Source: http://openjurist.org/352/f3d/1188/karam-v-city-of-burbank
Timestamp: 2014-12-19 08:17:22
Document Index: 8124008

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1983', '§ 1985', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 1988', '§ 1291', '§ 1983', '§ 1983', '§ 148', '§ 602', '§ 1983', '§ 1985', '§ 1983', '§ 821']

352 F3d 1188 Karam v. City of Burbank | OpenJurist
352 F. 3d 1188 - Karam v. City of Burbank	Home352 f3d 1188 karam v. city of burbank
352 F3d 1188 Karam v. City of Burbank 352 F.3d 1188
Theresa KARAM, Plaintiff-Appellant,v.CITY OF BURBANK, a municipality; Burbank Police Department; Miranda, Burbank Police Officer, # 7734; Sindle, Burbank Police Officer # 7942; Gordon Bowers, Burbank Police Captain; David Newsham, Chief of Police; Burbank City Attorney; Gina Oh; Eric Hovatter; Juli Scott; Stacy Murphy; Robert Ovrom, Defendants-Appellees.Theresa Karam, Plaintiff-Appellant,v.City of Burbank, a municipality; Gordon Bowers, Burbank Police Captain; David Newsham, Chief of Police; Eric Hovatter; Juli Scott; Matt Miranda, Burbank Police Officer #7734; Stacy Murphy; Robert Ovrom; Shane Sindle, Burbank Police Officer # 7942, Defendants-Appellees, andBurbank Police Department; Burbank City Attorney; Gina Oh, Defendants.
No. 02-55954.
No. 02-56220.
Argued June 3, 2003 and October 15, 2003.
Submitted October 15, 2003* — Pasadena, California.
Steven W. Kerekes, Beverly Hills, California, for the Appellant.
Richard R. Terzian, Kristin A. Pelletier, Gregg M. Audet, Los Angeles, California, for the Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California; Ronald S.W. Lew, District Judge, Presiding, D.C. No. CV-01-00694-RSWL.
Theresa Karam regularly attended Burbank City Council meetings to express her opposition to the expansion of the Burbank airport. At one meeting, Burbank City Police Officer Shane Sindle told Karam, who had just entered the council chambers, that she would have to leave because the chambers were filled to capacity. Karam did not leave, and later addressed the Council. Officer Sindle submitted a police report of the incident, an investigation followed, and a misdemeanor complaint was eventually filed against Karam in state court. She was charged with delaying or obstructing a peace officer and trespassing. These charges were dismissed by the court. Karam then filed the present action against the City of Burbank, city officials, police officers and deputy city attorneys, alleging federal claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985 and 1986, and state claims for malicious prosecution.
Karam voluntarily dismissed her claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1985 and 1986. The district court, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), dismissed the § 1983 claims that were predicated on an alleged violation of the Fourth Amendment, as well as the state law malicious prosecution claims. Thereafter, the court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants on the remaining § 1983 claims that were predicated on Karam's allegations that she had been prosecuted in retaliation for the exercise of her First Amendment rights. The court awarded attorney fees to the defendants pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988. Karam appeals. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
In this appeal, Karam argues that the district court erred in dismissing her Fourth Amendment claims and granting summary judgment on her First Amendment retaliation claims. She does not challenge the district court's dismissal of her state law malicious prosecution claims. Although she alleged "malicious prosecution" in articulating her § 1983 claims, she relies upon specific alleged constitutional violations to support those claims.
We affirm the district court's Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal and its summary judgment in favor of the defendants. Karam's Fourth Amendment claims fail for lack of a "seizure," and her First Amendment retaliation claims fail for lack of causation.
Karam also appeals the district court's award of attorney fees. Although Karam's § 1983 claims did not survive beyond summary judgment, the claims were not frivolous. We reverse the award of attorney fees.
According to the facts alleged in Karam's first amended complaint, and the facts as to which there is no dispute, Karam entered the council chambers only after others had left. After she entered, Sindle told her she was trespassing, but he did not detain or arrest her. Two days later, with Officer Sindle's report in hand, detective Matthew Miranda telephoned Karam to further investigate the case. He also interviewed other witnesses, and submitted his report.
Deputy City Attorney Gina Oh reviewed the Sindle and Miranda reports and, apparently with some input from Deputy City Attorneys Eric Hovatter and Juli Scott, filed a misdemeanor complaint against Karam. The complaint charged Karam with delaying or obstructing a peace officer in the performance of his duties (California Penal Code § 148) and trespassing (California Penal Code § 602(n)). Detective Miranda telephoned Karam and told her she had to turn herself in or be arrested.
Karam appeared at the Burbank Municipal Court and signed an Own-Recognizance Release Agreement ("OR release"). The OR release required Karam to obtain permission from the court before leaving the state of California. It also required her to appear in court three weeks hence (presumably for arraignment or trial) and "at all other times and places ordered by the court." Karam filed a demurrer to the trespassing charge, and the court dismissed that charge prior to trial. At trial, it turned out that Miranda had falsely stated in his report that Karam admitted violating Officer Sindle's order; the court then dismissed the charge of delaying or obstructing a peace officer.
Karam then filed the present action against the City of Burbank, Mayor Stacy Murphy, City Manager Robert Ovrom, Officer Shane Sindle, Detective Matthew Miranda, Police Captain Gordon Bowers, Police Chief David Newsham, and City Attorneys, Gina Oh, Eric Hovatter and Juli Scott. Karam asserted claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for what she contended was a violation of the Fourth Amendment caused by her alleged unlawful seizure. She also asserted a violation of the First Amendment caused by what she alleged was her retaliatory prosecution for the exercise of her free speech rights. In addition, she alleged claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1985 and 1986 (which she later voluntarily dismissed), and state law claims for malicious prosecution.
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), the district court dismissed Karam's § 1983 claims predicated on the alleged violation of the Fourth Amendment. The court concluded that Karam had never been arrested, and the conditions of her OR release did not amount to a Fourth Amendment seizure. Karam's state law malicious prosecution claims were dismissed because, inter alia, they were barred by California Government Code §§ 821.6 and 815.2.1 The