Military Circle Pet Center No. 94, Inc. v. Cobb County

665 F. Supp. 909, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6578
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedMay 20, 1987
DocketCiv. A. C85-4736A
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 665 F. Supp. 909 (Military Circle Pet Center No. 94, Inc. v. Cobb County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Military Circle Pet Center No. 94, Inc. v. Cobb County, 665 F. Supp. 909, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6578 (N.D. Ga. 1987).

Opinion

ORDER

ROBERT H. HALL, District Judge.

Plaintiff brings this action seeking monetary damages for the alleged deprivation of *911 plaintiff’s property and liberty in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and as a result of alleged tortious conversion and defamation by defendants. Federal jurisdiction is predicated upon 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and diversity of citizenship, 28 U.S.C. § 1332. The action is currently before the court on defendants’ motion for summary judgment. For the reasons stated herein, the court PARTIALLY GRANTS and PARTIALLY DENIES defendants’ motion.

FACTS

Plaintiff (“Docktor Pet”) is a Virginia corporation which owns and operates the Docktor Pet Store at Cumberland Mall in Cobb County, Georgia. Defendant Glenda Knapp (“Knapp”) is the Director of the Cobb County Animal Control Department and Defendant Patrick H. Head (“Head”) is the duly elected Solicitor of the State Court of Cobb County, Georgia. Defendants’ Statement of Undisputed Material Facts, HIT 1, 3, 4. (“Defendants’ Facts”). Defendant Paul 0. Williams, Jr. (“Williams”) is a licensed veterinarian who is not now nor ever has been, an employee of Cobb County, Georgia. Id., 115.

On or about September 12,1985 the Cobb County Police and Animal Control officers, along with a licensed veterinarian, participated in the execution of a search warrant at the Cumberland Mall Docktor Pet Store. Id., ¶ 6. The search warrant authorized the confiscation of “cruelly treated animals who are sick and are not being treated medically, animals in overcrowded and diseased environment, business records which document condition of animals; [and] euthanizing drugs,” which allegedly constituted evidence of the crimes of cruelty to animals, Ga. Off’l Code Ann. § 16-12-4, and violation of the dangerous drug statute, Ga. Off’l Code Ann. § 16-13-71. See Affidavit of Patrick H. Head, Exhibit “A” (“Head Affidavit”).

The authorities who executed the search warrant seized several items including a number of animals, business records of the Docktor Pet Store and drugs. 1 Defendants Knapp, Head, and Williams did not participate nor were they present when the property was seized from . the Docktor Pet Store. Following the seizure, the authorities took the animals to the Cobb County Animal Control Center. Defendants’ Facts, 11116, 7. ' Defendant Knapp arranged with Defendant Williams to examine, evaluate and treat the seized animals. Id., ¶ 8. Some of the seized animals died despite the treatment given them , by Defendant Williams. Id., ¶ 10.

Defendant Williams, at all times during his treatment of the seized animals, acted as an independent contractor for the County. Affidavit of Paul 0. Williams, Jr., II10 (“Williams Affidavit”). Cobb County employees instructed Williams to examine evaluate and treat the seized animals and notify the Cobb County Solicitor’s Office when all the animals were healthy. Id., 1111. Cobb County employees also asked Williams to make public statements and publicly respond to inquiries concerning the animals during the period he cared for the animals. Id., II13.

Defendant Head reviewed the evidence seized and prepared criminal accusations against the plaintiff and five of its employees. The accusations charged the plaintiff and its employees with multiple counts of Cruelty to Animals and Deceptive Trade Practices and were filed by Defendant Head on or about October 9,1985. Defendants’ Facts, 119. Soon after its property was seized, Docktor Pet made several demands on Defendants Head and Knapp for the return of its animals. Defendants refused to return the animals until all were *912 well, the Docktor Pet Store at Cumberland Mall was cleaned and plaintiff paid an impoundment fee to the Animal Control Department. Id., 1111.

On October 21, 1985 and by letter dated October 23, 1985 Defendant Head notified Docktor Pet, through its attorney, that the Animal Control Department would return the surviving animals upon payment of an impoundment fee of $2685.00. Docktor Pet contended and continues to contend that defendants never intended to return the confiscated animals, that the claim they were being kept until well was merely a pretext and without legal authority and that the impoundment fee was not mandated or legally permissible under the facts of this case. Docktor Pet therefore refused to pay the impoundment fee. See Plaintiffs Response to Defendants’ Statement of Undisputed Material Facts, ¶¶ 11-14 (“Plaintiff’s Facts”). Because Docktor Pet did not redeem the animals by paying the impoundment fees within five days of Defendant Head's notification, the Animal Control Department put the animals up for adoption. Defendants’. Facts, 1114. At various times, Defendants Knapp and Williams and individuals from the Cobb County Solicitor’s Office commented on the facts surrounding the seizure and retention of the animals and/or the criminal accusations against Docktor Pet. See Plaintiff’s Brief in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment, Exhibits 2-4.

Plaintiff contends that it was injured in its business as a result of allegedly defamatory remarks made by Defendants Knapp, Williams and Head, that defendants tortiously converted plaintiff’s property to their own use, that plaintiff was deprived of its property and liberty without due process and that defendants disposed of plaintiff’s property without just compensation. In Count III of plaintiff's complaint, plaintiff seeks monetary damages pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In Counts I and II of plaintiff's complaint, it seeks damages under the Georgia tort laws of conversion and defamation, respectively. Further facts will be disclosed as necessary for discussion of the motion.

DISCUSSION

I. Plaintiffs Section 1983 Claim

In their motion for summary judgment, defendants argue that none of the defendants can be held liable under § 1983 for a variety of reasons. The court will consider each argument separately.

A. Defendant Head’s Liability

Defendants contend that, as Solicitor of the State Court of Cobb County, Defendant Head'is entitled to absolute immunity from suit. . In Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 96 S.Ct. 984, 47 L.Ed.2d 128 (1976), the Supreme Court held'that in “initiating a prosecution and in presenting the State’s case, the prosecutor is immune from a civil suit for damages under § 1983.” ’ Id., at 431, 96 S.Ct. at 995. The Court noted that in determining whether a prosecutor is entitled to absolute immunity the focus is upon the functional nature of the activities rather than the prosecutor’s status. Where a prosecutor’s activities are “intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process, .. •.

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Related

Lazarz v. Brush Wellman, Inc.
857 F. Supp. 417 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1994)
Military Circle Pet v. Cobb County
877 F.2d 973 (Eleventh Circuit, 1989)
Sweeney v. Athens Regional Medical Center
709 F. Supp. 1563 (M.D. Georgia, 1989)

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Bluebook (online)
665 F. Supp. 909, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6578, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/military-circle-pet-center-no-94-inc-v-cobb-county-gand-1987.