Source: http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/1997/11/96-7082.htm
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Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 6', '§ 1983']

96-7082 -- Clanton v. Cooper -- 11/17/1997
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CAROLYN CLANTON,
JODY COOPER,
No. 96-7082
(D.C. No. CIV-95-426-B)
Charles K. Babb, Assistant Attorney General of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK, argued the cause for the appellant. W.A. Drew Edmondson, Attorney General of Oklahoma, and Benjamin Gore Gaines, Assistant Attorney General of Oklahoma, assisted on the brief.
Gene V. Primomo, Wilcoxen, Wilcoxen, & Primomo, Muskogee, OK, argued the cause for the appellee.John H. Helm, Houston, TX, assisted on the brief.
Before BRORBY,HOLLOWAY, and EBEL, Circuit Judges.
Clanton then sued Cooper under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1994 & Supp. 1997), alleging that Cooper deprived her of her liberty under color of state law, by causing her to be arrested without probable cause and by causing her to be falsely imprisoned following the arrest. Cooper's motion for summary judgment on the ground of qualified immunity was denied. Cooper now appeals.
Several important facts in the present case are disputed. The following statement of facts is set forth in the light most favorable to Plaintiff-Appellee Carolyn Clanton, the nonmovant for summary judgment. See Kaul v. Stephan, 83 F.3d 1208, 1212 (10th Cir. 1996). All reasonable inferences from the factual record have been drawn in favor of Clanton.
Clanton v. Cooper, No. CIV-95-426-B, slip op. at 8-9 (E.D. Okla. July 25, 1996) (Order) (Burrage, J.). Consequently, Clanton was incarcerated for one to three days(1) in the Harris County (Texas) jail. She was released on an "Own Recognizance" bond only after the falsity of the "homicide" information was established.
On September 23, 1993, Michael Eaves recanted the oral statement which had been the sole evidence implicating Clanton in the arson. Michael alleged that Cooper had coerced him into making the earlier statement by threatening to send him to jail for twenty-five years unless he agreed to repeat back, in substance, a confession supplied by Cooper.(2)
"Orders denying qualified immunity before trial are appealable to the extent they resolve abstract issues of law." Foote v. Spiegel, 118 F.3d 1416, 1422 (10th Cir. 1997) (citing Behrens v. Pelletier, 116 S. Ct. 834, 842 (1996), and Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304, 312-14 (1995)). More specifically:
a district court's order denying a defendant's motion for summary judgment [is] an immediately appealable "collateral order" (i.e., a "final decision") under Cohen [v. Beneficial Indus. Loan Corp, 337 U.S. 541 (1949)], where (1) the defendant [is] a public official asserting a defense of "qualified immunity" and (2) the issue appealed concern[s], not which facts the parties might be able to prove, but, rather, whether or not certain given facts show[] a violation of "clearly established" law.
Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. at 311 (citing Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 528 (1985), and Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818 (1982)).
To the extent that the district court's denial of the defendant's motion for summary judgment is predicated on "'evidence sufficiency,' i.e. which facts a party may, or may not, be able to prove at trial," the denial is not reviewable as a "collateral order". Id. at 313. Rather, "immunity appeals . . . [are] limited to cases presenting neat abstract issues of law." Id. at 317(3) (quotation marks and citation omitted).
A determination that the law allegedly violated by the defendant was clearly established at the time of the challenged actions is an abstract issue of law that is immediately appealable. A determination that under either party's version of the facts the defendant violated clearly established law is also immediately appealable. See Behrens, at -, 116 S. Ct. at 842; Johnson at 312-14, 115 S. Ct. at 2156-57; Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 528, 105 S. Ct. at 2816-17. However, government officials cannot appeal pretrial denial of qualified immunity to the extent the district court's order decides nothing more than whether the evidence could support a finding that particular conduct occurred. See Behrens, at -, 116 S. Ct. at 842. An order denying qualified immunity on summary judgment is not appealable if it merely determines the facts asserted by the plaintiff are sufficiently supported by evidence in the record to survive summary judgment. See Johnson, at 312-14 115 S. Ct. at 2156-57.
Foote v. Spiegel, 118 F.3d at 1422; see also Wilson v. Meeks, 98 F.3d 1247, 1251 (10th Cir. 1996) (surveying Tenth Circuit cases applying the rules announced in Behrens and Johnson).
