JAMES O. BROWNING, District Judge.
This case arises from an incident that occurred on February 25, 2010. See Complaint for Damages for Violation of Civil Rights and Jury Demand ¶ 5, at 2-3, filed February 25, 2013 (Doc. 1)("Complaint"); Memorandum in Support of Motion for Partial Summary Judgment ¶ 1, at 4, filed December 16, 2013 (Doc. 44)("MSJ Memo.")(setting forth this fact); Response to Memorandum in Support of Motion for Particial [sic] Summary Judgment ¶ 1, at 5, filed January 15, 2014 (Doc. 48)("Response")(not disputing this fact). On that date, Brown was dispatched to property located at North Evans Street in Hobbs, New Mexico, in response to a 911 call requesting assistance in recovering personal property. See Affidavit of Kelly Brown ¶ 3, at 1, filed December 16, 2013 (Doc. 44-1)("Brown Aff."); Audio of 911 Call and Radio Traffic Recordings, filed December 16, 2013 (Doc. 45)(lodged in Records)("911 and Dispatch Audio"); MSJ Memo. ¶ 2, at 4 (setting forth this fact).
Brown and Rider arrived at Ysasi's house to assist Thompson retrieve personal property; they did not know whether a crime had been committed and did not have any reports that a crime had occurred. See Transcription of Digitally-Recorded Preliminary Hearing at 58:23-59:19 (Reese, Rider), taken April 27, 2010, filed December 16, 2013 (Doc. 44-5), filed January 16, 2014 (Doc. 51-1), filed January 28, 2014 (Doc. 53-1)
Rider climbed a gate to enter the property and approached Ysasi, who was standing on an elevated platform or porch adjacent to the mobile home's front door. See Brown Aff. ¶ 11, at 3; MSJ Memo. ¶ 11, at 6 (setting forth this fact); Response ¶ 13, at 7 (not disputing this fact).
Ysasi was arrested and transported to the LCDC, where he remained until March 1, 2010, at which time he posted bail and was released. See MSJ Memo. ¶ 13, at 6 (setting forth this fact); Response ¶ 16, at 7-8 (not disputing this fact).
A Criminal Complaint was filed in Lea County Magistrate Court with charges of Battery upon a Peace Officer, Resisting/Evading/Obstructing an Officer, and Concealing Identity. See Criminal Complaint, filed January 28, 2014 (Doc. 53-2); MSJ Memo. ¶ 14, at 6 (setting forth this fact); Response ¶ 17, at 8 (not disputing this fact). At the preliminary hearing, Rebecca Reese, a New Mexico Public Defender, represented Ysasi, and cross-examined Brown and Rider. See Preliminary Hearing Transcript at 2; MSJ Memo. ¶ 14, at 6 (setting forth this fact); Response ¶ 18, at 8 (not disputing this fact). Brown testified that, when he was dispatched, he was not dispatched to investigate a crime, see Preliminary Hearing Transcript at 14:23-15:1 (Reese, Brown), and Rider testified that, at the time he climbed over Ysasi's fence, he was not certain if a crime had been committed, but he wanted to get Ysasi's side of the story, see Preliminary Hearing Transcript at 58:20-59:19 (Reese, Rider). See Response ¶ 18 (setting forth this fact); Reply at 6 (not disputing this fact).
Preliminary Hearing Transcript at 97:8-14 (Judge Crenshaw). See MSJ Memo. ¶ 14, at 6 (setting forth this fact); Response ¶ 18, at 8 (not disputing this fact). On April 27, 2010, Judge Crenshaw bound the case over to the Fifth Judicial District Court, County of Lea, State of New Mexico, Cause No. D-506-CR-20100169. See Bind-Over Order at 1; MSJ Memo. ¶ 15, at 6-7 (setting forth this fact); Response ¶ 19, at 8 (not disputing this fact). Tara M. Wood, a New Mexico Assistant District Attorney, entered a nolle prosequi, and the case was dismissed on September 27, 2010. See Nolle Prosequi, filed December 16, 2013 (Doc. 44-4 at 2); MSJ Memo.
On February 25, 2013, Ysasi filed suit against Brown, Rider, and the LCDC for "false arrest, unreasonable and excessive use of force against the person of the Plaintiff, failure to provide necessary and adequate medical care while in custody, and abuse of process when Deputies of the Lea County Sheriffs Department took him into custody." Complaint at 1. In Count I, Ysasi alleges that Brown and Rider violated his rights under the Constitution by using excessive force and unreasonably seizing him, and that their actions constituted cruel and unusual punishment. See Complaint ¶ 32, at 7. In Count II, Ysasi brings state law claims against Brown and Rider for assault and battery. See Complaint ¶ 35, at 8. In Count III, Ysasi alleges that the LCDC,
Complaint ¶ 40, at 9-10.
The Defendants move for summary judgment on all the claims except the claim against Brown and Rider for using excessive force. See MSJ at 1-2. The Defendants contend that: (i) Judge Crenshaw's finding of probable cause precludes the false arrest or unreasonable seizure claim; (ii) the statute of limitations bars the state law claims; (iii) Brown's and Rider's entry onto Ysasi's property to question him about a potential domestic abuse incident was not unreasonable; and (iv) there is no factual support for the claim against the LCDC, because the evidence shows that Ysasi was allowed to make personal calls while he was incarcerated. See MSJ ¶¶ 1-3,
The Defendants argue that the state law claims "can be summarily dismissed because of the statute of limitations," because Ysasi filed his case more than two years after the incident, and the statute of limitations is two years. MSJ Memo. at 7 (citing N.M. Stat. Ann. § 41-4-15). The Defendants contend that the "claims against the LCDC can also be summarily dismissed," because the LCDC Call Log shows that Ysasi was allowed to communicate with friends and relatives. MSJ Memo. at 7.
The Defendants argue that, "[t]o the extent the unreasonable seizure claim is based on an absence of probable cause for the arrest," collateral estoppel precludes Ysasi from re-litigating the probable cause issue, because he had a full and fair opportunity to litigate probable cause at his preliminary hearing in April, 2010. MSJ Memo. at 8 (citing Hubbert v. Moore, 923 F.2d 769 (10th Cir.1991); Crudup v. Schulte, 12 Fed.Appx. 682 (10th Cir.2001) (unpublished)
Ysasi abandons his state claims, because he agrees with the Defendants that the statute of limitations has passed on those claims. See Response at 8. Ysasi contends that Brown and Rider violated his constitutional rights by entering his property without probable cause, without an arrest warrant, and without a warrant to search the property. See Response at 10. In Ysasi's view, Brown and Rider did not have any factual circumstances to believe that he committed any crime, including domestic violence, because, he asserts, the information from Vega, Thompson, and the 911 Dispatch Officer did not indicate that there was a crime being committed or a domestic violence problem, and that Brown and Rider did not observe any evidence of domestic violence. See Response at 10. According to Ysasi, "[t]he officers simply should have left the premises once the personal property was secured and in the hands of Heather Thompson." Response at 10.
Ysasi further argues that, when Brown and Rider came onto his property, they confronted him and arrested him without probable cause. See Response at 9. He contends that, although a Magistrate Judge held a preliminary hearing, and found probable cause to bind him over for trial on the charges of battery on a police officer and obstructing a police officer, the Magistrate Judge's jurisdiction is limited, that Magistrate Courts in New Mexico do not decide guilt or innocence, and that, because the district attorney chose to nolle prosequi the case, there was no final adjudication for Ysasi on the charges. See
Regarding the claim against the LCDC, Ysasi contends that it conspired with Brown and Rider to hold him for four days without arraignment and without bail, preventing anyone outside the LCDC from seeing the injuries he received from Brown and Rider. See Response at 5. He points to his deposition testimony to support his contention that he was held for four days without an arraignment and without bail, but he did not attach to the Response the deposition testimony. See Response at 12.
In the Reply, the Defendants argue that the Plaintiffs cannot support their contention that collateral estoppel does not bar the unlawful arrest claim. See Reply at 7-8. The Defendants set forth the elements of issue preclusion under New Mexico law:
Reply at 8 (quoting Ideal v. Burlington Res. Oil & Gas Co. LP, 2010-NMSC-022 ¶ 9, 148 N.M. 228, 233 P.3d 362). The Defendants contend that New Mexico courts apply issue preclusion to a Magistrate Court's decision. See Reply at 8 (citing State v. Orosco, 1982-NMCA-181, 99 N.M. 180, 655 P.2d 1024). In the Defendants' view, the Court should apply issue preclusion and dismiss the unlawful arrest claim; they argue that Ysasi had a full-and-fair opportunity to litigate probable cause at his preliminary hearing, because he was represented by counsel, cross-examined witnesses, and presented his own witness. See Reply at 8.
Regarding the unlawful entry claim, the Defendants disagree with Ysasi's contention that Brown and Rider were not investigating a predicate crime; the Defendants contend that "[t]he 911 call, the broken crib, Heather Thompson's fear, and the Plaintiff's behavior in yelling obscenities all support a suspicion of domestic abuse." Reply at 9. The Defendants argue that Brown and Rider were "entitled, even obligated, to gather information and hear both sides of the story." Reply at 9.
The Defendants argue that they are entitled to summary judgment on Ysasi's claim against the LCDC, because they produced evidence to show that Ysasi was able to make numerous personal telephone calls while he was incarcerated, and that Ysasi did not dispute this evidence or discuss his claim that the Defendants held him "incommunicado." Reply at 9-10. The Defendants contend that Ysasi abandoned his "`incommunicado' conspiracy claim," and that Ysasi's Response raises a new theory—that the LCDC incarcerated him for four days without arraignment and without a bond—without explaining the legal theory upon which he bases liability. Reply at 10. The Defendants explain that they "will assume that Plaintiff's theory is that he did not receive a timely judicial determination of probable cause," and argue that, under County of Riverside v. McLaughlin, 500 U.S. 44, 57, 111 S.Ct. 1661, 114 L.Ed.2d 49 (1991), a neutral judge must made a determination of probable
At the hearing, the Court confirmed that Ysasi agreed that the Court should dismiss all the state claims against the Defendants. See Transcript of Hearing at 23:18-24:10 (Court, Blenden, Childress), taken February 13, 2014 ("Tr.").
Addressing the unlawful entry claim, the Defendants acknowledged that Brown and Rider were initially called to help Thompson get property from what may have been her property, but argued that their reasons for suspecting a more serious situation, such as domestic abuse, developed when they arrived at Ysasi's property, because they saw a broken baby bed and broken baby swing, and Thompson did not want to talk to Brown or Rider about what happened, and pleaded with them to leave. See Tr. at 37:9-38:12 (Childress). The Defendants argued that, after Ysasi came outside and started screaming obscenities, Brown and Rider could enter Ysasi's property to investigate the situation further. See Tr. at 38:12-16 (Childress). The Defendants conceded that Brown and Rider did not have probable cause to enter Ysasi's property based on the dispatch call and when they initially arrived at the scene, but argued that Brown and Rider did not need probable cause to enter Ysasi's property and go up to his house. See Tr. at 38:17-39:15 (Court, Childress). The Defendants pointed out that Ysasi's house was almost one-hundred yards away from his fence and argued that, when Ysasi refused to come over to the fence to talk to Brown and Rider, they could enter his property to talk to him. See Tr. at 40:18-41:3 (Childress). The Defendants cited United States v. Jones, 239 F.3d 716 (5th Cir.2001), and United States v. Tobin, 923 F.2d 1506 (11th Cir.1991) (en banc), to support their argument that they could enter Ysasi's property and approach his house for a "knock and talk," and that officers may come onto someone's property to investigate. Tr. at 41:4-42:2 (Court, Childress). Further, the Defendants asserted that, on the Police Video, Ysasi can be heard telling the Brown and Rider that they could enter the property and, in effect, giving his consent for their entry onto his property. See Tr. at 42:15-25 (Childress).
Ysasi argued that Manzanares v. Higdon, 575 F.3d 1135 (10th Cir.2009), and Buck v. City of Albuquerque, 549 F.3d 1269 (10th Cir.2008), demonstrate that
The Defendants contended that, in some stand-by situations, officers would not have any reason to continue investigating after the person who requested the stand-by retrieved his or her property, but that, in this case, Thompson's uncooperativeness and Ysasi's yelling at Brown and Rider gave Brown and Rider reasonable justification to investigate further. See Tr. at 56:13-57:3 (Childress). The Defendants argued that, especially in situations that implicate potential domestic violence, officers need to investigate and, although they would not have probable cause to arrest someone without more information, they are justified in coming onto someone's property to talk to him or her about the situation, and that should not lead to a viable civil rights claim. See Tr. at 57:3-17 (Childress).
Regarding the unlawful arrest claim, the Court noted that Ysasi asserted that Brown and Rider unlawfully arrested him in violation of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments; the Defendants argued that the Fifth Amendment would not apply to a false arrest claim, and the Court agreed. See Tr. at 60:6-14 (Court, Childress). The Defendants pointed out that Brown and Rider arrested Ysasi for battery of a police officer, based on the altercation between Ysasi and Rider, and for obstructing an officer, based on Ysasi refusing to tell Rider his name and other information after he was in the police car. See Tr. at 60:20-61:6
Ysasi argued that his conduct leading to the obstruction of an officer charge—refusing to tell Brown and Rider his name— happened long after he was arrested following the altercation. See Tr. at 67:11-15 (Blenden). He contended that, because Thompson gave Brown and Rider his name, his refusal to tell Rider his name did not obstruct them. See Tr. at 69:2-6 (Blenden). Ysasi argued that one of the requirements for unlawful arrest described in Buck v. City of Albuquerque is a termination of the original action in favor of the plaintiff and that, in this case, the DA dismissed the charges against him. See Tr. at 69:10-18 (Blenden). Ysasi argued that issue preclusion should not bar the unlawful arrest claim and pointed the Court to the law he discussed in the Response. See Tr. at 69:6-9 (Blenden).
Because Judge Crenshaw found probable cause to bind Ysasi over for battery on a police officer, the Court stated that, unless it determined that issue preclusion bars the claim, it would probably allow the claim for unlawful arrest to go to the jury, because the evidence for obstructing a police officer occurred after the altercation, and a jury would need to determine if Brown and Rider had probable cause to arrest Ysasi for battery on a police officer. See Tr. at 71:8-20 (Court).
