Barnes v. United States

104 F. Supp. 3d 1285, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52081, 2015 WL 1809674
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Oklahoma
DecidedApril 21, 2015
DocketCase No. 12-CV-282-JED-PJC
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 104 F. Supp. 3d 1285 (Barnes v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barnes v. United States, 104 F. Supp. 3d 1285, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52081, 2015 WL 1809674 (N.D. Okla. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

JOHN E. DOWDELL, District Judge.

Before the Court are two dispositive motions (Doc. 8, 78) filed by the United States. The first is a dismissal motion under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1), (6), and the second is a summary judgment motion under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. The dismissal motion and plaintiffs response thereto are premised upon exhibits other than the Complaint, and certain issues are intertwined with the merits. As a result, and given that the same issues are presented with a more complete record in the summary judgment briefing, the Court will determine' these issues on the summary judgment motion and record before it. See Holt v. United States, 46 F.3d 1000, 1003 (10th Cir.1995).

I. Background

. The undispüted facts of this case reflect another sad tale of corrupt law enforcement officers. Brandon McFadden, who [1287]*1287was a special agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), conspired with Jeff Henderson, a Tulsa Police Department officer, to build a false criminal ease against plaintiff, Larita Barnes, and her father, Larry Barnes, Sr. Ms. Barnes was convicted and imprisoned as a result.1

■To set up the Barneses for false criminal charges, McFadden and Henderson instructed Ryan Logsdon, who was alleged to be a “reliable- confidential informant,” to provide false testimony that he purchased methamphetamine in a controlled drug buy from Larita and Larry Barnes at their home on May 8, 2007. McFadden agreed to corroborate Henderson’s police report, which falsely recited that the alleged drug buy had occurred. As a result of the false accusations, Ms. Barnes was indicted in 2007 on two felony counts. Count One charged that, on May 8, 2007, she knowingly and intentionally possessed with intent to distribute, and did distribute, 50 or more grams of methamphetamine, and Count Two charged that* she unlawfully maintained a location to distribute. McFadden has admitted that the charges were based upon “completely fabricated” allegations made by McFadden, Henderson, and Logsdon.

At the Barneses’ federal jury trial in April 2008, Logsdon testified that he purchased three ounces of methamphetamine at the Barnes home in May 2007. Logs-don’s testimony was not true. McFadden. and Henderson had met with Logsdon pri- or to ■ the trial to instruct him how to provide false testimony implicating Larita and Larry Barnes and to fabricate details of the fictional buy.

McFadden also provided false testimony at the Barneses’ jury trial. McFadden testified that: (1) he requested $8,000 from the ATF to use for a controlled drug buy; (2) on May 8, 2007,- the $3,000 was given to Logsdon to purchase- drugs from Ms. Barnes; (3) McFadden and Henderson followed Logsdon to the Barnes residence on that date; (4) McFadden witnessed Logs-don approach the Barnes residence and saw Ms. Barnes greet Logsdon at the door and then go inside; (5) after approximately five minutes, McFadden saw Logsdon leave the Barnes home; and (6) Logsdon then met McFadden and Henderson at a Warehouse Market grocery store and provided McFadden and Henderson with methamphetamine which he had purchased from the Barneses at their home. Other than his testimony that he requested and obtained $3,000 from the'ATF, the entirety of McFadden’s testimony about the Barneses was untrue; Logsdon did not go to the Barnes home, he did not purchase drugs from Larita Barnes, and McFadden did not witness any such visit to the Barnes home.

Ms. Barnes was found guilty of Counts One and Two and, on October 3, 2008, she was sentenced to 120 months in prison on each count, to run, concurrently. Sometime in 2009, the government initiated an investigation into police .corruption within the Tulsa Police Department. In the course of that investigation, the government learned that McFadden had participated in a scheme that involved stealing drugs and money, selling confiscated or stolen drugs to drug dealers for personal monetary gain, and directing others to sell drugs. The government also learned that [1288]*1288the charges against Larita and Larry Barnes were premised upon fabricated information and that their convictions were founded only upon the perjurious testimony of Logsdon, Henderson, and McFadden. As a result, the government moved in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, where Larita Barnes’s appeal from her conviction was pending, for her immediate release from prison.2 The Tenth Circuit remanded the case, and the trial court vacated Ms. Barnes’s judgment of conviction, dismissed the indictment against her, and ordered that she be immediately released from federal prison. Ms. Barnes was incarcerated with the Federal Bureau of Prisons until July 2, 2009.3

McFadden was indicted on several counts relating to his corrupt conduct, and he ultimately pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. During his plea colloquy, McFadden admitted that he had conspired with others to distribute methamphetamine. He further summarized his conduct as follows:

During the time period, that I used the position as a special agent with ATF to further the drug conspiracy and abused my position as a special agent. During this time, myself and Henderson seized drugs and money which were kept for our own personal benefit, falsified investigative reports, and failed to document events, and obstructed] justice through falsely [sic] testimony under oath and persuading other individuals to do the same.

(Doc. 78-2 at 17). He also admitted that he “testified falsely” in the Barneses’ criminal trial and that he “got Ryan Logsdon to testify falsely that he made a controlled buy from the Barnes [sic] on May the 8th of 2007, when, in fact, it did not happen. Both the Barnes [sic] were convicted on jury trial based on the false testimony of myself, Logsdon, and Henderson.” (Id. at 19).

In this suit, Ms. Barnes asserts that the United States is responsible for McFadden’s wrongful conduct and for failing to “properly train, supervise, and oversee McFadden,” and she alleges that “[t]hese failures, and others, were the direct cause of McFadden’s repeated violation of the Constitutional rights of numerous individuals including Ms. Barnes.” (Id., ¶¶ 20-28). Based on the foregoing, Ms. Barnes asserts several tort claims against the United States.

II. Summary Judgment Standards

A party may move for summary judgment on any claim or defense. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). Summary judgment is appropriate “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a); see Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

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Related

Barnes v. United States
707 F. App'x 512 (Tenth Circuit, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
104 F. Supp. 3d 1285, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52081, 2015 WL 1809674, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barnes-v-united-states-oknd-2015.