Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca6-15-01993/USCOURTS-ca6-15-01993-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 

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NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION

File Name: 16a0490n.06

Case Nos. 15-1993/2015

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

PETER GALINIS,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

COUNTY OF BRANCH, et al.,

Defendants,

CITY OF COLDWATER, MI; 

COLDWATER POLICE DEPARTMENT; 

BRIAN WOHLHETER; DAVID PIPE; NICK 

THORNTON, City of Coldwater Police 

Officers both individually and as members of 

the City of Coldwater Police Department (15-

1993) and C. JOHN POLLACK, Branch 

County Sheriff, both individually and as a 

member of the Branch County Sheriff’s 

Department (15-2015),

Defendants-Appellants.

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ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED 

STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR 

THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF 

MICHIGAN

BEFORE: GUY, BOGGS, and MOORE, Circuit Judges.

BOGGS, Circuit Judge. Peter Galinis was arrested and removed from the Branch 

County Courthouse after he refused to stop recording on his cell phone his interactions with a 

clerk and police officers. At the time of the arrest, no law prohibited Galinis from recording in 

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the courthouse. Galinis sued the officers who arrested him—John Pollack from the Branch 

County Sheriff’s Office, and Brian Wohlheter, David Pipe, and Nick Thornton from the City of 

Coldwater Police Department—for various federal and state claims. At summary judgment, the 

district court denied qualified immunity to the officers on Galinis’s federal claims for unlawful 

arrest and unlawful imprisonment, and his Michigan claims for false arrest, false imprisonment, 

and battery. We affirm.

I

On August 1, 2011, Peter Galinis visited the clerk’s office at the Branch County 

Courthouse to return a DVD of a 2009 trial that he had purchased from the office earlier that day.

He was distressed because the DVD was not functional and he was of the opinion that the DVD 

had deliberately been made defectively. After recording his interaction with the clerk on his cell 

phone, police officers told him to stop recording and to leave the courthouse. When Galinis 

refused to leave, the officers arrested him and removed him from the building.

Three video clips from Galinis’s cell phone recording are publicly available on YouTube, 

and although they contain low-quality video, they do have some audio. Those videos can 

be found at: Branch County 1 of 3 Cop Caught Breaking the Law, YouTube (Aug. 21, 

2011), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWb9g8S_CmI; Branch County 2 of 3 Cop 

Caught Breaking the Law, YouTube (Aug. 21, 2011), 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJynaZJcoUQ; Branch County 3 of 3 Cop Caught Breaking 

the Law, YouTube (Aug. 21, 2011), https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=cLHQSCkQXXY. The events of that afternoon were also recorded by the video 

surveillance system at the courthouse, but those recordings do not have sound.

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According to the surveillance video, Galinis arrived at the clerk’s window at around 4:15 

PM. After ringing the call bell, Galinis took out his cell phone and began to record. The first 

YouTube video shows that after clerk Julie Morrison arrived, Galinis told her about his inability 

to play the DVD and demanded either a refund or a new disc. Morrison did not wish to be 

recorded, and the second YouTube video shows that Morrison said: “When you get rid of your 

recording devices we will discuss this.” Galinis responded by telling Morrison that he would put 

his phone in his pocket, and he did so, although it was still recording. Shortly thereafter, Branch 

County sheriff’s deputy Carl Sevidal arrived and asked: “What’s going on?” Galinis responded:

“The disc she gave me was deliberately defective, okay. Maybe it’s just my opinion, but it’s 

highly coincidental. And I need a refund immediately of my funds here of $25 in extortion fees 

or a new disc right now that will play in any standard DVD player.” After listening to Galinis’s 

complaints, Sevidal asked him: “Well, are you going to give up your recording devices?” The 

second YouTube video ends at that point.

The surveillance video shows that Sevidal then left the hallway, and Galinis pressed the 

call button at the clerk’s window again. A few minutes later, Sevidal returned and continued 

talking to Galinis. During that conversation, Galinis pressed the call button again. Sevidal then

left and returned with two Coldwater police officers. A minute later, another Coldwater police 

officer arrived. The three Coldwater officers who arrived were defendants Brian Wohlheter, 

David Pipe, and Nick Thornton. According to Galinis’s deposition testimony, one of the officers 

said: “[Branch County Circuit Court] Judge [P. William] O’Grady says ask him to leave or 

arrest him.” In addition, Sevidal informed Michigan Magistrate Judge David Coyle that Galinis 

had refused to leave and cease recording. Judge Coyle stated in an affidavit that he “advised 

Deputy Sevidal that if Mr. Galinis was being disorderly that in my opinion he could be arrested.” 