On Ysasi's claim against the LCDC for an alleged Eighth Amendment violation, the Defendants argued that the Complaint listed a claim against LCDC for conspiracy, that Ysasi did not develop that theory during discovery, and, when the Defendants attached to the MSJ Memo. telephone records to show that Ysasi was allowed to call people before he was released, Ysasi did not respond, but then changed his claim to assert that he was held without bail or an arraignment for four days. See Tr. at 72:3-73:5 (Childress). The Defendants said it has been difficult to determine what Ysasi's claim is against the LCDC, but that they attached the Criminal Complaint, which shows that a Magistrate Judge made a probable cause finding the day after Ysasi was arrested and within the forty-eight hours that the Supreme Court requires. See Tr. at 73:5-15 (Childress). The Defendants argued that Ysasi did not explain his claim, did not cite any law to support it, and so, more than any of the other claims, have not had adequate notice of the claim. See Tr. at 73:20-74:5 (Childress). The Court asked Ysasi about his claim and whether the documents that the Defendants attached negate his claim; Ysasi stated that he was not allowed to bond out of jail for four days and that he did not think the fact that he was allowed to call his family related to the claim, but he admitted that he did not know if four days is an unreasonable time. See 75:10-76:9 (Court, Blenden). The Defendants explained that the notation at the bottom of the Criminal Complaint indicated that
Rule 56(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states: "The court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(a). "The movant bears the initial burden of `show[ing] that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case.'" Herrera v. Santa Fe Pub. Schs., 956 F.Supp.2d 1191, 1221 (D.N.M.2013) (Browning, J.) (quoting Bacchus Indus., Inc. v. Arvin Indus., Inc., 939 F.2d 887, 891 (10th Cir.1991)). See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). "If the moving party will bear the burden of persuasion at trial, that party must support its motion with credible evidence—using any of the materials specified in Rule 56(c)—that would entitle it to a directed verdict if not controverted at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. at 331, 106 S.Ct. 2548 (Brennan, J., dissenting) (emphasis in original).
The party opposing a motion for summary judgment must "set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial as to those dispositive matters for which it carries the burden of proof." Applied Genetics Int'l, Inc. v. First Affiliated Sec., Inc., 912 F.2d 1238, 1241 (10th Cir. 1990). See Vitkus v. Beatrice Co., 11 F.3d 1535, 1539 (10th Cir.1993) ("However, the nonmoving party may not rest on its pleadings but must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial as to those dispositive matters for which it carries the burden of proof." (internal quotation marks omitted)). Rule 56(c)(1) provides: "A party asserting that a fact . . . is genuinely disputed must support the assertion by . . . citing to particular parts of materials in the record, including depositions, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations (including those made for purposes of the motion only), admissions, interrogatory answers, or other materials." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(1). It is not enough for the party opposing a properly supported motion for summary judgment to "rest on mere allegations or denials of his pleadings." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. at 256, 106 S.Ct. 2505. See Abercrombie v. City of Catoosa, 896 F.2d 1228,
To deny a motion for summary judgment, genuine factual issues must exist that "can be resolved only by a finder of fact because they may reasonably be resolved in favor of either party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. at 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505. A mere "scintilla" of evidence will not avoid summary judgment. Vitkus v. Beatrice Co., 11 F.3d at 1539 (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505). Rather, there must be sufficient evidence on which the factfinder could reasonably find for the nonmoving party. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. at 251, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (quoting Schuylkill & Dauphin Improvement Co. v. Munson, 81 U.S. 442, 448, 14 Wall. 442, 20 L.Ed. 867 (1871)); Vitkus v. Beatrice Co., 11 F.3d at 1539. "[T]here is no evidence for trial unless there is sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party. If the evidence is merely colorable . . . or is not significantly probative, . . . summary judgment may be granted." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (citations omitted). Where a rational trier of fact, considering the record as a whole, could not find for the nonmoving party, there is no genuine issue for trial. See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).
When reviewing a motion for summary judgment, the court should keep in mind certain principles. First, the court's role is not to weigh the evidence, but to assess the threshold issue whether a genuine issue exists as to material facts requiring a trial. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Second, the ultimate standard of proof is relevant for purposes of ruling on a summary judgment, such that, when ruling on a summary judgment motion, the court must "bear in mind the actual quantum and quality of proof necessary to support liability." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. at 254, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Third, the court must resolve all reasonable inferences and doubts in favor of the nonmoving party, and construe all evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. See Hunt v. Cromartie, 526 U.S. 541, 550-55, 119 S.Ct. 1545, 143 L.Ed.2d 731 (1999); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505 ("The evidence of the non-movant is to be believed, and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in his favor."). Fourth, the court cannot decide any issues of credibility. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505.
There are, however, limited circumstances in which the Court may disregard a party's version of the facts. This doctrine developed most robustly in the qualified-immunity
550 U.S. at 380-81, 127 S.Ct. 1769 (emphasis in original).
The Tenth Circuit applied this doctrine in Thomson v. Salt Lake County, 584 F.3d 1304 (10th Cir.2009), and explained:
Thomson v. Salt Lake Cnty., 584 F.3d at 1312. "The Tenth Circuit, in Rhoads v. Miller, [352 Fed.Appx. 289 (10th Cir.2009) (Tymkovich, J.) (unpublished),] explained that the blatant contradictions of the record must be supported by more than other witnesses' testimony[.]" Lymon v. Aramark Corp., 728 F.Supp.2d 1222, 1249 (D.N.M.2010) (Browning, J.) (citation omitted).
Rhoads v. Miller, 352 Fed.Appx. at 291-92 (internal quotation marks omitted). See Lymon v. Aramark Corp., 728 F.Supp.2d at 1249-50 (quoting Rhoads v. Miller, 352 Fed.Appx. at 291-92). In a concurring opinion in Thomson v. Salt Lake County, the Honorable Jerome A. Holmes, United States Circuit Judge for the Tenth Circuit, stated that courts must focus first on the legal question of qualified immunity and "determine whether plaintiffs factual allegations are sufficiently grounded in the record such that they may permissibly comprise the universe of facts that will serve as the foundation for answering the legal question before the court" before inquiring into whether there are genuine issues of material fact for resolution by the jury. 584 F.3d at 1326-27 (Holmes, J. concurring) (citing Goddard v. Urrea, 847 F.2d 765, 770 (11th Cir.1988) (Johnson, J., dissenting))(observing that, even if factual disputes exist, "these disputes are irrelevant to the qualified immunity analysis because that analysis assumes the validity of the plaintiffs' facts").
Section 1983 of Title 42 of the United States Code provides:
42 U.S.C. § 1983. Section 1983 creates only the right of action; it does not create any substantive rights; substantive rights must come from the Constitution or federal statute. See Spielman v. Hildebrand, 873 F.2d 1377, 1386 (10th Cir. 1989) ("Section 1983 does not provide a remedy if federal law does not create enforceable rights."). Rather, 42 U.S.C. § 1983 authorizes an injured person to assert a claim for relief against a person who, acting under color of state law, violated the claimant's federally protected rights. To state a claim upon which relief can be granted under § 1983, a plaintiff must allege: (i) a deprivation of a federal right; and (ii) that the person who deprived the plaintiff of that right acted under color of state law. See West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48, 108 S.Ct. 2250, 101 L.Ed.2d 40 (1988). Broken down differently, a plaintiff
Martinez v. Martinez, No. CIV 09-0281 JB/KBM, 2010 WL 1608884, at *11 (D.N.M. Mar. 30, 2010) (Browning, J.) (quoting Summum v. City of Ogden, 297 F.3d 995, 1000 (10th Cir.2002)). Neither the civil-rights statutes nor the Fourteenth Amendment, however, are a license to the federal judiciary to displace state law through the creation of a body of general federal tort law. See Paul v. Davis, 424 U.S. 693, 701, 96 S.Ct. 1155, 47 L.Ed.2d 405 (1976) (Fourteenth Amendment); Griffin v. Breckenridge, 403 U.S. 88, 101-102, 91 S.Ct. 1790, 29 L.Ed.2d 338 (1971) (civil-rights statute).
The Supreme Court of the United States has made clear that there is no respondeat superior liability under § 1983. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 676, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) ("Because vicarious liability is inapplicable to Bivens and § 1983 suits, a plaintiff must plead that each Government-official defendant, through the official's own individual actions, has violated the Constitution."); Bd. of Cnty. Comm'rs v. Brown, 520 U.S. 397, 403, 117 S.Ct. 1382, 137 L.Ed.2d 626 (1997). "An entity cannot be held liable solely on the basis of the existence of an employer-employee relationship with an alleged tortfeasor." Garcia v. Casuas, No. CIV 11-0011 JB/RHS, 2011 WL 7444745, at *25 (D.N.M. Dec. 8, 2011) (Browning, J.) (citing Monell v. City of New York City Dept. of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 689, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978)). It can be held liable only for its own unconstitutional or illegal policies, and not for the tortious acts of their employees.
Liability requires a showing that such policies were a "deliberate or conscious choice." Barney v. Pulsipher, 143 F.3d 1299, 1307-08 (10th Cir.1998) (citations and internal quotations omitted). See Bd. of Cnty. Comm'rs v. Brown, 520 U.S. at 404, 117 S.Ct. 1382 ("[I]t is not enough for a § 1983 plaintiff merely to identify conduct properly attributable to the municipality. The plaintiff must also demonstrate that, through its deliberate conduct, the municipality was the `moving force' behind the injury alleged." (emphasis in original)). These standards apply for allegations of liability based on failure to train and for "official de facto policies" that arise from "failing to adopt various policies to adequately protect" a class of persons. Barney v. Pulsipher, 143 F.3d at 1367, 1309 n. 8. "[W]hen the municipality has actual or constructive notice that its action or failure to act is substantially certain to result in a constitutional violation, and it consciously or deliberately chooses to disregard the risk of harm," it is liable. Barney v. Pulsipher, 143 F.3d at 1307.
Barney v. Pulsipher, 143 F.3d at 1307-08. Most cases, however, will not fall within this "narrow range of circumstances" without "a pattern of violations." Barney v. Pulsipher, 143 F.3d at 1308.
The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America protects "[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches
"Not all searches require a warrant. The hallmark of the Fourth Amendment is reasonableness." United States v. Harmon, 785 F.Supp.2d 1146, 1157 (D.N.M.2011) (Browning, J.). See United States v. McHugh, 639 F.3d 1250, 1260 (10th Cir.2011) ("[T]he ultimate touchstone of the Fourth Amendment is `reasonableness.'") (quoting Brigham City, Utah v. Stuart, 547 U.S. 398, 126 S.Ct. 1943, 164 L.Ed.2d 650 (2006)). "In the criminal context, reasonableness usually requires a showing of probable cause." Herrera v. Santa Fe Pub. Sch., 792 F.Supp.2d 1174, 1184 (D.N.M.2011) (Browning, J.) (quoting Bd. of Educ. of Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 92 of Pottawatomie Cnty. v. Earls, 536 U.S. 822, 828, 122 S.Ct. 2559, 153 L.Ed.2d 735 (2002)). The Supreme Court of the United States has stated in the law enforcement context that "searches conducted outside the judicial process, without prior approval by judge or magistrate, are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment—subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions." Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967) (footnotes omitted).
The defendant in United States v. Jones was suspected of drug trafficking, and a joint Federal Bureau of Investigation and District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department task force obtained a warrant authorizing installation in Washington, D.C., within ten days, of a Global Positioning System device to the defendant's car. See 132 S.Ct. at 948. On the eleventh day, task force agents attached the GPS device to the bottom of the defendant's car while the car was in Maryland. The agents then used the GPS device to track the defendant's movements over the next twenty-eight days, replacing the battery once, and collecting over two-thousand pages of data sent from the device. See 132 S.Ct. at 948.
The Honorable Antonin G. Scalia, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, writing for the majority, in which Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Kennedy, Thomas, and Sotomayor joined, held that "the Government's installation of a GPS device on a target's vehicle, and its use of that device to monitor the vehicle's movements, constitutes a `search.'" 132 S.Ct. at 949. Justice Scalia reasoned that the plaintiff United States of America's conduct was a Fourth Amendment search, because the government trespassed on a constitutionally protected area. See 132 S.Ct. at 949 ("The Fourth Amendment provides . . . that `[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.' It is beyond dispute that a vehicle is an `effect' as that term is used in the Amendment."). Such a physical intrusion, Justice Scalia opined, would have come within the Framers' intended definition of a "search": "It is important to be clear about what occurred in this case: The Government physically occupied private property for the purpose of obtaining information. We
Justice Scalia reasoned that the Fourth Amendment's text supports taking a property law based approach to determine whether there is a search, but did not shy away from the fact that, in recent history, the Supreme Court had deviated from this approach:
132 S.Ct. at 949-50.
The United States had contended that, under the "Harlan standard"—i.e., the Katz v. United States reasonable-expectation-of-privacy approach—"no search occurred here, since Jones had `no reasonable expectation of privacy' in the area of the Jeep accessed by the Government agents (its underbody) and in the locations of the jeep on the public roads, which were visible to all." 132 S.Ct. at 950. Justice Scalia concluded, however, that the Supreme Court "need not address the Government's contentions" in relation to the Katz v. United States reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test analysis, because the trespass-based search approach, which existed at the time of the Fourth Amendment's adoption, disposed of the issue:
132 S.Ct. at 950-51 (some alteration in original)(footnotes omitted).
In her concurrence, Justice Sotomayor agreed that "the trespassory test applied in the majority's opinion reflects an irreducible constitutional minimum: When the Government physically invades personal property to gather information, a search occurs. The reaffirmation of that principle suffices to decide this case." 132 S.Ct. at 955 (Sotomayor, J., concurring). She continued:
132 S.Ct. at 954-55 (Sotomayor, J., concurring). Justice Sotomayor's concurrence focused on the reality, in her view, that,
132 S.Ct. at 955 (Sotomayor, J., concurring)(alteration in original)(quoting the majority opinion, 132 S.Ct. at 953).
The Honorable Samuel A. Alito, Associate Justice, joined by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, and Kagan, concurred in the judgment only, reasoning that, although he agreed with the result, given the use of twenty-first century technology, he would have analyzed whether the government's long-term monitoring of the defendant violated the Katz v. United States reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test:
Justice Alito contended that the majority's opinion suggests that "the concept of a search, as originally understood, comprehended any technical trespass that led to the gathering of evidence," but disagreed with the majority, stating: "[W]e know this is incorrect." 132 S.Ct. at 958. Justice Alito pointed out that the open-fields doctrine grew out of the distinction between a physical intrusion of any private property and property that is part of a home: "At common law, any unauthorized intrusion on private property was actionable, but a trespass on open fields . . . does not fall within the scope of the Fourth Amendment because private property outside the curtilage is not part of a `hous[e]' within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment." 132, S.Ct. at 958-959 (Alito, J., concurring in the judgment)(quoting Oliver v. United States, 466 U.S. 170, 104 S.Ct. 1735, 80 L.Ed.2d 214 (1984)).
