Opinion ID: 1723508
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: procedural due process and access to courts

Text: ¶ 24. In support of their procedural due process claim, Penterman and Kamnik maintain that Dasho's falsification and concealment of evidence has thwarted their efforts to seek recovery of compensatory damages in their suit against WEPCo. Similarly, plaintiffs contend that Dasho's falsification and concealment of evidence of the cause of the stray voltage has violated their right of access to the courts. Petitioners' Brief at 39. Since both constitutional claims present us with the same question of whether Dasho should have reasonably believed that falsification and concealment of stray voltage testing results was a denial of a clearly established constitutional right to maintain their action against WEPCo, we consider these claims together. ¶ 25. In a section 1983 claim for violation of procedural due process, a plaintiff must show a deprivation by state action of a constitutionally protected interest in life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Zinermon, 494 U.S. at 125 (citing the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment). [7] The right of access to the courts is secured by the First [8] and Fourteenth Amendment. It entitles the individual to a fair opportunity to present his or her claim. Bell v. City of Milwaukee, 746 F.2d 1205, 1261 (1984) (citing Armstrong v. Manzo, 380 U.S. 545, 552 (1965)). Such a right exists where the claim has a reasonable basis in fact or law. Bell, 746 F. 2d at 1261 (citing Bill Johnson's Restaurants, Inc. v. N.L.R.B., 461 U.S. 731 (1983)). Judicial access must be adequate, effective, and meaningful. Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817, 822 (1977). ¶ 26. To determine whether Dasho is entitled to the protections of qualified immunity, the relevant inquiry is whether a person in Dasho's position could have reasonably believed his or her act was constitutional in light of clearly established law and the information he possessed at the time he acted. Burkes, 185 Wis. 2d at 326 (emphasis added). Dasho's conduct thus is measured by a standard of objective legal reasonableness, and in this context we focus on the degree to which clearly established case law provided him guidance when he acted. Barnhill, 166 Wis. 2d at 407-08 (emphasis added). Consequently, we must determine whether in March 1994, Dasho knew or should have known that his actions would deny Penterman and Kamnik their right to procedural due process and access to the courts. ¶ 27. Penterman and Kamnik rely on Bell to establish their claim that Dasho's actions denied them access to the courts and, inferentially, procedural due process. In Bell, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that under limited circumstances, this right is denied when key facts which would form the basis for a plaintiff's claim are shielded from a plaintiff. 746 F.2d at 1261. See also Ryland v. Shapiro, 708 F.2d 967 (5th Cir. 1983) (prosecutor murdered Rylands' daughter and conspired with other prosecutors to conceal that fact from the Rylands). Penterman and Kamnik argue that Dasho shielded facts which would form the basis of their claim by knowingly reporting that no severe stray voltage existed, when in fact it did exist at such a level on their farm. We disagree and distinguish Bell from the facts of this case on several grounds. ¶ 28. In Bell, a Milwaukee police officer shot and killed an unarmed youth following a foot chase. 746 F.2d at 1215. The officer then produced a knife and planted it in the victim's hand. Along with his partner, the officers devised a story to justify the killing as self-defense. Id. at 1216. Both officers then falsified reports related to the shooting and lied to their immediate supervisors. The supervisors did not pursue contradictions present in the officers' accounts of the shooting. The facts surrounding the killing were in the sole province of members of the Milwaukee police department. Id. at 1262. While the youth's father filed a wrongful death claim soon after his son's murder, the officers' cover-up and concealment of facts interfered with the Bell family's efforts to seek redress in court. Id. at 1261-62. ¶ 29. In contrast, the facts relating to Penterman and Kamnik's claim were available to any interested party, including the plaintiffs. Indeed, the allegations in the amended complaint suggest that the plaintiffs accumulated a substantial body of knowledge relating to their claim prior to the commencement of this action. In their complaint, Penterman and Kamnik allege that Dasho's falsification and concealment of evidence of the extent of the stray voltage testing resulted in continued stray voltage on the farm, which caused, among other things, (1) death of livestock, (2) reduction in value of affected livestock, (3) reduction in milk production, and (4) reduction in the value of property. At oral argument, however, Penterman and Kamnik acknowledged that Dasho played no role in causing the