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Judge Coyle also stated his “opinion that Mr. Galinis should not be permitted to record Mrs. 

Morrison or other court employees against their wishes.” At around 4:29 PM, a fifth officer, 

John Pollack, then a Branch County sheriff’s deputy, arrived in the hallway. After talking to 

Galinis for a few seconds, Pollack moved behind Galinis and tried to push him away from the 

clerk’s office window. Galinis stiffened his legs and did not allow himself to be moved. The 

other four officers surrounded Galinis, pushed him to the other side of the hallway against a 

doorframe, and placed him in handcuffs. The physical altercation was over quickly and does not 

appear to have been violent, but Galinis alleges that his impact against the doorframe broke his 

glasses, loosened his tooth, injured his wrist, and caused a sciatica flare-up in his back. Galinis 

was escorted out of the hallway by the five officers, and three officers accompanied him out of 

the building.

Galinis was charged with “resisting and obstructing,” in violation of Michigan law, Mich. 

Comp. Laws § 750.81d(1), and “disorderly jostling,” in violation of a local ordinance, according 

to the summary-judgment opinion by the district court in this case. At a preliminary examination 

before Michigan District Judge Samuel Durham on November 8, 2011, Pollack testified that 

Galinis was disorderly only because he refused to leave the courthouse when asked to do so, and 

that Galinis did not swear, yell, scream, kick, throw a tantrum, or batter or wound the officers in 

any way. Judge Durham found that there was probable cause and bound the case over for trial at 

the circuit court, but the circuit court remanded the case to him in light of the Supreme Court of 

Michigan’s decision in People v. Moreno, 814 N.W.2d 624 (Mich. 2012). On June 18, 2012, 

Judge Durham conducted a second hearing and dismissed all charges against Galinis on the 

ground that Galinis had a right to refuse to leave the courthouse because there were no rules 

against the use of cell phones. 

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Galinis brought various federal and state claims against Wohlheter, Pipe, Thornton, the 

City of Coldwater, Pollack, and Branch County. The federal district court granted summary 

judgment to the defendants on several of the claims, but denied qualified immunity on Galinis’s 

claims for: (1) unlawful arrest in violation of the United States Constitution; (2) unlawful 

confinement in violation of the United States Constitution; (3) false arrest under Michigan law; 

(4) false imprisonment under Michigan law; and (5) battery under Michigan law. 

Officer Pollack and the Coldwater police officers appealed, challenging the district 

court’s denial of summary judgment. We review the district court’s summary-judgment rulings 

de novo. See Gradisher v. City of Akron, 794 F.3d 574, 582 (6th Cir. 2015). Taking the facts “in 

the light depicted by the videotape,” all reasonable inferences must be drawn in favor of the 

nonmoving party. Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 380–81 (2007). The defendants are entitled to 

summary judgment only if no rational trier of fact could find for the plaintiff. Id. at 380.

II 

Whether a defendant receives qualified immunity in a § 1983 action turns on two 

questions: did the defendant violate a constitutionally protected right, and if so, was the right 

clearly established at the time the act was committed? See Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 

232, 236 (2009). These questions may be addressed in any order that will facilitate a fair and 

efficient disposition of the case. Id. at 242.

Galinis’s Fourth Amendment claims for wrongful arrest and wrongful imprisonment turn 

on whether the defendants had probable cause to arrest him. See Fridley v. Horrighs, 291 F.3d 

867, 872 (6th Cir. 2002); see also Wallace v. Kato, 549 U.S. 384, 388 (2007) (“False arrest and 

false imprisonment overlap; the former is a species of the latter.”). Probable cause exists when 

there is “reasonably trustworthy information” that is “sufficient to warrant a prudent man” in 

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believing that the person being arrested had committed or was committing an offense. 

