Karadi v. Jenkins

7 F. App'x 185
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedApril 3, 2001
Docket00-1300
StatusUnpublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 7 F. App'x 185 (Karadi v. Jenkins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Karadi v. Jenkins, 7 F. App'x 185 (4th Cir. 2001).

Opinion

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

This appeal arises in relation to Officer H.D. Jenkins’s seizure of a shopper, Marina E. Karadi, for suspicion of shoplifting. 1 *189 Jenkins appeals the denial of his motion for summary judgment based upon his qualified immunity defense. The district court held that Jenkins unreasonably seized Karadi in violation of her clearly established Fourth Amendment rights and, therefore, that Jenkins was not entitled to a defense of qualified immunity. Because Jenkins’s seizure of Karadi did not violate clearly established federal law, we vacate the judgment of the district court and remand with instructions to enter judgment in favor of Jenkins. Further, because all of the federal claims have been rejected, we direct the district court to dismiss without prejudice the remaining state law claims.

I.

A.

Because this is an interlocutory appeal from the denial of qualified immunity on summary judgment, we accept Karadi’s version of the facts surrounding the incident as true. 2 See Pritchett v. Alford, 973 F.2d 307, 313 (4th Cir.1992). On August 27, 1997, Karadi was shopping at the Dillard’s department store in the Cary Towne Center in Cary, North Carolina. Karadi purchased several items in the Baby Department. These items were placed in a Dillard’s bag. Karadi then purchased a bathing suit in the Boys’ Department, which was placed in a separate Dillard’s bag. Karadi next purchased four pairs of shoes from the Shoe Department, which were placed in a third Dillard’s bag. Karadi then asked an associate of the Shoe Department to hold two of her bags while she went upstairs to customer service to obtain gift boxes for her baby items. Karadi stopped to browse in the Juniors’ Department on the way to customer service, then holding only one Dillard’s bag. Kristin Harrison, a sales clerk assigned to the Juniors’ Department, observed Karadi while she was browsing. At customer service, Karadi received several gift boxes, which were placed in a fourth Dillard’s bag. Immediately after she obtained her gift boxes, Karadi went back downstairs to the Shoe Department, where she retrieved her other two bags and proceeded to the exit carrying all four bags.

As Karadi neared the exit, Harrison yelled for Karadi to stop, exclaiming, “Ma’am! Ma’am!” Harrison then asked Karadi if she had been in the Juniors’ department, stated that Harrison had seen her there with one bag and Karadi now had four bags. Karadi perceived this as an accusation that she had shoplifted, and she demanded to see a manager. Harrison obliged Karadi’s request and left to locate one of the floor managers, Shana Sund. Upon being notified of the developing problem, Sund requested that Jenkins accompany her and Harrison, stating, “There’s a situation that may need your assistance, I believe, that may be going bad.” (J.A. at 764-65.) While walking to meet Karadi, Harrison told Jenkins that she had observed Karadi in her department with only one shopping bag and, a very short time later, she had in her possession four bags.

When approaching Karadi, Jenkins and Harrison remained behind while. Sund asked Karadi to explain the situation. Karadi informed Sund that Harrison had ac *190 cused Karadi of shoplifting and stated, “[i]f you feel I have shoplifted, feel free to open — open my bags and look.” (J.A. at 270.) During her deposition, Karadi testified that Sund did not respond to this demand because Sund was “taken back” and “didn’t know how to react.” (J.A. at 279.) Not knowing that Sund was a manager, Karadi continued to demand to see a manager.

Observing that Karadi was becoming upset and that the situation was escalating, Jenkins approached Karadi and asked her to explain what had happened. Instead of explaining the situation, Karadi continued to demand that her bags be inspected and continued to demand to speak to a manager.

Believing the tension was escalating, Jenkins then requested Karadi to accompany him to a different part of the store for the purpose of conducting the investigation in private, and Karadi refused his request. At that point, Jenkins “grabbed” her arm with his hand to attempt to move her. (J.A. at 287.) Karadi testified that she then tried to push his hand off her arm several times in an effort to “get free of his grip.” (J.A. at 291.) At that point, Jenkins squeezed Karadi’s arm and pushed her away from the store exit towards the elevator in the Men’s Department. Karadi became more upset and began crying. Perceiving Karadi as continuing to resist his efforts to move her, Jenkins put Karadi against the wall and handcuffed her arms behind her back. Karadi alleges that Jenkins’s forcefulness during this exchange bruised her arms, requiring her to seek medical treatment.

After removing Karadi to Dillard’s security office, Jenkins compared the items in the bag with those on the receipt. Jenkins testified that his investigation of his suspicion of shoplifting ended upon the comparison of the merchandise to the receipts. After concluding his shoplifting investigation, Jenkins removed Karadi’s license from her purse and left the room to begin processing Karadi for misdemeanor criminal charges of resisting, obstructing, and delaying a public officer and intentionally causing a public disturbance. 3

After making the appropriate phone calls to his supervisors to process the charges against Karadi, Jenkins returned to the security office and, at Karadi’s request, removed her handcuffs. He then explained to Karadi why she had been detained and began filling out her criminal citations. According to Karadi, when Jenkins attempted to obtain personal information from Karadi to complete the citations and she did not give it to him, Jenkins grabbed Karadi’s arm and jerked her onto a chair and shouted obscenities at her. Jenkins ultimately cited Karadi with a charge of resisting, obstructing, and delaying a public officer and a charge of intentionally causing a public disturbance.

B.

On August 12, 1998, Karadi filed suit in Wake County Superior Court against Dillard’s Inc.; Jenkins, in his individual and official capacities; John H. Baker, Sheriff of Wake County, in his official capacity; and the North River Insurance Company. After removing the case to the United States District Court for the Eastern Dis *191 trict of North Carolina, Western Division, the defendants filed motions for judgment on the pleadings.

On April 19, 1999, the district court granted Dillard’s motion to dismiss all claims against it. The district court also granted dismissal with respect to Karadi’s Fourteenth Amendment and § 1983 claims against Jenkins in his official capacity, her claims based upon the North Carolina Constitution, her punitive damages claim against Jenkins in his official capacity, and limited the derivative claims against Baker and North River to the $5,000.00 bond that North River had provided as insurance coverage.

On December 6, 1999, Jenkins, Baker, and North River filed a joint motion for summary judgment with respect to the remaining claims based upon Jenkins’s qualified immunity defense. 4

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7 F. App'x 185, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/karadi-v-jenkins-ca4-2001.