Opinion ID: 200053
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Borgioli

Text: 56 Borgioli, in contrast, knew that there was a custody dispute from his interrogation of Suboh and knew that Suboh had documents that she said supported her claim to custody. Suboh had shown him a birth certificate that showed her as the birth parent, as well as various other documents that supported her claims. Suboh had also told him that the documentation shown by the Kandys was forged and that the Kandys had lied to him. He knew that the Kandys had given the police inconsistent information about who the birth mother was. 57 Borgioli argues that it was factually reasonable for him to release the child to the Kandys even if a clearly established right was involved. In essence he makes three arguments. First, he argues that the facts as he knew them indicated that the Kandys were Sofia's custodians. Second, he argues that he had probable cause to arrest Suboh and her husband for kidnapping and that was enough to justify his release of the child. Third, Borgioli argues that ADA Murphy agreed to releasing the child to the Kandys, and that immunizes him. We take each argument in turn. 58 We, like the district court, think that no reasonable officer could have concluded on the facts before him that the Kandys had undisputed custody of the child, despite Suboh's claims, and so no process of any sort was due before the child could be released to the Kandys. Suboh repeatedly told him that she was the biological mother of Sofia, which directly conflicted with the information provided by the Kandys, who at times said they were the biological parents and had provided a birth certificate indicating that they were the biological parents. Suboh also provided documentation that was obviously different from the documentation provided by the Kandys and which she said supported her claim of custody. Suboh told him that the Kandys' custodial documents were forged. No objectively reasonable officer could immediately conclude that the Kandys' documents were valid and Suboh's documents were forged, or that there was no custody dispute. 59 Borgioli also failed to pursue reasonable avenues of investigation to determine whether Suboh's claims were true, such as having her documents translated from Dutch, French, and Arabic, or calling the embassies, as Suboh requested. See Wallis, 202 F.3d at 1138 (police should pursue reasonable avenues of investigation, within circumstances of case, before removing children from parents' custody). It is also relevant that the Kandys' documentation, even if valid, did not give the police authority to effect a transfer of custody, see Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 209B, § 12 (setting forth rules for filing and enforcing custody judgments of foreign states in Massachusetts); Wooley, 211 F.3d at 926 (it was not objectively reasonable for police officer to rely on court custody order to transfer custody when state law required a civil warrant). 60 We also reject Borgioli's argument that the probable cause determination as to the kidnapping charges entitles a reasonable officer to make a conclusive determination of a disputed custody matter. The threshold for probable cause in a criminal case is low, as Borgioli certainly must know. [P]robable cause exists when `the facts and circumstances within [the police officer's] knowledge and of which they had reasonably trustworthy information were sufficient to warrant a prudent [person] in believing that the [defendant] had committed or was committing an offense.' Rivera v. Murphy, 979 F.2d 259, 263 (1st Cir.1992) (quoting United States v. Figueroa, 818 F.2d 1020, 1023 (1st Cir.1987)) (quoting Beck v. Ohio, 379 U.S. 89, 91, 85 S.Ct. 223, 13 L.Ed.2d 142 (1964)) (internal quotation marks omitted). That there is probable cause that a crime has been committed is not a determination on the merits that a crime was committed: an arrest is not a conviction. Indeed, in order to prove kidnapping by a relative, as Borgioli must have known, the state would have had to show that Suboh did not have custody of the child. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 265, § 26A (2000). As a matter of law, mere probable cause for arrest on kidnapping charges of a person claiming custody is not a sufficient basis on which to determine a custody dispute, nor is an arresting police officer the correct person to be making such a determination. Compare Rivera, 979 F.2d at 263 (articulating standard for probable cause), with Santosky, 455 U.S. 745, 102 S.Ct. 1388, 71 L.Ed.2d 599 (articulating standard for permanent deprivation of parental rights). While a temporary emergency transfer of custody may issue on the basis of reasonable cause to believe that a child is in danger of abuse or neglect, see Care & Prot. of Robert, 556 N.E.2d at 995-96, that is a far cry from a police officer making a custody decision that is effectively nonreversible on the basis of probable cause for arrest for kidnapping by a relative. The probable cause argument works against Borgioli, not for him. A reasonable officer could not view cause for arrest as the extent of the process due before usurping the parent's right to the care and custody of her child. 61 Borgioli's reliance on Murphy does not help him. Although Borgioli had facts before him that there was a keenly disputed custody issue, he refrained from telling Murphy about that dispute. A reasonable officer would not rely on a district attorney's assent, when he knew the district attorney had not been given the material information. Cf. Rodriques v. Furtado, 950 F.2d 805, 812 (1st Cir.1991) (there is no qualified immunity if police officer was constitutionally negligent and knew that facts submitted in search warrant affidavit were insufficient to establish probable cause). 62 On the facts alleged by Suboh, Borgioli's actions were not on the hazy border between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Saucier, 533 U.S. at 206, 121 S.Ct. 2151 (quoting Priester v. City of Riviera Beach, 208 F.3d 919, 926 (11th Cir.2000)) (internal quotation marks omitted). Whatever the exact contours of the right to due process in the context of child removals in other circumstances, see, e.g., Frazier, 957 F.2d at 931, this case falls well within the area of clarity. Borgioli cannot prevail on qualified immunity at the summary judgment stage.