Justice Alito asserted that the trespass-based approach that the majority used was "repeatedly criticized" and ultimately "repudiated," based largely on its incompatibility with cases involving wiretapping and eavesdropping surveillance. United States v. Jones, 132 S.Ct. at 959, 960 (Alito, J., concurring in the judgment). Justice Alito contended that "the majority is hard pressed to find support in post-Kate cases for its trespass-based" decision that, when the government attached the GPS device to Jones' Jeep, it trespassed on his effects and performed a Fourth Amendment search. 132 S.Ct. at 960-61. Justice Alito pointed to multiple problems that he believes the majority's trespass-based approach creates. First, he asserted that the majority's analysis is irreconcilable with the element of the government's conduct that he contends society would find offensive—the GPS-monitoring and not the attachment of the device. If the government could follow a car without physically trespassing on a person, home, paper, or effect, such as remotely monitoring a car via an internal GPS device, this monitoring would not constitute a Fourth Amendment search under the majority's analysis. See 132 S.Ct. at 961. Second, along the same lines, Justice Alito pointed out an "incongruous result[]" from the majority's opinion that a short-term tracking of a vehicle with a GPS device, merely tracking a vehicle down a single street, is a Fourth Amendment search, while, "if the police follow the same car for a much longer period using unmarked cars and aerial assistance, this tracking is not subject to any Fourth Amendment constraints." 132 S.Ct. at 961. Justice Alito also asserted that, by tying Fourth Amendment searches to property law and trespass concepts, the Fourth Amendment's protections "may vary from State to State," based on different property and contract laws in the various states. 132 S.Ct. at 961-62.
In Florida v. Jardines, ___ U.S. ___, 133 S.Ct. 1409, 185 L.Ed.2d 495 (2013), Justice Scalia, writing for the majority once again, held that using a drug-sniffing dog to sniff a person's "home and its immediate surroundings" is a Fourth Amendment search. 133 S.Ct. at 1417-18. Justices Thomas, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Kagan joined Justice Scalia's majority opinion in Florida v. Jardines. Justice Kagan filed a separate concurring opinion,
In Florida v. Jardines, based on a tip that the defendant, Jardines, was growing marijuana in his home, the Miami-Dade, Florida, police department and the Drug Enforcement Administration sent a surveillance team to Jardines' home. See 133 S.Ct. at 1413. Observing nothing of note in the first fifteen minutes watching the home, two detectives approached the home accompanied by a dog trained to detect marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and several other drugs by alerting the detectives with behavioral changes. See 133 S.Ct. at 1413. As the dog approached Jardines' front porch, the dog "apparently sensed one of the odors he had been trained to detect," and after tracking back and forth, sat at the base of the front door, "which is the trained behavior upon discovering the odor's strongest point." 133 S.Ct. at 1413. The dog's handler then immediately left the porch, and told the other agents and officers at the scene that there had been a positive alert for drugs, at which time the officers applied for and received a search warrant for the residence, the execution of which revealed marijuana plants. See 133 S.Ct. at 1413. Jardines was arrested for trafficking in marijuana and moved to suppress the evidence based on an illegal search. See 133 S.Ct. at 1413.
Justice Scalia held that the use of a drug-sniffing dog was a Fourth Amendment search, reasoning:
133 S.Ct. at 1414. Justice Scalia noted that "[t]he Fourth Amendment `indicates with some precision the places and things encompassed by its protections': persons, houses, papers, and effects." 133 S.Ct. at 1414 (quoting Oliver v. United States, 466 U.S. at 176, 104 S.Ct. 1735). Thus, the Fourth Amendment does not cover every "investigation[] on private property; for example, an officer may (subject to Katz) gather information in what we have called `open fields'—even if those fields are privately owned—because such fields are not enumerated in the Amendment's text." 133 S.Ct. at 1414.
Justice Scalia held that "the officers' investigation took place in a constitutionally protected area," the home, as the front porch is the home's curtilage. See 133 S.Ct. at 1414-15. Justice Scalia then "turn[ed] to the question of whether it was accomplished through an unlicensed physical intrusion," 133 S.Ct. at 1415, and reasoned that it was:
133 S.Ct. at 1415. Justice Scalia noted that, while society recognizes an implicit license which "typically permits the visitor to approach the home by the front path, knock promptly, wait briefly to be received, and then (absent invitation to linger longer) leave," he concluded that "introducing a trained police dog to explore the area around the home in hopes of discovering incriminating evidence is something else. There is no customary invitation to do that." 133 S.Ct. at 1415-16 (emphasis in original). Justice Scalia explained:
133 S.Ct. at 1416.
The State of Florida argued "that investigation by a forensic narcotics dog by definition cannot implicate any legitimate privacy interest." 133 S.Ct. at 1417. The State of Florida cited to United States v. Place, 462 U.S. 696, 103 S.Ct. 2637, 77 L.Ed.2c 110 (1983), United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109, 104 S.Ct. 1652, 80 L.Ed.2d 85 (1984), and Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. 405, 125 S.Ct. 834, 160 L.Ed.2d 842 (2005), "which held, respectively, that canine inspection of luggage in an airport, chemical testing of a substance that had fallen from a parcel in transit, and canine inspection of an automobile during a lawful traffic stop, do not violate the `reasonable expectation of privacy' described in Katz." 133 S.Ct. at 1417. Justice Scalia pointed out that, in United States v. Jones, the Supreme Court had already concluded that "[t]he Katz reasonable-expectations test `has been added to, not substituted for,' the traditional property-based understanding of the Fourth Amendment, and so it is unnecessary to consider [the test under Katz v. United States] when the government gains evidence by physically intruding on constitutionally protected areas." 133 S.Ct. at 1417 (quoting United States v. Jones, 132 S.Ct. at 951-52). Because the Supreme Court had already concluded that the conduct was a Fourth Amendment search under the trespass-based analysis, therefore, it held that it was unnecessary to consider whether the conduct amounts to a search under the Katz v. United States reasonable-expectation-of-privacy analysis:
133 S.Ct. at 1417.
The Honorable Elena Kagan, Associate Justice, wrote a concurring opinion, noting: "The Court today treats this case under a property rubric; I write separately to note that I could just as happily have decided it by looking to Jardines' privacy interests." 133 S.Ct. at 1418 (Kagan, J., concurring). Justice Kagan analogized the government's conduct in using a drug sniffing dog on Jardines' porch to a stranger coming to the front door, who "doesn't knock or say hello," but instead, peers through the windows "into your home's furthest corners" with "super-high-powered binoculars," and "in just a couple of minutes, his uncommon behavior allows him to learn details of your life you disclose to no one." 133 S.Ct. at 1418 (Kagan, J., concurring). This conduct, she posited, is a trespass which exceeds any implied license and is also an invasion of reasonable expectations of privacy; she argued that, like her analogy, the facts in Florida v. Jardines likewise involved a trespass and a violation of privacy expectations:
133 S.Ct. at 1418 (Kagan, J., concurring). According to Justice Kagan, had she written the majority opinion based on the Katz v. United States reasonable-expectations-of-privacy search test,
133 S.Ct. 1409, 1418-19 (Kagan, J., concurring).
Justice Alito's dissenting opinion, in which Chief Justice Roberts, and Justices Kennedy and Breyer, joined, submitted that "[t]he Court's decision in this important Fourth Amendment case is based on a putative rule of trespass law that is nowhere to be found in the annals of Anglo-American jurisprudence." 133 S.Ct. at 1420 (Alito, J., dissenting). Justice Alito noted that general trespass law permits a license to public members to use a walkway to approach a house's door, including strangers such as mailmen and solicitors,
Justice Alito contended that the majority's opinion that the detective "exceeded the boundaries of the license to approach the house that is recognized by the law of trespass, . . . is unfounded." 133 S.Ct. at 1421 (Alito, J., dissenting). Justice Alito pointed out that the law of trespass does not distinguish between visitors or reasons for the visit in granting an implied license to approach a house's front door. See 133 S.Ct. at 1421-22 (Alito, J., dissenting). He also asserted: "As I understand the law of trespass and the scope of the implied license, a visitor who adheres to these limitations is not necessarily required to ring the doorbell, knock on the door, or attempt to speak with an occupant," and uses mail carriers as an example of such a visitor. 133 S.Ct. at 1423 (Alito, J., dissenting). Justice Alito pointed out that the implied license also applies to law enforcement and cites to Kentucky v. King, ___ U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 1849, 179 L.Ed.2d 865 (2011), in which the Supreme Court held that law enforcement officers approaching the front door of a residence to conduct a "knock and talk" is not a Fourth Amendment search. Florida v. Jardines, 133 S.Ct. at 1423 (Alito, J., concurring). Given that "Detective Bartelt did not exceed the scope of the license to approach respondent's front door," Justice Alito took issue with the majority's conclusion "that Detective Bartelt went too far because he had the `objectiv[e] . . . purpose to conduct a search.'" 133 S.Ct. at 1423 (Alito, J., dissenting)(emphasis in original). According to Justice Alito, because approaching a house to conduct a knock and talk is not a search,
133 S.Ct. at 1424 (Alito, J., dissenting)(emphasis in original)(internal citations omitted). Justice Alito thus concluded: "For these reasons, the real law of trespass
Justice Alito did not look any more favorably upon Justice Kagan's conclusion that Bartelt's conduct violated Jardines' reasonable privacy expectations, asserting:
133 S.Ct. at 1424 (Alito, J., dissenting). Justice Kagan asserted that Bartelt's use of Franky the drug-sniffing dog was an invasion of Jardines' privacy in his home, because the government's conduct was similar to the conduct in Kyllo v. United States, in which the Supreme Court held that using a thermal imaging device to monitor movements in a home was a Fourth Amendment search. Justice Alito pointed out that "[t]his Court . . . has already rejected the argument that the use of a drug-sniffing dog is the same as the use of a thermal imaging device. The very argument now advanced by the concurrence appears in Justice Souter's Caballes dissent. But the Court was not persuaded." 133 S.Ct. at 1425 (Alito, J., dissenting) (internal citations omitted) (citing Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. at 409-10 and 413 n. 3, 125 S.Ct. 834). Justice Alito contended that "Kyllo is best understood as a decision about the use of new technology. . . . A dog, however, is not a new form of `technology' or a `device.' And, as noted, the use of dogs' acute sense of smell in law enforcement dates back many centuries." 133 S.Ct. at 1425 (Alito, J., dissenting). Justice Alito therefore concluded that the government's conduct in Florida v. Jardines "did not constitute a trespass and did not violate respondent's reasonable expectations of privacy. I would hold that this conduct was not a search, and I therefore respectfully dissent." 133 S.Ct. at 1426.
The Tenth Circuit has referred to the test whether a particular search implicates a defendant's Fourth Amendment interests—whether the search violates the defendant's reasonable privacy expectation—as one of "standing." E.g., United States v. Creighton, 639 F.3d 1281, 1286 (10th Cir.2011) ("The Defendant has the burden of establishing . . . standing, or, in other words, a subjective expectation of privacy in the [item searched] that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable."); United States v. Poe, 556 F.3d 1113, 1121 (10th Cir.2009) ("[A] defendant raising a Fourth Amendment challenge must first demonstrate that he has standing to object to the search.") (citing United States v. Rubio-Rivera, 917 F.2d 1271, 1274 (10th Cir.1990)); United States v. Shareef, 100 F.3d 1491, 1499 (10th Cir.1996) ("A Defendant has standing to challenge a search only if he or she has a reasonable expectation of privacy in the area being searched."). Accordingly, the Court, tracing the Tenth Circuit's language has also referred to this test as one of standing. See, e.g., United States v. Harmon, 785 F.Supp.2d at 1157 ("Standing requires the defendant to show `that he had a subjective expectation of privacy in the premises searched and that society is prepared to recognize that expectation as reasonable.'") (quoting United States v. Poe, 556 F.3d at 1121). The Supreme Court's decisions in United States v. Jones and Florida v. Jardines, however, suggest that this test has now expressly been designated a substantive Fourth Amendment analysis
In Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978), the Supreme Court disapproved of labeling the inquiry whether a search implicates a defendant's personal Fourth Amendment interests "as one of standing, rather than simply recognizing it as one involving the substantive question of whether or not the proponent of the motion to suppress had his own Fourth Amendment rights infringed by the search and seizure which he seeks to challenge." 439 U.S. at 133, 99 S.Ct. 421. Dispensing with this label, the Supreme Court noted:
439 U.S. at 138-39, 99 S.Ct. 421. The Supreme Court emphasized:
525 U.S. at 87-88, 119 S.Ct. 469. The Supreme Court has thus noted that the analysis under either approach—the substantive Fourth Amendment doctrine that the rights that the Amendment secures are personal versus the separate notion of "standing"—is the same and that Katz v. United States' reasonable-expectation-of-privacy analysis has now been classified as a substantive Fourth Amendment test, as opposed to a standing test. Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. at 139, 99 S.Ct. 421.
Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. at 139, 99 S.Ct. 421 (footnote omitted). This development is in line with the Supreme Court's guidance that the analysis "is more properly subsumed under substantive Fourth Amendment doctrine." Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. at 139, 99 S.Ct. 421.
A Fourth Amendment search occurs either where the government, to obtain information, trespasses on a person's property or where the government violates a person's subjective expectation of privacy that society recognizes as reasonable to collect information. See United States v. Jones, 132 S.Ct. at 947. "[T]he Katz reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test has been added to, not substituted for, the common-law trespassory test." United States v. Jones, 132 S.Ct. at 947 (emphasis in original)(citing Alderman v. United States, 394 U.S. 165, 176, 89 S.Ct. 961, 22 L.Ed.2d 176 (1969); Soldal v. Cook Cnty., 506 U.S. 56, 64, 113 S.Ct. 538, 121 L.Ed.2d 450 (1992)). "When `the Government obtains information by physically intruding' on persons, houses, papers, or effects, `a `search' within the original meaning of the Fourth Amendment' has `undoubtedly occurred.'" Florida v. Jardines, 133 S.Ct. at 1414 (quoting United States v. Jones, 132 S.Ct. at 950 n. 3).
