Opinion ID: 687305
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Magistrate's Judgment for Defendants Flanigan and Winterroth

Text: 65 After hearing all of the testimony in a bench trial, the magistrate judge found that there had been probable cause for Kraushaar's arrest on the DUI charge and probable cause to believe that he was hiding something in his clothing, thereby giving rise to the strip search. However, the magistrate judge found that Flanigan did not request or participate in the strip search at the jail. He further found that Winterroth did not use unnecessary force in affecting Kraushaar's arrest. Accordingly, he found for the defendants on the remaining counts in the complaint, which included malicious assault and battery, malicious false arrest, malicious prosecution, and excessive force against Flanigan (Counts II, IV, V, VII and VIII) and excessive force against Winterroth (Count X). 66 The appellant alleges error in all of these rulings. To the extent that the magistrate judge's rulings involve findings of fact, those findings shall not be set aside unless clearly erroneous, and due regard shall be given the opportunity of the trial court to judge the credibility of the witnesses. Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a). Conclusions of law are reviewed de novo.
67 The appellant concedes that Flanigan's testimony, if credible, would demonstrate that the officer had reason to believe that Kraushaar was intoxicated at the time of his arrest. Flanigan observed that Kraushaar smelled of alcohol; had slammed on his brakes and ended up at an angle at the roadside checkpoint; was incoherent; failed roadside sobriety tests; had difficulty standing and complying with a request to spread his legs for a pat-down search; and failed on three attempts to blow a sufficient volume of air for the breathalyzer test. 68 The appellant argues, however, that testimony from his family and a friend contradict that description. Although he acknowledges that this conflicting testimony raises a credibility issue for the magistrate judge to resolve, he argues that there is one objective fact which clearly proves that he could not have been intoxicated as described by Flanigan: the fact that at the time of the strip search, he was able to stand and remove his pants without any assistance or without leaning on any furniture or walls. 69 We are unpersuaded that this one fact destroys the credibility of Flanigan's testimony. The record shows that at least forty minutes had elapsed between Kraushaar's arrest and his arrival at the jail. Thus, it is likely that his level of intoxication was somewhat diminished by the time of the search. The fact of his arrest itself also was likely to have had a significant sobering effect. Therefore, although Flanigan reported that Kraushaar was unable to perform sobriety tests at the scene, that does not necessarily mean that Kraushaar would have been unable to undress himself at the jail. The time lapse also would explain why Kraushaar might have appeared unimpaired to his parents, who bonded him out of the jail more than an hour and a half after his arrest and more than three hours after Kraushaar had stopped drinking. 70 Flanigan's testimony regarding Kraushaar's level of intoxication at the scene was corroborated by trooper Winterroth. Moreover, Kraushaar himself conceded that he had been drinking, had slammed on his brakes at the checkpoint, and had difficulty communicating with Flanigan. Although he blames this latter fact on Flanigan's attitude, Kraushaar's explanation does not dispel Flanigan's perception of Kraushaar's conduct. 71 It is also significant to note that jailer Davis's testimony corroborates that of Flanigan as to the state of Kraushaar's clothing when he arrived at the jail. Kraushaar claimed that his pants were unbuttoned and falling down, a fact that Flanigan denied. Davis, who was present when Flanigan and Kraushaar walked into the building, said he did not notice Kraushaar's pants or shirt being undone. Had that been the case, Davis said he would have noticed and remembered it. Although Davis's testimony does not directly corroborate Flanigan's observations of Kraushaar's level of intoxication, his testimony does support Flanigan's credibility over that of Kraushaar. 72 The credibility of Kraushaar's friend, Derrick Newnam, is undermined to some extent by the testimony of appellant's brother. Newnam, who was riding in the truck with Kraushaar, stated that he was not intoxicated when they arrived at the checkpoint. However, Timothy Kraushaar stated that Newnam was feeling pretty good when he left the party, which was a short time before Newnam and Terril Kraushaar arrived at the checkpoint. 73 Under the clearly erroneous standard, the magistrate judge's factual findings--including his credibility determinations--will be reversed only if the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed. Anderson v. City of Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 573, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 1511, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985). As the trier of fact, the magistrate judge had 74 the best 'opportunity to observe the verbal and nonverbal behavior of the witnesses focusing on the subject's reactions and responses to the interrogatories, their facial expressions, attitudes, tone of voice, eye contact, posture and body movements,' as well as confused or nervous speech patterns in contrast with merely looking at the cold pages of an appellate record. 75 United States v. Nururdin, 8 F.3d 1187, 1194 (7th Cir.1993) (citations omitted), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 1328, 127 L.Ed.2d 676 (1994). Thus, special deference must be accorded to his credibility findings. United States v. Hamm, 13 F.3d 1126, 1129 (7th Cir.1994). 76 The testimony in this case left the magistrate judge with the task of deciding between two conflicting, but equally plausible, explanations of the events that took place with respect to Kraushaar's arrest. Where there are two permissible views of the evidence, the factfinder's choice cannot be clearly erroneous. Anderson, 470 U.S. at 574, 105 S.Ct. at 1511. Therefore, based upon the testimony as a whole, as well as the magistrate judge's unique ability to observe the witnesses as they testified, we cannot say that the magistrate judge's findings were clearly erroneous.
