Opinion ID: 2998379
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Summary judgment on the warrant claim in favor

Text: of the Joneses is appropriate. Having determined that Wilhelm is not entitled to qualified immunity, we now turn to the district court’s denial of the Joneses’ motion for summary judgment on their warrant claim. To state a claim for relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Joneses must allege: (1) they were deprived of a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, and (2) the deprivation was visited upon them by a person or persons acting under color of state law. Kramer v. Village of North Fond du Lac, 384 F.3d 856, 861 (7th Cir. 2004) (citations omitted). As the second element is undisputed, the question is whether the Joneses have produced evidence such that a reasonable jury could find that Wilhelm deprived them of a right secured by the Constitution or federal law. In analyzing whether a question of fact exists, we construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986). The mere existence of some factual dispute does not defeat a summary judgment motion, however; there must be a genuine issue of material fact for the case to survive. Id. at 247-48. Reviewing the facts in the light most favorable to Wilhelm, we find that there are no genuine issues as to any material fact and that the Joneses are entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Notwithstanding the disputed issues of fact concerning both Wilhelm’s knowledge of 220 W. Burnett Avenue and his actions during the execution of the flawed search warrant, Wilhelm’s actions prior to the execution of the warrant are undisputed and provide a sufficient basis to grant summary judgment. Prior to the execution of the warrant, the key facts in this case are: Wilhelm undertook surveillance and gained knowledge of 220 W. Burnett Avenue independent from the issuance of the search warrant; and, upon receipt of the 18 Nos. 04-1261 & 04-1605 search warrant to execute, Wilhelm recognized the address and immediately realized the warrant to be ambiguous on its face. Both of these facts are undisputed in the record. Wilhelm’s decision then to proceed with the execution of a search warrant he knew to be ambiguous violated the Joneses’ Fourth Amendment rights. Garrison, 480 U.S. at 89 (holding that officers cannot legally execute a warrant they know to be ambiguous). Furthermore, where Wilhelm made his own probable cause determination to resolve the warrant’s ambiguity, Wilhelm also deprived the Joneses of a right secured by the Constitution. Chambers, 399 U.S. at 51. It follows, therefore, that the factual disputes, argued at length by both sides, regarding the full extent of Wilhelm’s knowledge as a result of his surveillance and regarding the reasonableness of Wilhelm’s actions while executing the search warrant are not material. The pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with any affidavits, show that there is no genuine issue of fact regarding Wilhelm’s deprivation of the Joneses’ rights as secured by the Constitution or Wilhelm’s status as a person acting under color of state law. We, therefore, grant summary judgment on the warrant claim in favor of the Joneses.