The Fourth Amendment "establishes a simple baseline, one that for much of our history formed the exclusive basis for its protections: When `the Government obtains information by physically intruding' on persons, houses, papers, or effects, `a `search' within the original meaning of the Fourth Amendment' has `undoubtedly occurred.'" Florida v. Jardines, 133 S.Ct. at 1414 (quoting United States v. Jones, 132 S.Ct. at 950 n. 3 ("[A] `search' within the original meaning of the Fourth Amendment" occurs "[w]here . . . the Government obtains information by physically
In determining whether a search has occurred, "[t]resspass alone does not qualify, but there must be conjoined with that . . . an attempt to find something or to obtain information." United States v. Jones, 132 S.Ct. at 951 n. 5. The Supreme Court has also noted that "[p]hysically invasive inspection is simply more intrusive than purely visual inspection." Bond v. United States, 529 U.S. 334, 337, 120 S.Ct. 1462, 146 L.Ed.2d 365 (2000). Moreover, the Supreme Court in Florida v. Jardines suggested that the trespass-based analysis applies only when the trespass occurs in one of the four places or things listed in the Fourth Amendment:
133 S.Ct. at 1414.
In United States v. Alabi, 943 F.Supp.2d 1201 (D.N.M.2013) (Browning, J.), the Court analyzed whether the Secret Service's digital scan of electronic information contained in the defendants' credit and debit cards' magnetic strips was a Fourth Amendment search under a trespass-based analysis, concluding that it was not, because the Secret Service properly possessed the credit and debit cards, and the additional act of scanning the cards to read the virtual data contained on the strips did not involve a physical intrusion or physical penetration of space. See 943 F.Supp.2d at 1264-65. The Court noted that, "[e]ven if the Supreme Court were to extend the trespass-based analysis for Fourth Amendment searches to virtual invasions, the Secret Service's conduct scanning the thirty-one credit and debit cards still would not amount to a Fourth Amendment search," because the magnetic strip, as opposed to the credit or debit card separately, is not a constitutionally protected area. 943 F.Supp.2d at 1267-68.
943 F.Supp.2d at 1273 (alteration in original).
The Court has noted that, in light of the Supreme Court's recent decisions in Florida v. Jardines and United States v. Jones, both of which Justice Scalia wrote for the majority, and both of which analyze whether government conduct constituted a Fourth Amendment search using the trespass-based approach, "the question arises whether the Katz v. United States reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test is still good law." United States v. Alabi, 943 F.Supp.2d 1201 (D.N.M.2013) (Browning, J.) (citing Minnesota v. Carter, 525 U.S. 83, 97-98, 119 S.Ct. 469, 142 L.Ed.2d 373 (1998) (Scalia, J. concurring)). Justice Scalia has consistently criticized this "notoriously unhelpful test":
Minnesota v. Carter, 525 U.S. at 97-98, 119 S.Ct. 469 (Scalia, J., concurring)(emphasis in original)(internal citations omitted).
In June, 2013, Justice Scalia dissented from the Supreme Court's decision in Maryland v. King, ___ U.S. ___, 133 S.Ct. 1958, 186 L.Ed.2d 1 (2013), in which the Supreme Court held that "DNA identification of arrestees is a reasonable search that can be considered part of a routine booking procedure," 133 S.Ct. at 1980.
Maryland v. King, 133 S.Ct. at 1982 (Scalia J., dissenting)(emphasis in original). Justice Scalia also suggested that the Founders would have shared these privacy-related concerns:
Maryland v. King, 133 S.Ct. at 1989 (Scalia J., dissenting). The Court therefore concludes that Justice Scalia and the Supreme Court may still rely on a person's privacy expectation when determining whether a search is reasonable for Fourth Amendment purposes, although Justice Scalia may not turn to the expectations prong until he runs the facts through the trespass prong.
"`Fourth Amendment rights are personal rights which, like some other constitutional rights, may not be vicariously asserted.'" Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. at 133-34, 99 S.Ct. 421 (quoting Alderman v. United States, 394 U.S. at 174, 89 S.Ct. 961). "A district court cannot suppress evidence unless the movant proves that a search implicates personal Fourth Amendment interests." United States v. Jones, 44 F.3d 860, 871 (10th Cir.1995) (emphasis in original). "`[N]o interest legitimately protected by the Fourth Amendment' is implicated by governmental investigative activities unless there is an intrusion into a zone of privacy, into `the security a man relies upon when he places himself or his property within a constitutionally protected area.'" United States v. Miller, 425 U.S. 435, 440, 96 S.Ct. 1619, 48 L.Ed.2d 71 (1976) (Hoffa v. United States, 385 U.S. 293, 301-02, 87 S.Ct. 408, 17 L.Ed.2d 374 (1966)).
"Official conduct that does not `compromise any legitimate interest in privacy' is not a search subject to the Fourth Amendment." Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. at 409, 125 S.Ct. 834 (quoting United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. at 123, 104 S.Ct. 1652). The Supreme Court has thus recognized that, rather than determining whether law enforcement conduct was a search, it sometimes proves easier to "assess[] when a search is not a search." Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. at 32, 121 S.Ct. 2038.
Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. at 32-33, 121 S.Ct. 2038. The Supreme Court thus articulated the Katz v. United States rule—which Professor Wayne R. LaFave has noted is "somewhat inaccurately stated as the `reasonable expectation of privacy' test," Wayne R. LaFave, Search and Seizure: A Treatise on the Fourth Amendment § 2.1(b), at 435 (4th ed., 2004)— which posits: "[A] Fourth Amendment search does not occur . . . unless `the individual manifested a subjective expectation of privacy in the object of the challenged search,' and `society [is] willing to recognize that expectation as reasonable.'" Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. at 33, 121 S.Ct. 2038 (emphasis in original) (quoting California v. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. at 211, 106 S.Ct. 1809).
A "reasonable expectation of privacy" is "said to be an expectation `that has a source outside of the Fourth Amendment, either by reference to concepts of real or personal property law or to understandings that are recognized and permitted by society.'" United States v. Jones, 132 S.Ct. at 951. See United States v. Harmon, 785 F.Supp.2d at 1157 ("To decide whether a reasonable expectation of privacy exists, courts consider concepts of real or personal property law. . . ."). In analyzing whether an expectation of privacy is reasonable in the Fourth Amendment context based on property law, "arcane distinctions developed in property and tort law between guests, licensees, invitees, and the like, ought not to control." Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. at 143 & n. 12, 99 S.Ct. 421. While ownership or lawful possession is not determinative under the Katz v. United States reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test, it is often a dispositive factor; because the Fourth Amendment is a personal right, a defendant bears the burden of demonstrating "that he gained possession [of the area searched] from the owner or someone with the authority to grant possession." United States v. Arango, 912 F.2d 441, 445-46 (10th Cir.1990).
A defendant maintains a subjective expectation of privacy when the defendant "has shown that `he sought to preserve something as private.'" Bond v. United States, 529 U.S. at 338, 120 S.Ct. 1462 (internal alterations omitted)(quoting Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735, 740, 99 S.Ct. 2577, 61 L.Ed.2d 220 (1979)). Thus, there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in otherwise private information disclosed to a third party. "[T]he Fourth Amendment protects people, not places. What a person knowingly exposes to the public . . . is not a subject of Fourth Amendment protection." Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. at 351, 88 S.Ct. 507. The Supreme Court has noted:
United States v. Miller, 425 U.S. at 443, 96 S.Ct. 1619.
The Supreme Court has recognized, however, that subjective expectations of privacy do not always coincide with the interests that the Fourth Amendment is universally thought to protect. In Smith v. Maryland, for instance, the Supreme Court identified situations in which it would not follow the subjective approach:
442 U.S. at 740 n. 5, 99 S.Ct. 2577. Most recently, in United States v. Jones, Justice Sotomayor commented that, given the reality of technology in the twenty-first century, it may no longer be sound to universally hold to the third-party disclosure rule to determine whether a subjective expectation of privacy exists:
132 S.Ct. at 957 (Sotomayor, J., concurring)(internal citations omitted). Regardless what the Supreme Court decides to do with social media on the internet, only the most ignorant or gullible think what they post on the internet is or remains private. See United States v. Meregildo, 883 F.Supp.2d 523, 526 (S.D.N.Y.2012) (Pauley, J.) (holding that a person posting to his Facebook profile had "no justifiable expectation that his `friends' would keep his profile private").
Under the second step of Katz v. United States' reasonable-expectation-of-privacy approach, courts must determine "whether society is prepared to recognize that [subjective privacy] expectation as objectively reasonable." United States v. Ruiz, 664 F.3d 833, 838 (10th Cir.2012) (United States v. Allen, 235 F.3d 482, 489 (10th Cir.2000)). The Supreme Court has cautioned: "The concept of an interest in privacy that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable is, by its very nature, critically different from the mere expectation, however well justified, that certain facts will not come to the attention of the authorities." United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109, 122, 104 S.Ct. 1652, 80 L.Ed.2d 85 (1984). Determining whether society would view the expectation as objectively reasonable turns on whether the government's intrusion infringes on a legitimate interest, based on the values which the Fourth Amendment protects. See California v. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. at 212, 106 S.Ct. 1809 (explaining that "[t]he test of legitimacy is not whether the individual chooses to conceal assertedly `private' activity," but instead "whether the government's intrusion infringes upon the personal and societal values protected by the Fourth Amendment")(quoting Oliver v. United States, 466 U.S. at 181-83, 104 S.Ct. 1735). This second factor of the Katz v. United States reasonable-expectation-of-privacy analysis developed from Justice Harlan's "attempt to give content to the word `justifiably' in the majority's assertion that eavesdropping on Katz was a search because it `violated the privacy upon which he justifiably relied while using the telephone booth.'" LaFave, supra, § 2.1(d), at 439 (quoting Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. at 353, 88 S.Ct. 507). Thus, whether society will recognize a certain expectation of privacy does not turn on whether the hypothetical reasonable person would hold the same expectation of privacy, but rather whether the expectation of privacy is justified or legitimate. The Supreme Court has provided that, while no single factor determines legitimacy, whether society recognizes a privacy interest as reasonable is determined based on our societal understanding regarding what deserves protection from government invasion:
Oliver v. United States, 466 U.S. at 177-78, 104 S.Ct. 1735 (internal citations omitted).
The Supreme Court has held that "[official conduct that does not `compromise any legitimate interest in privacy' is not a search subject to the Fourth Amendment." Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. at 409, 125 S.Ct. 834 (quoting United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. at 123, 104 S.Ct. 1652). In United States v. Place, the Supreme Court held that the "canine sniff of a drug-sniffing dog does "not constitute a `search' within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment." United States v. Place, 462 U.S. at 707, 103 S.Ct. 2637. The case arose when law enforcement seized the luggage of an airline passenger and transported it to another location, where a drug-sniffing dog could sniff it. See 462 U.S. at 699, 103 S.Ct. 2637. The drug sniffing dog alerted
462 U.S. at 707, 103 S.Ct. 2637.
In United States v. Jacobsen, the Supreme Court extended this holding to the chemical field test of a white powdery substance to reveal that the substance was cocaine. See 466 U.S. at 122-24, 104 S.Ct. 1652. A Federal Express employee and supervisor had opened a damaged package, and exposed four zip-lock plastic bags containing six and one-half ounces of white powder. See 466 U.S. at 111, 104 S.Ct. 1652. They then called the DEA and repacked the contents in the original packaging before they provided the package to the DEA officers. See 466 U.S. at 111, 104 S.Ct. 1652. When the agents arrived, the agents removed the exposed plastic bags from the broken package, opened each of the four bags, and field-tested the white powder, identifying the powder as cocaine. See 466 U.S. at 111-12, 104 S.Ct. 1652. The Supreme Court first held that removal of the plastic bags from the tubes and the agent's visual inspection were not Fourth Amendment searches:
466 U.S. at 120, 104 S.Ct. 1652 (footnote omitted). The Supreme Court noted: "The question remains whether the additional intrusion occasioned by the field test, which had not been conducted by the Federal Express agents and therefore exceeded the scope of the private search, was
United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. at 122-24, 104 S.Ct. 1652.
Most recently, where a "dog sniff was performed on the exterior of respondent's car while he was lawfully seized for a traffic violation," the Supreme Court, again relying on United States v. Place and also on United States v. Jacobsen, held that "[a]ny intrusion on respondent's privacy expectations does not rise to the level of a constitutionally cognizable infringement." Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. at 409, 125 S.Ct. 834.
Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. at 409-10, 125 S.Ct. 834.
In United States v. Alabi, the defendants possessed thirty-one credit and debit cards, "many of them in their own names, several of which had information on the magnetic strips that related to persons other than the Defendants." 943 F.Supp.2d at 1275. The Court reluctantly accepted the defendants' assertion that they "subjectively intended not to disclose this information to a third party—i.e., intended not to use the cards," 943 F.Supp.2d at 1275, but determined that "a privacy expectation in the account information stored on credit and debit cards' magnetic strips—separate and beyond the credit and debit cards themselves—is not objectively reasonable." 943 F.Supp.2d at 1280. The Court explained that the Secret Service's scan of the cards' magnetic strips "reveals only the same information revealed in a private search when the card is used as intended," and, further, that, even if the cards had never been used, the scan "discloses only information known by viewing the outside of the card, or information that the cards and account information are possessed unlawfully. . . ." 943 F.Supp.2d at 1281. Noting the Supreme Court's decision in Rakas v. Illinois, in which the Supreme Court "reasoned that society is not prepared to recognize as reasonable an expectation of privacy in a burglar robbing a summer cabin during the offseason," the Court concluded that society would not recognize "as reasonable a privacy expectation which, at least in contemporary society, would benefit only criminals." 943 F.Supp.2d at 1287.
"[B]ecause `the ultimate touchstone of the Fourth Amendment is reasonableness,'" when a search implicating the Fourth Amendment has occurred, the district court must determine whether the search is reasonable. Kentucky v. King, 131 S.Ct. at 1856 (quoting Brigham City v. Stuart, 547 U.S. 398, 403, 126 S.Ct. 1943, 164 L.Ed.2d 650 (2006)). See Samson v. California, 547 U.S. 843, 848, 126 S.Ct. 2193, 165 L.Ed.2d 250 (2006) ("`[U]nder our general Fourth Amendment approach' we `examin[e] the totality of the circumstances' to determine whether a search is reasonable within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.") (quoting United States v. Knights, 534 U.S. 112, 118, 122 S.Ct. 587, 151 L.Ed.2d 497 (2001)). "Although the Fourth Amendment ordinarily requires the degree of probability embodied in the term `probable cause,' a lesser degree satisfies the Constitution when the
"Whether a search is reasonable `is determined by assessing, on the one hand, the degree to which it intrudes upon an individual's privacy and, on the other, the degree to which it is needed for the promotion of legitimate governmental interests.'" Samson v. California, 547 U.S. at 848, 126 S.Ct. 2193 (quoting United States v. Knights, 534 U.S. at 118, 122 S.Ct. 587). See Banks v. United States, 490 F.3d 1178, 1184 (10th Cir.2007) (stating that the Supreme Court "described the totality-of-the-circumstances test as one where `the reasonableness of a search is determined by assessing, on the one hand, the degree to which it intrudes upon an individual's privacy, and on the other, the degree to which it is needed for the promotion of legitimate governmental interests'").
