Inside the Supreme Court
Petition to Decision
Papers of Supreme Court Justices on Civil Rights Cases
David Achtenberg
Professor & Law Foundation Scholar
UMKC School of Law
Kansas City, MO 64110-2499
816-235-2382
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| Notes to Tuttle’s Background Story | |
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1. The deceased was named William Adam Tuttle
and that name is used throughout the
testimony, lower court opinion, the Supreme
Court briefs, and the Appendix. Oddly,
Justice Rehnquist’s opinion (and all drafts
of that opinion) refer to him as Albert
Tuttle. My best speculation is that
Justice Rehnquist or one of his clerks was
thinking of Judge Elbert
Tuttle, who served with great distinction
and courage on the United States Court of
Appeals for the Fifth Circuit during the
most contentious years of the civil rights
movement. At the time Oklahoma City v.
Tuttle was being decided, Elbert Tuttle was
87 years old but was still serving as a
Senior Judge on the recently created
Eleventh Circuit. In any event, none
of the other justices or clerks noticed the
error and the mistake was never corrected. 2. It was subsequently stipulated that Tuttle had called in the report himself and that he had described the "robber" as a 37 year old, white male with brown hair and glasses—a description that fit Tuttle himself. 3. Both parties agreed that Tuttle was, in fact, unarmed. There was testimony that a toy gun fell out of Tuttle’s boot during surgery after the shooting. However, there was also testimony that two officers at the scene had checked the boot by feeling for weapons and had found nothing. The plaintiff argued by implication that the toy gun might have been planted either at the scene or by one of the officers who accompanied Tuttle in the ambulance to the hospital. 4. The defense argued that Tuttle may have been attempting to commit "suicide by cop," i.e., luring a police officer to the scene and intentionally causing the officer to believe that Tuttle was attempting to shoot him. This argument was consistent with the fact that Tuttle originally called in the report and with the testimony that a toy gun was subsequently found in Tuttle’s boot. It was also supported by testimony that Tuttle had unsuccessfully attempted suicide six months earlier. 5. Justice Rehnquist’s opinion recites Officer Rotramel’s testimony. For a more complete description of the factual dispute, see the Court of Appeals decision, Tuttle v. Oklahoma City, 728 F.2d. 456, 457-459 (10th Cir. 1984), the Supreme Court Appendix, and the briefs of the parties. The basic points of dispute can be roughly summarized as follows:
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