Powell v. Nunley
Powell v. Nunley
Opinion of the Court
ORDER
The claims in this case arise from the execution of an otherwise valid search warrant on the wrong house. Law enforcement officials obtained a search warrant for 110 W. Osage in Marlow, Oklahoma, correctly believing that to be the address of the person they were investigating. Through circumstances discussed more fully below, the warrant was executed by a search on the adjacent property — 106 W. Osage — occupied by plaintiffs Tim and Heather Powell.
Plaintiffs assert claims against Todd Nunley, an agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”), seeking redress for alleged constitutional violations pursuant to Bivens v. Six Unknown Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971). They assert similar constitutional claims against Rodney Richards, then a Stephens County deputy sheriff, and against the Sheriff of Stephens County, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The amended complaint references violations of the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution.
Summary Judgment Standard
Summary judgment should be granted where — in light of the pleadings, discovery materials, and any affidavits — there is no “genuine issue” as to any “material fact” and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 56(c)(2). The court must review the evidence, and draw all reasonable inferences therefrom, in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. In re Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 395 F.3d 1177, 1189 (10th Cir. 2005). The court may not make determinations of credibility nor weigh evidence, and must disregard all evidence favorable to the movant that the trier of fact would not be required to believe. Gossett v. Oklahoma, 245 F.3d 1172, 1175 (10th Cir. 2001). Mere conclusory allegations, without evidentiary support, do not create a genuine issue of fact. L & M Enters., Inc. v. BEI Sensors & Sys. Co., 231 F.3d 1284, 1287 (10th Cir. 2000).
Summary judgment “necessarily implicates the substantive evidentiary standard of proof that would apply at the trial on the merits.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Where the nonmoving party bears the burden of proof at trial, as the plaintiff does in this case, he cannot rely on his pleadings to defeat summary judgment; instead, he must put forth evidence sufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Nevertheless, the moving party must demonstrate its entitlement to judgment as a matter of law.
Factual Background
The facts in this case are, for the most part, undisputed. There is no dispute
After the interview with Mitchell, Duncan detective John Byers contacted two other police officers who were more familiar with the Marlow area to locate and identify the Shannon residence. According to Byers, one officer (Marlow P.D. Officer Smith) identified the road that Shannon lived on (Osage Road) and the second (Duncan P.D. Officer Williams) confirmed the street, indicated he thought Shannon lived there with his mother, and described the location as (in Byer’s words) “the second house from the curve....”
Some time after the Mitchell interview, Agent Nunley and a Duncan P.D. captain (Evans) drove to Marlow to locate the Shannon house. They identified what they thought was 110 W. Osage based on Mitchell’s description of the house and the location on the map he drew.
Based on the above and other information, Nunley secured a no knock search warrant from a federal magistrate judge. The warrant identified the property to be searched as “the residence of [Shannon] located at 110 W. Osage Road, Marlow,” attached a copy of the photo taken by the officers, and included directions as to how to get to the property.
At approximately midnight on the evening of June 27, 2007, the search warrant was executed by forced entry into the Powell home at 106 W. Osage. The tactical team from the Stephens County Sheriffs office was enlisted to make entry into and secure the residence, with the expectation that Nunley would conduct the actual search. Nunley waited outside while the house was entered. The tactical team broke open the front door and entered with weapons drawn, loudly shouting for Shannon in addition to giving other shouted instructions. Mr. and Ms. Powell were in bed, unclothed and asleep, when the officers forced their way into the house. Mr. Powell started shifting in the bed, reaching for a shotgun he kept under it.
The officers later conducted a search of the correct, adjacent property.
Constitutional Claims
Plaintiffs assert claims for violation of their Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State ... subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress....
Section 1983 does not create substantive rights, but merely provides a remedy for deprivations of rights that are established elsewhere. Albright v. Oliver, 510 U.S. 266, 271, 114 S.Ct. 807, 127 L.Ed.2d 114 (1994). The judicially created Bivens action provides a basis for claims against federal officers and employees similar to that authorized by § 1983 as to state officers.
Here, plaintiffs essentially charge that their Fourth Amendment rights were violated by the entry into their house without a warrant, the use of excessive or unreasonably humiliating force in effecting the entry and detention, and the unreasonable prolonging of the entry/search after the mistake was discovered.
The individual defendants all assert the defense of qualified immunity. Where a defendant asserts qualified immunity by summary judgment motion, the burden shifts to the plaintiff to show that, on the facts alleged, the defendant violated his or her constitutional or statutory rights and that the right in question was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation. Fisher v. City of Las Cruces, 584 F.3d 888, 896 (10th Cir. 2009).
