Opinion ID: 780053
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Katz's Alternative Contention

Text: 51 Alternatively relying on Salim v. Proulx, 93 F.3d 86, 89-90 (2d Cir.1996), Katz contends that he had qualified immunity as a matter of law because it was objectively reasonable for him to believe Kent was intoxicated based on two facts that are undisputed: that Kent was red-eyed, and that when asked if he had been drinking alcohol Kent said [n]ot very much, which amounted to an admission of alcohol consumption. (Katz brief on appeal at 13.) We reject this contention for several reasons. 52 To begin with, the two undisputed facts on which Katz relies, especially in the circumstances here, are not sufficient indicia of intoxication to permit a conclusion that Katz's belief was objectively reasonable as a matter of law. While relying on the redness of Kent's eyes as a basis for his inference of intoxication, Katz concedes that he had been informed that Kent had been burning brush on the property for 18 days — surely a circumstance that could account for ocular discoloration. And while Katz contends that Kent's [n]ot very much statement, regardless of the intention that lay behind those words, constituted an admission of alcohol consumption, even taken at face value the words [n]ot very much would not ordinarily seem to imply enough to be intoxicated. Thus, what inferences were objectively reasonable from the two facts that are undisputed are factual issues to be resolved by a factfinder. 53 Further, the existence of probable cause is to be determined on the basis of the totality of the circumstances, see, e.g., Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 230-32, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983), and we cannot conclude that it would have been objectively reasonable as a matter of law for Katz to infer intoxication solely from the redness of Kent's eyes, while ignoring as a possible cause of discoloration the fact that Kent had been burning brush for the past 18 days, and from Kent's statement that he had not been drinking very much, while ignoring all other comportment that might reflect on the state of Kent's sobriety. And indeed, Katz himself, in his § 1205 Affidavit in support of his assertion that he had probable cause to believe that Kent had been intoxicated, did not ignore other circumstances. He included the assertions that he had observed Kent walking unsteadily, swaying, slurring his speech, and smelling of alcohol. A factfinder, however, would not be required to credit Katz's assertions as to his observations and could instead believe Kent and his witnesses whose evidence as to Kent's actions and appearance was squarely to the contrary. Thus, the totality of the circumstances cannot be determined as a matter of law but must await resolution of the factual issues. 54 Finally, Katz's reliance on Salim v. Proulx is misplaced. To the extent pertinent here, that case stands for the proposition that when the defendant accepts, for purposes of a qualified-immunity-based summary judgment motion, the plaintiff's version of the facts, the defendant may immediately appeal the denial of that motion because the objective reasonableness of the undisputed actions may then be susceptible to resolution as a matter of law. See 93 F.3d at 91 (Officer Proulx's claim is that the undisputed facts set forth in plaintiff's own 9(c) Statement entitle him to the defense of qualified immunity as a matter of law.... We need to determine only whether, on plaintiff's version, an immunity defense is established as a matter of law.). Katz does not, however, accept Kent's version of the facts. According to Kent and the affidavits or depositions of other witnesses describing his condition and conduct at the time of the encounter with Katz, Kent was not walking unsteadily; he did not sway; his speech was not slurred; there was no odor of alcohol on his breath; and he appeared normal and not intoxicated. Plainly on Kent's version of the facts it cannot not be said that Katz's belief that there was probable cause to infer that Kent was intoxicated was objectively reasonable as a matter of law.