Opinion ID: 793983
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Train on the Handling of Exculpatory Evidence

Text: 126 The courts recognize a systematic failure to train police officers adequately as custom or policy which can lead to city liability. City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 388, 109 S.Ct. 1197, 103 L.Ed.2d 412 (1989). Only when the failure to train amounts to deliberate indifference on behalf of the city toward its inhabitants, however, will failure to train lead to city liability under § 1983. Id. at 389. The Supreme Court explained this standard in Harris: 127 The issue . . . is whether that training program is adequate; and if it is not, the question becomes whether such inadequate training can justifiably be said to represent city policy. It may seem contrary to common sense to assert that a municipality will actually have a policy of not taking reasonable steps to train its employees. But it may happen that in light of the duties assigned to specific officers or employees the need for more or different training is so obvious, and the inadequacy so likely to result in the violation of constitutional rights, that the policymakers of the city can reasonably be said to have been deliberately indifferent to the need. In that event, the failure to provide proper training may fairly be said to represent a policy for which the city is responsible, and for which the city may be held liable if it actually causes injury. 128 Id. at 390, 109 S.Ct. 1197 (footnotes omitted). 129 Plaintiff can survive summary judgment under this standard by showing that officer training failed to address the handling of exculpatory materials and that such a failure has the highly predictable consequence of constitutional violations of the sort Plaintiff suffered. See Cherrington v. Skeeter, 344 F.3d 631, 646 (6th Cir. 2003) (referencing Harris, 489 U.S. at 390, 109 S.Ct. 1197). In Cherrington, this Court held that a city's failure to train its officers on warrantless arrests was so likely to result in constitutional violations that the city's failure amounted to deliberate indifference. 344 F.3d at 646-47. Here, Plaintiff alleges that Tarter and Clark's failures to disclose exculpatory materials were the `highly predictable consequence[s] of a failure to equip law enforcement officers with specific tools to handle recurring situations.' (Pl. Final Second Br. 67 (citing Brown, 520 U.S. at 409, 117 S.Ct. 1382.)) In their investigative capacities, police officers regularly uncover exculpatory materials. The Supreme Court has laid down very specific obligations of police officers on the disclosure of exculpatory materials. See Brady, 373 U.S. at 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194. Widespread officer ignorance on the proper handling of exculpatory materials would have the highly predictable consequence of due process violations. See Cherrington, 344 F.3d at 646. Therefore this Court looks to the training City police officers received in handling exculpatory materials. 130 Plaintiff presents two forms of evidence in support of his failure to train claim: 1) expert testimony that LDP training on handling of exculpatory materials was non-existent, and 2) deposition and inferential evidence that LDP officers generally did not receive any instruction in the handling of exculpatory materials. Plaintiff's expert reports that the City failed to properly train its officers in the handling of exculpatory materials. Plaintiff has deposition testimony from the Chief of Police that the Chief believed that officers were confused about their Brady obligations, but that the Chief could not recall any remedial steps or training having been taken. Plaintiff also presents evidence from current and former LDP Chiefs of Police and LDP officers that training would have been documented, but points out that the City has presented no evidence of any formal training on exculpatory materials. 131 The City counters that its officers have acknowledged their duty to disclose exculpatory evidence and avers that its officer have testified to training to that effect. The City's references to the Joint Appendix reveal one actual piece of evidence, deposition testimony from the former Chief of Police, which states that officers are trained to document and turn over to the prosecutor all evidence in their possession. 132 At a minimum, Plaintiff has presented sufficient evidence to survive summary judgment on his failure to train allegations regarding exculpatory materials. The obligation to turn over exculpatory materials is a significant constitutional component of police duties with obvious consequences for criminal defendants. This Court has held that evidence pointing to a City's failure to provide any training on key duties with direct impact on the constitutional rights of citizens is sufficient to survive summary judgment with a Monell failure to train claim. See Sell v. City of Columbus, 47 Fed.Appx. 685, 694-95 (6th Cir. 2002) (unpublished opinion) (reversing summary judgment for defendant city when Plaintiff had presented evidence that City failed to train officers in constitutional implications of evicting without a pre-eviction hearing). 133 This Court finds that the district court erred when it failed to consider that evidence of failure to train on the proper handling of exculpatory materials has the highly predictable consequence of constitutional violations. See Brown, 520 U.S. at 409, 117 S.Ct. 1382. A custom of failing to train its officers on the handling of exculpatory materials is sufficient to establish the requisite fault on the part of the City and the causal connection to the constitutional violations experienced by Plaintiff. Id. at 407, 117 S.Ct. 1382. Plaintiff has carried his burden for summary judgment. 134 The City avers that Plaintiff failed to plead a failure to train regarding Brady materials under Monell in his complaint and has therefore waived this avenue of recovery. But Plaintiff did claim failure to train under Monell for the City's identification procedures and all the objectionable behavior regarding the handling of exculpatory materials was articulated in Plaintiff's complaint. The liberal notice pleading of Rule 8(a) is the starting point of this Court's analysis of whether Plaintiff sufficiently put the City on notice of his claim and basis for seeking recovery. Swierkiewicz v. Sorema, N.A., 534 U.S. 506, 514, 122 S.Ct. 992, 152 L.Ed.2d 1 (2002). Here, Plaintiff's complaint clearly articulated the actions of City officers upon which Plaintiff based his demand for relief, articulating clear allegations related to exculpatory materials. We therefore reverse the district court's grant on summary judgment to the City on Plaintiff's Monell liability theory for failure to train on the handling of exculpatory materials.