The Fourth Amendment provides that “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their person, houses ... and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated....” “At the very core” of the Fourth Amendment is the right of a person to be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion in his or her own home. Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27, 31, 121 S.Ct. 2038, 150 L.Ed.2d 94 (2001). As a result, warrant-less searches of a person’s home are presumptively unreasonable, subject only to certain narrowly delineated exceptions. Here, it is undisputed that defendants did not have a warrant authorizing the search of plaintiffs’ residence, 106 W. Osage, and that no exception to the warrant requirement (apart from whatever significance the mistakenly executed warrant had) is applicable.
The Fourth Amendment is not necessarily violated, however, in circumstances such as exist here where officers have mistakenly executed a search warrant on the wrong property. As the Supreme Court stated in Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 396, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989): “The Fourth Amendment is not violated by ... the mistaken execution of a valid search warrant on the wrong premises, Maryland v. Garrison, 480 U.S. 79, 107 S.Ct. 1013, 94 L.Ed.2d 72 (1987).” In Garrison, police officers obtained and executed a warrant to search “the premises known as 2036 Park Avenue third floor apartment.” Id. at 80, 107 S.Ct. 1013. The police believed that there was only one apartment on the third floor, but there
While the purposes justifying a police search strictly limit the permissible extent of the search, the Court has also recognized the need to allow some latitude for honest mistakes that are made by officers in the dangerous and difficult process of making arrests and executing search warrants.
Id. at 87, 107 S.Ct. 1013. The Garrison court went on to define “honest mistakes” as “those of reasonable men, acting on facts leading sensibly to their conclusions of probability” and concluded that the question was ultimately whether the officers’ actions in entering the second apartment were “objectively understandable and reasonable” under the circumstances. Id. at 87-88, 107 S.Ct. 1013. As a result, in determining whether the officers’ entry into the Powell residence violated their Fourth Amendment rights, the question becomes whether the officers’ actions, though mistaken, were nonetheless objectively reasonable so as to make the entry the sort of “honest mistake” to which Garrison alluded. See also Harman v. Pollock, 446 F.3d 1069 (10th Cir. 2006). And, in the context of a motion for summary judgment, the question becomes whether the proffered facts, viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiff, are sufficient to create a justiciable question as to the objective reasonableness of the officer’s actions.
The court concludes they are not. There is, of course, no evidence to suggest the officers knew the house they were entering was the wrong one or that they would have had any reason or incentive to take such a step had they known it was the wrong house.
Plaintiffs have, in part through their expert Michael Lyman, identified various things they say would have revealed the mistake. The officers might have searched surrounding houses for street numbers and learned the mistake from that. They might have transported the informant to the area to identify the house in person. They might have involved local police or used some sort of global positioning system to better identify the house. No doubt those are among the ways the mistake that occurred here might have been discovered and averted, but such 20-20 hindsight is not the test under Gamson. Rather, the question is whether “the officers’ conduct was consistent with a reasonable effort to ascertain and identify the place intended to be searched ...” Garrison, 480 U.S. at 88-89, 107 S.Ct. 1013. Here, the undisputed facts show that defendants at least made a “reasonable effort” to identify the proper location, though that identification ultimately proved to be mistaken.
Even if the officers’ mistaken entry into the house is excused based on the above, there may still be an actionable violation of plaintiffs Fourth Amendment rights if unreasonable force was used or if the search continued after the error was realized.
In Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. at 388, 109 S.Ct. 1865, the Court considered “what constitutional standard governs a free citizen’s claim that law enforcement officials used excessive force in the course of making an arrest, investigatory stop, or other ‘seizure’ of his person,” and held that such claims are “properly analyzed under the Fourth Amendment’s ‘objective reasonableness’ standard.” “Determining whether the force used to effect a particular seizure is ‘reasonable’ under the Fourth Amendment requires a careful balancing of the nature and quality of the intrusion on the individual’s Fourth Amendment interests against the countervailing government interests at stake.” Id. at 396, 109 S.Ct. 1865 (internal quotation omitted). The reasonableness of an officer’s conduct must be measured not in hindsight, but “in light of the facts and circumstances confronting them” at the time of the incident in question. Id. at 397,109 S.Ct. 1865. “[T]he excessive force inquiry evaluates the force used in a given arrest or detention against the force reasonably necessary to effect a lawful arrest or detention under the circumstances of the case.” Cortez v. McCauley, 478 F.3d 1108, 1126 (10th Cir. 2007) (emphasis added). Thus, the question here is whether, under the circumstances which confronted the officers, the force used by them was objectively reasonable.