Gardenhire v. Schubert, 205 F.3d 303, 317 (6th Cir. 2000) (quoting Beck v. Ohio, 379 U.S. 89, 

91 (1964)). In this case, the district court denied the defendants’ motions for summary judgment 

because at the time of Galinis’s arrest and imprisonment, it was not illegal to film in the 

courthouse and Galinis therefore had a right to remain. Although the defendants argued that they 

were entitled to qualified immunity, the court held that they were not entitled to qualified 

immunity because they lacked probable cause to arrest and imprison Galinis. 

The Coldwater defendants and Pollack raise different arguments for reversing the district 

court’s summary-judgment ruling. The Coldwater defendants argue that there was probable 

cause to arrest Galinis under Michigan Compiled Laws § 750.81d(1). That issue was raised 

before the district court and is therefore a proper issue for appeal. By contrast, Pollack’s 

arguments, based on provisions of Coldwater’s city ordinances and judicial immunity, were not 

raised before the district court. As such, they are forfeited.

It is an elementary rule of appellate practice that “appellate courts do not consider any 

issues not passed upon below.” In re Morris, 260 F.3d 654, 663 (6th Cir. 2001). Deviations 

from this rule are made only in “exceptional cases or particular circumstances, or when the rule 

would produce a plain miscarriage of justice.” Id. at 664 (quoting Pinney Dock & Transp. Co. v. 

Penn Cent. Corp., 838 F.2d 1445, 1461 (6th Cir. 1988)). And we will consider an issue raised 

for the first time on appeal only “to the extent the issue is presented with sufficient clarity and 

completeness.” Ibid. (quoting Alexander v. Aero Lodge No. 735, 565 F.2d 1364, 1370–71 (6th 

Cir. 1977)).

At the district court, the defendants focused their qualified-immunity argument on 

whether the officers had probable cause to arrest Galinis under § 750.81d(1). Pollack focused on 

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the argument that a state district judge’s determination on probable cause at a preliminary 

examination in the criminal case against Galinis (which was later rejected by a state circuit judge

in response to a decision from the Michigan Supreme Court) was controlling due to collateral 

estoppel. Having failed to persuade the federal district judge in this case to apply collateral 

estoppel so as to give preclusive effect to the state court’s initial finding of probable cause and 

having failed to pursue collateral estoppel on appeal, Pollack now raises a completely new set of 

arguments based on provisions of Coldwater’s city ordinances that were never presented to the 

district court and based on judicial immunity stemming from an informal remark made by a state 

magistrate judge. Because Pollack failed to raise these arguments before the district court, and 

this is not an exceptional circumstance, we decline to give him a second bite at the apple, and we 

hold that his novel arguments concerning qualified immunity are forfeited.

This leaves us with the question of whether the defendants had probable cause to arrest 

Galinis under § 750.81d(1). That statute provides that “an individual who assaults, batters, 

wounds, resists, obstructs, opposes, or endangers a person who the individual knows or has 

reason to know is performing his or her duties is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment 

for not more than 2 years or a fine not more than $2,000.00, or both.” The statute defines 

“person” as including a variety of law-enforcement and public-safety officers, including police 

officers, conservation officers, and firefighters. § 750.81d(7)(b). “Obstruct” is defined as “the 

use or threatened use of physical interference or force or a knowing failure to comply with a 

lawful command,” § 750.81d(7)(a) (emphasis added), but the statute does not define any of the 

other verbs in the list such as “resist” or “oppose.”

The Coldwater defendants argue that the officers had probable cause—or at least, could 

reasonably have believed that there was probable cause—to arrest Galinis for violating 

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§ 750.81d(1) based on Michigan v. Ventura, 686 N.W.2d 748 (Mich. Ct. App. 2004), overruled 

by Michigan v. Moreno, 814 N.W.2d 624 (Mich. 2012). In Ventura, the Court of Appeals of 

Michigan held that a person can be found guilty under § 750.81d(1) if he uses “force to resist an 

arrest made by one he knows or has reason to know is performing his duties regardless of 

whether the arrest is illegal.” Id. at 751. Although Ventura was overruled in 2012, it was good 

law in 2011 when the defendants arrested Galinis. According to the Coldwater defendants, even 

though Galinis did not break the law when he was recording with his cell phone in the 

courthouse, he violated § 750.81d(1) because he disobeyed the officers’ unlawful orders to stop 

recording or leave the courthouse.