Vernonia Sch. Dist. 47J v. Acton, 515 U.S. at 652-53, 115 S.Ct. 2386 (1995) (quoting Skinner v. Ry. Labor Executives' Ass'n, 489 U.S. 602, 617, 109 S.Ct. 1402, 103 L.Ed.2d 639 (1989)). The Supreme Court has held that the test of reasonableness under the Fourth Amendment is not a concrete test:
Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 559, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979).
In analyzing the first factor—the intrusion on the individual's privacy— courts and the Tenth Circuit look to the individual's privacy expectations. See, e.g., United States v. Knights, 534 U.S. 112, 119-120, 122 S.Ct. 587, 151 L.Ed.2d 497 (2001) (noting that the petitioner had a "significantly diminished . . . reasonable expectation of privacy," because a condition of his probation was to consent to search of his apartment without notice or probable cause, and because he was clearly notified and informed of the provision); Banks v. United States, 490 F.3d at 1186-87 (noting that the plaintiffs, convicted felons on probation, have a more limited expectation of privacy than the ordinary citizen, noting: "Those who have never been convicted of a felony are the last distinct category. What is `reasonable' under the fourth amendment for a person on conditional release, or a felon, may be unreasonable
As Justice Kagan has noted, property law informs society's expectations about what government intrusions are reasonable: "It is not surprising that in a case involving a search of a home, property concepts and privacy concepts should so align. The law of property `naturally enough influence[s]' our `shared social expectations' of what places should be free from governmental incursions." Florida v. Jardines, 133 S.Ct. at 1419 (Kagan, J., concurring) (quoting Georgia v. Randolph, 547 U.S. 103, 111, 126 S.Ct. 1515, 164 L.Ed.2d 208 (2006)). Similarly, in Vernonia Sch. Dist. 47J v. Acton, Justice Scalia writing for the majority noted: "What expectations are legitimate varies, of course, with context, depending, for example, upon whether the individual asserting the privacy interest is at home, at work, in a car, or in a public park." 515 U.S. at 654, 115 S.Ct. 2386 (internal citations omitted).
Searches conducted pursuant to consent constitute one exception to the Fourth Amendment's search-warrant and probable-cause requirements. See Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 219, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973). When an individual consents to a police search, and the consent is "freely and voluntarily given," the search does not implicate the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Pena, 143 F.3d 1363, 1366 (10th Cir.1998) (quoting Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. at 219, 93 S.Ct. 2041). The Tenth Circuit has provided a two-part test for determining voluntariness, which requires that the government (i) "`proffer clear and positive testimony that consent was unequivocal and specific and intelligently given,'" and (ii) "the officers must have used no `implied or express duress or coercion.'" United States v. Sanchez, 608 F.3d 685, 690 (10th Cir.2010) (quoting United States v. Taverna, 348 F.3d 873, 878 (10th Cir.2003)).
Determining whether a party's consent was free and voluntary is a question of fact to be determined from the totality of the circumstances. See United States v. Pena, 143 F.3d at 1366. The Supreme Court and the Tenth Circuit have developed a non-exhaustive list of factors that courts should consider when trying to determine whether a defendant's consent was voluntarily given:
United States v. Sedillo, No. CR 08-1419 JB, 2010 WL 965743, at *12 (D.N.M. Feb.
Because courts are required to look at the totality of the circumstances in determining whether an individual's consent was voluntary, see United States v. Peña, 143 F.3d at 1366, no one factor is dispositive in a court's inquiry into the circumstances. For example, although an officer's failure to advise a defendant that he or she is free to leave might suggest that coercive law enforcement conduct caused the defendant's consent to search, the Supreme Court has ruled that officers do not need to advise an individual of his or her right to refuse to consent to a search for that individual's consent to be voluntary. See Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. at 232, 93 S.Ct. 2041. Moreover, the mere presence of officers by exits to a building, threatening no more than to question individuals if they seek to leave, "should not [result] in any reasonable apprehension by any [individual] that they would be seized or detained in any meaningful way." United States v. Drayton, 536 U.S. 194, 205, 122 S.Ct. 2105, 153 L.Ed.2d 242 (2002) (internal citations omitted). Additionally, an officer's display of a weapon may contribute to the coercive nature of a situation, but "[t]he presence of a holstered firearm . . . is unlikely to contribute to the coerciveness of the encounter absent active brandishing of the weapon." United States v. Drayton, 536 U.S. at 205, 122 S.Ct. 2105. As such, "it is only by analyzing all the circumstances of an individual consent that it can be ascertained whether in fact it was voluntary or coerced. It is this careful sifting of the unique facts and circumstances of each case that is evidenced in our prior decisions involving consent searches." Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. at 232, 93 S.Ct. 2041.
Probable cause must support a search warrant, which requires "more than mere suspicion but less evidence than is necessary to convict." United States v. Burns, 624 F.2d 95, 99 (10th Cir.1980). To establish probable cause to justify a search of a home, an affidavit in support of a search warrant "must contain facts sufficient to lead a prudent person to believe that a search would uncover contraband or evidence of criminal activity." United States v. Danhauer, 229 F.3d 1002, 1006 (10th Cir.2000). "Probable cause undoubtedly requires a nexus between suspected criminal activity and the place to be searched." United States v. Corral-Corral, 899 F.2d 927, 937 (10th Cir.1990). The task of the magistrate judge issuing the search warrant
United States v. Reed, 195 Fed.Appx. 815, 821 (10th Cir.2006) (unpublished) (quoting Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983)). See United States v. Glover, 104 F.3d 1570, 1578 (10th Cir.1997) (finding that, in determining whether an affidavit supports a finding of probable cause, the court must review the affidavit as a whole and look to the totality of the information contained therein), abrogated on other grounds by Corley v. United States, 556 U.S. 303, 129 S.Ct. 1558, 173 L.Ed.2d 443 (2009). In making his or her determination, the magistrate judge "may draw reasonable inferences from the material provided in the
"A reviewing court should accord great deference to a magistrate's determination of probable cause." United States v. Reed, 195 Fed.Appx. at 822. The court's duty is "simply to ensure that the magistrate had a substantial basis for . . . conclud[ing] that probable cause existed." Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. at 236, 238-39, 103 S.Ct. 2317. This deference is appropriate to further the Fourth Amendment's strong preference for warrants. See Massachusetts v. Upton, 466 U.S. 727, 733, 104 S.Ct. 2085, 80 L.Ed.2d 721 (1984); United States v. Ventresca, 380 U.S. 102, 105-06, 85 S.Ct. 741, 13 L.Ed.2d 684 (1965) ("An evaluation of the constitutionality of a search warrant should begin with the rule that the informed and deliberate determinations of magistrates empowered to issue warrants . . . are to be preferred over the hurried action of office[r]s . . . ."). Because of the strong preference for warrants, "in a doubtful or marginal case a search under a warrant may be sustainable where without one it would fall." United States v. Ventresca, 380 U.S. at 106, 85 S.Ct. 741.
The deference accorded a magistrate judge's probable cause determination, however, is not boundless. See United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 914, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984). The Court should not defer to a magistrate judge's probable-cause determination where there is no substantial basis for concluding that the affidavit in support of the warrant established probable cause. See United States v. Danhauer, 229 F.3d at 1006. Specifically, the Court should not defer to a magistrate judge's probable-cause determination if it "is a mere ratification of the bare conclusions or `hunches' of others or where it involves an improper analysis of the totality of the circumstances." United States v. Reed, 195 Fed. Appx. at 822 (citing United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. at 915, 104 S.Ct. 3405; Massachusetts v. Upton, 466 U.S. 727, 734, 104 S.Ct. 2085, 80 L.Ed.2d 721 (1984); Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. at 239, 103 S.Ct. 2317).
The Supreme Court has stated that "those searches deemed necessary should be as limited as possible." Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 467, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971). The Tenth Circuit has explained that "the Fourth Amendment requires that the government describe the items to be seized with as much specificity as the government's knowledge and circumstances allow, and warrants are conclusively invalidated by their substantial failure to specify as nearly as possible the distinguishing characteristics of the goods to be seized." Cassady v. Goering, 567 F.3d 628, 635 (10th Cir.2009) (quoting United States v. Leary, 846 F.2d 592, 600 (10th Cir.1988)). The particularity requirement prevents general searches and strictly limits the discretion of the officer executing the warrant. See Voss v. Bergsgaard, 774 F.2d 402, 404 (10th Cir.1985) ("The particularity requirement ensures that a search is confined in scope to particularly described evidence relating to a specific crime for which there is demonstrated probable cause."); United States v. Janus Indus., 48 F.3d 1548, 1553 (10th Cir.1995) ("As to what is to be taken, nothing is left to the discretion of the officer executing the warrant.") (quoting Stanford v. Texas, 379 U.S. 476, 485, 85 S.Ct. 506, 13 L.Ed.2d 431 (1965)). "A description is sufficiently particular when it enables the searcher to reasonably ascertain and identify the things authorized to be seized." United States v. Janus Indus., 48 F.3d at 1553 ("The test applied to
In Cassady v. Goering, the search warrant authorized the search of the plaintiff's entire farm, including his house, and the seizure of "[a]ny & all narcotics," "[a]ny and all illegal contraband," and various specific items mostly related to a narcotics operation, as well as the search and seizure of "all other evidence of criminal activity" and all personal property that was stolen, embezzled, or otherwise illegal. 567 F.3d at 635. The Tenth Circuit found that the warrant violated the plaintiff's Fourth Amendment rights, because "[t]he warrant[] allowed precisely the kind of rummaging through a person's belongings, in search of evidence of even previously unsuspected crimes or of no crime at all, that the Fourth Amendment proscribes." 567 F.3d at 635 (quoting Voss v. Bergsgaard, 774 F.2d at 405). The Tenth Circuit explained that it had previously "applied a blanket suppression where officers conducted a general search for evidence of crimes not specifically listed in the warrant," 567 F.3d at 643 (emphasis in original) (citing United States v. Foster, 100 F.3d 846, 851-52 (10th Cir.1996); United States v. Medlin, 842 F.2d 1194, 1199-1200 (10th Cir.1988)); given that line of cases, the Tenth Circuit said "it would be an odd result not to suppress warrants that expressly authorize a general search and seizure," 567 F.3d at 643 (emphasis in original).
"[T]he warrantless entry of the home is `the chief evil against which . . . the Fourth Amendment is directed.'" United States v. Lowe, 999 F.2d 448, 451 (10th Cir.1993) (quoting United States v. United States District Court, 407 U.S. 297, 313, 92 S.Ct. 2125, 32 L.Ed.2d 752 (1972)). "A warrantless search of a defendant's home is unreasonable absent exigent circumstances or consent." United States v. Pikyavit, 527 F.3d 1126, 1130 (10th Cir. 2008). The Fourth Amendment's protection of the home against warrantless searches extends to a home's curtilage. See United States v. Dunn, 480 U.S. 294, 107 S.Ct. 1134, 94 L.Ed.2d 326 (1987); Oliver v. United States, 466 U.S. 170, 104 S.Ct. 1735, 80 L.Ed.2d 214 (1984).
In United States v. Dunn, the Supreme Court articulated four factors that should be used when determining whether an area is within the curtilage of a house for Fourth Amendment purposes. These factors are
480 U.S. at 301, 107 S.Ct. 1134. Backyards that are enclosed and adjacent to a house are generally considered to be part of the curtilage. See United States v. Hatfield, 333 F.3d 1189, 1196 (10th Cir. 2003); United States v. Jenkins, 124 F.3d 768, 772-73 (6th Cir.1997). Even partially enclosed backyards have been found to be part of a home's curtilage. See, e.g., United States v. Swepston, 987 F.2d 1510, 1515 (10th Cir.1993) (holding partial enclosure consistent with area being curtilage), overruled in part on other grounds by United States v. Cousins, 455 F.3d 1116 (10th Cir.2006); United States v. Jenkins, 124 F.3d at 773 (same).
A warrantless search is constitutional if consent is given for the search. Consent to a search must be unequivocal, specific, and freely given. See United
One strategy to gain consent to a search is a knock and talk, and the knock and talk itself is not a search. "[P]olice officers do not engage in a search when they approach the front door of a residence and seek to engage in what is termed a `knock and talk,' i.e., knocking on the door and seeking to speak to an occupant for the purpose of gathering evidence." Florida v. Jardines, 133 S.Ct. at 1423 (Alito, J., dissenting).
Kentucky v. King, ___ U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 1849, 1862, 179 L.Ed.2d 865 (2011). The Tenth Circuit has explained that reasonable suspicion is unnecessary for a knock-and-talk investigation, because, "[a]s commonly understood, a `knock and talk' is a consensual encounter and therefore does not contravene the Fourth Amendment, even absent reasonable suspicion." United States v. Cruz-Mendez, 467 F.3d 1260, 1264 (10th Cir.2006). Police officers may approach a home, entering the curtilage surrounding that home that would be the normal route of access to the home, and knock, "precisely because that is `no more than any private citizen might do,'" United States v. Shuck, 713 F.3d 563, 568 (10th Cir.2013) (quoting Florida v. Jardines, 133 S.Ct. at 1416).
A warrantless search of a home can also be constitutional when there are exigent circumstances. For exigent circumstances regarding safety to justify a warrantless search of a home: "(1) the officers [must have] had an objectively reasonable basis to believe that there was an immediate need to enter to protect the safety of themselves or others, and (2) the conduct of the entry [must have been] reasonable." United States v. Reeves, 524 F.3d 1161, 1169 (10th Cir.2008). See United States v. Smith, 797 F.2d 836, 840 (10th Cir.1986). While officers do not need probable cause to establish that exigent circumstances existed, "there must be some reasonable basis, approaching probable cause," supporting the search of the area. United States v. Smith, 797 F.2d at 840 (internal quotation marks omitted).
"A police officer violates an arrestee's clearly established Fourth Amendment right to be free of unreasonable seizure if the officer makes a warrantless arrest without probable cause." Olsen v. Layton Hills Mall, 312 F.3d 1304, 1312 (10th Cir.2002) (citing Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 7, 105 S.Ct. 1694, 85 L.Ed.2d 1 (1985)). "The law . . . is unambiguous: a government official must have
The principal components of a determination of reasonable suspicion or probable
Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 696-97, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996) (quoting Pullman-Standard v. Swint, 456 U.S. 273, 289 n. 19, 102 S.Ct. 1781, 72 L.Ed.2d 66 (1982)) (alterations in original).
