Kavanaugh v. Edwards

District Court, E.D. Missouri·Decided February 17, 2023·No. 4:19-cv-03256·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI EASTERN DIVISION

WILLIAM DANIEL KAVANAUGH, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) vs. ) Case No. 4:19-cv-3256-MTS ) DUSTIN EDWARDS, et al., ) ) Defendants. )

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER Before the Court is Defendant Edwards’s Partial Motion for Summary Judgment, Doc. [83], pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, on Plaintiff’s Complaint, Doc. [43], for several constitutional violations pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. For reasons discussed below, the Court grants summary judgment as to some claims but denies summary judgment on others. I. BACKGROUND Plaintiff William Daniel Kavanaugh, a pro se litigant, brought this action against Defendant Dustin Edwards and against Nicholas Osmer (“Osmer”), police detectives for the Florissant Police Department, in connection with a traffic stop. On July 17, 2018, Defendant initiated a traffic stop of a vehicle operated by Plaintiff.1 Defendant approached the vehicle and spoke with Plaintiff. Compare Doc. [85-3], with Doc. [88- 2] ¶¶ 43–45. While the parties dispute most of what was said during this conversation, both parties agree that Plaintiff told Defendant about an outstanding warrant for arrest by the State of Arizona (the “Arizona warrant”). Doc. [88-2] ¶ 10; Doc. [85-2] ¶ 12(d). During the conversation,

1 The parties dispute the traffic stop violation for which Defendant pulled Plaintiff over. Doc. [85-2] ¶ 7 (Defendant maintains he pulled Plaintiff over based on his “failure to use a turn signal in violation of traffic laws”); Doc. [88-2] ¶¶ 2, 40 (Plaintiff states Defendant told Plaintiff he pulled him over because the license plate did not match the vehicle). Defendant states Plaintiff exhibited nervous behavior2 “consistent with narcotic usage based upon [Defendant’s] training and experience with drug crimes and investigations.” Doc. [85-2] ¶ 11. Plaintiff disputes this behavior and maintains Defendant has been “untruthful” about Plaintiff’s “behavior and actions during the traffic stop.” Doc. [87] at 4.

Defendant requested Plaintiff exit the vehicle and Plaintiff complied. Defendant conducted a pat down search of Plaintiff for weapons and found none. Defendant asked Plaintiff for consent to search the vehicle for contraband. The parties dispute whether Plaintiff gave consent. Doc. [88-2] ¶ 14; Doc. [85-2] ¶ 18; Doc. [85-5] ¶ 11. At this point, Plaintiff states Defendant placed him under arrest pursuant to the Arizona warrant. Doc. [88-2] ¶ 15. Defendant denies this arrest. Defendant searched the vehicle and did not find any contraband. At some point while roadside, Defendant requested Florissant Dispatch conduct a computer inquiry of Plaintiff’s name. The inquiry confirmed Plaintiff had an active probation violation in the State of Arizona for possession of drugs and that Plaintiff was currently on parole through the State of Illinois. Also, at some point while roadside, Osmer arrived on the scene.

Plaintiff claims Defendant asked him for consent to conduct a strip search at the scene of the traffic stop, to which Plaintiff did not consent. Plaintiff claims Defendant conducted a strip search of Plaintiff where Defendant “sexually assaulted” him. Doc. [85-1] at 5, 9, 17–18, 20. Plaintiff explains that “while [he] was still handcuffed, [Edwards] unfastened [Plaintiff’s] belt, pulled down [his] pants and underwear down to [his] ankles and told [him] to spread [his] legs. Next, Edwards used his hands and a cold metal object to spread [Plaintiff’s] buttocks apart and

2 Specifically, Defendant stated Plaintiff’s hands were uncontrollably “shaking to the point he had difficulty retrieving identification from the vehicle glove box,” Plaintiff’s voice was “trembling,” and Plaintiff “stumbl[ed] over his words and had difficulty completing sentences.” Doc. [85-2] ¶ 11. Plaintiff disputes he exhibited this behavior. Doc. [88- 2] ¶¶ 4–8 (Plaintiff stating his “hands were not shaking,” that he “did not have difficulty retrieving documents from the glove box,” that he did not have “any trouble forming a sentence,” and that his “voice was not trembling” at “anytime during the traffic stop”). poke/push at [his] penis and genitals.” Doc. [88-2] ¶ 24. Defendant denies he conducted a strip search of Plaintiff during the traffic stop. After the alleged strip search, Plaintiff states Defendant removed the handcuffs, “called [him] a piece of shit and told [Plaintiff] to stay the fuck out of Florissant.” Doc. [88-2] ¶ 26–27. A later search3 of the vehicle was conducted and two clear plastic baggies containing a

crystalized substance were found in a concealed compartment in the front passenger door of the vehicle. Defendant believed the crystalized substance to be consistent with methamphetamine. Defendant handcuffed4 Plaintiff for violating the Missouri controlled substance law and placed Plaintiff in his patrol car to take to the police station. Upon arrival at the Florissant Police Department, Plaintiff alleges Defendant placed Plaintiff in an interview room and conducted a second strip search of Plaintiff. Doc. [88-2] ¶ 34. Defendant denies he performed a strip search of Plaintiff at the police station. Doc. [85-2] ¶ 28. According to Plaintiff, his last contact with Edwards was when Edwards took Plaintiff to a booking cell at the police station. Doc. [85-4] at 22 (86:13–21). Ultimately, Plaintiff was “booked, processed and released pending application of

[a] warrant” for a drug charge relating to the traffic stop. Doc. [85-3] at 2. After the St. Louis County Police Department Crime Laboratory confirmed the substance found in the vehicle was methamphetamine, Doc. [85-8], on November 28, 2018, Plaintiff was charged in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri for “Possession of Controlled Substance Except 35 Grams or Less of Marijuana/Synthetic Cannabinoid-Class D Felony.”5 Doc. [85-9].

3 The Court notes the parties dispute who conducted the search and whether this was a second or third search of the vehicle. Doc. [88-2] ¶¶ 23–24, 29; Doc. [85-2] ¶ 22.

4 The parties also dispute whether Defendant provided Plaintiff a Miranda warning.

5 At this time, Plaintiff was still confined in Illinois. After being released from an Illinois correctional facility in early 2019, Plaintiff was extradited back to Missouri on the traffic stop charge, where he posted bond and pled not guilty at arraignment. Doc. [85-4] at 24 (94:15–95:10). Plaintiff claims Defendant violated his Fourth Amendment rights by unlawfully conducting a traffic stop, searching the vehicle and cell phone without a warrant, arresting Plaintiff without a warrant, and conducting two strip searches of Plaintiff, one during the traffic stop and one at the police station. Doc. [85-1]. Defendant moves for summary judgment on all claims, except for the claim based on the unlawful traffic6 stop and alleged strip search during the traffic stop.7 Doc.

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