Opinion of the Court by Chief Justice MINTON.
We granted discretionary review to consider whether an individual may bring a civil action for money damages under Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) 446.070 on the basis of an alleged violation of a provision of the Kentucky Constitution. In addition to traditional common law tort claims, Shannon Straub made a claim for money damages based upon the alleged violation of her substantive due process interests under the Kentucky Constitution. Straub alleges that St. Luke Hospital, some of its nurses and security guards, and the emergency room physician acted under the direction of a city police officer to violate her due process interests by forcibly restraining her, stripping and gowning her, and extracting blood and urine samples from her without her consent, the consent of a parent, or a court order.
We hold that an action for money damages under KRS 446.070 is not available for alleged constitutional violations, and we
Our conclusion on these issues differs from the result reached in this case by the Court of Appeals, which we reverse by our decision here. We further disagree with the decision of the Court of Appeals to reverse the trial court's evidentiary rulings at the trial of this case, so we reinstate the trial court's judgment.
Sixteen year-old Straub arrived with friends shortly after midnight at a party at an apartment in a condominium complex. She spent the rest of the night there. Around 6 a.m., she emerged from the apartment to retrieve her backpack from her friend's car. When she attempted to return to the apartment, she could not find it, so she started ringing doorbells and awakening residents around the complex. Several residents called the police to report this disturbance.
Wilder Police Officer Kilgore arrived to find an apparently disoriented Straub wandering the complex ringing doorbells. He immediately thought she might be intoxicated. According to Officer Kilgore, Straub's gait was unsteady, her pupils dilated, and her speech slurred. And he detected on her the odor of marijuana.
Straub was unwilling or unable to give Officer Kilgore accurate information, including her name and address, how she arrived at the condominium complex, and whether she had been drinking or taking drugs. Kilgore suspected that Straub recently used drugs or suffered some kind of disorienting head injury. Failing in efforts to find anyone at the condominium complex to identify Straub, Officer Kilgore took her to police headquarters where he attempted to locate her family or friends.
Straub gave Officer Kilgore several phone numbers. After fruitless attempts to contact anyone at the phone numbers Straub provided, Officer Kilgore contacted the court-designated worker,
Officer Kilgore took Straub to the emergency department at St. Luke Hospital where he asked the staff to determine whether she needed emergency medical treatment. Officer Kilgore informed the staff that he suspected Straub had been using drugs and may have suffered a head injury. Dr. David Allen, the emergency room doctor, directed the hospital staff to put Straub in a hospital gown and ordered a toxicology screen. Straub refused to cooperate and became combative. Ultimately, hospital personnel and Officer Kilgore physically restrained Straub. Hospital personnel stripped Straub of her clothing, placed her in a hospital gown, applied four-point leather restraints, drew blood, and extracted a urine sample through forced catheterization. Meanwhile, a hospital employee reached Straub's mother, who arrived after Straub
Lab reports of blood and urine tests confirmed the presence of cannabis and benzodiazepine in Straub's system. Dr. Allen eventually released Straub to her mother.
Straub sued Dr. Allen, St. Luke Hospital, its employees, Officer Kilgore, and the City of Wilder in federal district court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that their actions violated Straub's federal constitutional rights and making various state common law tort claims. Following two years of discovery, the federal district court granted summary judgment in favor of all defendants on Straub's § 1983 claims and dismissed the common law tort claims without prejudice. In its order, the federal district court examined the merits of Straub's § 1983 claims and concluded that Officer Kilgore had probable cause to arrest Straub and that the hospital defendants had not acted under "color of law." Straub appealed, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Straub's § 1983 claims.
Straub then brought this action in the state trial court against the defendants from the federal case and added more hospital employees as defendants. In the state action, she alleged violation of state constitutional rights in addition to asserting the same three common law claims that were dismissed in the federal suit: false imprisonment, false arrest, and the tort of outrage. Later, Straub amended her complaint to add another common law claim, assault and battery, which she had not asserted in the federal action.
The trial court granted summary judgment on the outrage claim in favor of all defendants and without objection from Straub.
The trial court also dismissed before trial Straub's claims that the hospital defendants acted under color of state law to deprive Straub of her due process interests under the Kentucky Constitution. The trial court agreed with the analysis reflected in the dismissal order of the federal district court and the affirming opinion of the federal appeals court that the facts failed to demonstrate that the hospital defendants acted as agents of the state when they gowned, restrained, catheterized, and drew blood from Straub. The trial court opined that those actions were based upon independent health care decisions initiated by the emergency room physician and not under the direction of Officer Kilgore.
