Opinion ID: 153012
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Unlawful Arrest: County Attorney Smith, Officer Clarkson, Deputy Campbell

Text: Generally, a warrantless arrest is constitutionally valid when an officer has probable cause to believe that the arrestee committed a crime. Oliver v. Woods, 209 F.3d 1179, 1186 (10th Cir.2000). When a warrantless arrest is the subject of a § 1983 action, the defendant is entitled to qualified immunity if a reasonable officer could have believed that probable cause existed to arrest or detain the plaintiff. York, 523 F.3d at 1210. Thus, [e]ven law enforcement officials who reasonably but mistakenly conclude that probable cause is present are entitled to immunity. Hunter v. Bryant, 502 U.S. 224, 227, 112 S.Ct. 534, 116 L.Ed.2d 589 (1991) (quotations omitted).
Mr. Stearns alleges that County Attorney Smith violated his Fourth Amendment rights by ordering his arrest without probable cause. On appeal, Mr. Smith argues that he is entitled to qualified immunity because he had a reasonable belief that probable cause existed to arrest Mr. Stearns for disorderly conduct. [3] Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-4101 provides, in relevant part: 21-4101. Disorderly conduct. Disorderly conduct is, with knowledge or probable cause to believe that such acts will alarm, anger or disturb others or provoke an assault or other breach of the peace: . . . (c) Using offensive, obscene, or abusive language or engaging in noisy conduct tending reasonably to arouse alarm, anger or resentment in others. Since 1980, [however,] this section has been limited to words which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace [i.e., `fighting words']. Cook v. Bd. of Cnty. Comm'rs, 966 F.Supp. 1049, 1052 (D.Kan. 1997) (citing State v. Huffman, 228 Kan. 186, 612 P.2d 630, 635 (1980)). Furthermore, the Supreme Court has held that the First Amendment protects a significant amount of verbal criticism and challenge directed at police officers. City of Houston v. Hill, 482 U.S. 451, 461, 107 S.Ct. 2502, 96 L.Ed.2d 398 (1987). Thus, it is [not] objectively reasonable to arrest someone for . . . criticizing the police, and not every epithet directed at a police officer constitutes `disorderly conduct.' Elbrader v. Blevins, 757 F.Supp. 1174, 1181, 1182 (D.Kan.1991). Mr. Smith contends that he reasonably believed that probable cause existed to arrest Mr. Stearns for two separate incidents: (1) the episode at Officer Venable's house and (2) Officer Venable's interaction with Mr. Stearns three hours later. We disagree. First, Mr. Smith maintains that Mr. Stearns's 12:30 a.m. visit to Officer Venable's house provided him with a reasonable belief that probable cause existed. The undisputed facts, however, show that Mr. Smith knew only the following: Mr. Stearns's father had been killed by local law enforcement officers and Mr. Stearns was upset with police, Mr. Stearns knocked on Officer Venable's door just after midnight but left when no one answered the door, and Mrs. Venable claimed she overheard Mr. Stearns say the word later. These facts would not lead a reasonable person to conclude that probable cause existed to arrest Mr. Stearns for disorderly conduct. Second, Mr. Smith maintains that he reasonably believed probable cause existed based on Mr. Stearns's conduct during his interaction with Officer Venable around 3:30 a.m. that same day. Mr. Smith claims that prior to ordering Mr. Stearns's arrest he was told that during the early-morning interaction Mr. Stearns was loud, belligerent, smelled of alcohol, and pointed his finger at Officer Venable while using profanity. At the time Mr. Smith ordered the arrest, however, it was well-settled that profanity, especially toward police officers, does not amount to a violation of the disorderly conduct statute unless it constitutes fighting words. Huffman, 612 P.2d at 635; Elbrader, 757 F.Supp. at 1180. Moreover, none of the additional facts allegedly known by Mr. Smith could have converted Mr. Stearns's statements to Officer Venable into a threat. Thus, it was unreasonable for Mr. Smith to believe that probable cause existed to arrest Mr. Stearns. Accordingly, the district court properly denied his motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity.
