Keyes v. Ervin

92 F. App'x 232
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 25, 2004
DocketNo. 02-5509
StatusPublished

This text of 92 F. App'x 232 (Keyes v. Ervin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Keyes v. Ervin, 92 F. App'x 232 (6th Cir. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

BUNNING, District Judge.

On December 6, 1999, Defendant-Appellee, Scott Ervin, then an Officer with the City of Athens, Tennessee (the “City”) Police Department, arrested Plaintiff-Appellant, Andrea C. Keyes, for driving while under the influence of an intoxicant in violation of Tennessee state law. Keyes thereafter sought relief in federal court from Officer Ervin, Police Chief Chuck Ziegler, and the City under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for an alleged violation of her Fourth Amendment right to be free from [234]*234arrest without probable cause. Following discovery, Keyes and Defendants filed cross motions for summary judgment with the district court.1 The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Defendant-Appellee Ervin on the § 1983 claim, and consequently denied Plaintiff-Appellant Keyes’ summary judgment motion. Keyes timely appealed these district court rulings on summary judgment, arguing that more than one conclusion on whether probable cause existed is reasonable, thereby precluding summary judgment in favor of Appellee Ervin. For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Appellee Ervin.

I. BACKGROUND

At approximately 6:00 p.m. on December 6, 1999, Plaintiff-Appellant Keyes was operating a motor vehicle on Congress Parkway in Athens, Tennessee, when her car rear-ended another motor vehicle stopped in front of her. As for her recollection of the accident. Keyes testified she last remembered merging onto Congress Parkway, then “w[o]ke up hurting.” Keyes could offer no explanation for the accident. She acknowledged she does not have “those couple of moments of recall.”

Defendant-Appellee Ervin, a police officer employed by the City of Athens, Tennessee, was dispatched to the scene. Upon arrival he approached Keyes’ vehicle. She appeared to be unconscious and he “was unable to get a response out of her.” He attempted to rouse Keyes by shaking her and rubbing her shoulder but “was unable to get her to come to.” Her head was leaned back and her eyes were closed. Ervin testified he had never encountered a situation where he arrived on a scene and an individual completely failed to respond to stimuli. After checking on and speaking with the other driver involved in the accident, Ervin returned to Keyes and observed she was still unconscious. He noticed she then started to come to as the ambulance personnel were loading her into the emergency vehicle.

Keyes admitted she did not recall seeing Ervin at her car, but that it was possible he was there. Keyes testified that she recalled someone banging on the window of her car and that this person, who she thought was an EMT, was trying to get her attention. She acknowledged she did not initially answer, and testified she did not do so because she was winded and her chest hurt from the accident.

Keyes was taken by ambulance to the emergency room (ER) of a local hospital, where she was attended to by Dr. Gerald Mazza. According to the ER records, Keyes told the ER personnel that “she thinks she fell asleep due to her meds.” Keyes disputes the accuracy of this statement as listed on the report. During her discovery deposition, she testified that to her knowledge she did not lose consciousness at any time, but also testified that she told the doctor that she did not know whether she had passed out or fallen asleep, because she does not know what happened. She explained that the statement listed on the ER report is in error, [235]*235as she was merely asking the ER physician questions about whether she had perhaps passed out, fallen asleep, or lost consciousness.

Keyes claims she was “wildly guessing” that her new medications may have caused her to fall asleep. Keyes acknowledged she told the ER technicians, nurses, doctors and Ervin she was on several new medications at the time of the accident.

Ervin interviewed Keyes at the ER about 30 minutes after the accident. He testified Keyes told him that the “[l]ast thing she remembered was starting to turn off of Decatur Pike onto Congress Parkway and then she blacked out and the next thing she remembered was waking up in the hospital.” Ervin testified Keyes said she was taking several prescription medications, including OxyContin, which she had last taken the morning of the accident, and that her doctors had just changed her medications.

Ervin thereafter interviewed Dr. Gerald Mazza, the ER doctor attending to Keyes. He asked Dr. Mazza whether OxyContin or the other medications Keyes had listed could “alter perception” or cause someone to be impaired. Dr. Mazza told him Oxy-Contin can “dull the senses” and cause impairment. Ervin testified he told Dr. Mazza that Keyes reported to him she had blacked out behind the wheel, and that Dr. Mazza responded by stating “[tjhat’s what I was told.”

Ervin acknowledged that Dr. Mazza told him Keyes did not appear to him to be intoxicated. Ervin likewise stated he never observed anything with Keyes while she was at the ER that lead him to believe she was impaired, but did observe that she was unconscious in her vehicle at the scene.

After speaking with Dr. Mazza, Ervin placed Keyes under arrest for driving under the influence of an intoxicant. A blood test subsequently revealed no presence of alcohol or illegal drugs. The charges brought against Keyes were later dismissed.

Keyes filed a pro se complaint against Officer Ervin on December 4, 2000, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Shortly thereafter Keyes obtained counsel, who filed an amended complaint against Officer Ervin, Police Chief Chuck Ziegler, and the City. Cross motions for summary judgment were filed following discovery. By Order dated March 19, 2002, the district court denied Keyes’ motion and granted Ervin’s motion. In its Memorandum Opinion, the district court concluded summary judgment in favor of Ervin was proper because a reasonable person would believe Keyes blacked out while driving due to her prescription medications and therefore had committed the strict liability crime of driving under the influence of an intoxicant. As this Court has jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we now consider the issues presented by Keyes’ appeal.

II. OVERVIEW OF GOVERNING LAW

A. Standard of Review

Summary judgment is proper where no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Appellate courts conduct a de novo review of district court summary judgment awards. Mitchell v. Chapman, 343 F.3d 811, 818 (6th Cir.2003). In considering such a motion, the court must view the evidence and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).

[236]*236B. Unlawful Arrest Claims Under 42 U.S.C.

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Bluebook (online)
92 F. App'x 232, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/keyes-v-ervin-ca6-2004.