Barbara Orban v. City of Tampa Florida

265 F. App'x 877
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedFebruary 20, 2008
Docket07-12635
StatusUnpublished

This text of 265 F. App'x 877 (Barbara Orban v. City of Tampa Florida) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barbara Orban v. City of Tampa Florida, 265 F. App'x 877 (11th Cir. 2008).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Dr. Barbara Orban appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the City of Tampa on her malicious prosecution claims, and she also appeals the district court’s dismissal, for lack of standing, of her claim that the City violated her right to due process. We review a district court’s grant or denial of summary judgment de novo. Holloman v. Mail-Well Corp., 443 F.3d 832, 836 (11th Cir.2006). Summary judgment is appropriate when the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, presents no genuine issue of fact and compels judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Holloman, 443 F.3d at 836. We also review dismissals for lack of standing de novo. Scott v. Taylor, 470 F.3d 1014, 1017 (11th Cir.2006).

I. BACKGROUND

On March 27, 2000, Dr. Orban was involved in a minor traffic accident when her car struck the rear of another vehicle, which was stopped in traffic. Dr. Orban describes the accident as unavoidable, explaining that she was only able to see the stopped traffic after an SUV, behind which she was traveling, abruptly turned off the street. 1 By the time she saw the traffic jam, it was too late for her brakes to adequately engage the pavement, which was wet with rain. As a result of the collision, both Dr. Orban’s car and the ear it struck sustained minor damage, so Dr. Orban called the police to report the accident and request assistance. Two Tampa Police Department (“TPD”) officers responded to the scene. These officers had been trained to issue a citation to the at-fault driver whenever damage accompanies an accident unless a supervisor agrees that a citation would be inappropriate under the circumstances. Accordingly, the officers investigated the collision, determined that Dr. Orban was at fault, and issued Dr. Orban a citation for careless driving in violation of section 316.1925 of the Florida Statutes. 2 In addition, the officers drafted short-and long-form accident reports. The officers gave copies of the citation and the short-form report to Dr. Orban, but Dr. Orban was unaware that the long-form report existed.

*879 Dr. Orban contested the citation, but the traffic court judge found Dr. Orban guilty of careless driving. In reaching his decision, the traffic court judge allegedly relied on the officers’ long-form report, which contained inadmissible hearsay and several errors. After discovering the existence of the long-form report and the mistakes therein, Dr. Orban appealed her conviction. Subsequently, her case was reopened, and the citation was ultimately dismissed. Dr. Orban then filed the instant suit in federal court against the City of Tampa under 42 U.S.C. § 1988, alleging, inter alia, two counts of malicious prosecution and one count of a violation of her right to due process. Specifically, Dr. Or-ban argues that the City maliciously prosecuted her when TPD officers, following an established policy, issued her a citation without probable cause. Dr. Orban further argues that the City violated her due process rights by maintaining an illegal scheme to issue traffic citations without probable cause and then enforce them through the ex parte submission of traffic reports that contain hearsay and false information.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Malicious Prosecution Claims

We agree with the district court that TPD officers had probable cause to issue Dr. Orban a citation and that the existence of probable cause provides a complete defense to Dr. Orban’s claims of malicious prosecution. “To establish a federal malicious prosecution claim under § 1983, a plaintiff must prove (1) the elements of the common law tort of malicious prosecution, and (2) a violation [of a federally protected right].” Kingsland v. City of Miami, 382 F.3d 1220, 1234 (11th Cir.2004). The common law tort of malicious prosecution includes the following six elements under Florida law:

(1) an original judicial proceeding against the present plaintiff was commenced or continued; (2) the present defendant was the legal cause of the original proceeding; (3) the termination of the original proceeding constituted a bona fide termination of that proceeding in favor of the present plaintiff; (4) there was an absence of probable cause for the original proceeding; (5) there was malice on the part of the present defendant; and (6) the plaintiff suffered damages as a result of the original proceeding.

Id.

After carefully reviewing the record and the parties’ briefs, we conclude that Dr. Orban has failed to establish the fourth element of a claim for malicious prosecution because TPD officers had probable cause to issue her a citation for careless driving. 3 Probable cause “exists where the facts and circumstances within [the officers’] knowledge and of which they had reasonably trustworthy information [are] sufficient in themselves to warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that an offense has been or is being committed.” Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160, 175, 69 S.Ct. 1302, 1310-11, 93 L.Ed. 1879 (1949) (internal quotation marks omitted). The undisputed evidence shows that TPD officers investigated the accident scene for forty-five minutes, interviewed both drivers, and ultimately concluded that Dr. Or-ban was at fault and guilty of careless driving because she failed to observe the stopped traffic in time to avoid a collision. Even assuming Dr. Orban failed to timely spot the stopped traffic because a leading SUV abruptly turned off the street, Dr. *880 Orban still should have maintained adequate stopping distance in front of her ear to avoid any obstacles in the roadway. The undisputed facts provide a sufficient basis to determine as a matter of law that officers had probable cause to conclude that Dr. Orban failed to drive in a careful and prudent manner under the circumstances. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the City of Tampa on Dr. Orban’s malicious prosecution claims.

B. Due Process Violation Claim

Regarding Dr. Orban’s claim that the City violated her due process rights, we agree with the district court that Dr. Orban lacks standing to pursue a generalized claim against the City of Tampa for the City’s allegedly utilizing an illegal scheme to issue and enforce traffic citations.

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Related

Otis J. Holloman v. Mail-Well Corporation
443 F.3d 832 (Eleventh Circuit, 2006)
Jacqueline Scott v. Mark F. Taylor
470 F.3d 1014 (Eleventh Circuit, 2006)
Brinegar v. United States
338 U.S. 160 (Supreme Court, 1949)
City of Los Angeles v. Lyons
461 U.S. 95 (Supreme Court, 1983)

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Bluebook (online)
265 F. App'x 877, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barbara-orban-v-city-of-tampa-florida-ca11-2008.