger's yelling was
    substantially interfering with the operation of the clinic." Habiger, slip
    op. at 21.     The court concluded that "[a] reasonable police officer fearing
    a   magnification      of    the   volatile   situation    could    have   believed   that
    Habiger's speech, delivered while many of his fellow demonstrators were
    being arrested for violating the court order, substantially interfered with
    clinic operations." 
    Id. at 22.
              Thus, the court ruled that the officers
    were immune from suit.
    We agree with the district court.              Habiger was screaming at the top
    of his voice from a point some thirty-three yards from the clinic property.
    Whether Habiger could be heard inside the clinic or by patients seeking to
    enter the clinic was a judgment call on Lawyer's part, the kind of a
    decision that police officers must repeatedly make.             The qualified immunity
    doctrine allows officers to make reasonable errors so that they do not
    always "err on the side of caution." Hunter v. Bryant, 
    502 U.S. 224
    , 229
    (1991) (per curiam) (internal quotation omitted).4                    Furthermore, the
    "substantial interference" standard had yet to be interpreted, and an
    officer   on    duty    in    the    field    is    entitled   to   make   a   reasonable
    interpretation
    4
    We have previously explained that:
    Law enforcement officers should not, on pain of having
    to pay damages out of their own pockets, be required to
    anticipate how appellate judges will apply maxims of
    constitutional adjudication about which even those
    judges sometimes disagree [-] it would be unworkable
    for the officers to await interpretations from federal
    appellate judges rendered long after the orders were
    executed to learn whether they will be civilly liable
    for performing an assigned duty.
    McCurry v. Tesch, 
    824 F.2d 638
    , 642 (8th Cir. 1987) (internal
    quotation omitted).
    -10-
    of the law he is obligated to enforce.    See Gorra v. Hanson, 
    880 F.2d 95
    ,
    97-98 (8th Cir. 1989).   Thus, given Habiger's loud and repeated yelling,
    we conclude that the district court correctly held that the officers
    arguably had probable cause for Habiger's arrest and were immune from suit.
    In doing so, we reject three First Amendment arguments that Habiger claims
    foreclose or fatally infect the district court's judgment.
    First, Habiger contends that the district court failed to consider the
    import of paragraph (i) of the TRO, which cautions that nothing in the TRO
    should be construed to abridge the lawful exercise of one's First Amendment
    rights.   But Habiger does not challenge the constitutionality of the noise
    restriction.   An arrest for violating that provision is not barred by the
    First Amendment, nor does an officer's reasonable mistake about the
    legality of the arrest disentitle the officer to qualified immunity.
    Second, Habiger asserts that the arrest was pretextual; that is, he
    argues that the officers arrested him not to enforce the TRO, but because
    of their disagreement with his views on abortion.    This matter of intent,
    it is submitted, should not have been disposed of on summary judgment.   On
    the facts of this case, however, we seriously doubt that this claim of
    pretext, even if proved, would nullify the finding of probable cause to
    believe that Habiger was violating the TRO; nor would it disentitle the
    officers to qualified immunity. See U.S. v. Bloomfield, 
    40 F.3d 910
    , 915
    (8th Cir. 1994) (en banc), cert. denied., 
    115 S. Ct. 1970
    (1995) ; Foster
    v. Metropolitan Airports Comm 'n. , 
    914 F.2d 1076
    , 1081 (8th Cir. 1990).
    In any event, we need not consider this issue since Habiger has plainly
    failed to support his claim of pretext by demonstrating a genuine issue of
    material fact on this question.
    Third, Habiger points to the district court's conclusion that "a
    reasonable police officer fearing a magnification of the volatile situation
    could have believed that Habiger's speech,     delivered while
    -11-
    many of his fellow demonstrators were being arrested for violating the
    Order, substantially interfered with clinic operations."             He asserts that
    this conclusion disregards the First Amendment by considering the emotive
    effect his speech might have on his fellow demonstrators.           In similar vein,
    Habiger points to what Officer Lawyer said in his affidavit:                Habiger was
    "very emotional and disruptive" and "made it much more difficult to control
    the crowd."      App. 105-106, 110.        Habiger supports his legal argument by
    quoting from Texas v. Johnson, 
    491 U.S. 397
    , 409 (1989).
    we have not permitted the government to assume that every
    expression of a provocative idea will incite a riot, but have
    instead   required   careful   consideration   of  the   actual
    circumstances surrounding such expression, asking whether the
    expression "is directed to inciting, or producing imminent
    lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action."
    Brandenburg v. Ohio, 
    395 U.S. 444
    , 447 (1969).
    See Reply Br. at 5.
