Opinion ID: 746904
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Stemler's Claims against the Individual Officers

Text: 55 We turn now to the merits of Stemler's claims against the individual officers. She has raised claims of false arrest and malicious prosecution against the officers. She also asserts that her arrest violated the Equal Protection Clause insofar as it was based either on her sex or on her supposed sexual orientation. We again review the law to determine whether the officers should have known in February 1994 that their actions were in violation of applicable federal constitutional or statutory guarantees.
56 As noted above, Stemler brought a suit against the defendants herein in the Boone County Circuit Court alleging various state-law theories. The state court awarded summary judgment to the defendants on April 2, 1996. The state court described the facts in relevant part as follows: 57 Upon speaking to Stemler, Officer Wince noted the odor of alcohol, conducted field sobriety tests, administered a PBT test (which read .105), and obtained an admission from Stemler that she had consumed alcoholic beverages. Based upon the above, Officer Wince decided to arrest Stemler for DUI. 58 Stemler v. City of Florence, No. 94-CI-00459, slip op. at 2 (Boone Co., Ky., Cir. Ct. Apr. 2, 1996) (consolidated with Chipman ). The court reasoned that the evidence established that there was probable cause to arrest her: 59 There are no genuinely disputed material facts relating to the question of probable cause for the arrest of the Plaintiff, Stemler. Stemler stated at the scene that she had consumed alcohol, she had the smell of alcohol on her person, her performance on the field sobriety tests and her preliminary breath test result of .105 certainly constitutes [sic] probable cause. 60 Id. at 5. The state court then held that the existence of probable cause precluded both the false arrest claim and the malicious prosecution claim under Kentucky law. 61 Stemler is precluded from relitigating in this case the issue of whether there was probable cause to arrest her to the same extent that Kentucky would accord preclusive effect to the judgment against her in her state court civil suit. See Migra v. Warren City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ., 465 U.S. 75, 82, 104 S.Ct. 892, 896-97, 79 L.Ed.2d 56 (1984); Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 97, 101 S.Ct. 411, 416, 66 L.Ed.2d 308 (1980). 13 Under Kentucky law, [w]hen an issue of fact or law is actually litigated and determined by a valid and final judgment, and the determination is essential to the judgment, the determination is conclusive in a subsequent action between the parties, whether on the same or a different claim. Revenue Cabinet v. Samani, 757 S.W.2d 199, 202 (Ky.Ct.App.1988) (quoting RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF JUDGMENTS § 27 (1980)). The issue of probable cause for Stemler's arrest was actually litigated and decided in the state court suit, and was necessary to the disposition of the case. Although Stemler's appeal is pending in that case, the pendency of an appeal does not destroy the finality of the judgment for the purposes of issue preclusion under Kentucky law. See Roberts v. Wilcox, 805 S.W.2d 152, 153 (Ky.Ct.App.1991). Thus, this court is bound by the state court's determination that there was probable cause for Stemler's arrest. 62 The existence of probable cause for Stemler's arrest forecloses her false arrest claim. A plaintiff bringing a constitutional claim of false arrest under the Fourth Amendment must show that there was not probable cause for the arrest. See Donovan v. Thames, 105 F.3d 291, 298 (6th Cir.1997) (applying Kentucky doctrine of collateral estoppel). 14 Likewise, the existence of probable cause would negate the possibility of liability under a state-law malicious prosecution theory, and therefore under a federal constitutional theory as well, at least to the extent that Stemler alleges that the defendants sought to prosecute her despite knowing that there was not probable cause to do so. See Baker v. McCollan, 443 U.S. 137, 145, 99 S.Ct. 2689, 2695, 61 L.Ed.2d 433 (1979); Coogan v. City of Wixom, 820 F.2d 170, 175 (6th Cir.1987). 63 Stemler, however, is not now asserting that sort of a malicious prosecution claim. Instead, she asserts that even if there were probable cause to prosecute her, Wince committed a constitutional tort by falsifying evidence against her. Under law that was clearly established in 1994, Wince would have violated Stemler's right to due process if he knowingly fabricated evidence against her, and if there is a reasonable likelihood that the false evidence could have affected the judgment of the jury. See United States v. Lochmondy, 890 F.2d 817, 822 (6th Cir.1989); see also Riley v. City of Montgomery, 104 F.3d 1247, 1253 (11th Cir.1997); United States v. Epley, 52 F.3d 571, 576 (6th Cir.1995); Grillo v. Coughlin, 31 F.3d 53, 56 (2d Cir.1994). A claim of fabrication of evidence does not require a conclusion that the state did not have probable cause to prosecute the claimant. The state court only found that there was probable cause to prosecute Stemler, and made no findings with regard to any claim of fabrication of evidence. Thus, since the state court in the civil suit made no findings on this issue, and the court in the state criminal case did not make any findings on this issue that were necessary to the final judgment (i.e., Stemler's acquittal), she would not be estopped from pursuing this claim. 64