The Tenth Circuit has explained that a plaintiff alleging that the "government has unconstitutionally imprisoned him has at least two potential constitutional claims: `The initial seizure is governed by the Fourth Amendment, but at some point after arrest, and certainly by the time of trial, constitutional analysis shifts to the Due Process Clause.'" Mondragon v. Thompson, 519 F.3d 1078, 1082 (10th Cir.2008) (quoting Pierce v. Gilchrist, 359 F.3d 1279, 1285-86 (10th Cir. 2004)). If the plaintiff was imprisoned without legal process, his Fourth Amendment claim
738 F.3d at 1194 (footnote omitted). The Tenth Circuit explained that the plaintiff was "arrested pursuant to a validly issued—if not validly supported—arrest warrant" and that the plaintiff's suit "challenges the probable-cause determination that generated the legal process." 738 F.3d at 1195.
In Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 101 S.Ct. 411, 66 L.Ed.2d 308 (1980), the Supreme Court held that defendants in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action could invoke criminal proceedings as collateral estoppel. See 449 U.S. at 103-05, 101 S.Ct. 411. Section 1738 of Title 28 of the United States Code generally requires "federal courts to give preclusive effect to state-court judgments whenever the courts of the State from which the judgments emerged would do so." Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. at 96, 101 S.Ct. 411. Under New Mexico law, "collateral estoppel, also called issue preclusion, prevents a party from re-litigating `ultimate facts or issues actually
Whether the doctrine of collateral estoppel should be applied is within the trial court's discretion, and the exercise of discretion is reviewed for an abuse of discretion on appeal. See Shovelin v. Cent. N.M. Elec. Coop., 1993-NMSC-015, 115 N.M. 293, 299, 850 P.2d 996, 1002. Even when all the elements of collateral estoppel are present, the trial court must consider whether countervailing equities militate against application of the doctrine. See Hyden v. Law Firm of McCormick, Forbes, Caraway & Tabor, 1993-NMCA-008, 115 N.M. 159, 164, 848 P.2d 1086, 1091. Collateral estoppel should be applied only where the judge determines that its application would not be fundamentally unfair. See Reeves v. Wimberly, 1988-NMCA-038, 107 N.M. 231, 234, 755 P.2d 75, 78. New Mexico courts have held that "[c]ollateral estoppel may bar the relitigation of ultimate facts or issues decided in a prior criminal action." City of Roswell v. Hancock, 1998-NMCA-130, 126 N.M. 109, 112, 967 P.2d 449, 452.
In the context of a warrantless arrest, "a policeman's on-the-scene assessment of probable cause provides legal justification for arresting a person suspected of crime, and for a brief period of detention to take the administrative steps incident to arrest." Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 113-14, 95 S.Ct. 854, 43 L.Ed.2d 54 (1975). In County of Riverside v. McLaughlin, 500 U.S. 44, 111 S.Ct. 1661, 114 L.Ed.2d 49 (1991), the Supreme Court held that law enforcement may detain an individual after a lawful arrest pending a neutral probable-cause determination up to forty-eight hours without violating the Constitution unless the delay is unreasonable. See 500 U.S. at 56, 111 S.Ct. 1661. The Supreme Court in County of Riverside v. McLaughlin stated: "[A] jurisdiction that provides judicial determinations of probable cause within 48 hours of arrest will, as a general matter, comply with the promptness requirement of Gerstein. For this reason, such jurisdictions will be immune from systemic challenges." 500 U.S. at 56, 111 S.Ct. 1661. While provision for a determination of probable cause within forty-eight hours will withstand a systematic challenge, in individual cases, a delay of forty hours or less might result in a violation if the delay is unreasonable, see 500 U.S. at 56, 111 S.Ct. 1661, or if "conditions or restrictions of pretrial detention. . . amount to punishment of the detainee," Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 535, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979).
In Gerstein v. Pugh, the plaintiffs challenged Florida's procedures whereby "a person arrested without a warrant and charged by information may be
420 U.S. at 114, 95 S.Ct. 854 (internal citations omitted). The Supreme Court held that "the Fourth Amendment requires a judicial determination of probable cause as a prerequisite to extended restraint of liberty following arrest," 420 U.S. at 114, 95 S.Ct. 854, but explained that the probable cause determination can be made without an adversary hearing using the same standard as that for arrest— "probable cause to believe the suspect has committed a crime," which is traditionally "decided by a magistrate in a nonadversary proceeding on hearsay and written testimony," 420 U.S. at 120, 95 S.Ct. 854. Recognizing that state systems vary, Justice Powell explained that states may incorporate the probable-cause determination into other procedures, such as for setting bail or fixing other conditions of pretrial release, or may make the probable-cause determination when the suspect first appears before a judicial officer; "[w]hatever procedure a State may adopt, it must provide a fair and reliable determination of probable cause as a condition for any significant pretrial restraint of liberty, and this determination must be made by a judicial officer either before or promptly after arrest." 420 U.S. at 124-25, 95 S.Ct. 854 (footnotes omitted).
In County of Riverside v. McLaughlin, the Supreme Court determined what constituted a "prompt" determination of probable cause. 500 U.S. at 47, 111 S.Ct. 1661. The County of Riverside, California, had combined the probable-cause determination with its arraignment procedures; although the county's policy required conducting arraignments "without unnecessary delay and, in any event, within two days of arrest," the rule excluded weekends and holidays from the two-day computation, meaning that "an individual arrested without a warrant late in the week may in some cases be held for as long as five days before receiving
In Vondrak v. City of Las Cruces, No. CIV-05-0172 JB/LFG, 2009 WL 1300946 (D.N.M. March 26, 2009) (Browning, J.), the plaintiff moved the Court to allow him to amend his complaint so that he could "plead that he suffered a violation of his Fifth, Fourteenth, and Eighth Amendment rights for the two-hour detention to which the police subjected him after his arrest." 2009 WL 1300946, at *1. The Court denied the motion, because the amendment was untimely, and also because the Court determined that the claim that the plaintiff wanted to add "is not a cognizable claim," and, thus, "an amendment would be futile." 2009 WL 1300946, at *6. The Court concluded that the officers had probable cause to arrest the plaintiff after he failed three field sobriety tests and that the two-hour detention did not amount to an unreasonable delay under County of Riverside v. McLaughlin, because during that time, the police performed basic administrative tasks and administered multiple breath tests, which the plaintiff requested, with time in between each test. See 2009 WL 1300946, at *7-8. The Court said that the "police were relatively prompt in deciding, in the end, to release [the plaintiff] after only a few hours of detention," and that it was "unwilling to find, as a matter of law,
With regard to jury instructions, the Tenth Circuit has held: "We do not require perfection, but we must be satisfied that, upon hearing the instructions, the jury understood the issues to be resolved and its duty to resolve them." Gonzales v. Duran, 590 F.3d 855, 859 (10th Cir.2009). "An erroneous jury instruction requires reversal `only if the error is determined to have been prejudicial, based on a review of the record as a whole.'" Sherouse v. Ratchner, 573 F.3d 1055, 1059-60 (10th Cir.2009) (quoting Durflinger v. Artiles, 727 F.2d 888, 895 (10th Cir. 1984)). See Townsend v. Lumbermens Mut. Cas. Co., 294 F.3d 1232, 1242 (10th Cir.2002) ("A faulty jury instruction requires reversal when (1) we have substantial doubt whether the instructions, considered as a whole, properly guided the jury in its deliberations; and (2) when a deficient jury instruction is prejudicial." (citations omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted)). The inquiry is "not whether the instruction was completely faultless, but whether the jury was misled in any way." Coleman v. B-G Maint. Mgmt. of Colo., Inc., 108 F.3d 1199, 1202 (10th Cir.1997).
In cases where the district court has given a legally erroneous jury instruction, and where the jury might have based its verdict thereon, prejudice exists, and reversal is required. See Adams-Arapahoe Joint Sch. Dist. No. 28-J v. Cont'l Ins. Co., 891 F.2d 772, 779-80 (10th Cir.1989) (finding prejudice that required reversal where (a) a jury instruction incorrectly placed the burden of proof on the defendant rather than on the plaintiff and (b) the jury might have based its verdict thereon); Guidance Endodontics, LLC v. Dentsply Int'l, Inc., No. 08-1101, 2011 WL 1330781, at *10-11 (D.N.M. Mar. 30, 2011) (Browning, J.). Since Adams-Arapahoe Joint School District No. 28-J v. Continental Insurance Co., the Tenth Circuit has repeatedly restated this formulation. See, e.g., Level 3 Commc'ns, LLC v. Liebert Corp., 535 F.3d 1146, 1159 (10th Cir. 2008) ("Where an appellate court determines that the district court has given a legally erroneous jury instruction, the judgment must be reversed if the jury might have based its verdict on the erroneously given instruction." (emphasis added) (internal quotation marks omitted)); Wankier v. Crown Equip. Corp., 353 F.3d 862, 867 (10th Cir.2003) ("Where an appellate court determines that the district court has given a legally erroneous jury instruction, the judgment must be reversed `if the jury might have based its verdict on the erroneously given instruction.'"); Townsend v. Lumbermens Mut. Cas. Co., 294 F.3d at 1242 ("Thus, where a jury instruction is legally erroneous, we reverse if the jury might have based its verdict on the erroneously given instruction."); Coleman v. B-G Maint. Mgmt. of Colo., Inc., 108 F.3d at 1202 ("Thus, `[w]here a jury instruction is legally erroneous, we must reverse if the jury might have based its verdict on the erroneously given instruction.'" (alteration in original)); City of Wichita v. U.S. Gypsum Co., 72 F.3d 1491, 1495 (10th Cir.1996) ("Where a jury instruction is legally erroneous, we must reverse if the jury might have based its verdict on the erroneously given instruction."); SEC v. Peters, 978 F.2d 1162, 1167 (10th Cir.1992) ("Where a jury instruction is legally erroneous, we must reverse if the jury might have based its verdict on the erroneously given instruction.").
Most recently, the Tenth Circuit explained further that "[t]he might have
Level 3 Communications, LLC v. Liebert Corp. involved a contract dispute where the district court instructed the jury that the contract at issue was not ambiguous as a matter of law. See 535 F.3d at 1153. After reaching the opposite conclusion—that the contract was ambiguous as a matter of law—on appeal, the Tenth Circuit recognized that the district court had given a legally erroneous instruction and held: "To conclude the error is not harmless, we must determine the error might have affected the jury's verdict." 535 F.3d at 1158-59. The Tenth Circuit held that, with its erroneous instruction, "the district court virtually assured that the jury would find for Level 3 on the breach of contract claim." 535 F.3d at 1159. The Tenth Circuit therefore reversed and remanded the case for a new trial. See 535 F.3d at 1161.
In contrast to both Wankier v. Crown Equipment Corp. and Level 3 Communications, LLC v. Liebert Corp., the Tenth Circuit has found reversal was not required despite erroneous instructions. In Sherouse v. Ratchner; 573 F.3d 1055 (10th Cir.2009), a case involving claims that police officers violated the civil rights of two young women suspected of robbery, the district court instructed the jury that "[a] police officer's probable cause determination is not negated if the officer reasonably but mistakenly believed that probable cause existed at the time of arrest." 573 F.3d at 1059. The Tenth Circuit found this instruction to be legally incorrect, because, "[w]hile an officer's reasonable but mistaken understanding of the facts justifying a search or seizure does not negate the legitimacy of a probable cause determination, an officer's reasonable but mistaken understanding of the applicable law he is enforcing does." 573 F.3d at 1059. Despite the erroneous instruction, the Tenth Circuit found no prejudice, because the only evidence as to any mistake in the case was the officer's misidentification of the plaintiffs—a mistake of fact—and "the plaintiffs [did] not identif[y] any misinterpretation of law that could have been pertinent to the officers' actions." 573 F.3d at 1060.
The Tenth Circuit similarly declined to reverse the district court's judgment despite a legally erroneous jury instruction in Gonzales v. Duran, 590 F.3d 855 (10th Cir.2009). In that case, the Tenth Circuit found the district court's instructions on qualified immunity were incorrect, but deemed the error harmless, because the special interrogatories to the jury revealed that the jury intended to find for the defendants on the merits of the case, without the need to consider the affirmative defense of qualified immunity. See 590 F.3d at 862.
The Defendants move for summary judgment on all of Ysasi's claims, except
Ysasi asserts that the Defendants violated his Fourth Amendment rights when they unlawfully entered his property, without probable cause and without his consent; the Defendants contend that they did not need probable cause to enter his property to investigate a potential domestic violence situation. In support of their position, the Defendants rely primarily on United States v. Jones and United States v. Tobin; the Defendants acknowledge that there is a factual dispute whether Ysasi gave his consent to be on his property. Because the Court must construe the disputed facts in favor of the nonmoving party, the Court finds that Ysasi told the officers that he did not consent to them entering and remaining on his property. Under these circumstances, the Court finds that the knock-and-talk strategy does not justify the officers' presence on Ysasi's property and denies the MSJ on the unlawful entry claim.
The first issue is whether the area inside Ysasi's fence is within the curtilage of his home and, thus, subject to the same protections as his house. If the area is not within the curtilage of Ysasi's home, then the officers could enter without the property without a warrant. See United States v. Jones, 132 S.Ct. at 953 ("Quite
480 U.S. at 301, 107 S.Ct. 1134. The parties did not provide much information regarding these factors, but the evidence shows that: (i) there was a six-foot high chain-linked fence that surrounded the property, see Preliminary Hearing Transcript at 16:22-24 (Reese, Brown); (ii) the chain link fence was approximately one hundred yards away from the mobile home, see id. at 16:18-21 (Reese, Brown); id. at 60:7-13 (Reese, Rider); (iii) the gates on the fence were locked and there were no open entrances, see id. at 18:10-11 (Reese, Brown); id. at 57:16-24 (Reese, Rider); (iv) the driveway on the property had a double swing gate, and the gate was chained shut, see id. at 54:1-11 (Reese, Rider); and (v) the dumpster was located outside the fence, see id. at 16:22-24 (Reese, Brown); Brown Aff. ¶ 5, at 2; Thompson Aff. ¶ 10, at 2. After the Officers entered Ysasi's property by climbing over the fence, they approached Ysasi when he was standing on the porch, which was a simple, wooden plank on a wrought iron frame with two or three wooden steps and some hand rails. See Preliminary Hearing Transcript at 18:12-19:12 (Reese, Brown). The Court is not aware how Ysasi used the area inside the fence and whether he took steps to shield the area from people passing by. Although the Court has limited information, the Court concludes that the area inside the fence was part of the curtilage of Ysasi's home, particularly because the fence completely enclosed the home, the gate was locked, and the dumpster was outside the fence, indicating that the property inside the fence was not open to members of the public. One factor that gives the Court a little concern is that the fence was about one hundred yards away from the mobile home, but even if the area immediately by the fence was not curtilage, Brown and Rider entered onto the curtilage of Ysasi's home by the time they arrived at his porch, which was attached to the mobile home. The porch's close proximity to the home is a factor leading the Court to conclude that it was part of the curtilage. The Court concludes that Brown and Rider entered the curtilage of Ysasi's house.