With these principles in mind, we proceed to review whether, under Clanton's version of the facts, Cooper violated clearly established law. In making this determination, we must scrupulously avoid second-guessing the district court's determinations regarding whether Clanton has presented evidence sufficient to survive summary judgment. See Foote, 118 F.3d at 1422. Rather, we review only whether Cooper's conduct, as alleged by Clanton, violated clearly established law. Id. On appeal, "we review the denial of qualified immunity de novo." Walter v. Morton, 33 F.3d 1240, 1242 (10th Cir. 1994) (citing Powell v. Gallentine, 992 F.2d 1088, 1090 (10th Cir. 1993)).
State government officials performing discretionary functions enjoy qualified immunity from liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818 (1982). Such immunity is "qualified" in that it does not obtain when otherwise immune officials violate "clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Id.; Gehl Group v. Koby, 63 F.3d 1528, 1533 (10th Cir. 1995); Hilliard v. City and County of Denver, 930 F.2d 1516, 1518 (10th Cir. 1991). The Tenth Circuit has set forth the following framework for analyzing the application of the qualified immunity defense to claims brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983:
In analyzing qualified immunity claims, we first ask if a plaintiff has asserted the violation of a constitutional right at all, and then assess whether that right was clearly established at the time of a defendant's actions. Siegert v. Gilley, 500 U.S. 226, 232, 111 S. Ct. 1789, 1793, 114 L.Ed.2d 277 (1991). Once a public official raises a qualified immunity defense, the plaintiff bears the burden of (1) coming forward with sufficient facts to show that the defendant's conduct violated the law; and (2) demonstrating that the relevant law was clearly established when the alleged violation occurred. Pueblo Neighborhood Health Ctrs., Inc. v. Losavio, 847 F.2d 642, 646 (10th Cir. 1988).
Gehl Group, 63 F.3d at 1533; accord Lawmaster v. Ward, -- F.3d --, No. 96-5028, 1997 WL 577708, at #4 (10th Cir. Sept. 5, 1997).
If the defendant's conduct as alleged by the plaintiff does not violate the law, we need not reach the issue of whether the law was clearly established. Gehl Group, 63 F.3d at 1533 (citing Hinton v. City of Elwood, Kan., 997 F.2d 774, 782 (10th Cir. 1993)). If, however, we are persuaded that the defendant's conduct violated the law, "the plaintiff must [also] show the right the defendant's conduct violated was clearly established such that a reasonable person in the defendant's position would have known the conduct violated the right." Lawmaster, No. 96-5028, 1997 WL 577708, at #4 (citing Garramone v. Romo, 94 F.3d 1446, 1449 (10th Cir. 1996)). "While the plaintiff need not show that the specific action at issue has previously been held unlawful, the alleged unlawfulness must be 'apparent' in light of preexisting law." Medina v. City and County of Denver, 960 F.2d 1493, 1497 (10th Cir. 1992) (quoting Hilliard, 930 F.2d at 1518). "The contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right." Id. (internal quote marks omitted).
In her complaint, Clanton alleged that "Agent Jody Cooper, with information he knew was false and unreliable, swore in an affidavit to untrue facts, thereby securing an arrest warrant for Carolyn Clanton." (Complaint at ¶ 15, Aplt.'s App. at 4). The complaint further elaborates that: (1) "[t]he arrest warrant for Carolyn Clanton was issued based solely on the affidavit of Agent Jody Cooper which cited the uncorroborated statements of an alleged co-conspirator"; (2) "[n]o underlying criminal charges were pending against Carolyn Clanton at the time Agent Jody Cooper secured the warrant for Ms. Clanton's arrest"; and (3) "[t]he arrest warrant for Carolyn Clanton was issued without the presentment, indictment, or information in violation of . . . the 5th Amendment of the United States Constitution." (Id. at 4-5). The district court found that these allegations, if true, would constitute a violation of Clanton's clearly established constitutional rights. We agree.
It has long been clearly established that the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement is violated when "a false statement knowingly and intentionally, or with reckless disregard for the truth, was included by the affiant in the warrant affidavit" if the false statement is necessary to a finding of probable cause. Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 155-56 (1978); see also Kaul v. Stephan, 83 F.3d 1208, 1213 n.4 (10th Cir. 1996) ("A state officer is not automatically shielded from Section 1983 liability merely because a judicial officer approves a warrant.") (citing Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 344-46 (1986)). Under Franks, it is the deliberate falsity or reckless disregard "of the affiant, not of any nongovernmental informant" that is unconstitutional. Franks, 438 U.S. at 171. Thus, if Cooper relied in good faith on statements of Michael Eaves's that turned out to be false, there would be no Franks violation.