65 However, Stemler did not allege this alternative theory in her complaint. The closest she comes to making such an allegation is at paragraph 48 of her amended complaint: The Defendants, Officers Wince, Dolan, Dusing and City of Florence, instituted and continued the original criminal judicial proceeding against the Plaintiff by insisting upon her prosecution and conviction despite their personal knowledge Plaintiff should not be so prosecuted. This allegation cannot fairly be read to give notice that she seeks to assert an evidence-tampering claim. The record reflects that the evidence-tampering claim first arose on May 7, 1996, in Stemler's response to the city's motion for summary judgment, after the individual officers were dismissed from the suit. 66 It is well-settled that the parties may constructively amend the complaint by agreeing, even implicitly, to litigate fully an issue not raised in the original pleadings. See 6A C. WRIGHT, A. MILLER & M. KANE, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE § 1493 at 19 (2d ed.1990). However, such a constructive amendment can have no effect upon a party who has been dismissed from the action, and who is not given notice that a new claim of liability has been asserted against him. Stemler, of course, was free to seek leave to amend her complaint again to raise her new theory of falsification of evidence, or to file a new complaint against Wince explicitly raising that claim. She did not do so. The district court did not err in dismissing Stemler's complaint by failing to consider a cause of action that she had not yet alleged. Consequently, this court is powerless to engage in any further review of her allegation that Wince falsified evidence against her in her criminal trial.
67 The defendants also assert that Stemler is collaterally estopped from pursuing her equal protection claims. However, the determination of probable cause does not preclude a plaintiff from pursuing a claim that the state chose to prosecute her due to invidious discrimination. The courts have long held that a selective enforcement claim may be available even where there is probable cause for prosecution. See Wayte v. United States, 470 U.S. 598, 607, 105 S.Ct. 1524, 1530, 84 L.Ed.2d 547 (1985); Oyler v. Boles, 368 U.S. 448, 455-56, 82 S.Ct. 501, 505-06, 7 L.Ed.2d 446 (1962). While we have held that the possibility of a discriminatory motive does not affect the inquiry into the objective reasonableness of an arrest for the purposes of the Fourth Amendment, see United States v. Ferguson, 8 F.3d 385, 391 (6th Cir.1993) (en banc), that case did nothing to question the long-established availability of a separate selective enforcement claim under the Equal Protection Clause. The Supreme Court subsequently confirmed our interpretation of the Fourth Amendment, and at the same time even more explicitly re-confirmed the availability of an equal protection claim despite the existence of probable cause: 68 We of course agree with petitioners that the Constitution prohibits selective enforcement of the law based on considerations such as race. But the constitutional basis for objecting to intentionally discriminatory application of laws is the Equal Protection Clause, not the Fourth Amendment. 69 Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, ----, 116 S.Ct. 1769, 1774, 135 L.Ed.2d 89 (1996). Stemler is not collaterally estopped, and we therefore proceed to the merits of Stemler's equal protection claims. 70 In order to state a claim of selective prosecution, a plaintiff must demonstrate three elements: 71 First, [the state actor] must single out a person belonging to an identifiable group, such as those of a particular race or religion, or a group exercising constitutional rights, for prosecution even though he has decided not to prosecute persons not belonging to that group in similar situations. Second, he must initiate the prosecution with a discriminatory purpose. Finally, the prosecution must have a discriminatory effect on the group which the defendant belongs to. 72 United States v. Anderson, 923 F.2d 450, 453 (6th Cir.1991) (citing Wayte, 470 U.S. at 608 n. 10 & 609, 105 S.Ct. at 1531 n. 10). With regard to the first element, it is an absolute requirement that the plaintiff make at least a prima facie showing that similarly situated persons outside her category were not prosecuted. See United States v. Armstrong, 517 U.S. 456, ----, 116 S.Ct. 1480, 1487, 134 L.Ed.2d 687 (1996). Furthermore, there is a strong presumption that the state actors have properly discharged their official duties, and to overcome that presumption the plaintiff must present clear evidence to the contrary; the standard is a demanding one. Id. at ----, 116 S.Ct. at 1486. 73 We believe that this is the rare case in which a plaintiff has successfully stated a claim of selective prosecution. Stemler's complaint adequately alleges, and the record evidence supports a finding, that the defendant officers chose to arrest and prosecute her for driving under the influence because they perceived her to be a lesbian, and out of a desire to effectuate an animus against homosexuals. Each of the defendants was aware of Kritis's assertion that Stemler was a lesbian, and Dusing admitted that he relied on Kritis's version of the facts in deciding to arrest Stemler. Furthermore, the record supports a finding that Kritis was similarly situated to Stemler (or, indeed, far drunker than she), that the defendant officers perceived Kritis to be heterosexual, and that consequently they chose not to arrest him at the same time that they arrested Stemler. 