Straub's false arrest claims against Officer Kilgore and the City of Wilder, along with her false imprisonment and assault and battery claims against Officer Kilgore and the hospital defendants proceeded to a jury trial. The jury returned a verdict for all the defendants, and the trial court entered judgment accordingly.
Both parties appealed to the Court of Appeals, which reversed the judgment and remanded the case to the trial court for additional proceedings.
Straub alleges the violation of her substantive due process interests found in §§ 1,
The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's issuance of summary judgment against Straub on these allegations, thereby recognizing these rights as actionable and finding the existence of factual disputes on the issue of whether the hospital defendants acted under color of law in depriving Straub of these rights.
But we find no cause of action for money damages existed for these rights under KRS 446.070, so we reverse the Court of Appeals on this issue. This holding renders moot the issue of whether the hospital defendants acted under color of state law.
KRS 446.070 provides, "A person injured by the violation of any statute may recover from the offender such damages as he sustained by reason of the violation, although a penalty or forfeiture is imposed for such violation."
The Kentucky General Assembly enacted this statute in 1942 to codify common law negligence per se.
Precedent acknowledges some restrictions on the applicability of KRS 446.070. The "any statute" language used applies to Kentucky statutes.
Violations of federal laws and regulations and the laws of other states do not create a cause of action based on KRS 446.070.
Regarding administrative regulations, this Court previously stated, "All the cases supporting recovery for regulatory violations involve safety regulations adopted pursuant to the exact mandate of their enabling statute.... [I]t has been only in this specific context of public safety regulations that the Court has allowed KRS 446.070 to extend to violations of administrative regulations."
In 1933, our predecessor Court undertook to determine whether the violation of a municipal ordinance created a cause of action for a negligence per se claim.
Based on the accepted rules of construction, the Court concluded the word statute could not be construed to mean municipal ordinance based on common usage and understanding.
In the case before us, we encounter a similar analysis: can the word' statute be construed to mean constitution under KRS 446.070? We hold it cannot be so construed.
According to BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY, a statute is "[a] law passed by a legislative body; [specifically], legislation enacted by any lawmaking body, including legislatures, administrative boards, and municipal courts."
In Baker v. White,
Our common understanding is that the word statute means a law or regulation enacted by the legislative branch of government. Contrarily, a constitution commonly refers to something more expansive than a statute.
According to BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY, a constitution is "[t]he fundamental and organic law of a nation or state that establishes the institutions and apparatus of government, defines the scope of governmental sovereign powers, and guarantees individual civil rights and civil liberties."
The current version of the Kentucky Constitution is the fourth constitution in the history of the Commonwealth.
Aligning with our own precedent, recognizing the common meanings of the words statute and constitution, and accepting the fundamental differences in their creations, we hold that KRS 446.070 does not create a private right of action for violations of the state constitution because our constitution is not a statute.
Straub argues that even if we conclude that the General Assembly has failed to authorize a private right of action for
In Bivens, federal agents performed a search and seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment;
Wilkie v. Robbins
In the present matter, this opinion notes the availability of other remedies for the alleged violation of Straub's rights under the Kentucky Constitution—traditional tort actions. Based on the United States Supreme Court's narrowing acceptance of Bivens actions since 1980 and our application of the Bivens two-step inquiry to the facts before us, we reject Straub's alternative request to recognize a new tort cause of action under Bivens.
During deliberations, the jury submitted three questions to the trial court. The questions and the trial court's response were as follows:
Straub's trial counsel requested that the trial court advise the jury that under Kentucky law, a temporary injury would be sufficient to support a jury verdict. Over objection by Straub's trial counsel, the trial court referred the jury to the instructions and to the jurors' "collective judgments."
The jury concluded that no defendant breached any duty owed to Straub that was a substantial factor in causing injury to her. When the foreperson delivered the verdict, he requested permission to read a statement from the jury. In relevant part, the message said:
Straub insists that the trial court erred by refusing to answer the jury's questions. And, by failing to do so, the trial court allowed the jury mistakenly to believe that a "temporary injury" was insufficient to support a verdict for Straub.
A majority of the Court of Appeals panel found reversible error in the trial court's refusal to answer jury questions during deliberations and stated, "[T]he court's refusal to answer the question exacerbated the jury's misunderstanding as to what was required for a finding of liability.... [W]e believe the only remedy to be a remand of this case to the trial court for a new trial...."
