Angello Osborne v. Peter Georgiades

679 F. App'x 234
Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit·Decided February 8, 2017·No. 15-2468·Unpublished·Cited by 27 cases

Opinions

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

GREGORY, Chief Judge:

Plaintiff-appellee Angelo Osborne sued Defendant-appellant Corporal Peter Geor-giades, as well as Dione White and Meredith Lynn Pipitone, alleging violations of his constitutional rights under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985. Specifically, Osborne contends that Georgiades, in the process of [235] investigating him for alleged sexual abuse of his minor child, unreasonably seized him in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. Georgiades moved for summary judgment on grounds of qualified immunity. The district court denied the motion, holding that Georgiades is not entitled to qualified immunity. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I.

A.

As a preliminary matter, we view the facts in the light most favorable to Osborne, the nonmoving party. See ACLU of Md., Inc. v. Wicomico County, 999 F.2d 780, 784 (4th Cir. 1993). Osborne and Pipitone are the parents of two minor children—a daughter (“JMLO”), five years old at the time of the events in question, and a son (“CJP”), then two years old. On November 1, 2010, Pipitone contacted the Harford County Child Advocacy Center to report the alleged sexual assault of JMLO. Pipitone claimed that JMLO did not want to spend Halloween with her father. JMLO purportedly told Pipitone that a few weeks prior, Osborne had [Redacted] Sealed App. 63.*

Later that day, White, a licensed social worker for the Harford County Child Advocacy Center, interviewed Pipitone. After speaking with Pipitone, White interviewed JMLO. Although Georgiades was not present, he remained in telephone contact with White and observed the interview from a nearby room via live video feed for purposes of investigating the allegations. White employed the Rapport, Anatomical Identification, Touch Inquiry, Abuse Scenario, Closure (“RATAC”) method when questioning JMLO. RATAC focuses on reducing any potential trauma to the child during the interview.

In her initial responses to White’s questions, JMLO consistently denied that Osborne, or anyone else, had touched her on parts of her body covered by a bathing suit. [Redacted] Id. In total, JMLO denied abuse six times. See J.A. 250, 252, 255 (classifying JMLO’s responses as “denials”).

[Redacted] Id. After approximately three minutes of similar questions, JMLO changed course and finally replied, “He did.” Id.

JMLO went on to state Id [Redacted] Id. JMLO also described [Redacted] She then referred to an incident at Osborne’s house in which CJP got in “trouble” with Osborne’s girlfriend. Id. Although it is not entirely clear what CJP did, JMLO stated “that’s why I’m never going over there again.” Id. White never asked any followup questions concerning that incident. Instead, White asked several questions regarding whether Osborne’s girlfriend and CJP “saw it happen.” Id. JMLO again changed course and stated that Osborne’s girlfriend was not present when the alleged abuse occurred and that CJP was. asleep. Id.

After JMLO described and demonstrated with dolls the alleged acts of abuse, White placed a phone call to Georgiades, who suggested other topics to discuss. J.A. 226, 237. After this call, she asked JMLO whether CJP was present during the second instance of abuse. JMLO stated that CJP was asleep in the bed next to her. Id. at 54. JMLO also stated Osborne [Redacted] Id. at 55. White then asked [Redacted] Id.

[236] Their conversation was then interrupted by a second phone call from Georgiades. After this conversation, White asked JMLO a series of questions regarding [Redacted] At this point, Georgiades immediately placed a third phone call, resulting in White terminating the interview. White and Georgiades spoke on three occasions throughout the interview.

After White completed the interview, Pi-pitone called Osborne to accuse him of sexually assaulting their daughter. With Pipitone’s consent, Georgiades listened in on the call. During that conversation, Osborne consistently denied Pipitone’s accusations. Osborne also told Pipitone he would take a polygraph test if she took one. J.A. 318, 319-20.

The most recent assault allegedly occurred on October 16, 2010. Dr. Paul Lo-monico conducted a thorough physical exam of JMLO on November 3, 2010, for evidence of sexual assault. He examined her entire body, [Redacted] Sealed App. 58. His medical report indicated “no physical signs ... of sexual abuse” but noted, “This does not rule out abuse.” Id.

On December 15, 2010, Georgiades met with Diane Tobin (“Tobin”), a Deputy State’s Attorney for Harford County, Maryland. After reviewing the video of the JMLO interview, Tobin accepted the case for prosecution. For over a month, Geor-giades attempted to contact Osborne, but was unsuccessful. On January 21, 2011, Georgiades spoke to Osborne, who stated that he would only speak with Georgiades with his attorney present. Id. at 68.

On January 24, 2011, Georgiades applied for an arrest warrant. Georgiades’s affidavit disclosed only JMLO’s accusations of sexual abuse but not her repeated denials, nor the results of the medical examination. An arrest warrant was issued, and Osborne was arrested on the same day. Osborne was charged with eight counts of sexual—assault-based offenses. On January 25, 2011, Osborne was detained in the Harford County Detention Center, with bail set for $500,000. A grand jury subsequently indicted Osborne on February 15, 2011, on sixteen counts of sexual-assault-related crimes. Osborne was incarcerated without bond for over eight months, until October 3, 2011, when a bond was set for $25,000. The state eventually declined to prosecute Osborne on December 13, 2011, instead placing his case on the inactive “stet” docket.

- B.

Osborne initiated the present action on January 23, 2014. Osborne claims that White, with Georgiades’s guidance, fabricated evidence against him by asking JMLO “unduly suggestive and leading” questions “designed and intended to cajole the minor child into making up a story to support” Pipitone’s accusations. J.A. 9. Osborne also claims that Georgiades knowingly omitted relevant facts from his application for Osborne’s arrest warrant. Osborne denies ever assaulting or even attempting to assault the minor child. He argues that his arrest and ensuing incarceration were “without justification, without probable cause, and were motivated by [Defendants’] wanton, malicious[,] and reckless desire to inflict great emotional and physical distress and pain and suffering upon” him. Id. at 11.

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Angello Osborne v. Peter Georgiades, 679 F. App'x 234 (4th Cir. 2017).

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