Robert H. Campbell and Frances C. Campbell v. Lisa Chappelow, Scott Stockton, Trooper, Indiana State Police, and David M. Strittmatter, Trooper

95 F.3d 576, 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 23467, 1996 WL 509209
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedSeptember 9, 1996
Docket95-3478
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 95 F.3d 576 (Robert H. Campbell and Frances C. Campbell v. Lisa Chappelow, Scott Stockton, Trooper, Indiana State Police, and David M. Strittmatter, Trooper) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robert H. Campbell and Frances C. Campbell v. Lisa Chappelow, Scott Stockton, Trooper, Indiana State Police, and David M. Strittmatter, Trooper, 95 F.3d 576, 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 23467, 1996 WL 509209 (7th Cir. 1996).

Opinion

BAUER, Circuit Judge.

This ease involves a scattershot attack on the performance of three Indiana State Troopers who assisted in the seizure of the plaintiffs’ cattle. The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants on plaintiffs’ 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim and their supplemental state law claims. We affirm.

*578 BACKGROUND

The facts of this case, especially as they relate to the three appellees, are relatively straightforward. In early 1991, a local veterinarian contacted the Indiana State Police and made a formal complaint of cruelty to animals on a local farm. Trooper Stockton accompanied the veterinarian to the farm to investigate the complaint. Stockton photographed and videotaped the cattle and turned over his investigation report to the Wayne County prosecutor. On February 4, 1991, a Wayne County Superior Court judge conducted a probable cause hearing at which the veterinarian testified. The prosecutor informed the court that the Humane Society would care for any seized cattle. The court then issued a search and seizure warrant directing the State Police, “with any necessary and proper assistance” to seize “any and all cows [located at 7715 College Corner Road] which are evidence of abandoned or neglected animals under Ind.Code § 35-46-3-7.” On February 5, Trooper Strittmatter executed the warrant, accompanied by a number of volunteers from the Northwest Hooved Animal Humane Society who were going to care for the seized cows. Strittmat-ter supervised the removal of twelve cattle and returned the warrant, which listed the identification numbers of the seized cattle, to the court.

The next day, after reviewing an affidavit of Debra Blaney, the President of the Humane Society, and the February 4th testimony of the veterinarian, the court issued another warrant authorizing the seizure of the remaining neglected eattle at the College Comer Road farm. That same day, Trooper Chappelow witnessed the Humane Society’s removal of the remaining neglected cattle. However, she made no effort to identify the cows or to ascertain where they were taken. She also did not return the warrant to the court.

Eventually, the court dismissed the neglect charges against Campbell and ordered the state to return the eattle. In the meantime, however, the individual caretakers of the cattle had filed liens against Campbell seeking reimbursement for caretaking costs, and sold the cattle to satisfy the liens. Unfortunately, it appears that Campbell did not receive notice of these sales. In response, the Campbells sued everyone involved: the veterinarians, the Humane Society, the individual caretakers, the Wayne County Sheriff, deputy sheriffs, and Troopers Chappelow, Stockton, and Strittmatter. By the time this matter was ripe for summary judgment, the only remaining defendants were the state troopers, all the rest having been dismissed pursuant to agreement.

The district court first entered summary judgment in favor of Stockton and Strittmat-ter, finding that the troopers were far too removed from the sale without notice to be liable for any due process violations, and that the Campbells’ state law conversion and bailment claims were meritless. The district court next granted summary judgment for Chappelow on alternative grounds. First, it found that the Campbells’ complaint against Chappelow was barred by the two-year statute of limitations. Ind.Code § 34-1-22(1). Notwithstanding this first ruling, the district court also analyzed the merits of the claims against Chappelow and concluded that they failed for the same reason as those against Stockton and Strittmatter, and for the additional reason that the state law remedies under the Indiana Tort Claims Act, Ind.Code § 34-4-16.5-1 et seq., precluded the § 1983 action.

The Campbells appeal, raising a plethora of issues, none of which has merit. They argue that the district court erred in entering summary judgment on the state law bailment and conversion claims, and that the district court’s statute of limitations and § 1983 rulings were error. 1 We disagree and affirm.

*579 ANALYSIS

We review the district court’s summary judgment ruling de novo, applying the same standards as the district court. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56; Grottkau v. Sky Climber, Inc., 79 F.3d 70, 72 (7th Cir.1996). We would think that the Campbells’ true beef was with the Humane Society members who allegedly sold the cows without notice. In fact, the Campbells themselves recognize that “had the cattle been retained by the [individual caretakers] and the Humane Society, they could have been returned and the Campbells would not have sustained injury.” They also acknowledge that they are looking to the troopers for relief because “many of the defendants involved are judgment proof.” We hold that the district court properly entered summary judgment because the Campbells cannot demonstrate Stockton’s or Strittmatter’s personal involvement in the sale without notice. As for Chappelow, we conclude that the Campbells’ state law claims fail for the same reasons as with Stockton and Strittmatter, and that the applicable statute of limitations barred the § 1983 complaint.

1. STOCKTON

In order to establish liability under § 1983, the Campbells had to demonstrate that Stockton was “personally responsible for the deprivation of [their property, "without due process].” Gentry v. Duckworth, 65 F.3d 555, 561 (7th Cir.1995). This they cannot do. Given Stockton’s limited role in this whole matter, we agree with the district court that “Stockton’s activities did not amount to personal participation in the alleged constitutional violations sufficient for him to have any liability under § 1983.”

We also give short shrift to the Campbells’ state law claims against Stockton. First, under Indiana law, conversion is “a tort involving the appropriation of the personal property of another to the tortfeasor’s own use and benefit.” Shourek v. Stirling, 621 N.E.2d 1107, 1109 (Ind.1993). We fail to see how this encompasses any of Stockton’s activities. Next, the plaintiffs present no authority supporting their argument that the concept of bailment applies in this situation. The best they can do is point to the Indiana statute which provides that “all items of property seized by any law enforcement agency as a result of a ... search warrant ...

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95 F.3d 576, 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 23467, 1996 WL 509209, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robert-h-campbell-and-frances-c-campbell-v-lisa-chappelow-scott-ca7-1996.