stray voltage on the farm. Further, after detecting stray voltage, Penterman temporarily eliminated the problem by disconnecting the barn service cable from the WEPCo distribution line and connecting a portable generator to supply power to the barn equipment. Petitioner's Brief at 4. ¶ 30. Penterman and Kamnik were experiencing problems on their new farm before Penterman received an electrical shock on January 12, 1993. It was at that point, according to the amended complaint, that Penterman first discovered there may be stray voltage on the farm. Further, over the course of Dasho's visits to the Penterman/Kamnik farm in 1993 and 1994, Dasho only told the plaintiffs that the stray voltage on their property was insignificant, or not severe. Amended Complaint, para. 22(h). The amended complaint does not allege that Dasho told the plaintiffs that no stray voltage was present on their farm. ¶ 31. Unlike the plaintiff in Bell, the amended complaint here does not allege that facts related to Penterman and Kamnik's claim were shielded from them. Instead, the allegations establish that Penterman and Kamnik, through their own efforts and through the involvement of the PSC, possessed firsthand knowledge of the facts related to the existence, and extent, of stray voltage on their farm. Armed with this knowledge, Penterman and Kamnik are free to pursue their underlying claims. The stray voltage was already present on the plaintiffs' farm prior to Dasho's involvement. Penterman and Kamnik, by installing an alternate energy source, had the means to eliminate or reduce further damage resulting from the stray voltage. [8] ¶ 32. The court of appeals succinctly distinguished both Bell and Ryland from this case. In those cases, the facts surrounding the deaths were in the sole control of the defendants. Slip op. at 6. In contrast, here the evidence Dasho concealed was not in his sole control. We therefore agree with the court of appeals that Dasho's actions, at worst, hampered Penterman and Kamnik's discovery of evidence. Such factual assertions fall short of alleging a violation of a clearly established right of access to the courts, or of procedural due process, such that a reasonable official in Dasho's position would believe his or her conduct violated those rights. [9] ¶ 33. We further distinguish Bell from the facts of this case because Dasho did not cause Penterman and Kamnik's injury. The Bell court recognized this distinction: This case is especially distinguishable from Jackson v. City of Joliet, 715 F.2d 1200 (7th Cir. 1983), since here, unlike Jackson, the underlying injury ( i.e., the killing of Daniel Bell) was caused by a government official acting under color of law and member of the subsequent conspiracy. Jackson prudently holds that the due process clause does not impose a duty upon municipal employees to provide flawless and abundant social services. Yet, the constitutional duty imposed in [Bell] is simply the requirement that municipal employees involved in the investigation of a wrong perpetrated by a co-employee under color of state law not conceal the perpetration of that wrong. Bell, 746 F.2d at 1262. ¶ 34. Bell would apply if Dasho, acting under color of law, caused the injury to Penterman and Kamnik, and subsequently concealed the act which caused the injury during the course of his investigation. Penterman and Kamnik allege, however, that WEPCo, not Dasho, was responsible for the stray voltage which injured their farm property. Bell, therefore, is not applicable. ¶ 35. Finally, we are not persuaded by Penterman and Kamnik's argument that their access to the courts, and inferentially, their right to procedural due process against WEPCo is illusory. In their brief, the plaintiffs predict that Dasho will be called upon to testify at the trial against WEPCo. They further forecast that a jury in that action will find Dasho more credible than the plaintiffs because Dasho is a public official. Petitioners' Brief at 38-39. [9] ¶ 36. Penterman and Kamnik do not offer support for this theory of deprivation, and we are unaware of any authority that would do so. The law regarding witness credibility, however, is well settled. The Wisconsin Jury Instructions specifically provide that juries are the sole judges of credibility of witnesses and the weight to be given to their testimony. Wis JICivil § 215. (Approved in Collier v. State, 30 Wis. 2d 101, 107, 140 N.W.2d 252 (1966)). See also, Shawver v. Roberts Corp., 90 Wis. 2d 672, 681, 280 N.W.2d 226 (1979) (the credibility of witnesses and the weight given to their testimony are matters left to the jury's judgment). ¶ 37. As the Supreme Court stated in Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539 (1974), the right of access to courts assures that no person will be denied the opportunity to present to the judiciary allegations concerning violations of fundamental constitutional rights. 418 U.S. at 579 (emphasis added). Penterman and Kamnik remain free to present their claim regardless of whether their discovery is hampered.