Kelly v. BOROUGH OF CARLISLE

815 F. Supp. 2d 810, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101639, 2011 WL 3920129
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 7, 2011
DocketCivil Action 1:07-cv-1573
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 815 F. Supp. 2d 810 (Kelly v. BOROUGH OF CARLISLE) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kelly v. BOROUGH OF CARLISLE, 815 F. Supp. 2d 810, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101639, 2011 WL 3920129 (M.D. Pa. 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

YVETTE KANE, Chief Judge.

On May 4, 2009, this Court granted Defendants’ motion for summary judgment and denied Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment. (Doe. No. 40, 2009 WL 1230309.) Plaintiff appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. (Doc. No. 42.) On October 4, 2010, the Third Circuit affirmed this Court’s order in part and vacated the order in part. Kelly v. Borough of Carlisle, 622 F.3d 248, 256-58 (3d Cir.2010). The Third Circuit remanded the matter to this Court to make additional factual findings and to reconsider its order granting Defendant David Rogers’s motion for summary judgment on Plaintiffs Fourth Amendment claims. Id. For the reasons stated more fully herein, the Court will deny Defendant’s motion for summary judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

On May 24, 2007, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Plaintiff Brian Kelly was riding as a passenger in a truck driven by his friend Tyler Shopp. (Doc. No. 24 ¶ 1.) Defendant David Rogers, a police officer for the Car-lisle Police Department, initiated a traffic stop after he observed Shopp speeding and operating a vehicle that appeared to be in violation of an ordinance regulating vehicle bumper height. (Doc. No. 27 ¶ 2.) Plaintiff, who was carrying a hand-held video camera, turned on the camera and began to record Defendant. (Id. ¶¶ 3-4.) Plaintiff kept the camera in his lap at all times when Defendant was at the truck. 1 (Id. ¶ 5; Doc. No. 27-6, Ex. C at 30:22.) It is disputed whether the camera was in plain view or was covered by Plaintiffs hands. (Doc. No. 24 ¶ 3; Doc. No. 27 ¶5.) For purposes of Defendant’s motion for summary judgment, the Court will credit Plaintiffs assertion that the camera sat uncovered on his lap in the palm of his hand. (Doc. No. 27-6, Ex. C at 39:8-10.) *813 However, there does not appear to be any dispute that Plaintiffs hands were also in his lap during the stop. (Doc. No. 33-3, Ex. B at 13:14-22.) Nor is there any dispute that Plaintiff never told Defendant that he was recording the stop. (Doc. No. 27-6, Ex. C at 37:24.) Further, it is undisputed that the dimensions of the camera in question were approximately two inches wide by four inches long by two inches tall. (Doc. No. 27-6, Ex. C at 39:9-12.)

Near the end of the traffic stop Defendant told Plaintiff and Shopp that the stop was being recorded by a dashboard camera on the police car and a microphone in Defendant’s shirt pocket. (Doc. No. 27 ¶ 6.) As shown in the videotape, after Defendant returned to Shopp’s truck with a citation, Shopp began to question Defendant regarding how many “points” he would receive for the cited violations. (Doc. No. 29.) As Defendant began to answer Shopp’s question, he stopped and demanded that Plaintiff cease recording and surrender the videotape. (Doc. No. 29.) Plaintiff complied. (Doc. No. 27 ¶ 8.) Defendant returned to his police vehicle and called Assistant District Attorney John Birbeck to determine whether Plaintiffs actions violated the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act, 18 Pa. Cons.Stat. § 5701 at seq., and if so, to receive permission to file appropriate charges. (Doc. No. 27 ¶¶ 9-12.)

As ADA Birbeck explained in his uncontested testimony, it is the policy of the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office to require police officers to receive approval prior to making certain types of arrests. (Hearing Transcript.) ADA Birbeck explained that during the call Defendant relayed the facts to him and asked him whether those facts gave rise to probable cause to arrest Plaintiff for a Wiretap Act violation. (Hearing Transcript.) ADA Birbeck believed the facts did give rise to probable cause and as a result gave Defendant an approval number to charge Plaintiff with a violation of the Wiretap Act. (Hearing Transcript.) In his deposition ADA Birbeck indicated that Defendant did not affirmatively state that he was videotaping the stop in accordance with standard Carlisle Police Department procedure. (Doc. No. 33-4, Ex. G at 7:16-21.)

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Rule 56(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment is warranted “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(a). 2 A factual dispute is material if it might affect the outcome of the suit under the applicáble law, and it is genuine only if there is a sufficient evidentiary basis that would allow a reasonable fact finder to return a verdict for the non-moving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248-49, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). At summary judgment, the inquiry is whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to the jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law. Id. at 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505. In making this determination, the Court must “consider all evidence in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion.” A.W. v. Jersey City Pub. Schs., 486 F.3d 791, 794 (3d Cir.2007).

The moving party has the initial burden of identifying evidence that it believes *814 shows an absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Conoshenti v. Pub. Serv. Elec. & Gas Co., 364 F.3d 135, 145-46 (3d Cir.2004). Once the moving party has shown that there is an absence of evidence to support the non-moving party’s claims, “the non-moving party must rebut the motion with facts in the record and cannot rest solely on assertions made in the pleadings, legal memoranda, or oral argument.” Berckeley Inv. Grp., Ltd. v. Colkitt, 455 F.3d 195, 201 (3d Cir.2006); accord Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). If the non-moving party “fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s ease, and on which that party will bear the burden at trial,” summary judgment is warranted. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548. With respect to the sufficiency of the evidence that the non-moving party must provide, a court should grant summary judgment where the non-movant’s evidence is merely colorable, conclusory, or speculative. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505. There must be more than a scintilla of evidence supporting the non-moving party and more than some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
815 F. Supp. 2d 810, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101639, 2011 WL 3920129, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kelly-v-borough-of-carlisle-pamd-2011.