Joyce v. Tewksbury

Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Joyce v. Tewksbury. Read the opinion of the Court — 104 F.3d 507
Court of Appeals for the First Circuit·Decided January 23, 1997·No. 95-1814·Published

Opinion

USCA1 Opinion



UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
_________

No. 95-1814

JOANNE JOYCE, INDIVIDUALLY
AND AS EXECUTRIX OF THE ESTATE OF
JAMES D. JOYCE,

Plaintiff, Appellant,

v.

TOWN OF TEWKSBURY, MASSACHUSETTS,
JOHN R. MACKEY, ALFRED DONOVAN
AND ROBERT BUDRYK,

Defendants, Appellees.

____________________

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

[Hon. A. David Mazzone, U.S. District Judge] ___________________

____________________

Before

Torruella, Chief Judge, ___________
Campbell, Senior Circuit Judge, ____________________
Selya, Boudin, Stahl and Lynch, Circuit Judges. ______________

____________________
April 29, 1997
____________________

OPINION EN BANC
____________________

Robert LeRoux Hernandez with whom Law Offices of Robert L. ________________________ ____________________________
Hernandez were on brief for appellant. _________
Larry W. Yackle with whom John Reinstein was on brief for _________________ _______________
American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, amicus curiae.

Leonard H. Kesten with whom Deidre Brennan Regan, Kurt B. ___________________ ______________________ ________
Fliegauf and Brody, Hardoon, Perkins & Kestin were on brief for ________ ___________________________________
appellees.

Per Curiam. We are concerned on this appeal with the __________

decision of the district court granting summary judgment on

one of the several claims that have been litigated in this

case, specifically, a claim that police entry into a house

without a search warrant violated the Fourth Amendment.

Review is de novo and the facts are set forth in the light _______

most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. Le __

Blanc v. Great Am. Ins. Co., 6 F.3d 836, 841 (1st Cir. 1993), _____ __________________

cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1018 (1994). ____________

Late on the evening of August 6, 1989, officers Alfred

Donovan and Robert Budryk arrived at the home of Joanne and

James Joyce ("the Joyces") in Tewksbury, seeking to arrest

the Joyces' son, Lance Joyce. Although Lance did not live

with his parents, the police had received a call earlier in

the evening from Lance's ex-girlfriend informing them that he

was there. Allegedly, an outstanding warrant existed for

Lance's arrest on a charge of violating a chapter 209A

domestic restraining order. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 209A, 7.

Lance answered the officers' knock at the Joyces' side

door, opening the interior door but keeping the outer screen

door closed. Officer Budryk told Lance that the officers had

a warrant for his arrest, and asked him to step outside.

Instead, Lance retorted "ya right" and withdrew from the

doorway, calling for his mother. The police followed him.

Joanne Joyce, who had been asleep, then came downstairs to

-2- -2-

find her son and the police officers standing in her dining

room. Her husband entered the room a few minutes later.

The Joyces asked the officers what was going on and

whether they had a warrant; the officers explained that they

were there to arrest Lance and that a warrant for his arrest

existed, although they did not have it with them. James

Joyce left the room with a third officer (who had arrived

separately) to call the police department, which confirmed

Donovan and Budryk's understanding that there was an

outstanding warrant for Lance's arrest.

While her husband was gone, a scuffle ensued between the

police officers and Joanne Joyce. Joanne Joyce admits that

she protested Lance's immediate arrest, although she denies

pushing the police officers away. One of the officers

grasped Joanne Joyce's upper arms and moved her aside,

allowing them to handcuff Lance and secure his arrest; Joanne

Joyce claims that one of the officers threatened to kill her

unless she got out of the way. Joanne Joyce was charged with

assault and battery but acquitted in a state court jury trial

in February 1990.

In April 1990, the Joyces brought suit alleging that the

officers, the chief of police and the town had violated 42

U.S.C. 1983 and the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act, Mass.

Gen. Laws ch. 12, 11I. The section 1983 claims were based

upon alleged violations of the Fourth and Fourteenth

-3- -3-

Amendments during the officers' entry without a search

warrant into the Joyce home and claimed use of excessive

force in arresting Lance Joyce. The Joyces also claimed that

the officers had committed assault and battery, intentional

infliction of emotional distress and malicious prosecution,

and that the town had negligently trained and supervised the

officers in violation of the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act,

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 258.

The defendants moved for summary judgment on the issue

of illegal entry. Citing United States v.

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