Here, however, Clanton has alleged that Cooper knowingly and intentionally swore to the veracity of Michael Eaves's confession, while knowing that confession to be false: a classic Franks violation. The district court found that there are triable issues of material fact as to whether Cooper in fact did so. Clanton's claim is clearly legally sufficient. Cooper argues that Clanton merely "alleged in a conclusory fashion that Cooper knew Michael Eaves' statements were false, she came forward with no facts or factual allegations supporting that argument." However, the district court found there was a genuine dispute over material facts and that is the kind of ruling that we lack jurisdiction to review in an interlocutory appeal. Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. at 313. Thus, Cooper is not entitled to qualified immunity on this general issue.
Cooper is, however, entitled to qualified immunity on Clanton's three subsidiary claims pertaining to the arrest warrant. Contrary to Clanton's claim, the finding of probable cause necessary to support an arrest warrant may be predicated entirely on the confession of a self-confessed co-conspirator, without running afoul of the Constitution. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 4(b) ("The finding of probable cause may be based upon hearsay evidence in whole or in part."); see also Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 230-32 (1983) ("probable cause" is determined under a "practical, nontechnical" totality of the circumstances test that takes individual account of the veracity and the basis of knowledge of the persons supplying the hearsay information).(4) Here, the mere fact that Cooper relied entirely upon a hearsay statement from Michael Eaves would not violate Clanton's constitutional rights.
In addition, Clanton claims that an arrest warrant cannot be valid where charges have not yet been filed against the arrestee. However, the Fourth Amendment guarantees that "no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the . . . persons or things to be seized." U.S. Const. Amend. IV (emphasis added). The constitutional prerequisite for a valid warrant is thus "probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation. . . . " Id. There is simply no additional requirement that charges must already have been filed before an arrest may issue.
In a related vein, Clanton claims that her Fifth Amendment rights were violated because a warrant was issued for her arrest despite the fact that she was never indicted. This claim largely overlaps with her Fourth Amendment claim, and must be rejected for the same reasons. To the extent that Clanton's Fifth Amendment claim does not merely restate her Fourth Amendment claim, we note that the Fifth Amendment right to grand jury indictment has never been "incorporated" via the Fourteenth Amendment as a substantive restriction on state criminal procedure, Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665, 688 n.25 (1972), and thus may not be the basis of a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
For this reason, we do not think that Clanton's failure to cite cases clearly establishing the unconstitutionality of knowingly transmitting false information over the NCIC computer system is fatal to her claim. The purpose of the requirement that the law be "clearly established" before its violation may waive qualified immunity is to insure that officials may reasonably anticipate when their actions might give rise to liability for damages. Lawmaster, No. 96-5028, 1997 WL 577708, at #8. "Consequently, it is the plaintiff's burden to establish the asserted right's contours are sufficiently clear such that a 'reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right.'" Id. (quoting Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. at 635, 640 (1987)).
Ordinarily, to carry this burden, a plaintiff must establish that there is a Supreme Court or Tenth Circuit opinion on point, or that the clearly established weight of authority from other courts has held the law to be as the plaintiff maintains. Id. (citing Garramone v. Romo, 94 F.3d 1446, 1451 (10th Cir. 1996)). This test is not rigid, however. Rather:
where the reasonableness inquiry necessarily turns on the cases' particular facts such that the reasonableness determination must be made on an ad hoc basis, we must allow some degree of generality in the contours of the constitutional right at issue. We would be placing an impracticable burden on plaintiffs if we required them to cite a factually identical case before determining they showed the law was 'clearly established' and cleared the qualified immunity hurdle. Thus, . . . we adopt the approach of requiring some but not precise factual correspondence in demanding that officials apply general, well-developed legal principles. . . . While qualified immunity was meant to protect officials performing discretionary duties, it [] should not present an insurmountable obstacle to plaintiffs seeking to vindicate their constitutional rights.
Id. at 9 (internal citations omitted).
In the present case, we think that the knowing transmission of false statements over the NCIC computer system, in order to cause unjustifiedly extended incarceration of a suspect, is sufficiently similar to the swearing knowingly (or with reckless disregard of the truth) of false information in a warrant application, proscribed by Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154 (1978), that a reasonable official would have known it to be illegal. We therefore hold that Cooper enjoyed no qualified immunity to engage in such activity.
