Williams v. Crosby

43 F. Supp. 3d 794, 2014 WL 4066267, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111865
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedAugust 12, 2014
DocketCase No. 3:13 CV 2041
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 43 F. Supp. 3d 794 (Williams v. Crosby) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams v. Crosby, 43 F. Supp. 3d 794, 2014 WL 4066267, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111865 (N.D. Ohio 2014).

Opinion

[798]*798 MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JACK ZOUHARY, District Judge.

This Court previously adopted those portions of the Magistrate Judge’s Amended Report & Recommendation (“R & R”) (Doc. 31) to which no objections had been made and the parties stipulated to dismissal without prejudice of claims against Defendant Mark McDounough (Doc. 39). Now pending before this Court are Defendant Officers Amanda Crosby (“Crosby”) and Randall Williams’ (“R. Williams”) Objections to the Amended Report & Recommendation (“R & R”) (Doc. 32). Plaintiffs opposed (Doc. 36), and Defendants replied (Doc. 38).

Pursuant to Hill v. Duriron Co., 656 F.2d 1208 (6th Cir.1981) and 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) & (C), this Court has made a de novo determination of the Magistrate Judge’s findings. For the reasons below, this Court sustains in part and overrules in part Defendants’ Objections. Defendants’ Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Doc. 21) is granted in part and denied in part.

Background

The Amended R & R accurately recites the Complaint’s well-pled factual allegations, and this Court adopts that discussion in its entirety (Doc. 31 at 1-4). Briefly stated, Plaintiffs assert claims under Section 1983, alleging deprivations of a federal constitutional right on three grounds: (1) that Crosby and R. Williams caused Kathleen Williams (“K. Williams”) to be unlawfully arrested—Crosby because she lacked probable cause for the arrest, and R. Williams because, though told by Crosby of the reasons for the arrest, he failed to prevent the arrest; (2) that Crosby used excessive force before, during, and after the arrest; and (3) that Crosby “swore to the criminal complaint that initiated” K. Williams’ prosecution for obstructing justice, an investigation which lacked probable cause and was dismissed by the prosecutor (Doc. 1 at ¶ 36). Plaintiffs assert related state law claims (id. at ¶¶ 39-55).

Standard

A complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted when it lacks “plausibility in the complaint.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 564, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). A pleading must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 677-78, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). The factual allegations in the pleading must be sufficient to raise the right to relief above the speculative level on the assumption that all the allegations in the complaint are true. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. In reviewing a complaint, the court must construe the pleading in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See Bibbo v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., 151 F.3d 559, 561 (6th Cir.1998). See also Fritz v. Charter Township of Comstock, 592 F.3d 718, 722 (6th Cir.2010).

Defendants raise qualified immunity defenses to Plaintiffs’ Section 1983 claims. The doctrine of qualified immunity shields from civil liability government officials who perform discretionary functions if “their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” Champion v. Outlook Nashville, Inc., 380 F.3d 893, 901 (6th Cir.2004). When raised by way of a motion for judgment on the pleadings, qualified immunity must be denied when: (1) factual allegations taken in the light most favorable to the plaintiff show a constitutional violation, and (2) the relevant constitutional right was “clearly established” at the time of the defendant’s alleged miscon[799]*799duct. Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 228, 232, 129 S.Ct. 808, 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009). When evaluating established law on a given constitutional tort claim, this Court must first look to the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, then to decisions of the Sixth Circuit, then to decisions of district courts within this Circuit, and, finally, to decisions of courts in other circuits. Daugherty v. Campbell, 935 F.2d 780, 784 (6th Cir.1991).

Discussion

Federal Claims—Unlawful Arrest (Crosby)

The Amended R & R concluded that “[a] person may not be arrested at home without a warrant, regardless of the existence of probable cause, absent exigent circumstances or the individual’s consent” (Doc. 31 at 8) (citing Estate of Bing v. City of Whitehall, 456 F.3d 555, 564 (6th Cir. 2006)). Plaintiffs do not argue that K. Williams’ arrest was unlawful because Crosby lacked a warrant and exigent circumstances (Doc. 25 at 6-14; Doc. 36 at 2-9). For their part, Defendants argue the Amended R & R should have analyzed the arrest for the existence of probable cause only, because “it is alleged on the face of the complaint that the arrest occurred outside the home” (Doc. 32 at 9) (emphasis in original).

The lawfulness of K. Williams’ warrantless arrest does not depend on exigent circumstance, only probable cause. The Complaint alleges no facts suggesting that at any point during the encounter K. Williams entered her home. Instead, she was on the family front porch, and the Complaint supports no plausible inference other than she was “exposed to public view, speech, hearing, and touch” from the moment the encounter with Crosby began. United States v. Santana, 427 U.S. 38, 42, 96 S.Ct. 2406, 49 L.Ed.2d 300 (1976). See also id. at 40 & n. 1, 42, 96 S.Ct. 2406 (holding that an individual who stands on the threshold of a home may be arrested without a warrant upon probable cause). When an individual “voluntarily expose[s] himself [or herself] to the public ... [her or she] eliminated the ... requirements of a warrant or exigent circumstances.” United States v. Saari, 272 F.3d 804, 811 (6th Cir.2001).

Moreover, while “[t]he front porch is the classic exemplar of an area adjacent to the home and to which the activity of home life extends,” Florida v. Jardines, — U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 1409, 1415, 185 L.Ed.2d 495 (2013) (quotation mark omitted), that, of course, is not true in all cases. The Complaint lacks any factual allegations to suggest Plaintiffs’ porch falls within the curtilage of their home. See Hardesty v. Hamburg Twp., 461 F.3d 646, 652 (6th Cir. 2006). Was the front porch an enclosed porch? Was it shielded from public view by hedges? Did a fence separate the sidewalk from Plaintiffs’ front yard or from the porch itself? The Complaint alleges no facts bearing on these questions.

Therefore, K. Williams’ warrantless arrest would be permissible if supported by probable cause that she had committed a felony or a misdemeanor in Crosby’s presence. See United States v. Watson,

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Bluebook (online)
43 F. Supp. 3d 794, 2014 WL 4066267, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111865, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-crosby-ohnd-2014.