    We do not belittle this basic constitutional principle.         As we see it,
    this principle was not violated either by the officers' conduct or by the
    district court's opinion and judgment.            The circumstances faced by the
    officers and leading to Habiger's arrest are adequately clear.              Habiger was
    one of 75 or so protestors gathered in front of the clinic.                 Some of the
    demonstrators crossed the red line to within 80 feet of the clinic, sat
    down and refused to move, asserting that they had a constitutional right
    to be where they were.        At this point, Habiger, from behind the line but
    in the midst of the protestors, began screaming invectives at the police
    at   the   top   of   his   voice.    He    refused   to   quiet   down.      In   these
    circumstances, Lawyer and his fellow officers could reasonably believe that
    Habiger's extremely loud and emotional shouting was directed at inciting
    imminent conduct expressly barred by the TRO and that his shouting was
    substantially interfering with the business of the clinic.                 The officers
    surely thought that they had probable cause to arrest Habiger.                 Even if
    this
    -12-
    was a mistake, the purpose of the qualified immunity doctrine is to provide
    ample room for mistaken judgments and to protect "all but the plainly
    incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law." Malley v. Briggs, 
    475 U.S. 335
    , 341 (1986). In our view, the officers' judgment was not "plainly
    incompetent," and the district court did not err in referring to the
    probable impact of Habiger's screaming on the other demonstrators and in
    concluding that there was arguable probable cause to believe that Habiger
    was substantially interfering with the business of the clinic.
    B.    MUNICIPAL LIABILITY
    Habiger also argues that, if the officers arrested Habiger without
    actual probable cause (even if there was arguable probable cause so as to
    clothe them with qualified immunity), the City is liable for the illegal
    arrest on a failure to train theory.         See Medina v. City of Denver, 
    960 F.2d 1493
    ,   1499-1500   (10th    Cir.   1992)   (noting   that   there   is   no
    inconsistency between granting qualified immunity to City officials and
    holding the City liable).       First, Habiger claims that the district court
    never addressed the question of actual probable cause because it did not
    analyze the underlying constitutional violation (which it assumed) , but
    merely focused on the presence of arguable probable cause.5         See Discussion
    of Jury Instructions, App. at 172 ("I don't want to create the impression
    that the Court has ruled that the arrest was valid because I've not ruled
    either way.").6
    5
    The essence of Habiger's argument that the district court
    ruled on immunity grounds and did not hold that the officers had
    actual probable cause to arrest Habiger-is that "[i]f probable
    cause was indeed present, it is not necessary to consider an
    immunity defense." Foster v. Metropolitan Airports Comm'n, 
    914 F. 2d
    1076, 1079 (8th Cir. 1990).
    6
    While this discussion of the jury instructions represents
    Judge Klein's interpretation of her own order, the order itself
    also appears to conclude that the police officers had arguable,
    not actual, probable cause to make the arrest. See, e.g. , slip
    op at 22 ("whether Habiger's passionate speech substantially
    interfered with clinic operations is subject to debate"); 
    id. at 23
    ("[A] reasonable police officer
    could have believed that Habiger's arrest was lawful.").
    -13-
    In effect, Habiger continues, the district court wrongly applied the shield
    of qualified immunity to the City.      See 
    Owen, 445 U.S. at 657
    .
    This argument, even if sound, does not require us to reverse the
    district court, for it also rejected Habiger's failure to train theory on
    the ground that "[a] dditional specialized training on First Amendment
    protections would not have influenced a reasonable police officer's
    decision to arrest plaintiff for violating the [TRO]." Habiger slip op. at
    39-40; 
    id. at 39
    ("inadequate training was not the proximate cause of
    plaintiff's alleged constitutional injury."). Moreover, with specific
    reference to the TRO, the district court explained that, since the TRO only
    went into effect three days before Habiger's arrest, the Department did not
    have time to train its officers how to handle these specific protests. 
    Id. at 40.
      Thus, because Habiger has failed to demonstrate how the City's
    failure to train its officer caused the violation of his constitutional
    rights, we affirm the district court's judgment that the City cannot be
    held liable on a failure to train theory.
    C.      JURY INSTRUCTIONS ON EXCESSIVE FORCE
    Finally, Habiger argues that the district court erred by instructing
    the jury that the objective reasonableness of the force
    used in arresting him did not turn, at least in part, on whether          the
    7
    arrest was legal.       In support of this contention, Habiger suggests
    7
    Specifically, Habiger challenges Jury Instruction No. 8.
    That instruction provided:
    You will not be asked to decide whether plaintiff's
    arrest was valid or not, or whether he was legitimately
    exercising his right to free speech at the time of his
    arrest. The court has already resolved these issues
    and you should not consider them.
    App. at 199.
    -14-
    that Graham v. Connors focus on "the severity of the crime" as a factor
    justifying the use of force suggests that the legality of the arrest can
    make the use of force unreasonable. 
    490 U.S. 386
    , 396 (1989). We reject
    this argument because the "severity of the crime" does not necessarily
    encompass whether there was actual probable cause to arrest the defendant
    for   that   alleged   crime.    The    touchstone   of   Graham   is   objective
    reasonableness, and the force used to effect a good faith, though false,
    arrest is not necessarily more likely to be unreasonable than a good faith,
    though legal, arrest.8     The jury instructions reflected this essence of
    Graham and the jury correctly focused on the severity of alleged crime and
    the other factors outlined in Graham.          Therefore, we affirm the jury
    instructions on the excessive force count.
    IV.    CONCLUSION
    For the reasons stated above, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district
    court.
    A true copy.
    Attest:
    CLERK, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT
    8
    Indeed, we are inclined to believe that the presence of
    actual or arguable probable cause is irrelevant to the objective
    reasonableness of the force used to effect an arrest. That is,
    if the identical force is used to arrest two defendants suspected
    of committing the identical crime, the objective reasonableness
    of the use of force does not depend on whether the arrest was
    based on actual or arguable probable cause.
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