Chevallier v. Hand

884 F. Supp. 2d 807, 2012 WL 3230477, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109657
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Arkansas
DecidedAugust 6, 2012
DocketCase No. 3:11-CV-03050
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 884 F. Supp. 2d 807 (Chevallier v. Hand) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chevallier v. Hand, 884 F. Supp. 2d 807, 2012 WL 3230477, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109657 (W.D. Ark. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER

P.K. HOLMES, III, Chief Judge.

Currently before the Court are Defendant’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. 15) and Brief in Support (Doc. 16) and Plaintiffs Response (Doc. 19). For the reasons set forth below, Defendant’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. 15) is DENIED.

I. Background

Plaintiff alleges that on or about August 16, 2010, Defendant Joel Hand, a Deputy Sheriff of Carroll County, Arkansas, arrested Plaintiff at Plaintiffs residence for certain misdemeanor crimes that did not [809]*809occur in Defendant’s presence. Defendant did not have a warrant to arrest Plaintiff for these offenses, and Plaintiff asserts that he did not commit any crimes. Plaintiff further maintains that during the arrest process, Defendant sprayed Plaintiff in the face with pepper spray, wrestled him to the ground, and injured him. Plaintiff was 81 years old at the time of the incident.

After Plaintiff was arrested, he was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment, criminal trespassing, and refusal to submit to arrest. He filed a Complaint in this Court on July 7, 2011, claiming violations of the Federal Civil Rights Act, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Plaintiff contends that Defendant used excessive force against him and falsely arrested and detained him, in violation of Plaintiffs constitutional rights.

Defendant admits in his Motion for Partial Summary Judgment that there exist genuine issues of material fact in controversy regarding Plaintiffs excessive force claim; but as to Plaintiffs false arrest and imprisonment claims, Defendant argues that no factual controversy exists, and the Court may decide these claims as a matter of law. Plaintiffs Response to Defendant’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment references only a dispute of law, rather than any dispute of fact. However, Defendant has attached as exhibits to his Motion the depositions of himself and Plaintiff, and in considering these, the Court has surmised that, despite Plaintiffs failure to specifically recite any dispute of fact in his Response, some disputes indeed exist and are material to ruling on the Motion now before the Court.

II. Legal Standard

In determining whether summary judgment is appropriate, the burden is placed on the moving party to establish both the absence of a genuine dispute of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56; Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Nat’l Bank of Commerce of El Dorado, Ark. v. Dow Chem. Co., 165 F.3d 602 (8th Cir.1999). The Court must review the facts in a light most favorable to the party opposing a motion for summary judgment and give that party the benefit of any inferences that logically can be drawn from those facts. Canada v. Union Elec. Co., 135 F.3d 1211, 1212-13 (8th Cir.1997). In order for there to be a genuine issue of material fact, the non-moving party must produce evidence “such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Allison v. Flexway Trucking, Inc., 28 F.3d 64, 66 (8th Cir.1994) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)).

III. Discussion

Defendant contends that, as a law enforcement officer employed by state government, he is entitled to qualified immunity on Plaintiffs claims for false arrest and imprisonment. “When a state actor is sued in [his] individual capacity, [he] can plead an affirmative defense of qualified immunity.” Wagner v. Jones, 664 F.3d 259, 268 (8th Cir.2011) (citation omitted). “[G]overnment officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). When analyzing an officer’s conduct, “the court should ask whether the [810]*810[officer] acted reasonably under settled law in the circumstances, not whether another reasonable, or more reasonable, interpretation of the events can be constructed ...” Hunter v. Bryant, 502 U.S. 224, 228, 112 S.Ct. 534, 116 L.Ed.2d 589 (1991).

The key issue in determining Defendant’s entitlement to qualified immunity is whether Defendant had probable cause to arrest and imprison Plaintiff. Hannah v. City of Overland, Mo., 795 F.2d 1385, 1389 (8th Cir.1986) (“It is well established that a warrantless arrest without probable cause violates an individual’s constitutional rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments”). Under Arkansas law, the elements of proof required to demonstrate false arrest and false imprisonment are identical. Headrick v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 293 Ark. 433, 435, 738 S.W.2d 418 (Ark.1987). Both occur when there is confinement without legal authority. Id.

Plaintiffs arrest was particularly unusual in that Defendant lacked an arrest warrant and, it appears, did not personally observe Plaintiff committing an underlying crime, other than those offenses related to the arrest itself. Plaintiffs brief Response to Defendant’s Motion cites only to Bad Elk v. United States, 177 U.S. 529, 20 S.Ct. 729, 44 L.Ed. 874 (1900), for the proposition that an officer may not make a warrantless arrest for a misdemeanor committed outside of the officer’s presence. Bad Elk, however, was decided 112 years ago, based on the common law. Since then, the U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on whether a warrantless arrest for a misdemeanor is permitted under the Fourth Amendment, when the officer did not observe the offense. Veatch v. Bartels Lutheran Home, 627 F.3d 1254, 1258 (8th Cir.2010). The Eighth Circuit has not precisely decided this point of law either, but has stated that “the weight of authority holds that the Fourth Amendment does not impose an ‘in the presence’ requirement ...”’ Id. (citing Welsh v. Wisconsin, 466 U.S. 740

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Edward Chevallier v. Deputy Sheriff Joel Hand
722 F.3d 1101 (Eighth Circuit, 2013)

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Bluebook (online)
884 F. Supp. 2d 807, 2012 WL 3230477, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109657, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chevallier-v-hand-arwd-2012.