77 The appellant argues that the magistrate judge erred in finding that Flanigan had not requested the strip search at the jail but that the officer had probable cause to believe that Kraushaar was attempting to conceal something in his clothing. As explained in detail above, we find that Flanigan had a reasonable suspicion that Kraushaar may have been hiding contraband in his pants and, therefore, Kraushaar was properly subjected to a strip search at the jail. Because there was no violation of Kraushaar's constitutional rights with respect to that search, we need not determine whether Flanigan had actually requested the search or otherwise participated in it to a degree that would subject him to liability. 78 The appellant points out, however, that the magistrate judge failed to address the appellant's claim that a strip search occurred at the scene of the arrest. Kraushaar and Newnam testified that Flanigan had unbuttoned Kraushaar's pants, causing them to fall around his thighs and expose his underwear. Flanigan and Winterroth testified that Flanigan had merely stuck his thumb inside Kraushaar's waistband as part of the pat-down search. Unfortunately, the magistrate judge's findings make no reference whatsoever to any of this contradictory evidence. 6 79 Although the magistrate judge found probable cause for the arrest and found no evidence that the officers had used unnecessary force in effecting the arrest, those findings do not resolve the question of whether Flanigan unbuttoned the plaintiff's pants. Obviously, the magistrate judge rejected plaintiff's testimony regarding the use of force in effecting the arrest. But he made no findings whatsoever regarding the credibility of Kraushaar's statements concerning the search at the scene. While it may seem likely that Kauffman found Kraushaar's testimony incredible in its entirety, this court cannot make that blanket assumption because a factfinder may believe some parts of a witness's testimony while rejecting other parts. See United States v. Colston, 936 F.2d 312, 315 (7th Cir.) (Generally, juries may reject parts of a witness's testimony while accepting other parts.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 951, 112 S.Ct. 403, 116 L.Ed.2d 352 (1991). 80 Our discussion regarding the reasonableness of the search conducted at the jail does not dispose of the appellant's claim regarding a search at the scene of his arrest. Under the Fourth Amendment jurisprudence described above, the reasonableness of a search turns upon the need for the particular search as balanced against the level of intrusiveness. The search at the jail is justified by the need to ensure that weapons and contraband do not get into a detention facility. The alleged search at the scene, however, would come under the rubric of a search incident to arrest, which is justified by the need to ensure the safety of the officer making the arrest. A traffic arrest normally will not present the type of danger that would justify a strip search at the scene. See Illinois v. Lafayette, 462 U.S. 640, 645, 103 S.Ct. 2605, 2609, 77 L.Ed.2d 65 (1983) (stating, in dictum, that the interests supporting a search incident to arrest would hardly justify disrobing an arrestee on the street....). 7 81 The District of Columbia Circuit has recently upheld a search in which an officer unbuttoned a suspect's pants at the scene of the arrest. United States v. Ashley, 37 F.3d 678, 680-82 (D.C.Cir.1994). In that case, however, the pants were unbuttoned only enough to allow the officer to reach in and remove a bag that was sticking out the top of the suspect's underwear. The opinion further states that precautions were taken to insure the public would not see that the suspect's pants were unbuttoned. In the case at bar, on the other hand, the plaintiff's evidence suggests that he was standing behind his truck--presumably in full view of other motorists--with his pants around his thighs and his underwear exposed. Taking this evidence to be true, such a search would be much more intrusive than the search in Ashley. 82 Given the conflicting evidence, disposition of this issue necessarily turns upon the credibility of the witnesses, which is a factual matter that should be resolved by the trial court. See Pullman-Standard v. Swint, 456 U.S. 273, 291-92, 102 S.Ct. 1781, 1791-92, 72 L.Ed.2d 66 (1982) ([F]actfinding is the basic responsibility of district courts, rather than appellate courts, and ... the Court of Appeals should not have resolved in the first instance [a] factual dispute which had not been considered by the District Court.); 5A James Wm. Moore and Jo Desha Lucas, Moore's Federal Practice p 52.06 (1994). Accordingly, we find that the judgment must be vacated as to Count VIII of the complaint and the case remanded to the magistrate judge to make a specific finding on this claim. 8
83 The appellant's final argument is that the magistrate judge erred in rejecting his claim that trooper Winterroth used unnecessary force in effecting Kraushaar's arrest. The record shows that Winterroth admitted kicking Kraushaar's legs apart to get him spread-eagle for a pat-down search and subsequently put handcuffs upon him. But there is conflicting evidence as to whether he severely bruised Kraushaar in doing so. 84 Kraushaar testified that he hit his leg on the car when Winterroth kicked his legs apart and that he sustained bruises on his wrists from the handcuffs. He presented pictures of a large bruise on the front of his leg, somewhere between the knee and ankle. He also submitted medical bills and testimony that he obtained medical treatment for numbness in his hands and thumb and for testing and treatment of a bruised right leg. He argues that there was no evidence in the record to suggest that he had sustained the injuries through some other means. 85 Trooper Winterroth testified that he kicked Kraushaar's legs apart by forcing his foot against Kraushaar's foot to move it back and out. He argues that location of the bruise would not have an efficient point at which to apply force to spread an arrestee's legs. Thus, the bruise could not have been sustained from Winterroth directly kicking that location. Moreover, if Winterroth was attempting to move Kraushaar's legs back, his kick would not have caused Kraushaar's leg to go forward and strike the car. 86 The magistrate judge considered the testimony and concluded that there was no credible evidence to support a claim that either Trooper Flanigan or Trooper Winterroth used unnecessary force or indeed any force at all in effecting the arrest of the plaintiff or in transporting him to the jail. In making this determination, he necessarily found Kraushaar's testimony regarding the cause of his bruises to be not credible. This decision, like the ruling on probable cause for the arrest, represents a choice between two equally permissible views of the evidence. 9 In deference to the magistrate judge's observation of the witnesses, we cannot say that the finding is clearly erroneous.