Opinion ID: 465002
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: 12 These are direct appeals from final judgments in a United States district court and are properly before this court under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291. The notices of appeal in 84-4207 (Bivens claim) and 86-3536 (second appeal of FTCA claim) were filed within 30 days of entry of their respective judgments and are therefore timely. Fed.R.App.P. 4(a)(1). The notice of appeal in 84-4208 (first appeal of FTCA claim) was filed before entry of final judgment but after announcement of the decision, and is therefore treated as timely filed after entry of judgment and on the same date (December 4, 1985). Fed.R.App.P. 4(a)(2). Although the last judgment was not filed until after the case was calendared and briefed in this court, both parties have treated it as properly on appeal. Because the district court order eliminated the jurisdictional defect, we may consider the merits of the appeal. 1
IMMUNITY OF THE FEDERAL DEFENDANTS 13 A federal officer is entitled to qualified immunity for actions taken in the course of duty unless the officer's conduct violated clearly established law. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818-19, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2738, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982); Davis v. Scherer, 468 U.S. 183, 104 S.Ct. 3012, 3018, 82 L.Ed.2d 139 (1984). The standard is the objective reasonableness of the officer's conduct. Harlow, 457 U.S. at 818, 102 S.Ct. at 2738. Thus, the INS defendants are entitled to immunity if they can prove that they acted under a reasonable (even if mistaken) belief that what they were doing was lawful. See Bilbrey by Bilbrey v. Brown, 738 F.2d 1462, 1466-67 (9th Cir.1984), citing Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 456 F.2d 1339, 1348 (2d Cir.1972), enforcing 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971).
14 The trial court's determination of reasonable reliance is a finding of fact, cf. Bilbrey, 738 F.2d at 1467 (immunity as jury question), and is therefore reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard. This court therefore must accept the trial court's findings of fact unless it is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed. Bohemia, Inc. v. Home Insurance Co., 725 F.2d 506, 508-09 (9th Cir.1984). 15 Because appellants do not dispute the district court's finding that the INS defendants actually relied on Bazin's procurement of an appropriate warrant, the only issue before us is whether that reliance was reasonable under the circumstances. 2
16 The district court found that the INS defendants reasonably relied on Bazin's assertion that he was in the process of getting proper warrants authorizing their conduct. 3 Plaintiffs argue that the law was clearly established that entry and search of a home requires a warrant, citing Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 586, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 1380, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980), and that the INS defendants should have done more to assure themselves of the existence of the warrant before participating in the operation. 17 Under circumstances like these, it was not necessary for all or even any of the INS defendants to actually see the warrant. Law enforcement officers and agencies are entitled to rely on one another to a certain extent. See Baker v. McCollan, 443 U.S. 137, 145-46, 99 S.Ct. 2689, 2695, 61 L.Ed.2d 433 (1979); Whiteley v. Warden, 401 U.S. 560, 568, 91 S.Ct. 1031, 1037, 28 L.Ed.2d 306 (1971); cf. Arnsberg v. United States, 757 F.2d 971, 981 (9th Cir.1985) (IRS agents are entitled to rely on the judgment of assistant United States attorney that a warrant is legal). The system requires reasonable cooperation and division of labor, and the INS may reasonably rely on the statement of a responsible law enforcement officer (here the Chief of Police) to conclude that a proper warrant exists. 18 Nevertheless, we must reverse because the INS defendants behaved unreasonably under the circumstances. We hold that the INS defendants reasonably relied on the representation of a responsible person that a proper warrant would be obtained. The mere existence of a warrant, however, provided little useful information to the officers. They had a further duty to inquire as to the nature and scope of the warrant. 4 It is clear that such an inquiry was not made. The INS defendants had differing views of the type and scope of the local police warrant, 5 demonstrating that they were not given an advance briefing as to the source and extent of their authority to enter, search, and arrest. We are not willing to extend qualified immunity to the conduct of INS agents acting under the assumed authority of a warrant where such agents have not made inquiry as to the nature and scope of that warrant. An INS agent who conducts a search or makes an arrest without knowledge of the details of the warrant under which he presumes to act violates clearly established law. The district court therefore clearly erred in concluding that the INS agents' reliance on the warrant made it unnecessary for the district court to determine exactly what the agents did. 19 In holding that no immunity exists by reason of reliance on the existence of a warrant, we are not deciding key facts that will require specific findings on retrial. Specifically, we do not determine whether an illegal arrest occurred when the homes were surrounded or when individual plaintiffs were interrogated. It is possible, as the comments of the district court suggest, that the acts of the INS defendants were not 4th Amendment violations at all and hence are not affected by the defendants' lack of immunity based on their belief in the existence of a warrant. Nevertheless, we cannot make such a conclusion absent specific factual findings, and because the district court found the INS agents immune because of their belief in the existence of a warrant, it did not make such findings. 20 We construe the district court's dismissal of the FTCA claim as based on the same qualified immunity grounds. Because we find that the individual defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity by reason of reliance on the existence of a warrant, we do not reach the issue of whether such immunity would also preclude recovery under the Federal Torts Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. Secs. 2671-80 (1982). See Arnsberg v. United States, 757 F.2d 971, 980 n. 6 (9th Cir.1985) (declining to reach the issue). 6 21 Because the district court did not reach the merits of either the Bivens or the FTCA claim, we vacate the dismissal of these claims and remand to allow the district court to consider the merits of both claims and make appropriate findings.

22 The customary deference for the district court is not applicable to its determination to grant a declaratory judgment. The court of appeals must exercise its own sound discretion to determine the propriety of the district court's grant or denial of declaratory relief. United States v. Washington, 759 F.2d 1353, 1356-57 (9th Cir.1985) (en banc) (citations omitted). Accordingly, we review denial of declaratory relief de novo.
23 Plaintiffs claim that the district court failed to consider the merits of and exercise its discretion with respect to their request for declaratory relief. Plaintiffs seek judicial guidelines directed to the INS to control their future conduct in making arrests of illegal aliens. This is not the right case for such relief. 24 Declaratory relief is appropriate (1) when the judgment will serve a useful purpose in clarifying and settling the legal relations in issue, and (2) when it will terminate and afford relief from the uncertainty, insecurity, and controversy giving rise to the proceeding. Bilbrey by Bilbrey v. Brown, 738 F.2d 1462, 1470 (9th Cir.1984). The circumstances of the present case do not meet these criteria. The only persons bound by any declaration would be the INS defendants themselves. Neither plaintiffs nor defendants represent a class and there is no indication that the plaintiffs will be subject to repeated future raids. The INS defendants here did not develop the basis or the plans for the raid, nor did they lead it. Any declaration limited to these facts would be so narrow as to be useless to the plaintiffs. 25 The INS defendants readily concede that the warrantless raid was improper. The legal relations between the parties are not uncertain or in need of clarification. The trial court properly declined to grant plaintiffs declaratory relief. 26 AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, and REMANDED. 27 Plaintiffs shall recover their costs on appeal. Plaintiffs' request for attorney's fees on appeal is denied.