Schorle v. City of Greenhills

524 F. Supp. 821, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16775
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedFebruary 26, 1981
DocketC-1-80-424
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 524 F. Supp. 821 (Schorle v. City of Greenhills) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schorle v. City of Greenhills, 524 F. Supp. 821, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16775 (S.D. Ohio 1981).

Opinion

SPIEGEL, District Judge.

This is a civil action for damages filed by plaintiff, Rodney Schorle (Schorle), on August 8, 1980, for violation of his civil rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988. The complaint is against the City of Green-hills, Ohio (City); Wilma DuPlain, the City’s tax commissioner; Ronald E. Otting, the City’s mayor; Larry Zettler and T. Sullivan, City police officers, and John E. Sell-man, a notary public.

Schorle alleges that he was arrested by Officers Zettler and Sullivan on August 10, 1978, by virtue of an arrest warrant, and charged with violating Section 191.15 of the Income Tax Law of the City of Greenhills. He was held in custody until he could post a $100 bond. However, Schorle states that the complaint and affidavit upon which the warrant was based do not reflect the original signatures of the complainant, Wilma DuPlain, although John Sellman acknowledged them as sworn to and subscribed by him on August 10, 1978. Also, Schorle alleges, the complaint and affidavit were not ever properly reviewed by the Mayor before the arrest warrant issued, since the Mayor’s purported signature on the warrant appears to be merely a rubber stamp.

The complaint further alleges that Schorle appeared in the Greenhills’ Mayor’s Court on August 22,1978, at which time the matter was set over to September 29,1978. At no time did Schorle ever waive his right to a jury trial or his right to be represented by counsel. Yet, on September 12, 1978, when Schorle, unrepresented, again appeared in Mayor’s Court, the Mayor entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf and proceeded to hear evidence against him presented by the City. Thereafter, the Mayor found Schorle guilty of the charge against him and sentenced him to six months in jail and a fine of $1,000, despite the fact that the ordinance provides for a maximum penalty of six months’ imprisonment and a $500 fine. The Mayor granted Schorle’s request for a stay of execution but required him to post an additional bond of $1,000. Schorle remained in the City’s custody until this bond could be posted. The Mayor never advised him of his right to appeal.

Schorle sought legal counsel and commenced an appeal to the Hamilton County, Ohio, Municipal Court. The Municipal Court granted Schorle’s motion to dismiss the charge against him on January 20,1979.

All of the defendants have filed a motion to dismiss the complaint or, in the alternative, to dismiss each of them as a party defendant (doc. 4). Plaintiff has filed a memorandum in opposition (doc. 7). Defendants’ basis for dismissal of the complaint as to all of them is based on the argument that a one-year period of limitations should be applied to plaintiff’s cause of action. As most of the injuries of which plaintiff complains occurred in August and September of 1978, the last act mentioned in his complaint being the dismissal of the City’s charges against him by the Municipal Court on January 20, 1979, application of a one-year statute of limitations would clearly bar this action which was not filed until August 8, 1980.

Since there is no specifically stated or otherwise relevant federal statute of limitations for actions arising under the Civil Rights Acts, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 et seq., federal courts must look to the most analogous state law in determining limitations periods. Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc., 421 U.S. 454, 95 S.Ct. 1716, 44 L.Ed.2d 295 (1974); Garner v. Stephens, 460 F.2d 1144, 1145 (6th Cir. 1972).

As noted by The Honorable William O. Bertelsman in Hines v. Board of Education of Covington, Kentucky, 492 F.Supp. 469, 472 (E.D.Ky.1980):

Trial courts have been provided with little guidance in the methods to be used in making the required analysis. This court believes and holds that in implementing the Sixth Circuit approach the *823 two primary factors to be considered in attempting to analogize a federal civil rights claim to a state claim for the purpose of selecting an appropriate statute of limitations are the interest of the plaintiff sought to be protected, and the operative facts comprising the claim.

There are three Ohio statutes of limitations which the Sixth Circuit has recognized as being applicable to Civil Rights claims: Ohio’s one-year statute of limitations for intentional torts, Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.11, Austin v. Brammer, 555 F.2d 142 (6th Cir. 1977); Ohio’s four-year statute of limitations for injuries to the rights of the plaintiff not arising on contract nor enumerated in Ohio Rev. Code §§ 2305.10 to 2305.12, Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.09, Crawford v. Zeitler, 326 F.2d 119, 121 (6th Cir. 1964); and Ohio’s six-year statute of limitations for an action upon a liability created by statute other than a forfeiture or a penalty, Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.07, Mason v. Owens-Illinois, Inc., 517 F.2d 520 (6th Cir. 1975).

Defendants contend that plaintiff’s complaint is most analogous to one for false arrest, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution. Thus, they argue, that under Austin, supra and Carmicle v. Weddle, 555 F.2d 554 (6th Cir. 1977), Ohio’s one-year statute of limitations, Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.11, is applicable.

Austin and Carmicle reached similar results under similar statutes of limitations in Ohio and Kentucky, respectively. In Austin the plaintiff alleged that his civil rights were violated by police officers who gave perjurious testimony in a state criminal action, which resulted in his conviction and incarceration. The Court found the most nearly analogous Ohio statute of limitations to be Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.11, which applies a limitations period of one year to actions of false imprisonment, which encompasses false arrest, Alter v. Paul, 101 Ohio App. 139, 135 N.E.2d 73 (1955), and malicious prosecution.

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Bluebook (online)
524 F. Supp. 821, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16775, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schorle-v-city-of-greenhills-ohsd-1981.