Clanton alleges that Cooper initially violated Clanton's constitutional rights by "coercing" a false confession from Michael Eaves which implicated Clanton. Specifically, Clanton claims that Michael Eaves's confession was coerced because: (1) Cooper falsely told Michael Eaves that physical evidence connected Michael to the crime; and (2) Cooper told Michael that he would get a twenty-five-year sentence if he didn't confess, but would "get off lightly" if he confessed to a pattern of events suggested by Cooper. If these facts, taken together, do not amount to "coercion" under clearly established law, then Cooper is entitled to qualified immunity. Before discussing the coercion issue, however, we must determine whether Clanton may contest the voluntariness of Eaves's confession. We conclude that she may.
There are two types of constitutional protections that invoke exclusionary rules. In the first category, the exclusion of unconstitutionally obtained evidence is designed to protect the enjoyment of constitutional rights themselves. Thus, for example, the Fourth Amendment protects the right to privacy by prohibiting officers from bursting into a home (lacking consent or exigent circumstances) and seizing evidence without a warrant; if the officers do so, the resulting evidence, though accurate, will be suppressed to discourage such unconstitutional actions. See, e.g., United States v. Moore, 91 F.3d 96 (10th Cir. 1996). In this category, only the victims of the unconstitutional conduct may challenge the unconstitutional nature of the officer's actions, because only their rights have been violated. See, e.g., United States v. Moffett, 84 F.3d 1291, 1293 (10th Cir. 1996) (citing Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 139-40 (1978)).
In the second category, a constitutional violation may assist officers in gathering evidence, but the violation has both offended the Constitution and rendered the evidence unreliable. A coerced confession fits into this category. As stated by the Supreme Court in Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368, 385-86 (1964):
It is now inescapably clear that the Fourteenth Amendment forbids the use of involuntary confessions not only because of the probable unreliability of confessions that are obtained in a manner deemed coercive, but also because of the 'strongly felt attitude of our society that important human values are sacrificed where an agency of the government, in the course of securing a conviction, wrings a confession out of an accused against his will,' Blackburn v. Alabama, 361 U.S. 199, 206-207, and because of the 'deep-rooted feeling that the police must obey the law while enforcing the law; that in the end life and liberty can be as much endangered from illegal methods used to convict those thought to be criminals as from the actual criminals themselves.' Spano v. New York, 360 U.S. 315, 320-321.
Consequently, because the evidence is unreliable and its use offends the Constitution, a person may challenge the government's use against him or her of a coerced confession given by another person. "Confessions wrung out of their makers may be less reliable than voluntary confessions, so that using one person's coerced confession at another's trial violates his rights under the due process clause." Buckley v. Fitzsimmons, 20 F.3d 789, 795 (7th Cir. 1994). Further, "It is unthinkable that a statement obtained by torture or by other conduct belonging only in a police state should be admitted at the government's behest in order to bolster its case. . . . Yet methods offensive when used against an accused do not magically become any less so when exerted against a witness." LaFrance v. Bohlinger, 499 F.2d 29, 34 (1st Cir. 1974). See also United States v. Merkt, 764 F.2d 266, 274 (5th Cir. 1985); United States v. Chiavola, 744 F.2d 1271, 1273 (7th Cir. 1984); Bradford v. Johnson, 476 F.2d 66, 66 (6th Cir. 1973) (per curiam), aff'g 354 F. Supp. 1331 (E.D. Mich. 1972). Clanton may contest the voluntariness of Eaves's confession not based on any violation of his constitutional rights, but rather as a violation of her own Fourteenth Amendment right to due process.
Having established that Clanton has standing to contest the voluntariness of Eaves's confession, we consider whether Cooper is entitled to qualified immunity for his conduct in eliciting the confession. The Fifth Amendment provides that "[n]o person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." U.S. Const. amend. V. "To be admissible, a confession must be made freely and voluntarily; it must not be extracted by threats in violation of due process or obtained by compulsion or inducement of any sort." Griffin v. Strong, 983 F.2d 1540, 1542 (10th Cir. 1993) (citing Haynes v. Washington, 373 U.S. 503, 513 (1963)). To determine whether a confession was made freely and voluntarily, the "totality of the circumstances" must be considered. Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 285-86 (1991). In applying this test, we have explained that:
The central consideration in determining whether a confession has been coerced always involves this question: did the governmental conduct complained of bring about a confession not freely self-determined? Incriminating statements obtained by government acts, threats, or promises that permit the defendant's will to be overborne are coerced confessions running afoul of the Fifth Amendment.
