Shamaeizadeh v. Cunigan

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJuly 22, 2003
Docket01-6326
StatusPublished

This text of Shamaeizadeh v. Cunigan (Shamaeizadeh v. Cunigan) 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
Shamaeizadeh v. Cunigan, (6th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION Pursuant to Sixth Circuit Rule 206 2 Shamaeizadeh v. Cunigan et al. No. 01-6326 ELECTRONIC CITATION: 2003 FED App. 0238P (6th Cir.) File Name: 03a0238p.06

BARKER & MALONEY, Lexington, Kentucky, for UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Appellees. ON BRIEF: David R. Marshall, Lexington, Kentucky, for Appellant. Bryan H. Beauman, Douglas L. FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT McSwain, STURGILL, TURNER, BARKER & MALONEY, _________________ Lexington, Kentucky, for Appellees. _________________ ALI SHAMAEIZADEH, X OPINION Plaintiff-Appellant, - _________________ - - No. 01-6326 KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. Plaintiff- v. - Appellant Dr. Ali Shamaeizadeh (“Shamaeizadeh”) appeals > the district court’s grant of summary judgment for , JOEL CUNIGAN et al., - Defendants-Appellees with respect to Shamaeizadeh’s § 1983 Defendants-Appellees. N claims and his state law malicious prosecution claim. On March 14, 1994, the Richmond Police Department received a call reporting the burglary of Shamaeizadeh’s residence Appeal from the United States District Court (“the residence”). An officer responded to the call and for the Eastern District of Kentucky at Lexington. searched the residence for the burglar. The officer then called No. 97-00121—Karl S. Forester, Chief District Judge. for assistance and conducted a second search with one of his supervisors. After discovering evidence of drug paraphernalia Argued: April 30, 2003 during the second search, the two officers called narcotics experts to the scene to participate in a third search. Based on Decided and Filed: July 22, 2003 the evidence discovered, the officers secured and executed two search warrants for the residence. Shamaeizadeh was Before: MOORE and ROGERS, Circuit Judges; KATZ, indicted for federal drug violations, but the charges were District Judge.* dismissed after the district court suppressed the evidence seized from the basement of the residence. _________________ Shamaeizadeh filed a § 1983 action including federal COUNSEL claims and a state law malicious prosecution claim against the City of Richmond, Kentucky, the Richmond Police ARGUED: David R. Marshall, Lexington, Kentucky, for Department, and five individual officers (“the officers”) in Appellant. Bryan H. Beauman, STURGILL, TURNER, their individual and official capacities. Shamaeizadeh argues that he is entitled to damages for the following reasons: * (1) the second and third warrantless searches were The Honorable David A. Katz, United States District Judge for the unconstitutional; (2) there was no probable cause for either Northern District of Ohio, sitting by designation.

1 No. 01-6326 Shamaeizadeh v. Cunigan et al. 3 4 Shamaeizadeh v. Cunigan et al. No. 01-6326

search warrant; (3) the officers exceeded the scope of the first Schmitt asked Wiles to search the residence with her, and search warrant; (4) the officers included misrepresentations in he proceeded to walk through the main floor of the residence. the affidavit supporting the second warrant; (5) the officers Wiles discovered a locked door, but did not attempt to open arrested him without probable cause; (6) he was maliciously it because Schmitt said that it was Shamaeizadeh’s room and prosecuted; and (7) the City of Richmond failed properly to that Shamaeizadeh kept it locked when he was away. Wiles train and supervise its police officers. The district court also discovered a broken door, which led to the basement. He granted summary judgment to the defendants on all grounds. did not examine the broken door because Schmitt said she had kicked it open to use the telephone a few days earlier. Wiles We REVERSE the district court’s grant of summary later said that during this search he detected the odor of judgment with respect to the second and third warrantless growing marijuana. searches, and with respect to Shamaeizadeh’s claim that the officers exceeded the scope of the first search warrant. We After searching the main floor of the house, Wiles moved AFFIRM the district court on all other grounds. onto a deck overlooking the backyard and searched the rear of the premises. Meanwhile, Schmitt entered the basement I. FACTS AND PROCEDURE through the broken door, walked out through the back door of the basement apartment, and met Wiles in the backyard. Shamaeizadeh owned a one-story house with a basement, Explaining that the occupants of the basement apartment were located at 121 Millstone Drive, Richmond, Kentucky. He away on spring break, she asked Wiles to check the basement. occupied the main floor of the residence with his fiancee, Wiles proceeded to search the basement. Theresa Schmitt (“Schmitt”), and rented the basement to Brian Reed (“Reed”) and Joe Ford (“Ford”). All four During his search, Wiles noticed that the basement residents of the house regarded the basement as a separate contained several rooms. Many of the doors were locked, and apartment. Wiles did not attempt to open them. He did smell what he thought was growing marijuana. After walking through the On March 14, 1994, Schmitt placed an emergency call to basement, Wiles called Assistant Chief of Police Wayne the Richmond Police Department, reporting a possible Grant (“Grant”) because he believed he needed the assistance burglary of the residence. Officer Mark Wiles (“Wiles”) was of a supervisor. dispatched and arrived five minutes later. Schmitt met Wiles at the front door, invited him into the residence, and walked Wiles and Schmitt returned to the kitchen and waited for into the kitchen. She told Wiles that she had left the back Grant to arrive.1 Schmitt never asked Wiles to leave. While door open for her cats, and then had passed out on the kitchen they were waiting, Schmitt told Wiles that she believed the table after taking muscle relaxants and consuming a beer. “government” was the burglar. Wiles was thus inclined to When Schmitt awoke, she noticed that her room key was discredit Schmitt’s allegations of burglary. When Grant missing from her pocket. She went into another room and, while she was there, someone allegedly reentered the house and broke the glass top of the kitchen table. Wiles observed 1 broken glass on the kitchen floor. Shamaeizadeh conceded at oral argumen t that, at some point prior to the second search, Schmitt informed Wiles that she believed that some of the other occupants of the house were growing marijuana. No. 01-6326 Shamaeizadeh v. Cunigan et al. 5 6 Shamaeizadeh v. Cunigan et al. No. 01-6326

arrived, Wiles briefed him about his activity thus far. Schmitt to Schmitt, although she never saw marijuana, the scent was participated in the conversation, informing the officers that so strong that she covered her vents to avoid it, particularly at she would retrieve a key for the locked doors in the basement. nighttime. Wiles and Grant then conducted a second search of the Cunigan called a state prosecutor and submitted a sworn basement apartment. They did not ask Schmitt’s permission affidavit in support of his application for a search warrant. A to conduct the search. When they entered the basement, state court judge issued a warrant for the search and seizure Wiles again smelled what he suspected was marijuana. The of “[a]ny and all illegally possessed controlled substances officers discovered small marijuana cigarette butts, known as including marijuana, both growing and processed, and any “roaches,” in an ashtray. They also found boxes of drug paraphernalia, also any and all illegally possessed fluorescent light bulbs under the apartment stairway and prescription drugs.” Joint Appendix (“J.A.”) at 584 (1st observed fluorescent lighting in one of the locked rooms turn Warrant). on and off intermittently. They suspected that the fluorescent lighting was being used to grow marijuana because it is often At 11:19 p.m., Cunigan returned to the residence with other used for that purpose.

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