Opinion ID: 773804
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Spurlock

Text: 36 Assuming, as we do, that Spurlock still binds this court even after Frantz, a plaintiff has a constitutionally cognizable claim of malicious prosecution under the Fourth Amendment. In this case, Darrah brings her malicious prosecution claim pursuant to her Fourth Amendment right against unlawful seizures. J.A. at 17-18 (Compl.). 37
38 As stated earlier, plaintiff brings her Fourth Amendment malicious prosecution claim on the grounds that the state court's probable cause finding was based on Officer Bragg's false statements and omissions. The district court, in granting defendant's motion for summary judgment with respect to Darrah's malicious prosecution claim, based its decision, in part, on the doctrine of collateral estoppel. The district court stated that plaintiff was precluded from raising the issue of probable cause for a second time after the state court, in an adversary proceeding, had already determined that there was probable cause to hold her over for trial. See Coogan v. City of Wixom, 820 F.2d 170, 175 (6th Cir. 1987) (where the state affords an opportunity for an accused to contest probable cause at a preliminary hearing and the accused does so, a finding of probable cause by the examining magistrate or state judge should foreclose relitigation of that finding in a subsequent §§ 1983 action.). 39 As the Supreme Court has held, we must apply the state law of collateral estoppel when deciding whether the state court's determination of probable cause at the preliminary hearing has preclusive effect in this §§ 1983 action. Haring v. Prosise, 462 U.S. 306, 313 (1983). Under Michigan law, issue preclusion applies when 1) there is identity of parties across the proceedings, 2) there was a valid, final judgment in the first proceeding, 3) the same issue was actually litigated and necessarily determined in the first proceeding, and 4) the party against whom the doctrine is asserted had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue in the earlier proceeding. People v. Gates, 452 N.W.2d 627, 630-31 (Mich.), cert. denied, 497 U.S. 1004 (1990). 40 Following our reasoning in Josey v. Salisbury, No. 92-2093, 1993 WL 476974 (6th Cir. Nov. 18, 1993), an unpublished case with similar facts, we hold that the identity of the issues requirement under Michigan law has not been satisfied in this case. In Josey, as in this case, the plaintiffs based their malicious prosecution claim in federal court on the grounds that the defendant-officers had knowingly supplied the magistrate with false information in order to establish probable cause. Id. at . Thus, the court held, plaintiffs were not attempting to relitigate the identical issue of whether probable cause exists; rather, they were arguing that the officers misstated material facts in order to establish probable cause at the state level. Id. (citing Jones v. City of Chicago, 856 F.2d 985, 994 (7th Cir. 1988)). Applying the same reasoning to this case, we hold that the state court's determination of probable cause at the preliminary hearing is not identical to the issue Darrah argues today, that being whether Officer Bragg made materially false statements to the state judge that formed the basis of that court's probable cause determination. Accordingly, we proceed to a review of the merits of Darrah's Fourth Amendment malicious prosecution claim. 41
42 In Frantz, this court held that, following Albright's holding that the Fourth Amendment is the only 'peg' on which to hang a §§ 1983 claim alleging malicious prosecution, we may no longer rely on the state law of malicious prosecution to define the proper cause of action for a federal malicious prosecution claim under §§ 1983. 4 Frantz, 245 F.3d at 874. The Frantz court explained that establishing a §§ 1983 cause of action requires a constitutional violation and cannot differ depending on the tort law of a particular state. Id. 43 Other than its holding that a §§ 1983 action for malicious prosecution requires a constitutional violation, the Frantz court did not further explicate the elements of a §§ 1983 malicious prosecution claim under the Fourth Amendment, because Frantz later held that no such claim exists after Albright. We need not enunciate a test for malicious prosecution under §§ 1983 either, however, for Darrah can show no constitutional deprivation in this case. Regardless of the specific elements of the federal malicious prosecution claim, plaintiff is unable to allege an unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment, i.e., that there was no probable cause to justify her arrest and prosecution. See Albright, 510 U.S. at 273-75. 44 We need not proceed any further than the probable cause analysis to decide plaintiff's malicious prosecution claim. Plaintiff claims in her brief that the state court's determination of probable cause to prosecute her on the obstruction charge was based on false information provided by Officer Bragg. However, if this court finds that there was probable cause to prosecute Darrah, regardless of any alleged false statements made by Bragg, then she cannot make out a malicious prosecution claim under the Fourth Amendment. 45 Probable cause to make an arrest exists if the facts and circumstances within the arresting officer's knowledge 'were sufficient to warrant a prudent man in believing that the [arrestee] had committed or was committing an offense.' Pyles v. Raisor, 60 F.3d 1211, 1215 (6th Cir. 1995) (quoting Beck v. Ohio, 379 U.S. 89, 91 (1964)). Plaintiff contends that Officer Bragg misled the state court by: 1) stating that plaintiff reached for his gun belt rather than his ankle when he was attempting to subdue Dearmond; 2) stating that he was conducting a lawful arrest when plaintiff interfered with him; and 3) failing to disclose to the court that he was assaulting the civilian on whose behalf Plaintiff intervened[.] Appellant's Br. at 35-36. 46 Taking these allegations into account, it is clear that, regardless of any alleged misinformation provided to the court by Bragg, the state court would have concluded that there was probable cause to arrest Darrah and hold her over for trial. First, the state court transcript clearly refutes plaintiff's claim that whether she was grabbing Bragg's gun belt or his ankle affected the court's decision to hold her over for trial. In the preliminary hearing, the court stated that the mere act of pulling on the officer, regardless of whether it was his belt or his ankle, was enough to constitute probable cause to hold plaintiff over for trial. J.A. at 144 (Prelim. Examination Tr.). Plaintiff also admitted in her deposition that she was trying to interfere with the officers' actions when they were using force on Dearmond. J.A. at 87 (Darrah Dep.). 47 Plaintiff further claims that Officer Bragg's misleading police report, which allegedly indicated that he was engaging in a lawful arrest of Dearmond, influenced the state court's decision to find probable cause for plaintiff's arrest and prosecution on the obstruction charge. There are two problems with this argument: first, based on the facts alleged by Darrah and the information in the police report, there is no indication that Bragg's report misled the court in any way; second, under Michigan law, while arrestees have the right to use physical force to resist an unlawful arrest, third-party intervenors do not. City of Detroit v. Smith, 235 Mich.App. 235 597 N.W.2d 247, 249-50 (Mich. Ct. App. 1999). Thus, even though Bragg may have used force against Dearmond when attempting to handcuff him that the plaintiff considered excessive, plaintiff had no right under Michigan law to resort to physical force against Officer Bragg in an attempt to aid Dearmond. Because Darrah had no right to intervene physically on Dearmond's behalf even if she thought the officer's use of force was excessive, the extent to which Bragg informed the court of the force he used in his attempts to detain Dearmond could not have affected the state court's determination of the probable cause to prosecute Darrah for obstructing a police officer. 48 After reviewing the evidence and the arguments presented by Darrah, we conclude that no reasonable jury could find that Officer Bragg's allegedly misleading acts and omissions affected the state court's determination of probable cause in any way. Accordingly, having recognized a §§ 1983 claim of malicious prosecution pursuant to Spurlock, we AFFIRM the district court's decision granting Officer Bragg summary judgment on this claim.