The undisputed facts show that the officers conducting the search made a nighttime entry into what they thought was the residence of a felon and drug user in possession of stolen property — stolen property which included a machine gun and other firearms. The forced entry was authorized by the terms of the warrant they were executing. The loud shouting and pointing of weapons were consistent with the need to secure the premises in a fashion that avoided unnecessary confrontations or other threats to the safety of the executing officers or others. Mr. Powell was forcibly taken to the floor by one
Moreover, the undisputed facts show that the officers did not continue their search once they realized they were in the wrong house. Garrison noted that the officers there “were required to discontinue the search of respondent’s apartment as soon as they discovered that there were two separate units.... ” Garrison, 480 U.S. at 87, 107 S.Ct. 1013. In somewhat similar circumstances, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals stated:
Thus, the search became unconstitutional only if it continued after the defendants realized, or reasonably should have realized, that the people named in the warrant as occupants of the apartment no longer resided there.
Peterson v. Jensen, 371 F.3d 1199, 1203 (10th Cir. 2004). Here, plaintiffs’ testimony was to the effect that five to ten minutes had elapsed between the initial entry and the entry of Mr. Nunley into the room, which occurred immediately after the officers realized they had entered the wrong house. The entering officers were not reasonably required to instantly accept any protestations the Powells may have made that they were in the wrong place, but were entitled to take reasonable steps to independently confirm that fact.
In the circumstances existing here, defendants have shown entitlement to summary judgment as to plaintiffs’ constitutional claims. While it is clear that plaintiffs suffered a terrifying experience as a result of the defendants’ conduct, that conduct does not amount to an actionable constitutional violation under the standards set out in Garrison and its progeny.
State Law Claims
Plaintiffs assert state law claims for trespass, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress,
The grounds for defendants’ motions involve arguments based both on the status of, or relationships between, the particular defendants and on whether a sufficient basis for the particular substantive violation has been made out against any defendant. The “status” arguments are addressed first.
The United States argues Agent Nunley’s personal actions did not constitute tortious conduct and that there is no basis for holding it liable for any action taken by the county tactical team, as the team members were not “employees” of the United States and hence within the scope of the FTCA’s waiver of sovereign immunity. The FTCA provides a limited waiver of sovereign immunity as to certain torts committed by government “employees” acting within the scope of their employment. Curry v. United States, 97 F.3d 412, 414 (10th Cir. 1996). “Employee of the government” is defined to include “persons acting on behalf of a federal agency in an official capacity, temporarily or permanently in the service of the United States, whether with or without compensation .... ” 28 U.S.C. § 2671. In determining the reach of this definition, the “critical question” is whether the federal government had the power to control the detailed physical performance of the individual involved. Tsosie v. U.S., 452 F.3d 1161, 1163 (10th Cir. 2006) (quoting Duplan v. Harper, 188 F.3d 1195, 1200 (10th Cir. 1999)). Although the “control” test appears to have been most often employed in determining whether a person is an “employee” versus an “independent contractor”, the cases appear to apply the same approach in determining the application of § 2671’s “acting on behalf of’ language. See Means v. U.S., 176 F.3d 1376, 1379-1380 (11th Cir. 1999).
In the present circumstances, the court concludes a justiciable question remains as to whether the United States had the requisite level of control over the tactical team to render its members federal “employee[s] of the government.” Unlike the situation in Means, where the court found it undisputed that the state officers
Insofar as the claims against the state defendants (the sheriff/county and Richards) are concerned, they are subject to Oklahoma’s Governmental Tort Claims Act, 51 Okla. Stat. §§ 151 et seq. (“GTCA”). Subject to certain exceptions, the GTCA provides that “[t]he state, its political subdivisions, and all their employees acting within the scope of their employment ... shall be immune from liability for torts.” 51 Okla. Stat. § 152.1(A).
The court concludes the state claims against defendant Richards must be rejected based on the GTCA. As noted above, employees of a political subdivision acting within the scope of their employment are immune from liability for torts. Plaintiffs have not produced evidence or suggested a plausible basis for concluding that Richards’s actions were outside the scope of his employment. If there is some other basis for imposing liability on Richards as to the state law claims, the plaintiffs’ arguments are simply too scattered and unfocused for the court to discern it. Summary judgment will be entered for defendant Richards on the state claims.