We disagree with the Court of Appeals majority, which relied on the decision in Thompson v. Walker
At the time the facts underlying the Thompson case occurred, KRS 29.304 controlled the manner of giving information on law or evidence after submission to the jury and permitted the court to comment on the law when the jury so requested.
The trial court's instructions in the case at hand mirrored those suggested by PALMORE'S INSTRUCTIONS FOR KENTUCKY JURIES. The word injury is not defined by PALMORE. And there was no need for the word injury to be defined or explained by the trial court. The trial court's instruction posed this question to the jury:
MERRIAM-WEBSTER defines the word injury as "an act that damages or hurts" or "hurt, damage, or loss sustained." The plain meaning of the word is clear. Trial counsel was presumably aware of the content of these instructions and the evidence produced at trial. Closing arguments were an appropriate vehicle to inform the jury that injury can be "lasting" or "temporary." A judicial elucidation of the word injury that exceeds the common, accepted definition of the word was not required.
The post-verdict statement read by the foreperson does not suggest jury confusion. On the contrary, reading the entire statement, one must logically conclude that
Because the requisite number of jurors could not find an injury based on the evidence and because the trial court was under no obligation to expound on the ordinary meaning of the word injury, we find no error in the trial court's refusal to answer jury questions during deliberations.
At trial, a videotaped deposition of Straub's boyfriend was the only testimony presented that specifically contradicted Straub's evidence about the events leading up to the emergency room episode. Straub's boyfriend testified that she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the evening before she was taken to the emergency room, she has a history of drug use, and she uses profanity when agitated.
Straub argues that the evidence of her history of drug use and her habit of using profanity when frustrated was inadmissible and highly prejudicial. But we find no error in the trial court's admission of the testimony of Straub's boyfriend. And, if any error existed, it was harmless.
Evidence that makes a material fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence is relevant evidence.
The standard of review for evidentiary rulings is abuse of discretion.
Straub testified at trial that she was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol on the night before Officer Kilgore transported her to St. Luke Hospital. But her boyfriend testified to the contrary, stating that Straub told him she was under the influence of both drugs and alcohol
We agree with the decision of the Court of Appeals on this evidentiary issue. The probative value of this evidence is not substantially outweighed by undue prejudice.
The Court of Appeals found reversible error in the "testimony concerning Straub's past and subsequent drug usage." We disagree with the holding of the Court of Appeals on this issue.
Straub's trial lasted eight days, which included six days of testimony. During Straub's testimony, she denied consuming alcohol or marijuana on the day in question. But Straub admitted to smoking marijuana approximately a week before the incident and taking Valium about one to one and a half weeks before she was detained by Officer Kilgore. On cross-examination, the hospital defendants' counsel asked limited questions regarding Straub's drug use, which included a request to describe her drug use over the past eleven years. Straub stated she used marijuana occasionally but not very often. Straub's ex-boyfriend, Christopher Porter, provided testimony, which lasted approximately five minutes. During Porter's testimony, he stated that Straub told him she experimented with drugs as a young person. And Porter also testified that Straub used marijuana as often as once a day when they were a couple.
Information regarding Straub's prior drug use was initially solicited by her own counsel and questioned by counsel for the hospital defendants after the door was opened and in a limited manner. In the context of this trial in which the trial court placed restrictions on the hospital defendants' trial counsel, performed in-camera reviews of witness testimony, and Straub admitted her own occasional drug use, we do not find error in the admission of narrow testimony describing her past drug use.
As we read the decision of the Court of Appeals, it found the admission of testimony regarding Straub's use of profanity in the hospital was substantially more prejudicial than probative. But we disagree with the Court of Appeals because we are persuaded by the logic of the hospital defendants that they were "entitled to have the jury understand exactly what was observed when [Straub] was in the emergency room." Testimony indicated that Straub, on occasion, would erupt with profanity and hurl violent threats at hospital staff. Although no one testified to these outbursts being used in a diagnostic manner, the hospital defendants were entitled to present a complete clinical picture to the jury. We find no abuse of discretion in the trial court's decision to admit such testimony.
In light of our decision that KRS 446.070 does not create a private cause of action for alleged violations of the state constitution and our decision to reinstate the judgment of the trial court, we do not need to reach a decision as to: (1) whether a one
For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals and reinstate the judgment of the trial court.
All sitting. All concur.
