Jones v. Chandrasuwan

76 F. Supp. 3d 603, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 178298, 2014 WL 7404132
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. North Carolina
DecidedDecember 30, 2014
DocketNo. 1:13CV385
StatusPublished

This text of 76 F. Supp. 3d 603 (Jones v. Chandrasuwan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jones v. Chandrasuwan, 76 F. Supp. 3d 603, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 178298, 2014 WL 7404132 (M.D.N.C. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

OSTEEN, JR., District Judge.

Presently before this court is a Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 8) filed jointly by Defendants Lanna Chandrasu-wan and Brian Holbrook (collectively, “Defendants”). Plaintiff Stanley Jones (“Plaintiff’) has responded in opposition (Doc. 13), and Defendants have replied (Doc. 15). Plaintiff alleges damages under two causes of action: a state law malicious prosecution claim (Count I) and a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violation of his Fourth Amendment rights (Count II).'

Defendants, who are both North Carolina probation officers, assert they did not violate Plaintiffs Fourth Amendment rights, or, alternatively, qualified immunity shields them from liability. Upon the request of this court (Doc. 16), both parties filed supplemental briefing on several issues. This motion is now ripe for adjudication, and for the reasons that follow, Defendants’ motion will be granted-

I. FACTS

The following facts are undisputed. In October of 2009, Plaintiff, a public school teacher, was arrested and charged with offenses stemming from improper relations with a student. (Complaint (“Compl.”) (Doc. 3) ¶¶ 6-7; Pl.’s Resp. to Defs.’ Mot. for Summ. J. (“Pl.’s Resp.”), Aff. of Stanley Jones (“Jones Aff.”) (Doc. 13-1) ¶ 5.) In July 2010, Plaintiff accepted a plea in his criminal case. (Jones Aff. (Doc. 13-1) ¶ 10.) As a result of the plea, Plaintiff was given a suspended sentence and placed on probation for two years. (Id.)

As one of the conditions of his probation, the Guilford County Superior Court ordered that Plaintiff pay $471.50 in court costs and fines, with the schedule of payment to be determined by a probation officer. (Pl.’s Resp., Judgment (Doc. 13-3) at 1.) Along with the judgment, the clerk of court gave Plaintiff a “Bill of Costs” with a due-by date of “7/7/2012.” (Jones Aff. (Doc. 13-1) ¶¶ 12, 14.). After entering his plea, Plaintiff had an intake meeting with a North Carolina probation officer. (Id. ¶ 11.) Both parties agree that Plain[606]*606tiff, at that meeting, did not complete a DCC-2,1 the internal form that the Department of Community Corrections (“DCC”) uses to set up a payment schedule.

During the pendency of the criminal charges, Plaintiff resigned his teaching position and began working for a mobile phone company, Prime Communications, in its Greensboro, North Carolina store. (Id. ¶¶ 6-7.) Three months before he accepted his plea, Plaintiff was promoted and transferred to a position with Prime Communications in Augusta, Georgia. (Id. ¶¶ 8-9.)

Because of the move, the superior court allowed Plaintiff to transfer his supervision from North Carolina to Georgia. (Id. ¶ 10.) In light of Plaintiffs North Carolina conviction and Georgia residency, the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision (“Interstate Compact” or “IC-AOS”) governed Plaintiffs multi-state probation. (See Defs.’ Mem. in Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J. (“Defs.’ Mem.”), Aff. of Karl Waller (“Waller Aff.”) (Doc. 9-2) ¶ 5.) The Interstate Compact is a formal agreement between all fifty states allowing for the transfer of probation supervision between states for adult offenders.2 (Id. ¶¶ 5-8.) Pursuant to the terms of the Interstate Compact, North Carolina, the “sending state,” retained revocation and enforcement authority over Plaintiffs probation while Georgia, the “receiving state,” supervised the probation. (Id. ¶¶ 11-12.) Plaintiff paid his monthly supervision fee to Georgia; however, the authority and responsibility to collect the $471.50 remained with North Carolina. (Jones Aff. (Doc. 13-1) ¶¶ 18-20.)