Insofar as the claims against Stephens County are concerned, the county argues that plaintiffs’ claims fail because they have “sued the wrong party.” It is altogether unclear to the court whether defendant is arguing the County has not been served properly, or that the prerequisites for liability under the Oklahoma Governmental Tort Claims Act have not been met, or something else. The parties have acknowledged that, as to plaintiffs’ § 1983 claims, a claim against the sheriff in his/ her official capacity is the same as a suit against Cleveland County and that has perhaps diverted attention from whatever point it is that the County is now making. In any event, the court concludes the substance is that Stephens County is a defendant in this suit and, to the extent some technical defect exists as to service or otherwise, it does not afford a basis for summary judgment as to the state claims.
Stephens County also argues that the officers’ conduct here falls under certain GTCA exceptions retaining sovereign immunity for claims resulting from “[judicial, quasi-judicial, or prosecutorial functions” or from the “[execution or enforcement of the lawful orders of any court.” 51 Okla. Stat. § 155(2) & (3). However, those exceptions are inapplicable where an officer “exceeds his authority in executing a search warrant.” Sullivant v. City of Oklahoma City, 940 P.2d 220, 223 (Okla. 1997). In Sullivant, an apartment owner sued two Oklahoma cities under the GTCA for damages resulting from their
The remaining arguments offered by defendants relate to the substantive elements of the particular torts alleged or to substantive defenses applicable to them.
Defendants have argued, on various theories, that no basis exists in these facts for the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Plaintiffs also assert a claim for trespass. Under Oklahoma law:
a trespasser is one who enters upon property of another without any right, lawful authority, or express or implied invitation, permission, or license, not in performance of any duty to owner or person in charge or any business of such person but merely for his own purposes, pleasure, or convenience, or out of curiosity.
Williamson v. Fowler Toyota, Inc., 956 P.2d 858, 862 (Okla. 1998). Defendants contend they are not liable for trespass because the officers entered the plaintiffs’ home under authority of a lawfully issued search warrant. They rely on Lawmaster v. Ward, 125 F.3d 1341, 1352 (10th Cir. 1997), which concluded the defendant ATF agents were not liable for trespass because their entry into the plaintiffs residence was authorized by a valid warrant. However, as with the discussion of Sullivant and the GTCA exemption discussed above, defendants fail to come to grips with the essential facts of this case. Unlike in Lamnaster, where the officers entered the location identified in the warrant, the officers here entered the wrong house — 106
Plaintiffs also assert assault and battery claims. The county argues the claims are barred by Oklahoma’s one-year statute of limitations applicable to such claims, 12 Okla. Stat. § 95(A)(4), arguing that this case was filed more than one year after the June 26, 2007, incident.
Insofar as the elements of an assault and battery claim are concerned, Oklahoma follows the approach of the Restatement (Second) of Torts. Brown v. Ford, 905 P.2d 223, 229 (Okla. 1995). The Restatement provides:
§ 13: An actor is subject to liability to another for battery if (a) he acts intending to cause a harmful or offensive contact with the person of the other or third person, or an imminent apprehension of such a contact, and (b) a harmful contact with the other directly or indirectly results.
§ 21: An actor is subject to liability to another for assault if (a) he acts intending to cause a harmful or offensive contact with the person of the other or a third person, or an imminent apprehension of such contract, and (b) the other is thereby put in such an imminent apprehension.
There is, of course, evidence of contact with Mr. Powell which might be deemed offensive and evidence which would support an inference of apprehension of imminent contact by both plaintiffs. Stephens County argues that the force used was both reasonable and “incidental to the officers’ execution of a valid warrant” and thus should not support liability. However, the county has not provided any authority to support such a defense beyond the same “lawful authority” justification referenced in Sullivant and Lawmaster and, as discussed above, the rationale of those cases does not extend to the circumstances arguably existing here. The court concludes summary judgment is not warranted as to plaintiffs’ assault and battery claim against the United States and Stephens County.
Summary
Based on the foregoing, the summary judgment motions of defendants Richards [Doc. # 74] and Nunley [Doc. # 72] are GRANTED as to the claims against them. The motion of Stephens County [Doc. # 71] is GRANTED as to plaintiffs’ constitutional (§ 1983) claims and their claims for negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress, but DENIED as to the claims for trespass and assault and battery. The motion of the United States
The claims against the United States and Stephens County for trespass and for assault and battery remain for trial.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
. The amended complaint makes passing reference to plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights having been violated. However, it contains no specific allegations which might support a First Amendment claim in these circumstances and none is otherwise apparent to the court.
