Schmidt v. City of Bella Villa

557 F.3d 564, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 4017, 2009 WL 499320
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedMarch 2, 2009
Docket07-3053
StatusPublished
Cited by194 cases

This text of 557 F.3d 564 (Schmidt v. City of Bella Villa) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schmidt v. City of Bella Villa, 557 F.3d 564, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 4017, 2009 WL 499320 (8th Cir. 2009).

Opinion

JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge.

Jami Neco Schmidt filed this claim for damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Missouri’s strip search law, Mo.Rev.Stat. § 544.193. She brought claims against the City of Bella Villa, Missouri, and Chief of Police Edward Locke, Jr. in connection with the alleged post-arrest photographing of her tattoo. She appeals from the district court’s 1 entry of summary judgment on each of her claims and from two eviden-tiary decisions. Having jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm.

I.

On June 3, 2005, Jami Neco Schmidt, a 20-year-old woman, was riding in a vehicle driven by Sarah McVey. Police Chief Edward Locke, Jr. stopped the vehicle after McVey committed several moving violations. During the stop, Locke smelled alcohol and observed at least two open cans of beer in the car. Locke asked the passengers, including Schmidt, for identification.

Schmidt gave a false name, “Samantha Smith,” and a false date of birth and social security number. When Locke attempted to run the passengers’ identifying information through his computer, he learned that the information Schmidt had given was false. Schmidt also failed field sobriety tests. Locke arrested Schmidt for making a false declaration and for being a minor in possession of alcohol. Locke issued a citation to McVey, the driver, but did not arrest her or any of the other passengers in the car. Locke then transported Schmidt to the Bella Villa police station. Schmidt does not contest the propriety of her arrest.

At the police station, Locke interviewed Schmidt regarding her identity. This process included the completion of a booking sheet with information about the arrest and Schmidt’s identification. The booking sheet included a section for listing “scars/marks/tattoos/deformities.” In response to Locke’s inquiry about whether she had any scars, marks, tattoos or deformities, Schmidt indicated that she had a butterfly tattoo. The tattoo is approximately two inches long and is located approximately two inches from Schmidt’s hipbone. The tattoo was hidden by her clothing at the time of her booking.

The following facts are in dispute, but for the purposes of reviewing a motion for summary judgment, we will recite the facts in the manner most favorable to Schmidt, the nonmoving party. O’Brien v. Dep’t of Agriculture, 532 F.3d 805, 808 (8th Cir.2008). After Schmidt described *568 her tattoo to Locke, he requested that she take a picture of the tattoo. When she asked why he needed a picture, he told her that it was for identification purposes. Locke provided Schmidt with a Polaroid camera and asked her to go into the bathroom to take a picture of the tattoo. 'When she returned with a photograph of her tattoo, Locke examined the picture and stated that it was not good enough. Locke indicated that he would need to take a better picture. Pursuant to Locke’s request, Schmidt unbuttoned her jeans partway and folded them inwards to permit him to take a photograph. He again rejected this photograph as being incomplete or otherwise unacceptable. To permit Locke to take an acceptable photograph, Schmidt further unbuttoned her jeans and folded them inwards again. Locke took a second photograph, which he apparently found to be acceptable. Schmidt was later released on her own recognizance.

In her brief to this court, Schmidt alleges that Locke used harassing and/or threatening language toward her during her time in custody. However, these allegations were not before the district court in response to the motion for summary judgment. See Holland v. Sam’s Club, 487 F.3d 641, 644 (8th Cir.2007).

Schmidt alleged multiple claims based on the incident of photographing her tattoo. She brought claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 that Locke violated her Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. She additionally alleges four theories of municipal liability. Finally, she brought tort claims against the City and Locke under Missouri’s strip search law, Mo.Rev.Stat. § 544.193.

After discovery, the district court granted a motion to strike Schmidt’s expert witness, St. Louis Police Officer, Lieutenant Anthony Russo. After her deposition, Schmidt also filed a photographic exhibit allegedly depicting her tattoo. The district court also granted a motion to strike the exhibit. Finally, City and Locke filed a motion for summary judgment on all of Schmidt’s claims. In response, Schmidt conceded several, and the court granted summary judgment on the remaining claims. 2 Schmidt appeals these rulings, which we affirm. 3

II. Evidentiary Issues.

A. Exclusion of Photographic Exhibit.

Schmidt appeals from the district court’s exclusion of a photographic exhibit she submitted to show the location of her tattoo and the position of her clothing when Chief Locke took his photos. 4 City and Locke urge us to uphold the district court’s order striking the exhibit on the basis that there was insufficient foundation to establish the authenticity of the photograph. See Fed.R.Evid. 901. We review *569 the district court’s order for abuse of discretion and accord the district court’s evi-dentiary decisions substantial deference. Watson v. O’Neill, 365 F.3d 609, 615 (8th Cir.2004). “[W]e may not reverse unless the district court erred and the error affected the substantial rights of the appellant.” Green v. City of St. Louis, 507 F.3d 662, 669 (8th Cir.2007) (citing Archer Daniels Midland Co. v. Aon Risk Servs., Inc., 356 F.3d 850, 857 (8th Cir.2004)).

In order to be admissible, a photograph must be shown to be an accurate representation of the thing depicted as it appeared at the relevant time. See United States v. Stienvalt, 16 F.3d 282, 286 (8th Cir.1994). Schmidt contends that the photographic exhibit accurately depicts her tattoo and, thus, should be admitted. However, Schmidt’s argument shows that her purpose is not to show the condition and location of the tattoo on the date it was photographed in her attorney’s office. Rather, Schmidt submits the exhibit for the purpose of showing not only the tattoo, but the location of her clothing and her state of undress in the station photographs. We evaluate the authenticity of the exhibit in that context.

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Bluebook (online)
557 F.3d 564, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 4017, 2009 WL 499320, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schmidt-v-city-of-bella-villa-ca8-2009.