Opinion ID: 3161446
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Fourth Amendment Malicious Prosecution Claim

Text: Snow also claims that he was subject to malicious prosecution in violation of the Fourth Amendment. To successfully prove a § 1983 malicious prosecution claim premised on a Fourth 8 No. 15-3320, Snow v. Nelson, et al. Amendment violation, Snow must show the following: (1) a criminal prosecution was initiated against him and that defendants made, influenced, or participated in the decision to prosecute; (2) there was no probable cause for the criminal prosecution; (3) as a consequence of the legal proceeding, he suffered a deprivation of liberty apart from the initial seizure; (4) and the criminal proceeding was resolved in his favor. Sykes v. Anderson, 625 F.3d 294, 308–09 (6th Cir. 2010). Because Snow’s malicious prosecution claim is clearly and easily resolved by addressing the second prong of his claim, it is unnecessary to analyze the remaining elements.1 It is well-settled that the “finding of an indictment, fair upon its face, by a properly constituted grand jury, conclusively determines the existence of probable cause.” Barnes v. Wright, 449 F.3d 709, 716 (6th Cir. 2006) (citing Higgason v. Stephens, 288 F.3d 868, 877 (6th Cir. 2002)). However, we recognize an exception to this general rule when defendants deliberately or recklessly present false testimony to a grand jury in order to obtain an indictment. See Webb v. United States, 789 F.3d 647, 660 (6th Cir. 2015); Robertson v. Lucas, 753 F.3d 606, 616 (6th Cir. 2014). Snow’s burden at summary judgment, therefore, was to adduce evidence that defendants knowingly or recklessly presented false testimony to the grand jury. This he has not done. The record is unclear as to which officer testified before the grand jury, and because the record does not contain a transcript of the grand jury proceedings, there is no way to answer this question with certainty. In his deposition, Nelson stated that he, Officer Rankin, and Officer Schlie took turns testifying before grand juries, and that he could not remember who testified in 1 It should be said, however, that in this case the first prong inquiry largely mirrors the second prong analysis. Snow premises appellees’ liability on their testimony before the grand jury. Therefore, to establish their involvement in commencing a criminal proceeding Snow was required “to present evidence that [the officers] (1) stated a deliberate falsehood or showed reckless disregard for the truth [at the hearing] and (2) that the allegedly false or omitted information was material to the [grand jury’s] finding of probable cause.” Sykes, 625 F.3d at 312 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). Because the grand jury transcript is not in the record, Snow cannot make the required showing. 9 No. 15-3320, Snow v. Nelson, et al. Snow’s case. The district court presumed that because Nelson was the one subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury, he was the one who testified. But even assuming Nelson testified, without a transcript of the proceedings, we cannot discern the content of the presumed testimony, much less whether it was deliberately or recklessly false. 2 Snow argues that a reasonable jury could infer that Nelson’s testimony before the grand jury implicated Snow and failed to disclose the informant’s alleged misidentification of the target of the investigation. While we must draw all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, there must be some evidentiary basis from which to infer. See Webb, 789 F.3d at 661 (“To make out a genuine issue of material fact, [a] plaintiff must present significant probative evidence tending to support [his] version of the facts, evidence on which a reasonable jury could return a verdict for [him].” (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)). Without a transcript of the grand jury proceedings, there is no evidence that defendant-appellees testified falsely or recklessly and, therefore, no evidence that undermines the presumption of probable cause created by the indictment. See Young v. Owens, 577 F. App’x. 410, 416–17 (6th Cir. 2014) (affirming grant of summary judgment on malicious prosecution claim where plaintiffs alleged officers testified falsely before the grand jury but where grand jury transcript was not part of the record). Snow has failed his burden to “set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 256 (1986). Even were we inclined to make the inferential leaps Snow asks us to, his malicious prosecution claim still fails because probable cause existed to arrest him, notwithstanding the allegedly false testimony. To determine whether there was probable cause to indict Snow, this court must analyze the totality of the circumstances to see whether facts and circumstances were 2 At the district court, Snow did not attempt to show by affidavit or declaration that he was unable to obtain a copy of the grand jury transcript, nor does he argue anything of the kind on appeal. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(d)(1)– (3). 10 No. 15-3320, Snow v. Nelson, et al. sufficient to lead a reasonable person to believe that Snow committed the particular offenses with which he was charged. See McKinley v. City of Mansfield, 404 F.3d 418, 445 (6th Cir. 2005). The first step in this analysis is to “set aside the [false] statements and include the information omitted” to determine whether the indictment is still supported by probable cause. Sykes, 625 F.3d at 305. Thus, we must hypothesize a grand jury that did not think Snow appeared in any of the videos and was aware of the informant’s alleged misidentification. Even in light of these assumptions, there are other relevant facts in the record to support a finding of probable cause. The confidential informant was known to be reliable, and he had firsthand knowledge of Snow. See Webb, 789 F.3d at 663 (“Information from a confidential informant who has been established as reliable can serve as the basis for probable cause.”) (citing Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 232 (1983)). Throughout the investigation, the only person the informant ever positively identified as Emmitt was Snow, and he also immediately identified Tanisha Sims, Snow’s girlfriend at the time, as Emmitt’s girlfriend. Moreover, the police independently corroborated that Snow and his girlfriend lived at 5613 Rolston Avenue. See Gates, 462 U.S. at 241 (“Our decisions applying the totality-of-the-circumstances analysis . . . have consistently recognized the value of corroboration of details of an informant’s tip by independent police work.”). Even if we make the strained assumption that the informant’s identification of another individual as “the dope dealer” has some exculpatory value, based on the other evidence of the informant’s veracity, the alleged misidentification does not approach conclusive proof that the informant was unreliable. See id. at 232. Additionally, other circumstantial evidence provides support for probable cause in this case. For example, the informant placed four calls to the person he knew as Emmitt to arrange to purchase crack-cocaine and all four calls resulted in drug purchases. Although Snow does not 11 No. 15-3320, Snow v. Nelson, et al. appear in the July 15 video, use of a runner is consistent with Emmitt’s practices, as shown by the July 16, July 30, and August 13 drug purchases. Finally, during the August 13 controlled drug buy, the informant, who had personal knowledge of Snow, witnessed Snow take money from a drug courier and walk back to his house at 5613 Rolston Avenue. Snow maintains that his release almost immediately following the discovery of Nelson’s mistake is conclusive evidence that no probable cause existed to arrest and prosecute him. However, “[a]n arrest grounded in probable cause does not become invalid merely because the State chooses not to prosecute the individual.” Williams v. Cambridge Bd. Educ., 370 F.3d 630, 638 (6th Cir. 2004). Based on the totality of the circumstances and ignoring the allegedly false testimony and material omissions, there was probable cause underlying the grand jury’s indictment, and therefore, Snow cannot show that he was subjected to malicious prosecution in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights.