Simmons v. Grandison

833 F. Supp. 2d 702, 2011 WL 2470458, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66533
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedJune 20, 2011
DocketCase No. 10-13681
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 833 F. Supp. 2d 702 (Simmons v. Grandison) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Simmons v. Grandison, 833 F. Supp. 2d 702, 2011 WL 2470458, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66533 (E.D. Mich. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

PATRICK J. DUGGAN, District Judge.

On September 16, 2010, Catherine Simmons (“Plaintiff’) filed this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that Michigan State Police Detective Specialists Darrin Grandison and William Dawson (“Defendants”) violated her constitutional rights during an investigation of suspected money laundering. Before the Court is Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment, filed on March 8, 2011 pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. The matter has been fully briefed, and the Court heard oral argument on June 9, 2011. For the reasons stated below, the Court grants Defendants’ Motion in part and denies it in part.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Detective Specialists Grandison and Dawson are assigned to Gaming Unit of the Michigan State Police, which is tasked with the enforcement of Michigan’s gambling laws. On June 7, 2009, Grandison was asked by his Sergeant to investigate a report of suspicious play at the Greektown Casino in Detroit. The casino’s surveillance team had advised the Michigan State Police that a patron was “force feeding” slot machines.1 Grandison drove to the casino and called the surveillance staff to learn more about the specific conduct observed. A surveillance officer explained that Plaintiff had recently redeemed a “large sum” of TITO tickets2 and had returned to the slot machines, where she was acquiring more TITO tickets. Upon arriving at the casino, Grandison asked the surveillance officer for Plaintiffs description and current location. He then observed Plaintiff from a distance of approximately forty to fifty feet. Plaintiff inserted a bill into the slot machine, pushed the “play” button eight to ten times, and cashed out her remaining cred[707]*707its for a TITO ticket. After watching Plaintiff repeat these steps a number of times, Grandison contacted casino surveillance. He asked what denomination of bills Plaintiff was using, and was told that they were $100 bills. Grandison explained to the surveillance officer that he was going to initiate contact with Plaintiff. Grandison requested uniformed casino security officers to accompany him in order to validate his claim of being a police officer, as he was dressed in plain clothes at the time.

Grandison and two casino security officers approached Plaintiff. Grandison stated that he was a state trooper with the Michigan State Police Gaming Section and asked Plaintiff to cash out and follow him. Plaintiff refused to do so. Grandison asked Plaintiff a second time, and she again refused. Grandison then pressed the button on the machine to cash out the remaining credits and instructed Plaintiff to take the ticket and follow him. Plaintiff took the ticket and accompanied Grandison and the casino security officers to an interview room.

In the interview room, Grandison searched Plaintiffs purse for weapons. He then advised Plaintiff that he was going to take the money and TITO tickets she was holding in her hand. Plaintiff pulled back at first, but after Grandison explained that the room was subject to video and audio surveillance, she turned over the money and tickets. Plaintiff asked to leave, and Grandison replied that she could not leave until after he completed an accounting of the money and tickets. Grandison asked Plaintiff if she knew what the total of the money and tickets was, and she responded that she came to the casino with five thousand dollars. Grandison counted eleven $100 bills and twenty-three TITO tickets. He totaled these and explained to Plaintiff that his total was $3,543. Grandison then told Plaintiff that she was free to leave, and she exited the interview room. According to Grandison, the entire encounter with Plaintiff lasted less than thirty minutes. Grandison Dep. 49:19-23, Aug. 27, 2010. Plaintiff claims that she was detained for approximately forty-five minutes. PL’s Resp. Br. 2.

Later that night, Grandison spoke with Detective Specialist William Dawson of the Michigan State Police Gaming Unit, who had already opened an investigation relating to possible money laundering by Plaintiff. Grandison therefore turned his materials over to Dawson. Dawson continued his investigation for the next fifteen months, during which Plaintiff or her attorney inquired several times about the return of the money. The money has since been returned to Plaintiff.

Plaintiff filed this suit on September 16, 2010, alleging that her constitutional rights were violated by Grandison’s search and seizure of her person (Count I); Grandison’s search and seizure of her property (Count II); and Dawson’s “illegal retention” of her property during the investigation (Count III).

II. Standard of Review

Summary judgment is appropriate when “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). The central inquiry is “whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2512, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). After adequate time for discovery and upon motion, Rule 56 mandates summary judgment against a party who fails to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case and on which that party bears the burden [708]*708of proof at trial. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The movant has an initial burden of showing “the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Id. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2553.

Once the movant meets this burden, the non-movant must come forward with specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). To demonstrate a genuine issue, the non-movant must present sufficient evidence upon which a jury could reasonably find for the non-movant; a “scintilla of evidence” is insufficient. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. at 252, 106 S.Ct. at 2512. The court must accept as true the non-movant’s evidence and draw “all justifiable inferences” in the non-movant’s favor. Id. at 255, 106 S.Ct. at 2513. The inquiry is whether the evidence presented is such that a jury applying the relevant evidentiary standard could “reasonably find for either the plaintiff or the defendant.” Id., 106 S.Ct. at 2514.

III. Discussion

A. Governing Law

Although Plaintiff raises her claims under the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, her search and seizure claims are properly analyzed under the Fourth Amendment. See Graham v. Connor,

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Bluebook (online)
833 F. Supp. 2d 702, 2011 WL 2470458, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66533, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/simmons-v-grandison-mied-2011.