74 The defendants concede that Stemler's complaint alleges, and the record evidence could support a finding, that they decided to arrest and prosecute her because they perceived her to be a lesbian. They do not attempt to assert any justification whatsoever for this decision; instead they argue that as a blanket matter it is always constitutional to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, citing Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186, 106 S.Ct. 2841, 92 L.Ed.2d 140 (1986). However, Bowers held only that there is no substantive due process right to engage in homosexual sodomy, and expressly declined to consider an equal protection claim. 478 U.S. at 196 n. 8, 106 S.Ct. at 2847 n. 8. It is inconceivable that Bowers stands for the proposition that the state may discriminate against individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation solely out of animus to that orientation:  'If the constitutional conception of equal protection of the laws means anything, it must at the very least mean that a bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group cannot constitute a legitimate governmental interest.'  Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620, ----, 116 S.Ct. 1620, 1627, 134 L.Ed.2d 855 (1996) (quoting United States Dep't of Agric. v. Moreno, 413 U.S. 528, 93 S.Ct. 2821, 37 L.Ed.2d 782 (1973)) (internal quotation and ellipses omitted). Stated differently, since governmental action must bear a rational relationship to a legitimate governmental purpose, Romer, 517 U.S. at ----, 116 S.Ct. at 1629, and the desire to effectuate one's animus against homosexuals can never be a legitimate governmental purpose, a state action based on that animus alone violates the Equal Protection Clause. 75 While this case, and Romer, involved animus related to sexual orientation, the principle involved in our case really has nothing to do with that controversial area. Moreno, the case quoted in Romer, above, involved commune residents; the principle would be the same if Stemler had been arrested discriminatorily based on her hair color, her college bumper sticker (perhaps supporting an out-of-state rival) or her affiliation with a disfavored sorority or company. 76 It may be objected that Romer was not decided until after the defendants arrested and sought to prosecute Stemler allegedly for the sole reason of animus against her perceived sexual orientation. But it didn't take Romer to tell us that such arbitrary state action is contrary to the principle of equal protection of the laws. 15 It is a venerable rule under the Equal Protection Clause that the state may not choose to enforce even facially neutral laws differently against different portions of the citizenry solely out of an arbitrary desire to discriminate against one group. See, e.g., Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356, 373, 6 S.Ct. 1064, 1072-73, 30 L.Ed. 220 (1886). 77 Furthermore, while a plaintiff in a selective-prosecution case must demonstrate that she was prosecuted because she was the member of some group, and not merely because the state actor prosecuted her out of purely personal animosity, see Futernick v. Sumpter Twp., 78 F.3d 1051, 1057 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 296, 136 L.Ed.2d 215 (1996), the availability of such a claim has never been limited only to those groups accorded heightened scrutiny under equal protection jurisprudence. See id. at 1056. Instead, a plaintiff makes out a selective-enforcement claim if she shows that the state based its enforcement decision on an arbitrary classification, Oyler v. Boles, 368 U.S. 448, 456, 82 S.Ct. 501, 506, 7 L.Ed.2d 446 (1962), that is to say, a classification that gives rise to an inference that the state intended to accomplish some forbidden aim against that group through selective application of the laws. Futernick, 78 F.3d at 1056. A selective-enforcement claim such as this one is thus conceptually different from a claim that a statute violates equal protection; while almost every statute can be shown to have some conceivable rational basis, thereby surviving an equal protection challenge unless it is shown to discriminate against a group accorded heightened scrutiny, it will often be difficult to find a rational basis for a truly discriminatory application of a neutral law. 78 It is beyond cavil that Stemler has adequately alleged a selective-enforcement claim here. The record supports a finding that she was perceived to be a member of an identifiable group, and that defendants sought to implement their animus against that group by arresting and seeking to prosecute her. The defendant officers are unable, and indeed have not even attempted, to demonstrate that there is any conceivable rational basis for a decision to enforce the drunk-driving laws against homosexuals but not against heterosexuals. The defendants can rely only on their assertion that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation should be accorded no scrutiny whatsoever. We emphatically reject this assertion; the proposition that the state may constitutionally discriminate by enforcing laws only against homosexuals (or Centre College graduates or SAE members) is not now, and never has been, the law. Under the facts as we are obligated to construe them, the defendants violated the core principle of the Equal Protection Clause by choosing to exercise the power of the state against Stemler solely for the reason that they disapproved of her perceived sexual orientation. Thus, the dismissal of her complaint must be reversed.