The Coldwater defendants give Ventura too broad a reading. Ventura held only that the 

use of force to resist an unlawful arrest can result in a violation of § 750.81d(1), based on the 

need to “reduce the likelihood and magnitude of the potential dangers inherent in an arrest 

situation, thereby dually protecting both the general public and its police officers.” Id. at 752. In 

this case, the security-camera footage shows that Galinis did not use force against the officers. 

Pollack testified at the preliminary examination that Galinis was arrested only for refusing to 

leave, and not for swearing, yelling, kicking, throwing a tantrum, or battering the officers. 

Although Galinis refused to cooperate with the officers’ orders, his conduct amounted to little 

more than passive noncompliance. Even if Galinis’s actions did amount to force, Ventura 

would still be unhelpful for the defendants because it contemplates a situation in which “the 

arrest is illegal.” Id. at 752. If this were a scenario in which Ventura applied, the sequence of 

events would be: (1) the officers illegally arrested Galinis; (2) Galinis responded with force; and 

(3) the officers legally arrested Galinis under Ventura for using force against an officer. Even 

though the second arrest would be legal under Ventura, the first arrest would still be illegal, 

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meaning that Galinis would be entitled under § 1983 to go to trial against the defendants on the 

first arrest unless its illegality was not clearly established. Given that the defendants do not 

dispute that Galinis was acting lawfully when he recorded with his cell phone in the courthouse, 

we are not persuaded that the district court erred when it held that there was sufficient evidence 

for Galinis to show that the officers arrested him without probable cause in violation of clearly 

established law.

It is true that § 750.81d(1) makes it a crime to “resist,” “obstruct,” or “oppose” an officer 

who is performing his duties. Although “obstruct” is defined in the statute as “the use or 

threatened use of physical interference or force or a knowing failure to comply with a lawful 

command,” § 750.81d(7)(a), making it inapplicable to Galinis’s conduct, the words “resist” and 

“oppose” are not defined in the statute. It is at least debatable whether those words encompass 

knowing failure to comply with an unlawful command, because that interpretation would render 

part of the definition of “obstruct” superfluous. Under that interpretation, the legislature would 

have needlessly defined “obstruct” as encompassing only a failure to comply with a “lawful 

command,” because other provisions of the statute would encompass a failure to comply with an 

unlawful command. Furthermore, the argument that an officer can “manufacture grounds to 

arrest a person innocent of wrongdoing” simply by giving an illegal directive and then making an 

arrest for violating that order is a “disturbing proposition” that is of “questionable constitutional 

validity.” Bourgeois v. Strawn, 452 F. Supp. 2d 696, 710 (E.D. Mich. 2006). Regardless, the 

defendants have not raised such an argument in this appeal, and we therefore decline to consider 

it. 

The Coldwater defendants also raise several additional points. First, they argue that a 

statement made by Branch County Magistrate Judge David Coyle is relevant to the issue of 

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qualified immunity, independent from their forfeited (and tenuous) argument based on judicial 

immunity. According to Pollack’s testimony at the preliminary examination, Judge Coyle stated, 

“As far as I’m concerned, he can leave the building.” That statement appears to be an informal 

expression of personal preference rather than a formal legal conclusion about probable cause.

There is also no indication whatsoever that Judge Coyle would have had any jurisdiction over the 

dispute. Judge Coyle also stated in his affidavit that he told Deputy Sevidal that “if Mr. Galinis 

was being disorderly . . . in my opinion he could be arrested,” which amounts to little more than 

saying that if there are grounds for arresting Galinis, Galinis can be arrested. Judge Coyle’s 

remarks are not sufficient to render clearly established law unclear. 

Second, the Coldwater defendants argue in their reply brief that the arrest was lawful 

under Michigan’s eavesdropping statute, Michigan Compiled Laws § 750.539c. That argument 

was forfeited not only because it was never raised before the district court, but also because it did 

not appear in Coldwater’s initial appellant’s brief. “The general rule is that appellants cannot 

raise a new issue for the first time in their reply briefs.” Bendix Autolite Corp. v. Midwesco 

Enters., Inc., 820 F.2d 186 (6th Cir. 1987). This is not an exceptional case warranting a 

deviation from that rule. Having reviewed the record, we conclude that a reasonable jury could 

find that the defendants violated clearly established law by arresting Galinis. We therefore 

affirm the district court’s denial of qualified immunity.