Although dictum in Miranda v. Arizona[, 384 U.S. 436 (1966),] was highly critical of [police trickery and deception], as a general matter it may be said that courts have not deemed such conduct sufficient by itself to make a confession involuntary. One type of trickery involves misrepresenting to the suspect the strength of the existing case against him. . . . [L]ower courts have held confessions admissible when they were prompted by such misrepresentations as that the murder victim was still alive, that nonexistent witnesses have been found, that the murder weapon had been uncovered, that defendant's prints were found at the crime scene, and that an accomplice had confessed and implicated the defendant.
1 Wayne R. LaFave & Jerold H. Israel, Criminal Procedure § 6.2, at 446-47 (1984) (footnotes omitted) (citing Frazier v. Cupp, 394 U.S. 731 (1969), and lower court cases). Thus, Michael Eaves' confession was not coerced just because Cooper falsely told him that physical evidence connected him to the crime.
Under Supreme Court and Tenth Circuit precedent, a promise of leniency is relevant to determining whether a confession was involuntary and, depending on the totality of the circumstances, may render a confession coerced. See Fulminante, 499 U.S. at 286-87 (confession coerced where informant threatened defendant with violence and promised defendant protection from inmate violence); Hutto v. Ross, 429 U.S. 28, 30 (1976) (per curiam) (confession declared not involuntary, notwithstanding a plea bargain, because it was not the result of any direct or implied promises or any coercion); Griffin, 983 F.2d at 1543 ("Where a promise of leniency has been made in exchange for a statement, an inculpatory statement would be the product of inducement, and thus not an act of free will." (internal quote marks and citation omitted)); United States v. Garot, 801 F.2d 1241, 1245 (10th Cir. 1986) ("The question in 'plea bargaining' situations is . . . whether the promise was coercive in nature, i.e. whether the accused was so gripped by the hope of leniency that he did not or could not freely and rationally choose among the available courses of action."); United States v. Fountain, 776 F.2d 878, 885 (10th Cir. 1985) ("[T]he Fifth Amendment [] . . . prohibits the admission of incriminating statements obtained by Government acts, threats or promises which permit the defendant's will to be overborne and thus rendered involuntary.").
All of these opinions were released before the events in this case. Thus, it was clearly established at the time of the interrogation that a promise of leniency may render a confession involuntary if it was sufficiently compelling and linked to the confession so that it could be said that the defendant's will was overcome by the offer. Further, considering the totality of the circumstances adds the fact that Cooper lied about the evidence against Eaves. Though the lies themselves are not unconstitutional, a reasonable official should have been aware that adding the lies to the apparent promises would make it more likely that the confession would be considered involuntary. In addition, even though the Tenth Circuit has not previously addressed the issue, given the authority from other circuits a reasonable official would have known that using Eaves's involuntary confession against Clanton would violate her due process rights. See Seamons v. Snow, 84 F.3d 1226, 1238 (10th Cir. 1996) (the weight of authority of other circuit courts suffices to clearly establish the law).
The district court concluded that "the totality of the circumstances surrounding Eaves' interrogation gives rise to an atmosphere which to this Court's conclusion that any statements arising from these circumstances cannot be said to be 'freely self-determined' or of 'free will.'" Under Johnson this is sufficient to preclude our review on interlocutory appeal, because coercion is a factual issue that must be evaluated on the entire record.
1.Clanton claims in her brief that her imprisonment lasted three days. Cooper claims in his brief that Clanton's imprisonment lasted only one day. Similarly, in the argumentative section of Clanton's brief, Clanton says that she was released on September 14, 1994, implying that she was incarcerated for only one day. Neither Cooper nor Clanton, however, cite to the record in support of their respective assessments of the number of days Clanton was imprisoned. Without any evidence to support either party's claim, we simply cannot resolve this conflict.
2.An Oklahoma state judge, later ruling on Michael's motion to suppress his prior oral confession, found that the confession was given voluntarily. On September 28, 1994, Michael pled guilty to second degree arson, and was given a two-year suspended sentence.
3.The Supreme Court in Johnson overruled the Tenth Circuit's prior line of cases, which had held that appellate jurisdiction is always available to review denials of qualified immunity claims. See Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. at 309 (overruling Austin v. Hamilton, 945 F.2d 1155, 1157, 1162-63 (10th Cir. 1991)).
4.Clanton also claims that such a statement may not support an arrest warrant under Oklahoma law. However, an action may not be maintained under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for a state official's failure to adhere to state law. Baker v. McCollan, 443 U.S. 137, 146 (1979).
Updated: November 18, 1997.
URL: http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/1997/11/96-7082.htm.