Opinion ID: 73319
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Misdirection of the grand jury

Text: The appellants claim that the grand jury indictment against Mastroianni breaks the chain of causation and protects them from liability for false arrest. Moreover, the appellants claim that it was not clearly established at the time of Mastroianni's arrest that an arrest pursuant to a grand jury indictment may violate the Fourth Amendment. Mastroianni claims, however, that the appellants made misrepresentations to the grand jury, and therefore, the grand jury indictment did not establish prima facie evidence of probable cause to arrest him and did not break the chain of causation with respect to the appellants' liability. Generally, an intervening act of a prosecutor, judge or grand jury will break the chain of causation with respect to alleged illegal conduct of a police officer. Barts v. Joyner, 865 F.2d 1187, 1195 (11th Cir. 1989). In Barts, the court held that: The intervening acts of the prosecutor, grand jury, judge and jury--assuming that these court officials acted without malice that caused them to abuse their powers--each break the chain of causation unless plaintiff can show that these intervening acts were the result of deception or undue pressure by the defendant policemen. Barts, 865 F.2d at 1195 (emphasis added). According to the reasoning in Barts, a grand jury indictment does not always break the chain of causation with respect to alleged Mastroianni, the appellants violated a clearly established law in arresting Mastroianni. 18 illegal acts taking place prior to securing the indictment. Therefore, if the grand jury was misdirected, then the grand jury indictment cannot break the chain of causation relating back to the initial conspiracy and fabrication of evidence against Mastroianni. Barts, 865 F.2d at 1195. We believe that chain of causation was not broken with respect to the appellants' alleged acts of conspiring to violate Mastroianni's rights. In this case, Mastroianni has presented sufficient evidence to raise a genuine issue of material fact regarding appellants' alleged misconduct in misdirecting the grand jury. For example, it appears that Deering and Yeomans misrepresented information to the grand jury involving whether Polumbo agreed to accept drugs from Kirkland, Mastroianni's confidential informant. During Yeomans's testimony elicited from Deering, the following exchange occurred: Q: All right. Based on your investigation, was it determined at anytime that Mr. Kirkland had an agreement to deliver that marijuana to Mr. Polumbo's house? A: No, sir. The record, on the other hand, reveals that an interview summary contained in Yeomans's personal files included the following statement: At approximately 1:25 on Wednesday, May 29, 1991, ASAC W.J. Yeomans and Special Agent G.C. Harrell of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations interviewed Mr. Leo Charles Polumbo. Mr. Polumbo stated on March 5 or 6, 1991, at approximately 11 a.m. Preston Kirkland came to his residence and asked Mr. Polumbo if he could get rid of some weed (meaning marijuana) for him. Mr. Polumbo stated he did not have any money, and Kirkland stated he would front the marijuana for him. Mr. Polumbo stated okay and Mr. Kirkland told Mr. Polumbo he would bring 19 approximately two ounces of marijuana at approximately 1:30 to 2 p.m. on the same evening, this being either March 5 or March 6, 1991. Additionally, during Yeomans's testimony he testified that Kirkland stated that he received orders from Mastroianni to plant drugs in Polumbo's residence. Kirkland submitted an affidavit, however, refuting Yeomans's testimony regarding that statement. Our review of the record leads us to conclude that the grand jury indictment did not break the causal chain with respect to appellants' alleged conspiracy to arrest Mastroianni for his refusal to testify against Sheriff Smith. Barts, 865 F.2d at 1195; see Kelly v. Curtis, 21 F.3d 1544, 1557 (11th Cir. 1994); Hand v. Gary, 838 F.2d 1420, 1426-28 (5th Cir. 1988) (finding that any misdirection of the magistrate or grand jury perpetuates the taint of the original official behavior). We also believe that clearly established law dictates that an arrest pursuant to a grand jury indictment may violate the Fourth Amendment if the grand jury was misled or experienced undue pressure. Barts, 865 F.2d at 1195. We believe it is clear from both Supreme Court precedent and this circuit's case law that an arrest pursuant to an arrest warrant or search warrant may offend the Constitution under certain circumstances.9 9 Although the district court relied on Hand v. Gary, 838 F.2d 1420 (5th Cir. 1988) for the proposition that any misdirection of a magistrate or a grand jury perpetuates the taint of the original impermissible conduct, we cannot rely on case law from another circuit to determine whether the law was clearly established in this circuit. This circuit decided Barts prior to the conduct giving rise to this litigation and established the same proposition that the Fifth Circuit established in Hand. Barts v. Joyner, 865 F.2d 1187 (11th Cir. 1989). Therefore, it was clearly established in the Eleventh Circuit at the time of the appellants' alleged conduct that officials who engage in impermissible conduct prior to securing a grand jury indictment cannot rely on the grand jury indictment to break 20 Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335 (1986). In Malley, the Supreme Court held that police officers may be held liable for damages resulting from an arrest or search under the authority of a warrant when no reasonable officer could have believed that the affidavits established probable cause, and that the judge's issuance of the warrant does not break the chain of causation. Malley, 475 U.S. at 344 n.7. Similarly, this circuit has held that the intervening act of a grand jury indictment breaks the chain of causation unless the plaintiff can show that these intervening acts were the result of deception or undue pressure. Barts, 865 F.2d at 1195 (Edmondson, J.); compare Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 156, 165-71 (1978) (finding that the constitution prohibits an officer from making perjurious or recklessly false statements in support of a warrant). Therefore, we believe that the district court properly found that the chain of causation was not broken and that the appellants were not entitled to qualified immunity because genuine issues of material fact exist regarding the appellants' alleged agreement to violate Mastroianni's constitutional rights through fabricating evidence and misleading the grand jury.10 the chain of causation with respect to their original misconduct. As matter of policy, it makes little sense to allow police officers or prosecutors to engage in fraudulent and deceitful conspiracies in order to secure a grand jury indictment and then use the indictment to shield them from any possible causes of action for their tainted behavior. 10 In reaching this conclusion, we note the ostensible anomaly of providing absolute immunity for initiating the prosecution, presenting evidence, and testifying before a grand jury, while denying any immunity for the alleged fabrication of evidence prior to the judicial phase of the criminal process. The function test surrounding absolute immunity compels this result, however. Buckley v. Fitzsimmons, 113 S. Ct. 2606, 2616 (1993). We must be careful not to conflate the question of whether a Section 1983 plaintiff has stated a cause of action with the question whether the defendant is entitled to absolute 21