In late 2010, Prime Communications transferred Plaintiff to a new position in Savannah, Georgia. (Id. ¶ 21.) Plaintiff had his probation transferred to the Savannah office, and Jeff Kreiss was assigned as Plaintiffs new probation officer. (Id. ¶¶ 20-24.) Throughout his residency in Georgia, there were no reported violations of Plaintiffs probation from the Georgia authorities.

The events that transpired and led to Plaintiffs arrest for violating his probation began in early 2012, roughly seven months before Plaintiffs supervised release was to end. According to Defendants, in January 2012, Jay Lynn, an official in the North Carolina Interstate Compact Office (“NCI-CO”) in Raleigh, conducted a routine review of Plaintiffs probation file. (Waller Aff. (Doc. 9-2) ¶¶ 28-29.) During the review, Lynn determined that Plaintiffs court costs and fines remained unpaid. (Id. ¶ 29.) Lynn informed Karl Waller, the Interstate Compact District Coordinator, of the unpaid costs and confirmed this outstanding balance with Greensboro Chief Probation and Parole Officer Brian Hol-brook (“Defendant Holbrook”). (Id. ¶¶4, 29.)

On January 25, 2012, after confirmation of this unpaid balance, Waller sent a “compact action request” to the Interstate Compact Office in Georgia (the “Georgia Compact Office”) requesting Plaintiff to pay the outstanding $471.50 by February [607]*6071, 2012. (Id. ¶30.) Waller included instructions to pay the outstanding amount by mail. (Id.) On February 4, 2012, the $471.50 in court costs and fines remained unpaid, and Waller subsequently prepared an internal violation report based on Plaintiffs failure to pay the outstanding costs. (Id. ¶ 32.)

On February 9, 2012, the Georgia Compact Office sent two responses to the compact action request. The first read as follows: “Be advised the offender was instructed by his supervision officer to make his payment to SC [superior court]. He stated he was going to contact his lawyer about this amount owed & that he expires in July.” (Defs.’ Mem., First Compact Action Request (Doc. 9-6).) The second read as follows: “The offender reported on this date & his supervising officer instructed him [sic] to make his payment. I gave him the information again of the amount owed & the address to mail the payment. He stated he will pay the balance off by the end of the month.” (Second Compact Action Request (Doc. 9-7).)

In mid-January of 2012, Waller turned the probation file over to Defendant Hol-brook to collect the outstanding $471.50. On or after February 15, 2012, Defendant Holbrook instructed Defendant Lanna Chandrasuwan (“Defendant Chandrasu-wan”), a probation officer under his supervision, to “follow up” with Plaintiff about the probation violation. (Defs.’ Mem. (Doc. 9) at 8; Aff. of Lanna Chandrasuwan (“Chandrasuwan Aff.”) (Doc. 9-13) ¶ 15.)

On March'8, 2012, Defendant Chandra-suwan unsuccessfully attempted to directly reach Plaintiff at two phone numbers. (Chandrasuwan Aff. (Doc. 9-13) ¶ 17.) Plaintiff points out that Defendant Chan-drasuwan never contacted the Georgia Compact Office concerning the violation, as required by the Interstate Compact guidelines. (See Pl.’s Resp. (Doc. 13) at 6 (citing ICAOS Rule 2.101(d)).) On March 12, 2012, Defendant Chandrasuwan attempted to directly notify Plaintiff by mail of his need to contact her or return to the Greensboro Probation Office to pay the outstanding fines within two weeks. (Chandrasuwan Aff. (Doc. 9-13) ¶ 19.) Also on March 12, 2012, Defendant Chan-drasuwan prepared a Violation Report stating that Plaintiff had violated probation due to his failure to timely pay the court costs. (Id.

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76 F. Supp. 3d 603, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 178298, 2014 WL 7404132, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-chandrasuwan-ncmd-2014.