Mr. Stearns alleges that Officer Clarkson violated his constitutional rights by arresting him without a warrant and without probable cause. Officer Clarkson maintains that he actually had probable cause to arrest Mr. Stearns for disorderly conduct, and that even if he did not, his belief that probable cause existed was reasonable. As discussed above with regard to Mr. Smith, Mr. Stearns's use of profanity and his criticism of police did not provide probable cause to arrest him for disorderly conduct. Furthermore, Officer Clarkson did not possess additional evidence or knowledge that would support a finding of probable cause. Accordingly, Officer Clarkson did not actually have probable cause to arrest Mr. Stearns. Likewise, Officer Clarkson could not have reasonably believed that probable cause existed. Officer Clarkson primarily argues that he was aware his superiors had consulted with Mr. Smith, and that he assumed Mr. Smith had determined there was probable cause to arrest Mr. Stearns. [4] According to Officer Clarkson, his knowledge regarding Mr. Smith's determination of probable cause coupled with his knowledge of the incidents involving Mr. Stearns, make his independent belief that probable cause existed reasonable. Under certain circumstances, we have recognized that an officer's receipt of a prosecutor's pre-arrest probable cause determination supports the officer's qualified immunity defense. See Lavicky v. Burnett, 758 F.2d 468, 476 (10th Cir.1985) (If the sheriff's duty is unclear, it should be a defense that he relied upon the advice of the prosecuting attorney's office.). We have never held, however, that an officer's receipt of a favorable probable cause determination from a prosecutor prior to making an arrest necessarily entitles the officer to qualified immunity. Rather, we agree with our sister circuits that the fact that an officer obtains a prosecutor's determination of probable cause prior to making an arrest is only one factor that is relevant to the qualified immunity analysis. See, e.g., Cox v. Hainey, 391 F.3d 25, 35 (1st Cir.2004) (We caution . . . that the mere fact that an officer secures a favorable pre-arrest opinion from a friendly prosecutor does not automatically guarantee that qualified immunity will follow.); Frye v. Kansas City Mo. Police Dep't, 375 F.3d 785, 792 (8th Cir.2004) (Although following an attorney's advice does not automatically cloak officers with qualified immunity, it can show the reasonableness of the action taken.) (quotations and alterations omitted). Furthermore, the significance of a prosecutor's pre-arrest probable cause determination to an officer's qualified immunity defense will invariably depend on the circumstances of a given case. See Lavicky, 758 F.2d at 476 (suggesting that an officer's reliance on a prosecutor's advice only supports the officer's defense when the officer's duty is unclear); see also Cox, 391 F.3d at 34 ([T]he fact of the consultation [with a prosecutor] and the purport of the advice obtained should be factored into the totality of the circumstances and considered in determining the officer's entitlement to qualified immunity.). Here, Mr. Smith's erroneous probable cause determination did not, as a matter of law, transform Officer Clarkson's unreasonable belief that probable cause existed to arrest Mr. Stearns into a reasonable belief. Officer Clarkson learned of Mr. Smith's involvement in the investigation through the page he received from Lieutenant Weber, which states only that Lieutenant Weber had discussed the case with Mr. Smith and that Mr. Stearns should be arrested for the incident at Officer Venable's house. Notably, the page does not mention any other incident for which Mr. Stearns was to be arrested. Furthermore, Officer Clarkson did not personally discuss the case with Mr. Smith, nor was he ever told that Mr. Smith had determined there was probable cause to arrest Mr. Stearns. Rather, he assumed that Mr. Smith had reached this conclusion based on the contents of the page and his general understanding that the Winfield Police Department routinely carries out warrantless arrests based on oral communications from the county attorney. Additionally, after receiving the page from Lieutenant Weber, Officer Clarkson reported to work where he was notified that Mr. Stearns had not yet been arrested. At that time, Officer Clarkson's fellow officers informed him of the circumstances surrounding the incident at Officer Venable's home and Mr. Stearns's early-morning interaction with Officer Venable. Specifically, Officer Clarkson learned that around 12:30 a.m., Mr. Stearns had knocked on Officer Venable's door and rang his doorbell, alarming Mrs. Venable. After approximately thirty seconds, Mr. Stearns walked away without interacting with anyone, although Mrs. Venable claims she heard him say the word later. Three hours later, Officer Venable initiated contact with Mr. Stearns, during which Mr. Stearns used profanity repeatedly, criticized and insulted local officers, and refused to tell Officer Venable where he had been that evening, but complied with a request for identification. Under these circumstances, Mr. Smith's erroneous determination that probable cause existed to arrest Mr. Stearns is of little significance to Officer Clarkson's qualified immunity defense. At the time he received Lieutenant Weber's page, Officer Clarkson may have reasonably believed that probable cause existed to arrest Mr. Stearns for disorderly conduct based on the incident at Officer Venable's home. Indeed, at that time, Officer Clarkson knew nothing about the case other than that his superiors had conferred with the county attorney and were ordering Mr. Stearns's arrest. Upon learning the circumstances of the incident at Officer Venable's home, however, Officer Clarkson's belief became patently unreasonable. Furthermore, because the page only mentioned the incident at Officer Venable's home, Officer Clarkson could only assume that Mr. Smith had determined probable cause existed based on that incident. Thus, Mr. Smith's pre-arrest probable cause determination is irrelevant to the reasonableness of Officer Clarkson's belief that probable cause existed to arrest Mr. Stearns for any other incident, including his early morning interaction with Officer Venable. And, as discussed above with regard to Mr. Smith, it was unreasonable to believe that Mr. Stearns's use of profanity and his criticism of police provided probable cause to arrest him for disorderly conduct. Accordingly, Officer Clarkson has not shown that his independent belief that probable cause existed to arrest Mr. Stearns was reasonable. Therefore, the district court correctly denied Officer Clarkson's motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity.
Deputy Campbell argues that he is entitled to qualified immunity because he reasonably relied on the Winfield Police Department's probable cause determination and was merely assisting in the arrest at the Winfield Police Department's request. Mr. Stearns maintains that Deputy Campbell's reliance on the determination made by Office Clarkson and his superior officers that probable cause existed was unreasonable. When one officer requests that another officer assist in executing an arrest, the assisting officer is not required to second-guess the requesting officer's probable cause determination, nor is he required to independently determine that probable cause exists. See Baptiste v. J.C. Penney Co., 147 F.3d 1252, 1260 (10th Cir.1998) (An officer who is called to the scene to conduct a search incident to arrest is not required to reevaluate the arresting officer's probable cause determination in order to protect herself from personal liability.). Rather, a police officer who acts in reliance on what proves to be the flawed conclusions of a fellow police officer may nonetheless be entitled to qualified immunity as long as the officer's reliance was objectively reasonable. Id. (quotations omitted). Nevertheless, in attempting to overcome Officer Campbell's qualified immunity defense, Mr. Stearns cites only the limited personal knowledge that Deputy Campbell had at the time of arrest. Such personal knowledge is irrelevant, however, unless it in some way suggests that Deputy Campbell's reliance on the Winfield Police Department's probable cause determination was unreasonable. It does not. While the record does not support a conclusion that Deputy Campbell himself reasonably believed probable cause existed to arrest Mr. Stearns, it in no way undermines his reliance on the flawed conclusions of [his] fellow police officers. Id. Therefore, the district court erred in denying Deputy Campbell qualified immunity. [5]