Behm v. Campbell

925 So. 2d 1070, 2006 WL 566107
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 10, 2006
Docket5D05-2200
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 925 So. 2d 1070 (Behm v. Campbell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Behm v. Campbell, 925 So. 2d 1070, 2006 WL 566107 (Fla. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

925 So.2d 1070 (2006)

Karl BEHM and Marilyn Behm, Appellant,
v.
Timothy CAMPBELL, Michael Kelly, et al., Appellee.

No. 5D05-2200.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

March 10, 2006.

Michael W. Woodward, of Keyser & Woodward, Interlachen, for Appellant.

*1071 John W. Jolly, Jr., of Jolly & Peterson, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

SHARP, W., J.

Karl Behm and his wife, Marilyn, appeal from a final summary judgment in favor of the Sheriff of Putnam County and Putnam County Deputies Michael Kelly, Timothy Campbell and Joseph Azula. The Behms sued the Sheriff and deputies for battery, false arrest/imprisonment and trespass after Behm was arrested by one of the deputies. However, because Behm entered a no contest plea to resisting the arrest, in the criminal case, he is foreclosed from suing the Sheriff and deputies in a civil action for damages arising from the same incident.

The record reflects that on December 12, 2000, the deputies responded to a disturbance call involving possible gunshots. According to their reports, the deputies saw Behm's truck leaving the area and attempted to stop him. Behm did not stop and instead drove to his residence. The deputies told Behm he was going to be detained until they finished their investigation. Behm told the deputies they were trespassing.

The deputies spotted a rifle in Behm's truck and what appeared to be a bullet hole on the passenger side. Behm said he was going inside his house and turned to leave. Campbell stepped in front to prevent Behm from leaving and Behm tried to hit Campbell. The deputies then forced Behm to the ground. He resisted and they pepper sprayed him.[1]

Behm was arrested for resisting arrest with violence. Later an information was filed charging him with resisting Deputy Campbell "in the lawful execution of a legal duty." Behm entered a plea of no contest to the lesser included offense of resisting arrest without violence, in violation of section 843.02,[2] and adjudication of guilt was withheld.

Behm and his wife then sued the Sheriff[3] and deputies Campbell, Kelly and Azula, for battery, false arrest/imprisonment and trespass. The Behms sought damages arising out of the same incident as the one involved in the criminal case against Behm.[4] Both sides ultimately moved for summary judgment.

At the summary judgment hearing, Behm argued the deputies had no probable cause, no reasonable suspicion and no legal basis for staying on his property after he *1072 asked them to leave. Defense counsel argued that Behm's no contest plea estopped him from contending the underlying arrest was unlawful.

The trial court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment but allowed Behm to amend his battery count to allege excessive force. Behm apparently chose not to amend his complaint and final judgment was entered in the defendants' favor.

Under Florida law, Behm's no contest plea constituted a "conviction" even though adjudication of guilt was withheld. See Montgomery v. State, 897 So.2d 1282 (Fla.2005) (defendant's no contest pleas with adjudication of guilt withheld constituted prior "convictions" under the sentencing guidelines); § 960.291(3), Fla. Stat. ("Conviction" means a guilty verdict by a jury or judge, or a guilty or nolo contendere plea by a defendant, regardless of adjudication of guilt).

A judgment of conviction is conclusive evidence of probable cause, unless the judgment was obtained by fraud, perjury, or other corrupt means. Moody v. City of Key West, 805 So.2d 1018 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001); Carter v. City of St. Petersburg, 319 So.2d 602 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975). Here there is no evidence or even an allegation that Behm's plea was obtained by any corrupt means. Thus Behm's conviction established probable cause for his arrest.

By virtue of his criminal conviction for resisting arrest, Behm is foreclosed from collaterally attacking the legality of that arrest in a civil action. See Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 114 S.Ct. 2364, 129 L.Ed.2d 383 (1994). In Heck, the Supreme Court held that a plaintiff could not bring an action under 42 U.S.C.1983 after having been convicted of a criminal offense stemming from the same act that is the basis of the civil lawsuit:

We hold that, in order to recover damages for allegedly unconstitutional conviction or imprisonment, or for other harm caused by actions whose unlawfulness would render a conviction or sentence invalid, a § 1983 plaintiff must prove that the conviction or sentence has been reversed on direct appeal, expunged by executive order, declared invalid by a state tribunal authorized to make such determination, or called into question by a federal court's issuance of a writ of habeas corpus, 28 U.S.C. § 2254. A claim for damages bearing that relationship to a conviction or sentence that has not been so invalidated is not cognizable under § 1983. (footnote omitted)

512 U.S. at 486-487, 114 S.Ct. 2364.

As an example of a situation involving a claim for damages caused by actions "whose unlawfulness would render a conviction or sentence invalid," the Court cited the following:

An example of this latter category — a § 1983 action that does not seek damages directly attributable to conviction or confinement but whose successful prosecution would necessarily imply that the plaintiff's criminal conviction was wrongful — would be the following: A state defendant is convicted of and sentenced for the crime of resisting arrest, defined as intentionally preventing a peace officer from effecting a lawful arrest. (This is a common definition of that offense. See People v. Peacock, 68 N.Y.2d 675, 505 N.Y.S.2d 594, 496 N.E.2d 683 (1986); 4 C. Torcia, Wharton's Criminal Law § 593, p. 307 (14th ed.1981).) He then brings a § 1983 action against the arresting officer, seeking damages for violation of his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizures. In order to prevail in this § 1983 action, he would have to *1073 negate an element of the offense of which he has been convicted. Regardless of the state law concerning res judicata, see n. 2, supra, the § 1983 action will not lie.

512 U.S. at 487, n. 6, 114 S.Ct. 2364.

This is precisely the situation here. Behm was convicted of resisting arrest without violence, a conviction which established the legality of his arrest. In order to prevail in his civil action for false arrest/imprisonment, trespass and battery, he would have to negate an element of the offense of which he has been convicted. Such a collateral attack on the conviction through the vehicle of a civil suit is not permitted. Heck. See also Abella v. Rubino, 63 F.3d 1063 (11th Cir.1995) (Court's purpose in Heck was to limit the opportunities for collateral attack on state court convictions because such collateral attacks undermine the finality of criminal proceedings and may create conflicting resolutions of issues).

Since Behm was convicted of resisting arrest, he cannot now sue the Sheriff and deputies claiming that very arrest was unlawful.

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925 So. 2d 1070, 2006 WL 566107, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/behm-v-campbell-fladistctapp-2006.