Miller v. Davis

653 F. App'x 448
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJune 24, 2016
DocketNo. 15-3923
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 653 F. App'x 448 (Miller v. Davis) 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
Miller v. Davis, 653 F. App'x 448 (6th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

SILER, Circuit Judge.

Phillip and Cathy Miller, a married couple, were investigated, prosecuted, tried, and acquitted for allegedly stealing nearly $100,000.00 from Bettie Robbins, Cathy’s elderly mother. Upon their acquittal, the Millers brought suit in federal court for intentional infliction of emotional distress (“IIED”) and . malicious prosecution against Detective Kevin Ullom of the Delaware County Sheriffs Office and Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney Carol O’Brien. In addition, the Millers alleged supervisory liability and invasion of privacy claims against O’Brien. The district court granted summary judgment to the Defendants on all claims. We AFFIRM.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

For nearly two decades, Bettie and her husband, Lester, lived next door to the Millers in a duplex home. When Lester died in 2004, Bettie moved into the Millers’ portion of the home. The Millers contend that Bettie, then age seventy-nine, remained in excellent health and fully cared for herself at that time. In 2007, Bettie was diagnosed with Azheimer’s disease and assigned power of attorney over her affairs to Cathy. She began to show signs of dementia in 2008 and ultimately moved into an assisted living facility in 2009.

In December 2009, Larry Robbins — Bettie’s son and Cathy’s brother — became suspicious that the Millers were financially exploiting Bettie. Larry learned that Bettie’s home had been sold to Phillip’s mother and that Bettie’s bank accounts were significantly depleted. At Larry’s urging, Bettie revoked Cathy’s power of attorney, assigning it instead to Larry, his other [451]*451sister, Vikki Lutz, and her husband, Steve Lutz.

As a result of these concerns, Larry filed a theft report with the Delaware County Sheriffs Office; Detective Ullom was assigned to investigate. Ullom summarized his findings in an investigative report (the “Report”), which characterized Bettie’s condition and the families’ relationships as follows.

Bettie L. Robbins is an adult female who has been diagnosed with dementia and probable Alzheimer’s. Bettie is unable to provide care for herself. During the dates of these offenses Bettie was 79 YOA to 85 YOA. Bettie previously lived with her husband, Lester Robbins, at 575 South Section Line Rd[.], which was a home the coupled owned. Lester passed away June 9, 2004....
Bettie and Lester have three adult children, Cathy Miller, Larry Robbins,' and Vikki Lutz. In 2004 Cathy Miller resided at 577 South Section Line Rd[.], Delaware, Ohio 43015 with her husband, Phillip Miller. This address is attached to 575 South Section Line Rd[J and was also owned by Lester and Bettie.
After Lester’s passing Cathy Miller took over as Bettie’s primary caregiver. During this time Larry Robbins resided out of State and Vikki Lutz, along with her husband Steve Lutz, lived some distance away from Delaware, Ohio.

Detective Ullom’s review of Bettie’s financial records yielded $94,637.91 in charges believed to be “fraudulent or unrelated to Bettie Robbins’ care.” (Id.) The flagged charges include the following.

• Within five months of Lester Robbins’ death, the balance in the Robbins’ previously joint checking account with JP Morgan Chase was depleted from $13,019.13 to less than $1,000.00. Numerous checks from this account, totaling $6,605.13, were written to the Millers and deposited in their bank accounts. Additionally, cash withdrawals from the account between August 2004 and November 2006 totaled $6,060.50. Ullom identified “[s]everal questionable card purchases” totaling $7,841.72 during the same period, including large purchases from Circuit City, Budget Car Sales, an event ticket seller, Home Depot, and Old Navy and Maurice’s, clothing stores. Moreover, the card was used to make payments on National City and Capital One credit cards that were apparently not used by or for Bettie.
• Bettie’s PNC Bank checking account was partially funded by a deposit of $24,466.42 associated with the sale of her home. Ullom noted that within a month of that deposit, the majority of it had been removed from the account.
• Numerous checks were written from the PNC Bank account to the Millers and to cash between December 2004 and March 2005, totaling $19,584.67. Cash withdrawals were also made from the account. Ullom noted “[s]ev-eral questionable card purchases” were made from this account between November 2004 and February 2005. These included payments to an insurance company for an account belonging to the Millers and on a Capital One card, large purchases at Home Depot, and purchases of flowers and airline tickets. Though Bettie apparently never owned or used a cell phone, the card was also used to pay for a cellular account in her name.
• A second JP Morgan Chase bank account in Bettie’s name also reflected numerous checks written to the Millers and to cash, totaling $6,592.00, with additional cash withdrawals totaling nearly $4,000.00. Card purchases from this account included large pur[452]*452chases at restaurants, including Domino’s Pizza and Buffalo Wild Wings; various clothing stores; a tractor supply store; and a technology company. Although Larry Robbins stated that his mother did not drive and never used a computer, the card was used to purchase gasoline and at an online store for computer parts.
• Records associated with Bettie’s PNC Diamond Edition credit card reflected additional purchases at restaurants, gas stations, and clothing stores. The card was also used at a computer game/software retailer and to pay charges to Cathy’s Paypal account.
• Records associated with a life insurance policy that belonged to Bettie reflected that the policy was transferred to Cathy in August 2008. The following year, Cathy took a loan against the policy for the maximum allowable amount of $1,200.00 and then surrendered the policy for its remaining value.
• Records indicated that Bettie gave her vehicle, valued at $1,000.00, to Phillip’s sister, Jackie Brinkley. In January 2005, Bettie’s home was sold to Thelma Miller, Phillip’s mother. From that sale, a note was created for an additional loan of $23,500.00 owed to Bettie. Ullom noted that no efforts were , made to collect on the note.

Though the Millers disputed that the charges at issue were fraudulent or unrelated to Bettie’s care, they did not contest the accuracy of the transactions.

Upon completing his investigation, Ul-lom submitted his report to the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office. Assistant prosecuting attorney Mark Sleeper was assigned to the case. Having concluded that prosecution was appropriate, Sleeper presented the matter to a grand jury, which returned indictments 'against the Millers for theft. However, the record in the instant case contains no information regarding the grand jury proceedings. Though the Millers-attempted to obtain the grand jury transcript, the Common Pleas Court of Delaware County, Ohio, denied their request.

The Millers were arrested at their home and spent six days in the Delaware County Jail before being released pending trial. During this pretrial period, the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office issued a press release (the “Release”) in recognition of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

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Bluebook (online)
653 F. App'x 448, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-davis-ca6-2016.