The next issue is whether the Officers were justified in entering the curtilage without a warrant and without probable cause. The Defendants conceded at the Hearing that the Officers lacked probable cause to enter the property. See Tr. at 38:17-39:15 (Court, Childress). The cases on which the Defendants primarily rely—United States v. Jones and United States v. Tobin—discuss the knock-and-talk investigative strategy. In United States v. Jones, the Fifth Circuit reviewed a trial court's denial of the criminal defendant Raymond Lee Jones' motion to suppress evidence. See 239 F.3d at 718. Police officers arrived at an apartment house to investigate complaints of illegal drug sales; the lead officer in the investigation
In United States v. Tobin, United States Customs agents and Drug Enforcement Administration agents were conducting surveillance in a residential neighborhood when one of the agents noticed a car drive up to defendant Clifford Ackerson's house and stop abruptly; defendant Ronald Tobin got out of the car, looked around, ran up to the front door, knocked, and went inside. See 923 F.2d at 1508. Ackerson then lifted the garage door three-quarters of the way up, and looked up and down the street as he held the door; Tobin unlocked the trunk of the car, removed three clear plastic tubular bags containing smaller bundles, and put the bags inside the garage. See 923 F.2d at 1508. The agents believed the bags contained cocaine, and decided to go to the door and talk to the occupants of the house. See 923 F.2d at 1508. One agent knocked for three to four minutes, calling out in English and Spanish, before Ackerson opened the door; the agent smelled marijuana coming from inside the house while Ackerson and the agent spoke. See 923 F.2d at 1508. Ackerson denied that anyone had recently driven into his driveway and denied that anyone else was in the home; eventually, the agent called Tobin to the door, and Tobin denied having driven the car to the house, even after the agent explained what he had observed. See 923 F.2d at 1508. After Ackerson suggested that they all go
923 F.2d at 1511. The Eleventh Circuit, noting that probable cause existed once the agent could smell the marijuana, determined that Ackerson opened the door voluntarily, because when the agent knocked on the door and called to the occupants, "he phrased his words in the form of a request," and the "occupants were free to deny that request or alternatively talk to the agent through the closed door. The decision to open the door was therefore voluntary." 923 F.2d at 1512.
Although the Defendants cite United States v. Jones and United States v. Tobin to support their argument that an officer may enter a person's property to conduct a "knock and talk," the Court does not agree that this investigative tactic justifies Brown's and Rider's entry onto Ysasi's property. Unlike United States v. Jones and United States v. Tobin, where the officers approached the suspects' doors to determine if the suspect would give consent to talk with the officers or consent to a search, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to Ysasi, Ysasi told Brown and Rider that he did not consent to them being on his property. The Court believes that the Ninth Circuit's decision in United States v. Perea-Rey, 680 F.3d 1179 (9th Cir.2012), is instructive in this case in analyzing the use of the knock-and-talk investigative strategy; the case also helps to understand an unlawful entry claim under the Supreme Court's recent reaffirmation of traditional trespass-based Fourth Amendment analysis.
In United States v. Perea-Rey, Border Patrol agents watched a man climb over
680 F.3d at 1184 (footnote omitted). The Ninth Circuit concluded that the carport was part of the curtilage of the defendant's home, because it satisfied each of the factors in United States v. Dunn—the proximity to the home, it was included within an enclosure surrounding the home, it was used to store personal items, and the defendant took steps to protect the area from observation by people passing by. See 680 F.3d at 1184-85. "The carport is an area so closely connected to his home that it falls under the same umbrella of the Fourth Amendment's protections as his home." 680 F.3d at 1185 (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted).
Next, the Ninth Circuit stated that "[w]arrantless trespasses by the government into the home or its curtilage are Fourth Amendment searches." 680 F.3d at 1185. The Ninth Circuit noted the confusion regarding the traditional pre-Katz v. United States interpretation of the Fourth Amendment, which was tied to common-law trespass, and the post-Katz v. United States reasonable expectation of privacy test, and cited the Supreme Court's explanation that "`the Katz reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test has been added to, not substituted for, the common-law trespassory test.'" 680 F.3d at 1185-86 (emphasis omitted). The Ninth Circuit held that, because the agents entered a constitutionally protected area—the carport, which was part of the curtilage of the defendant's home—"[n]o further showing was required" to determine that the warrantless entry, search and seizure violated the defendant's Fourth Amendment rights. 680 F.3d at 1186.
680 F.3d at 1188. The Ninth Circuit then analyzed the circumstances in which the agent entered the carport, concluding that the agent did not engage in a consensual knock and talk, and that the defendant "never had an opportunity to simply ignore a knock on the door to his home by police." 680 F.3d at 1188. The Ninth Circuit concluded:
680 F.3d at 1189.
First, United States v. Perea-Rey is instructive and persuasive in understanding Ysasi's claim against Brown and Rider for unlawfully entering his property. As the Ninth Circuit said, quoting United States v. Jones, "[w]here the government `physically occupies private property for the purpose of obtaining information,' that is a
Tenth Circuit precedent also supports the Court's conclusion that the knock-and-talk strategy was not appropriate after Ysasi told the Officers they could not be on his property. The Tenth Circuit has explained that reasonable suspicion is unnecessary for a knock-and-talk investigation, because, "[a]s commonly understood, a `knock and talk' is a consensual encounter and therefore does not contravene the Fourth Amendment, even absent reasonable suspicion." United States v. Cruz-Mendez, 467 F.3d at 1264. The Tenth Circuit has noted that officers may approach a home and knock "precisely because that is `no more than any private citizen might do.'" United States v. Shuck, 713 F.3d at 568 (quoting Florida v. Jardines, 133 S.Ct. at 1416). But when, as here, consent is lacking, the knock-and-talk strategy is not appropriate.
Ysasi asserts that the Defendants unlawfully seized and arrested him, in violation of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. The Defendants contend that only the Fourth Amendment governs the unlawful arrest claim; the Court agrees that the Fifth Amendment is inapplicable in this context. See Taylor v. Meacham, 82 F.3d 1556, 1560 (10th Cir.1996) (stating that, when the plaintiff alleged that his wrongful arrest and detention "constituted an unreasonable seizure and deprivation of his liberty, in violation of the Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments," the Tenth Circuit would address the claim "only in a Fourth Amendment context"). The Court will thus address the alleged unlawful arrest only under the Fourth Amendment.
In Angel v. Torrance County Sheriffs Department, No. CIV 04-195 BB/WPL, slip op. (D.N.M. Aug. 23, 2005) (Black, J.), plaintiff Michael Angel was arrested in Torrance County, New Mexico, and after the Magistrate Court held a preliminary hearing and bound him over for trial, the district attorney filed a nolle prosequi and dismissed the charges. See No. CIV 04-195 BB/WPL, slip op. at 3. Angel filed a § 1983 claim for unlawful arrest and imprisonment, and arrest without probable cause, see at 3, and the defendants moved for summary judgment, see No. CIV 04-195 BB/WPL, slip op. at 1. The Honorable Bruce Black, United States District Judge for the District of New Mexico, stated that, under federal law, "collateral estoppel bars the relitigation in a § 1983 civil action of any issue previously determined in a state-court criminal case, as long as the plaintiff had a `full and fair opportunity' to litigate the issue in the state-court proceeding." No. CIV 04-195 BB/WPL, slip op. at 6 (citing Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 101 S.Ct. 411; Allen v. Cunningham, 51 F.3d 285 (10th Cir.1995)). Judge Black noted that the Tenth Circuit "applied this rule to virtually identical facts," citing Hubbert v. City of Moore. He said that the "undisputed evidence" showed that the Magistrate Court held an evidentiary hearing, that six people testified under oath at the hearing, that Angel was able to cross-examine the witnesses and introduce exhibits, and that the New Mexico Magistrate Court found probable cause that Angel had committed the crime. No. CIV 04-195 BB/WPL, slip op. at 6. Judge Black concluded that Angel "clearly had a `full and fair opportunity' to litigate the issue of probable cause" at the preliminary hearing,
Angel appealed pro se, and the Tenth Circuit reviewed Judge Black's decision to grant summary judgment de novo. See Angel v. Torrance Cnty., 183 Fed.Appx. 707, 709 (10th Cir.2006) (unpublished). In describing Judge Black's ruling, the Tenth Circuit said that
183 Fed.Appx. at 708. Angel's argument on appeal primarily attacked "the factual basis of [the] state court's probable cause determination"; he asserted that "the federal district court should have been able to put collateral estoppel aside." 183 Fed. Appx. at 709 (internal alteration and quotation marks omitted). The Tenth Circuit affirmed Judge Black without much discussion:
183 Fed.Appx. at 709.
The Court has some concerns regarding Judge Black's and the Tenth Circuit's opinion applying collateral estoppel to bar the re-litigation of probable cause in a subsequent civil action. Hubbert v. City of Moore requires the Court to give preclusive effect to a New Mexico state court judgment to the same extent a New Mexico court would, but the Court is not convinced that Angel v. Torrance County Sheriffs Department reflects what a New Mexico court would do. Judge Black asserted that his decision to apply collateral estoppel was in line with New Mexico law, and cited Oldfield v. Benavidez, but the Court does not agree with Judge Black that Oldfield v. Benavidez supports granting summary judgment based on issue preclusion.
In Oldfield v. Benavidez, two children were removed from their home for one week and then returned to their parents' custody; the children and parents sued the defendants—the Cibola County, New Mexico, sheriff, a social worker, and a supervisor in the New Mexico Human Services Department—for violating the plaintiffs' right to familial integrity under the Fourth
The Court does not see how Oldfield v. Benavidez answers the question whether New Mexico courts would apply collateral estoppel in a subsequent civil case to a Magistrate Judge's determination of probable cause at a preliminary hearing. On the other hand, there is at least some evidence that New Mexico courts might do what Judge Black did. "At the preliminary hearing, the state is required to establish, to the satisfaction of the examining judge, two components: (1) that a crime has been committed; and (2) probable cause exists to believe that the person charged committed it." State v. White, 2010-NMCA-043, 148 N.M. 214, 218, 232 P.3d 450, 454 (citing State v. Vallejos, 1979-NMCA-089, 93 N.M. 387, 388, 600 P.2d 839). The Defendants point to State v. Orosco for the proposition that New Mexico courts would apply collateral estoppel to a Magistrate Judge's decisions. See Reply at 8. In State v. Orosco, the defendant was charged in Magistrate Court with resisting and obstructing an officer, and was charged in the district court with the felony of battery on a police officer; all the charges arose from the same event. 1982-NMCA-181 ¶ 2. The Magistrate Judge found the defendant not guilty of the misdemeanor charges, and the defendant was bound over to the district court on the felony charge. See 1982-NMCA-181 ¶ 3. The Court of Appeals of New Mexico framed the question as "whether, after a magistrate's determination that defendant was not guilty because he was acting in defense of another, the State could constitutionally bring him before a new fact finder to relitigate that issue" and answered the question "no." 1982-NMCA-181 ¶ 5. The Court of Appeals of New Mexico noted that the "relevant inquiry is what was the basis for the acquittal in the magistrate court," and determined that, because the "trial court found as a fact that defendant's acquittal was based on defendant's action in protecting his father, and that this identical defense would be used in the battery upon a police officer charge," the trial could should have applied collateral estoppel and dismissed the battery charges:
State v. Orosco, 1982-NMCA-181 ¶ 11, 99 N.M. 180, 655 P.2d 1024.
The Court has previously noted, however, that New Mexico courts do not always give so much deference to a Magistrate Judge's decisions, and there may be good reasons not to. In Mata v. Anderson, plaintiff Juan Mata brought a § 1983 retaliatory-prosecution claim against defendant Ron Anderson, a law enforcement officer who filed a criminal complaint against Mata after Mata criticized the Farmington, New Mexico, police officers. See 760 F.Supp.2d 1068, 1076-77 (D.N.M.2009). A Magistrate Court tried Mata for harassment, stalking, and criminal libel, and the magistrate jury convicted him on all three counts; Mata sought a de novo trial in the state district court, at which the district judge dismissed the criminal libel charge, and the jury declared Mata not guilty of the remaining charges. See 760 F.Supp.2d at 1077. Anderson argued that the Magistrate Court's conviction, although reversed by the district court, conclusively established the existence of probable cause; he cited the Restatement (Second) of Torts to support this position, which states: "`The conviction of the accused by a magistrate or trial court, although reversed by an appellate tribunal, conclusively establishes the existence of probable cause, unless the conviction was obtained by fraud, perjury or other corrupt means.'" 760 F.Supp.2d at 1106 (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts § 667). The Court declined to apply the Restatement rule, relying in part on the Court of Appeals of New Mexico's reasoning in Miera v. Waltemeyer:
760 F.Supp.2d at 1106 (quoting Miera v. Waltemeyer, 1982-NMCA-007, ¶ 15, 97 N.M. 588, 642 P.2d 191). The Court noted that it saw "good reason to draw a distinction between New Mexico's district courts and its magistrate courts in certain areas. . . where lay people are allowed to serve as magistrates," 760 F.Supp.2d at 1107, and noted that "[t]he fact that New Mexico provides a de novo trial in the event of a conviction in the magistrate court further supports the wisdom in finding that a conviction in a magistrate court is less than conclusive of the existence of probable cause," 760 F.Supp.2d at 1108. The Court concluded that the Magistrate Court conviction did not provide conclusive evidence of probable cause. See 760 F.Supp.2d at 1108.
Weststar Mortgage Corp. v. Jackson, 2003-NMSC-002, 133 N.M. 114, 123, 61 P.3d 823, 832. On one hand, the Supreme Court of New Mexico quoted the Oklahoma court's statement that the bind over is prima facie evidence of probable cause, but on the other hand, it also cited a case that applied collateral estoppel to the finding of probable cause at a preliminary hearing. Weststar Mortgage Corp. v. Jackson, 133 N.M. at 123, 61 P.3d at 832.
