James Legenzoff v. Michael Steckel

564 F. App'x 136
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedApril 23, 2014
Docket13-1449
StatusUnpublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 564 F. App'x 136 (James Legenzoff v. Michael Steckel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
James Legenzoff v. Michael Steckel, 564 F. App'x 136 (6th Cir. 2014).

Opinions

OPINION

McKEAGUE, Circuit Judge.

Appellant-Defendants Michael Steckel and Michael Wells appeal the district court’s denial of their motions for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds. The district court denied summary judgment after determining that an unduly suggestive photo array tainted the witness identifications necessary to establish probable cause as required by the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. We conclude that Steckel and Wells had probable cause to seek an arrest warrant and did not influence the decision to prosecute. Because Steckel and Wells’ conduct did not violate the Constitution, they are entitled to qualified immunity, and summary judgment is appropriate. We therefore REVERSE the district court and hold that Appellant-Defendants Steckel and Wells are protected by qualified immunity and entitled to summary judgment.

I.

In the summer of 2007, police in the city of Warren, Michigan started to receive reports of a string of larcenies. The crimes involved a similar modus operandi An elderly gentleman, later nicknamed by the media “the Suave Senior,” would gain access to the victims’ homes by posing as a neighbor or a friend. Once inside, he would ask for a cup of coffee, excuse himself to use the restroom, and then proceed to steal money or personal affects. The victims described the suspect as a white male in his seventies with white-gray hair, weighing 170 pounds and standing about 5' 10" in height.

Nearly one year later, on approximately August 20, 2008, the police in nearby Canton, Michigan received a larceny complaint from Lyle and Victoria Whipple. The Whipples stated that a few weeks prior to the larceny, a 5' 10" heavyset male named “George” had approached them outside of a grocery store and engaged them in conversation. Two weeks later, “George” appeared at the Whipple home and claimed to be a neighbor. Only Lyle Whipple was home at the time. While at the house having a cup of coffee, “George” excused himself to use the restroom. Later that evening, after Victoria Whipple returned home, the couple discovered that several hundred dollars had been stolen.

The Canton Police received a second larceny complaint on September 19, 2008 from Robert and Marie Temple. A stranger, who identified himself as a neighbor named “Chester Morton,” gained entrance to the apartment under the auspices of having a cup of coffee and then stole money after excusing himself to use the restroom. Robert Temple discovered the theft and phoned the police after “Chester” left. The Temples described the thief as an older white male, dressed nicely, and approximately 5' 7" in height and weighing 170 to 180 pounds.

Following the Whipple and Temple thefts, Canton Detective Michael Steckel (“Steckel”) posted a message on the Law Enforcement Information Network describing the two thefts and seeking infor[138]*138mation about similar incidents. Sergeant David Centala of the St. Clair Shores Police Department responded to the post and indicated that similar cases had occurred in Macomb, Warren, and St. Clair Shores. The St. Clair Shores Police Department had identified James Legenzoff as a suspect, but had not been able to pursue the case further because of the age, health, and death of the witnesses. Sergeant Centala further noted that Legenzoffs business, involving the sale of coffee, took Legenzoff through Canton and Wayne Counties.

Based upon the tip that Legenzoff might be a possible suspect, the Canton Police used the Court and Law Enforcement Management Information System to create a photo array, which included head shots of Legenzoff and five random older white men with grayish-white hair. The men in the photo array are wearing a t-shirt, a tank top, and a hoodie; one man is shirtless; and Legenzoff and one other individual are shown in collared shirts. Importantly, Legenzoffs photo in the array had a blue background because it was taken from his driver’s license photo. The backgrounds for the other individuals were varying shades of gray.

On September 23, 2008, Canton Police Detective Michael Wells (“Wells”) showed this photo array to the Temples. Shortly after looking at the array, Robert Temple identified Legenzoff and indicated that he was “100% positive” as to his selection. Marie Temple also quickly identified Le-genzoff and expressed her complete conviction in the selection.

Around this same date, Detective Wells independently met with Lyle Whipple and showed him the same photo array. Lyle Whipple pointed to photo # 2, which contained the photo of Legenzoff, and indicated that this looked like the suspect but that he was not completely positive, as he had been tired during his encounter with Legenzoff. The following day, Detective Wells showed the same photo array to Victoria Whipple. While Victoria Whipple had not been present at the time of larceny, she had met “George” two weeks prior during the grocery store encounter. After identifying Legenzoff, she indicated that she was absolutely positive in her identification. Lyle Whipple, who was present at the time of his wife’s identification, indicated that he was about 80% positive that photo #2 was Legenzoff, and expressed his belief that he would be able to identify Legenzoff if he saw him in person.

Canton Police subsequently sought arrest warrants for Legenzoff for the Temple and Whipple larcenies. The Whipple warrant was denied because there was “nothing to show [Legenzoff] took the money.” R.71-28, Wayne Cnty. Prosecuting Attorney’s Recommendation at B, Pa-gelD # 1842. But a warrant for the Temple larceny was granted on October 4, 2008, and Legenzoff was arrested for the Temple crime on October 14, 2008. Le-genzoff later surrendered himself for arrest on the Whipple crime. Ultimately, however, the Temple and Whipple cases against Legenzoff fell through and the charges against him were dismissed.

On April 4, 2011, Legenzoff filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1988 complaint against the officers and municipalities. He alleged that they had unlawfully arrested him, maliciously prosecuted him, and used unduly suggestive identification procedures.- Le-genzoff later abandoned his claims against the municipalities. Steckel and Wells filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that they were protected by qualified immunity.

The district court granted in part and denied in part the motion. The court granted the motion for summary judgment regarding the unduly suggestive identifica[139]*139tion procedure claim, holding that the “right to be free from unduly suggestive suggestive identification procedures is not a substantive due process right.” R. 82, Op. and Order at 12, PagelD # 2512. Le-genzoff has not appealed this adverse determination, and therefore, we do not address it here.

The district court denied, however, Steckel and Wells’ motion for summary judgment on the unlawful arrest and malicious prosecution claims. The court determined there was a disputed question of fact regarding whether Steckel and Wells used a color photo array or a black-and-white array.1 According to the court, the use of a color array would have highlighted the fact that Legenzoff s background was a different color from that of the other individuals. The court also noted that Legen-zoff s hair and clothing were different from those of the other individuals.

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Bluebook (online)
564 F. App'x 136, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/james-legenzoff-v-michael-steckel-ca6-2014.