FI L ED U.S. COURT OF A P P E A LS E LE V EN T H C IR C U IT FEB RUARY 27, 2007 THOMAS K. KAH

N CL ERK [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UN ITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FO R T HE EL EV EN TH CIRC UI T
N o. 06- 1498 6 Non-A rgum ent Calendar
D. C. Docket N o. 04-01328 -CV -J-16-MCR DANA RIPLEY, Pl ai nt iff -Ap pe ll an t,
ve rs us LAKE CITY, et . al., Defen da nt s, R. B. CH A RL E S, Ca

pta in, JOHN DUBOSE, Lt., CITY OF LAKE CITY, FLORIDA, a Fl or id a m

un ic ip al co rp or at io n, Defen da nt s- App el le es . Appeal f rom the United State s District Court for the Middle District of Florida (F eb ru ar y 27 , 200 7) Be fo re T JO FL A T , W IL SO N and P RY O R, Ci rc uit Jud ge s.2

PE R CU RIA M: T his c as e inv olv es the w ar rantl es s se ar chof

the r es ide nc e of

an of fi ce r of th e Lak e Ci ty Poli ce Dep art m en t (“ LCPD”), Dan a Ri pl ey , on Jan ua ry 25 , 20 02
. The district court, in its order of August 2, 2006, described the circ um stances l e a d i n g t o th e s e ar c h th u s l y: Mr. Ripley

wa s off-duty

on January

25, 2002. N eighbo rs had placed ca lls to the pol ic e statin g th at am andr es se d inlon g un de rw ear w ith no sho es wa s wandering into traffic. A noth er c itizen reported that Mr
. Ri ple y

w as m ak ing inc ohe re nt s ta te m en ts. Mr
. Ri ple y w as f ound , at aloc at ionne ar

his r es ide nc e, dis or ie nte d. Whe n th e L CP D arr ive d, they found Mr. R ipley

hidin g behinda fe m ale believing that he was investig ating a robbery
. When officers plac ed Mr. Ripley in a police car, he m ade statem ents like “ Ther e they are . Go get them .” Medical pe rs onne l w er e ca lle d to the sc en e an d te nde d to Mr
. Ri ple y . P ri or to be ing tr an spor

te d to the hos pit al , S gt. S iva
. . . a ske d M r. Ri ple y

if his h o u s e w a s s e c u r e t o w h i c h h e r e s p o n d e d“Y o uc an n o tg o i n t o my ho us e wit ho ut a warra nt .” Sg t. So va in st ru ct edOffic er Gab le to see if t he ho us e was sec ur e. Ga ble found th e fr ont do or open, re ported this to Sgt. Sova who then reported this to Capt Charles, who w as not at the scene. Capt Charle s instructed the officers at the sce ne to get the departm ent issued equipm ent from

the house. Sgt. Sova, O ffice r G able and Lt. DuBose, who had arr ived on th e scene, entered [ Ripley ’ s] house. T hey secured guns and o the r pol ic e re la te d it em s. T he ba tht ub w as f ound to be overflowing and they

turned the wate r off. L t. D uBose found s everal em pty pil l bo ttl es in a tr as h c an , w hic h he ga the re d, a lle ge dly to show m ed ic al pe rs onne l si nc e he w as aw ar e of Ri ple y ’ s r el ianc e on prescription drugs
. Ripley wa s treated at the hospital and released that evening, being driv en hom e by Lt. Dubose. [ Ripley ] wa s placed on a dm ini str at ive le av e w ithpay dur ing w hic h ti m e he w as in a re habil itatio n c en te r fo r the pur pose of w ith dr aw ing f

ro m pr es cr ipt ion m ed ic at ion s. . . . O n M ar ch4, 200 2, [ he ] sub m itt ed his le tte r of3

re s i g n at i o n [f

ro m th e L CP D]. Ri ple y the re af te r br ough t this sui t a ga ins t L ak e Ci ty , Ca pta in C harl es and L t. D uB ose in the ir

of fi ci al and i ndi vid

ua l c ap ac iti es . T he dis tr ic t c ourt, in its August 2, order, granted Charles and DuBose summ ary j udgm ent, c onclud ing th at the y w er e en tit le d to qua lif

ie d im m uni ty
. I n th e sam e or de r, the c ourt de nie d th e City ’ s m otion for sum

m ary j udgm ent. T he case a gainst th e City wa s thereaf

ter tri edt o a ju ry. Atth e c l o s e o f t h e p l ai n t i ff ’s ca s e, th e c o u rtg ra n t edth e C i ty’ s
m ot io n fo r jud gm en t as a m at te r of law. Ri p l ey n o w ap p ea l s th e c o u rt ’s ju d g m en t s . We f i n dn o erro r i nth e c o u rt ’s
sum m ar y dis posi tio n of

the c as e ag ai nst

Ch ar le s and D uB ose ; the y w er e en tit le d to qu al i fi edi m

m un i ty fo r t h e r ea s o n s s t at edi nth e c o u rt ’s Au g u s t2 , 2 0 0 6 o rd er . We lik ew ise f ind no e rr or in the c ourt’ s e xone ratio n of the Ci ty on m oti on f

or j udgm en t a s am atte r of

law . A s th e co urt ob se rv ed f ro m the be nc h ingr an tin g th e
m otion , the search w as not unreasonabl e because “ there w ere exceptional circum stances, e xigencies . .
. [t] hey did thi s to protect Mr. Ripley and to protect oth er s f ro m his dis or ie nte d be havio r. . . . T he y didn’ t t ak e anythi ng f

ro m the hous e ex ce pt d ep ar

tm en t e qui pm en t and the e m pty m ed ic al pil l bo ttl es [ to s how th e p hysic ia ns at t he ho sp it al ]. ” AFFIRMED.