III

The defendants also appeal from the district court’s denial of summary judgment on 

Galinis’s state claims. Here too, the defendants raise a number of arguments that were never 

raised before the district court. The Coldwater defendants argue that the officers’ use of force 

was not severe enough to amount to battery. That argument is forfeited because it was not raised 

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before the district court. The defendants also argue that Galinis’s battery claims are barred by 

the statute of limitations. Again, that argument is forfeited because it was not raised before the 

district court. See Hayden v. Ford Motor Co., 497 F.2d 1292, 1294 (6th Cir. 1974) (applying 

state law to determine whether a statute of limitations argument was forfeited); Att’y Gen. ex rel 

Dep’t of Envtl. Quality v. Bulk Petroleum Corp., 741 N.W.2d 857, 864 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007) 

(“Affirmative defenses, such as a statute of limitations defense, must be raised in a party’s first 

responsive pleading or by motion filed not later than the first responsive pleading.”). Pollack 

argues that he is entitled to qualified immunity, and to the extent that he relies on the federal 

doctrine of qualified immunity rather than Michigan’s doctrine of governmental immunity, that 

argument is forfeited as well because it was not raised before the district court, although it is also 

meritless, as the federal qualified-immunity doctrine deals only with alleged violations of federal 

law.

That leaves us with one final issue concerning Galinis’s state claims: whether the 

defendants are entitled to governmental immunity under Michigan Compiled Laws 

§ 691.1407(3). Governmental immunity “is an affirmative defense that must be proven by the 

governmental actor.” Kreipke v. Wayne State Univ., 807 F.3d 768, 784 (6th Cir. 2015) (citing 

Odom v. Wayne County, 760 N.W.2d 217, 228). A defendant is protected by governmental 

immunity from an intentional tort if he can show that: (1) the acts were undertaken during the 

course of employment and the employee was acting, or reasonably believed that he was acting, 

within the scope of his authority; (2) the acts were undertaken in good faith, or were not 

undertaken with malice; and (3) the acts were discretionary, as opposed to ministerial. Odom, 

760 N.W.2d at 228.

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The key challenge for the defendants is the second part of the test, which requires them to 

show that they acted in good faith, or were not acting with malice. When “a reasonable factfinder could still draw an inference of . . . malice,” the defendant “is not entitled to governmental 

immunity.” Romo v. Largen, 723 F.3d 670, 677 (6th Cir. 2013). The defendants have raised no 

credible argument to refute the proposition that Galinis had a legal right to be in the courthouse; 

indeed, they even seem to acknowledge this, given their discussion of Ventura, which 

presupposes that the officers arrested Galinis illegally. Although the officers appeared to handle 

Galinis calmly and swiftly, without the use of excessive force, the officers’ lack of probable 

cause could allow for an inference of malice. Given the subjective nature of the inquiry, there 

are genuine issues of material fact on this point, and we cannot conclude as a matter of law that 

the defendants are entitled to governmental immunity.

IV

Given the several forfeited arguments raised by the appellants in this case—some of 

which may actually have been stronger than the arguments made in the district court—it is worth 

reiterating that our function as an appellate court “is to review the case presented to the district 

court, rather than a better case fashioned after a district court’s unfavorable order.” 

DaimlerChrysler Corp. Healthcare Benefits Plan v. Durden, 448 F.3d 918, 922 (6th Cir. 2006). 

Although it is understandable that counsel would want to raise previously overlooked arguments

on appeal—in one instance, in a reply brief—we decline to reverse the district court based on 

legal theories that it never had the opportunity to consider.

Refusing to allow video recordings in a courthouse may be a sensible policy. Indeed, it is 

the policy of this federal appellate court and the policy of the Branch County Courthouse today. 

But for whatever reason, no such policy existed when Galinis made his recording, and he had a 

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lawful right to be in the courthouse. Galinis has presented a credible case that the officers acted 

unlawfully, and he is therefore entitled to a trial. The district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED.

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KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge, concurring in the judgment. I agree 

with the majority that the district court correctly denied qualified immunity to the officers. 

Because I prefer not to opine on the strength of the appellant’s forfeited arguments on appeal—

or the wisdom of prohibiting video recordings in a courthouse—I respectfully concur only in the 

judgment.

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