Skillings v. Crowder

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Oklahoma
DecidedJuly 28, 2021
Docket4:17-cv-00572
StatusUnknown

This text of Skillings v. Crowder (Skillings v. Crowder) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Skillings v. Crowder, (N.D. Okla. 2021).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA

SHEMIKA N. SKILLINGS, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Case No. 17-CV-572-TCK-JFJ ) J. CHISUM, A. LAUDERDALE, and ) C. CHAMBERS, ) ) Defendants. )

OPINION AND ORDER Before the Court is the Motion to Dismiss filed by Defendants J. Chisum, A. Lauderdale, and C. Chambers (Doc. 116) filed pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). The defendants argue that Plaintiff Shemika Skillings’s (“Ms. Skillings”) Third Amended Complaint (Doc. 115) fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Ms. Skillings filed a Response opposing the motion (Doc. 123), and the defendants filed a Reply. (Doc. 129). I. Allegations This civil rights action arose when the defendants arrested Ms. Skillings in 2016. Ms. Skillings contends the arrest by the defendants, all of whom were officers with the Broken Arrow Police Department, violated her constitutional rights. What follows are the facts as alleged in the operative complaint. On March 11, 2016, Officers Chisum and Lauderdale appeared at Ms. Skillings’s residence and asked her to verify her name and date of birth. (Doc. 115 ¶ 11). Then, without telling her why they were there or showing her a warrant, the officers handcuffed her and placed her in a patrol car. (Id. ¶¶ 11–12). The officers then entered her home and detained her four-year-old daughter. (Id. ¶ 13). After Ms. Skillings’s arrest, the officers took her to the city jail where she was booked and held for “approximately 36 hours.” (Id. ¶¶ 14–15). An unknown Broken Arrow PD officer then transferred Ms. Skillings to the Wagoner County Jail, where she was booked as a “Fugitive from Justice” and held for an additional three days. (Id. ¶¶ 15–16, 32). When she asked a deputy at the

jail to see the warrant, the deputy “admitted to not having a warrant” and said the department was waiting for “further instruction” from authorities in Dinwiddie County, Virginia. (Id. ¶ 17). “No criminal charges were ever proffered against [her] regarding the arrest, detainment and imprisonment by the City of Broken Arrow . . . .” (Id. ¶ 18). Ms. Skillings alleges that her arrest was unconstitutional because the defendants were acting without a valid warrant. “The purported warrant for the arrest of the plaintiff as in which the officers assumed to act was void,” and “[t]he warrant that Defendant Chisum attempted to obtain after the arrest was made, [sic] was invalid on its face, as would be clearly apparent to any ordinarily intelligent layperson.” (Doc. 115 ¶ 28). Moreover, she alleges, “the warrant was not properly obtained consistent with federal law and the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act.” (Id.).

Ms. Skillings alleges a variety of harms stemming from her arrest. She lost wages when she was placed on administrative leave by her employer for eight months. (Id. ¶ 22). She was humiliated when her mugshot appeared on the local news and in the local newspaper. (Id.). And she suffered severe mental anguish, loss of reputation, and emotional distress. (Id.). Ms. Skilling’s complaint divides her claims into two counts. Count I alleges “Wrongful Arrest and Imprisonment” in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Count II alleges “Violation of the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act.” Additionally, the Court construes the complaint as alleging municipal liability. Although the complaint does not specifically identify municipal liability claims as such, it names the officers in both their individual and official capacities. (Id. ¶ 4). Accordingly, the Court construes her complaint as alleging both personal liability against the individual officers and municipal liability against the City of Broken Arrow. See Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 165-66 (1985) (“[A]n official-capacity suit is, in all respects other than name, to be treated as a suit against the entity.”).

II. Defendants’ Motion The defendants, citing a variety of court and police records, recite a different version of events, which can be summarized as follows: In 2016, a Virginia court awarded custody of Ms. Skillings’s daughter, B.F., to the girl’s father. (Custody Order, July 3, 2014, Doc. 50-3; Custody Order, March 7, 2016, Doc. 50-4). On March 7th, 2016, B.F.’s father petitioned the Circuit Court of Prince George County, Virginia, for a show cause order, alleging that Ms. Skillings had taken B.F. to Oklahoma without his permission. (Affidavit and Petition, March 7, 2016, Doc. 50-5). Based on his affidavit, the court entered an order directing Ms. Skillings to appear in court to show cause why she should not be fined or imprisoned for her contempt of the court’s prior custody order. (Show Cause Order, March 7, 2016, Doc. 50-6). In addition, on March 11, 2016, a magistrate with the Juvenile and Domestic

Relations District Court of Dinwiddie County, Virginia, issued a warrant for Ms. Skillings’s arrest on a charge of abduction and kidnapping by a parent in violation of § 18.2-47 of the Virginia Code. (Warrant, Doc. 116-1). The same day the warrant was issued, the Dinwiddie County Sheriff’s Department uploaded a request for Ms. Skillings’s arrest and extradition to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. (Doc. 116 at 9, ¶ 13 (citing Aff. Jacqueline Deatherage, Doc. 116-2; NCIC Request of March 11, 2016, Doc. 116-3)). At 6:49 p.m., the Department also asked Broken Arrow PD to send officers to an address where she was believed to be staying. (Id. at 9–10, ¶ 15 (citing NCIC Attempt to Locate Request of March 11, 2016, Doc. 116-4)). At 7:14 p.m., Dinwiddie County faxed a copy of the arrest warrant. (Id. at 10, ¶ 16 (citing Fax, Doc. 116-5)). At 7:07 p.m., after Broken Arrow had received the NCIC communications but before it had received the warrant, the department dispatched Officer Chisum, who arrived at Ms. Skillings’s

address at about 7:19 p.m. (Id. at 10, ¶ 17 (citing Arrest and Booking Report, Doc. 116-8)). At 7:34 p.m., Broken Arrow PD sent a message to Dinwiddie County indicating that an officer was on the scene with the suspect and requesting that Dinwiddie County confirm the felony warrant and extradition request. (Id. at 10, ¶ 18 (citing Confirmation Request of March 11, 2016, Doc. 116- 6)). At 7:48 p.m., Dinwiddie County confirmed. (Id. at 10, ¶ 19 (citing NCIC Confirmation, Doc. 116-7)). Chisum then placed Ms. Skilling under arrest. (Id. at 11, ¶ 20). In his report, he listed two crimes “Fugitive from Justice” and “Warrant-Abduction by Parent, Remove from State.” (Arrest and Booking Report, Doc. 116-8). The warrant number listed in the report matched the warrant issued by Dinwiddie County. Records show that Ms. Skillings was then booked into the Broken Arrow city lockup at

8:43 p.m. on Friday, March 11, 2016, transferred to the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office about 14 hours later, and brought before a Wagoner County District Court judge on Monday, March 14. (Doc. 116-11; Doc. 116-12; Doc. 116-13). The judge then released Ms. Skillings on a $20,000 extradition bond and ordered her to return in two weeks with proof that she had reported to Dinwiddie County on the outstanding warrant. (Doc. 116-13; Doc. 116-14). In light of these facts, the defendants argue that Ms. Skillings cannot state a claim entitling her to relief because (1) the officers had probable cause to arrest her, and (2) they brought her before a magistrate “with all practicable speed” as required under Oklahoma’s Uniform Criminal Extradition Act. (Doc. 116 at 24–26). III. Legal Standard The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure require a plaintiff to include in her complaint “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ.

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