. Plaintiffs’ brief (plaintiff's response to Nunley motion) suggests a dispute as to some aspect of this, apparently based on other testimony of Byers. It is unclear whether plaintiffs dispute that Byers testified as indicated, that Williams told Byers what Byers said he did, or whether they simply dispute the factual accuracy of the statement allegedly made. In any event, nothing has been identified in the testimony of Detective Byers that appears to dispute the thrust of what the other officers allegedly told Byers.
. Plaintiffs dispute this assertion, relying on an affidavit of Mr. Shannon's mother that the utilities at 110 W. Osage were in her name, not Shannon’s. In light of the other testimony, not disputed by plaintiffs, that officers were aware Shannon was living with his mother, it is far from clear that the mother’s affidavit really controverts anything. In any event, the court concludes the indicated affidavit does not create a factual dispute as to whether the officers attempted to verify the address via utilities listings.
.As best the court can determine from plaintiffs’ extraordinarily confusing description of the facts and testimony, plaintiffs object that the identified location did not actually match the description given by Mitchell. It is unclear from plaintiffs’ description why that is so, but, in any event, the submissions do nothing to put in issue the question of whether Nunley and Evans in fact made the trip and thought they had located the correct house.
. The officers indicated they thought the unkempt look was consistent with Shannon's status as a known drug user and felon.
. Plaintiffs dispute this fact based on the affidavit of Vesta Lavey, Shannon's mother, to the effect that her house had street numbers on the carport during this period of time. That, of course, is not the question. The question is whether the house the officers thought was the target (i.e. 106 W. Osage, not Ms. Lavey’s house) had visible house numbers. The Lavey affidavit does not put this fact in issue.
. In their response to Nunley’s motion, plaintiffs deny Mr. Powell reached for a shotgun but they cite no evidence to support the denial. Defendants' assertion that he did have and reach for a shotgun is based on the statements of Ms. Powell.
. The testimony indicates Ms. Powell was covered by a sheet to her waist and covered her upper body with her arms.
. The Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause makes the substantive protections of the Fourth Amendment applicable to the states. Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 81 S.Ct. 1684, 6 L.Ed.2d 1081 (1961). Hereafter, references to plaintiffs' "Fourth Amendment” or "constitutional” claims embrace both amendments, as applicable to the particular defendant.
. The parties do make passing reference to the fact that the picture attached to the warrant application and the warrant was of 106 W. Osage, the wrong house, rather than to the 110 W. Osage location otherwise referenced in both. However, so far as the court can discern from the briefs of the parties, no one has argued that this fact rendered the warrant invalid or has otherwise attached any particular significance to it.
. The appellate cases are not always clear as to whether, as a strict theoretical matter, a reasonable mistake by officers results in the absence of a Fourth Amendment violation altogether or simply to the absence of officer liability, based on qualified immunity, for a violation that has occurred. However, as the Garrison court discussed the issue in terms of a constitutional violation and in the context of a motion to suppress rather than in a § 1983 context, the court has assumed the "objective reasonableness” inquiry goes to the substantive violation. In any event, it appears the result would be the same if viewed through the prism of a qualified immunity inquiry.
. One officer not present at the actual search indicated he was not totally certain of the correct location, but it is undisputed he did not share that information with Nunley or others on the search team.
. See Peterson v. Jensen, 371 F.3d at 1202, noting that plaintiffs pleadings could be read to allege either that defendants continued their search until independently confirming the facts as to the occupants or that they continued it after verifying those facts. The court noted it was the latter reading that stated a constitutional violation.
. Compare Harman v. Pollock, supra, where the allegations were that plaintiffs were detained for approximately 90 minutes, the first 60 of those in handcuffs, and that officers continued the search after they knew the target occupants of the searched premises no longer lived there.
. As the court concludes no constitutional violation occurred here, it is unnecessary to address whether there is a basis for imposing liability on Stephens County.
. Plaintiffs’ response concedes there is no evidence of physical injury as to either of them, a necessary requirement under Oklahoma law for a negligent infliction claim.
.The parties’ briefing as to many of the state law claims and the impact of the tort claims acts has been somewhat cursory.
. As noted above, plaintiffs have conceded no basis exists here for a claim based on negligent infliction of distress.
. This case was filed July 21, 2008. Docket entry # 1.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Tim POWELL and Heather Powell v. Todd NUNLEY
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published