Two Restatement provisions also seem to speak to the issue before the Court: § 663
The Court does not believe that New Mexico courts would apply collateral estoppel to the Magistrate Judge's determination of probable cause at the preliminary hearing, but rather, that New Mexico courts would view the Magistrate Judge's finding of probable cause as evidence of the existence of probable cause, and it would view the district attorney's subsequent nolle prosequi as evidence that there was not probable cause. New Mexico's issue preclusion doctrine is not obligatory, and even when a party makes the prima facie showing, the "trial court must consider the countervailing equities including, but not limited to, prior incentive for vigorous defense, inconsistencies, procedural opportunities, and inconvenience of forum" before deciding whether to apply the doctrine. Silva v. State, 1987-NMSC-107, ¶ 12, 106 N.M. 472, 745 P.2d 380. The Court thinks that, especially in a situation such as this one—where the charges were dismissed after the preliminary hearing, rendering Ysasi with no opportunity to challenge the finding of probable cause in the criminal case—New Mexico courts would not preclude Ysasi from re-litigating probable cause in this case. The Court thinks it is particularly inappropriate that the decision of a Magistrate Judge—almost always a non-lawyer in New Mexico—precludes federal court review; the non-lawyer usually takes the word of the police, thus effectively leaving the police officer's determination of probable cause largely unreviewed in court. The reason is particularly acute given that neither Judge Black nor the Tenth Circuit cited Miera v. Waltemeyer in the opinions in Angel v. Torrance County Sheriffs Department, although, at the same time, the Court did not see the Tenth Circuit's unpublished opinion and Judge Black's opinion in Angel v. Torrance County Sheriffs Department when its wrote its opinion in Mata v. Anderson. Despite these serious reservations, the Court does not feel free to make the independent determination what the Supreme Court of New Mexico would do when the Tenth Circuit has affirmed the application of collateral estoppel to nearly identical facts in Angel v. Torrance County Sheriffs Department; both cases involve a Magistrate Judge's determination of probable cause at a preliminary hearing followed by a district attorney's decision to nolle prosequi the case. The Tenth Circuit affirmed—on de novo review—Judge Black's determination that collateral estoppel bars the relitigation of the probable cause issue in the subsequent civil case; the Court will thus grant the MSJ on the unlawful arrest claim, because the Tenth Circuit's determination indicates that it would apply collateral estoppel in this situation.
Ysasi asserts in the Complaint that the LCDC "conspired . . . to violate the rights of Mr. Ysasi by holding him incommunicado for a period of three days with[out] access to bail in an attempt to cover up the actions of Deputies Rider and Brown," Complaint ¶ 40, at 9; in the Response, he asserts that the LCDC detained him for four days, without an arraignment and without bail, "in order to conceal the beating he took from Deputy Chris Rider," Response at 12; and, at the hearing, he explained that his claim against the LCDC is an Eighth Amendment claim that "he was not allowed to bond himself out" and that he was "held incommunicado." Tr. at 26:9-12 (Blenden). To support this claim, he cites to his deposition testimony, but he did not attach the deposition testimony to the Response. The Defendants deny that the LCDC held Ysasi "incommunicado," and provided the LCDC Call Records to show that he was able to communicate with his family and friends. The Defendants contend that Ysasi changed his claim in the Response and argue that the new claim is not proper under the Eighth Amendment; rather, as they understand his claim, Ysasi is arguing that a Magistrate Court did not make a timely determination of probable cause. See Tr. at 72:18-73:9 (Childress). To rebut this claim, the Defendants attached the Criminal Complaint, which shows that a Magistrate Judge made a determination of probable cause one day after Ysasi was arrested and incarcerated, which the Defendants assert is within the forty-eight hours that the Supreme Court of the United States requires for the probable cause determination. See Tr. at 73:11-19 (Childress).
To the extent that Ysasi is alleging that the LCDC held him without a determination of probable cause, the undisputed evidence from the Criminal Complaint indicates that Ysasi was arrested on February 25, 2010, and that a Magistrate Judge made a determination of probable cause on February 26, 2010. This date is within the forty-eight-hour outer limit that the Supreme Court has prescribed as presumptively reasonable in County of Riverside, and Ysasi has not come forward with any evidence to show that the delay in the determination of probable cause is unreasonable. Because that determination was made within forty-eight hours, the burden rests on Ysasi, and he did not his burden. See County of Riverside, 500 U.S. at 57, 111 S.Ct. 1661.
To the extent that Ysasi is arguing that the LCDC held him "in communicado" and that the LCDC employees conspired with Brown and Rider to hold Ysasi for four days to allow his wounds to heal, the LCDC has come forward with evidence that Ysasi was allowed to communicate with his family and friends by making telephone calls, and Ysasi has not come forward with any evidence to show anything to the contrary. He does not provide
To the extent that Ysasi is alleging that the four days he remained incarcerated at the LCDC without an arraignment and without bail violates his Eighth Amendment rights, the Court does not think that the Eighth Amendment is the proper constitutional provision, and further, does not think that the four days delay, without more, deprived Ysasi of any constitutional rights. In United States v. Hanrahan, No. CR 04-1978 JB, 2005 WL 2312632 (D.N.M. Aug. 2, 2005) (Browning, J.), the criminal defendant moved to dismiss his indictment, because, in the defendant's view, there was an unreasonable delay between the time when he was indicted to when he was arraigned. See 2005 WL 2312632, at *3. The Court concluded that the delay did not violate the defendant's constitutional rights, because he was in state custody on unrelated charges during the delay and he did not challenge the lawfulness of the state custody. See 2005 WL 2312632, at *3. The Court recognized that the Tenth Circuit has
2005 WL 2312632, at *3. In United States v. Grimmond, which the Tenth Circuit cited in Robertson v. Price City Police Department, the defendant contended that a thirty-five-month delay between his indictment and his arraignment violated his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial and his Fifth Amendment right to due process. See 137 F.3d at 827 & n. 1. The Fourth Circuit stated that, "in order to establish a due process violation, the defendant must show that the delay caused him actual prejudice in presenting his defense." 137 F.3d at 827 n. 1 (internal quotation marks omitted). The Fourth Circuit rejected the defendant's due-process argument, because he did not show that the delay prejudiced him in presenting his defense. See 137 F.3d at 827 n. 1.
Although not stating that the cause of action arose under the due-process clause, the United States District Court for the
The Court believes that Ysasi's claim against the LCDC does not arise under the Eighth Amendment as he has argued, but under the Fourteenth Amendment's due process protections.
The Defendants objected to a number of Ysasi's requested jury instructions. Ysasi's requested Instruction No. 22 states: "A Plaintiff is not required to prove that a Defendant intentionally deprived him or her of his or her Constitutional rights. Rather, the Plaintiff only needs to prove that a Defendant intentionally committed acts or omissions, and that such acts or omissions resulted in violations of the Plaintiff's constitutional rights." Plaintiff's Jury Instructions, filed February 19, 2014 (Doc. 81); Plaintiffs Requested Instruction No. 22, at 22. The Defendants object to this instruction "as being an inaccurate description of the law and the evidence." Objections at 3. The Court will sustain this objection in part, and will modify the instruction to state that Ysasi must prove by a preponderance of the evidence "[t]hat Mr. Brown and/or Mr. Rider, intentionally committed acts that violated one or more Federal constitutional rights. . . ." Court's Final Jury Instructions (with citations) at 14-15, filed February 19, 2014 (Doc. 85)("Final Instructions"). The Court based this modification on the Fifth Circuit Pattern Jury Instructions (Civil Cases) 10.1, at 123 (2009)(42 U.S.C. Section 1983 (Unlawful Arrest—Unlawful Search—Excessive Force) Qualified Immunity—Good Faith Defense).
Ysasi's requested Instruction No. 23 states:
Plaintiff's Requested Instruction No. 23. The Defendants object to this instruction "to the extent it contradicts federal law defining proximate cause. In addition, it is inconsistent with the language of UJI 13-305." Objections at 3. The Court will sustain this objection and modify the jury instruction to read:
Final Instructions at 17-18. The Court based this modification on the Fifth Circuit Pattern Jury Instructions 10.1, at 125-26.
The Defendants object to Ysasi's requested Instruction Nos. 34-39, which relate to damages, because the Defendants "deny that the Plaintiff is entitled to damages" and that "there is no evidence to support a lost earnings instruction." Objections at 3. After the close of the evidence at trial, the Court discussed with the parties the jury instructions relating to damages. The parties agreed to remove the jury instruction for "the value of lost earnings and the present cash value of
The Defendants cite the following portions of the Transcription of Digitally-Recorded Preliminary Hearing, taken April 27, 2010, filed December 16, 2013 (Doc. 53-1)("Preliminary Hearing Transcript"):
Preliminary Hearing Transcript at 56:5-25 (Reese, Rider).
Preliminary Hearing Transcript at 36:9-19 (Rider). "The evidence of the non-movant is to be believed, and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in his favor." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The Court finds that, after drawing all the justifiable inferences in Ysasi's favor, the evidence, including the 911 Call and Dispatch Audio, do not support characterizing Thompson as a domestic violence victim, or the Officers as responding to a domestic violence incident.
Reply at 4. Ysasi's asserted fact in response— that the 911 call was "just an assistance call to retrieve personal property and not a domestic violence call"—does not "specifically controvert[]" the Defendants' statements of fact regarding what Thompson, Vega, or the dispatch operator said during the 911 call, but rather is an additional fact. D.N.M.LR-Civ. 56.1(b). The Court will therefore deem this fact admitted.
Response ¶ 7, at 6 (citing Brown Aff. ¶ 3, at 1; Preliminary Hearing Transcript). The Defendants reply that "there was sufficient evidence to raise suspicion of domestic violence." Reply at 4. All facts are to be construed in favor of Ysasi, but the evidence he cites does not go so far as to say that Brown and Rider were not investigating a crime; the evidence suggests that they did not know, but suspected, that there may have been an incident of domestic violence.
Reply at 5. Ysasi's additional fact—that Brown and Rider did not tell Thompson or Vega that they were assessing a domestic violence situation—does not "specifically controvert[]" the Defendants' statement of fact. The Court will therefore deem this fact admitted, but will modify it to reflect that Brown and Rider were not responding to a known domestic violence situation. Because Ysasi refers the Court with particularity to the portion of the record upon which he relies for the additional fact, and the Defendants did not dispute it, the Court will also add Ysasi's additional fact.
D.N.M.LR-Civ. 56.1(b). The Court understands the Defendants to be arguing that whether Brown and Rider told Thompson they were investigating a domestic violence situation is irrelevant. Contending that a fact is irrelevant is not disputing a fact, nor is it specifically controverting a fact by directing the Court with particularity to the record. See D.N.M.LR-Civ. 56.1(b). In O'Brien v. Mitchell, 883 F.Supp.2d 1055 (D.N.M.2012) (Browning, J.), the Court explained that, because the proper course is to determine relevance of facts in the analysis section, rather than in the factual background section, objecting to an asserted fact as immaterial in response to an asserted fact effectively deems the fact undisputed. See Wilson v. Jara, 866 F.Supp.2d 1270, 1276-79 (D.N.M.2011) (Browning, J.) ("Whether this fact is relevant is a legal argument, and the Court will not address [the cited case] at this time, but will consider it in its legal analysis."). The Court thus deems these facts admitted and will, as necessary, determine their relevance in the analysis section.
Police Video. See Reply at 5 (citing this exchange).
Response ¶ 18, at 8 (citing Preliminary Hearing Transcript). The Defendants assert that "[w]hether there was a predicate crime or domestic abuse is irrelevant. The Plaintiff's charges arose only from the altercation between the Plaintiff and the officers, not from any domestic abuse that may have occurred." Reply at 6. Contending that a fact is irrelevant is not disputing a fact, nor is it specifically controverting a fact by directing the Court with particularity to the record. See D.N.M.LR-Civ. 56.1(b). The proper course is to determine relevance of facts in the analysis section, rather than in the factual background section. See O'Brien v. Mitchell, 883 F.Supp.2d 1055. The Court thus deems these facts admitted and will, as necessary, determine their relevance in the analysis section.
The Defendants also argue that Ysasi's asserted fact "overstates the testimony of the officers at the Preliminary Hearing." Reply at 6. The Court has modified Ysasi's asserted fact to reflect what Brown and Rider said at the Preliminary Hearing, rather than characterizing their testimony
United States v. Austin, 426 F.3d 1266, 1274 (10th Cir.2005) (citations omitted). The Court finds that Crudup v. Schulte, Rhoads v. Miller, 352 Fed.Appx. 289 (10th Cir.2009) (unpublished); United States v. Reed, 195 Fed. Appx. 815 (10th Cir.2006) (unpublished); and Angel v. Torrance Cnty., 183 Fed.Appx. 707 (10th Cir.2006) (unpublished), have persuasive value with respect to material issues, and will assist the Court in its preparation of this Memorandum Opinion and Order.
Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. at 351-52, 88 S.Ct. 507. The Supreme Court appears to have changed course in its two most recent opinions on Fourth Amendment searches. In Florida v. Jardines, the particular place at which the search occurred weighs heavily on the Supreme Court's holding, reasoning that "[t]he [Fourth] Amendment establishes [as] a simple baseline. . . . protections `when the Government does engage in a physical intrusion of a constitutionally protected area.'" 133 S.Ct. at 1414 (original alterations and original emphasis omitted) (emphasis added) (quoting United States v. Knotts, 460 U.S. 276, 286, 103 S.Ct. 1081, 75 L.Ed.2d 55 (1983) (Brennan, J., concurring)). See United States v. Jones, 132 S.Ct. at 951 ("Katz did not erode the principle `that, when the Government does engage in physical intrusion of a constitutionally protected area in order to obtain information, that intrusion may constitute a violation of the Fourth Amendment. . . . Katz did not narrow the Fourth Amendment's scope."' (emphasis added)). The Court thus concludes that, while it may be true that the analysis does not turn on the place searched, the Court's prior statement—"the Supreme Court has vigorously asserted that the proper analysis under the Fourth Amendment is not whether the place searched is a `constitutionally protected area,'" Kerns v. Bd. of Comm'rs of Bernalillo Cnty., 888 F.Supp.2d at 1219— may no longer accurately reflect the Supreme Court's recent reversion to property-based analysis as a Fourth Amendment analysis baseline.
The Court concludes that these instructions give the jury the tools they need to decide the excessive force claim in a straightforward, easy to understand manner. The parties did not object to the Court's modifications. Because the Defendants also relied on the Fifth Circuit Pattern Jury Instructions, the Court will sustain the Objections to the extent they are consistent with the Fifth Circuit Pattern Jury Instructions.
The Defendants also object to Instruction No. 10, because they "disagree that the jury should be instructed that the Plaintiff was `peaceable.'" Objections at 2. The Court sustains this objection and will remove the reference to whether Ysasi was "peaceable" on his property. The issue for the jury is probable cause, not whether Ysasi was "peaceable."
Restatement (Second) of Torts § 663.
Restatement (Second) of Torts § 665.
Silva v. State, 1987-NMSC-107, ¶ 11.