Opinion ID: 2971766
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: City of Olmsted Falls

Text: Radvansky also brought suit against the City of Olmsted Falls. The district court granted summary judgment for the City because there was no constitutional violation. With the reversal of that ruling, the remaining issue concerning the City’s liability is whether Radvansky has presented sufficient facts to raise a genuine issue as to whether Telegdy and Saxer were acting pursuant to the City’s official policy or custom. We conclude that Radvansky has presented no evidence of a policy or custom, and therefore, there are no genuine issues as to any material fact and the City is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The United States Supreme Court has held that municipalities may be held liable under § 1983 when the injury inflicted is a result of “a government’s policy or custom, whether made by its lawmakers or by those whose edicts or acts may fairly be said to represent official policy.” Monell v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 694 (1978). The Court stated that “a municipality cannot be held liable solely because it employs a tortfeasor–or, in other words, a municipality cannot be held liable under § 1983 on a respondeat superior theory.” Id. at 691. We, in turn, have noted that “[t]here must be a direct causal link between the policy and the alleged constitutional violation such that the [municipality’s] deliberate conduct can be deemed the moving force behind the violation.” Graham ex rel. Estate of Graham v. County of Washtenaw, 358 F.3d 377, 383 (6th Cir. 2004) (internal citations omitted). By itself, “the wrongful conduct of a single officer without any policy-making authority did not establish municipal policy.” Collins v. City of Harker Heights, 503 U.S. 115, 121 (1992) (discussing Oklahoma City v. Tuttle, 471 U.S. 808 (1985)). In his brief, Radvansky argues that the City’s policy of going forward with the criminal process through arraignment and indictment violated his rights. Appellant’s Br. at 55. Radvansky contends that the City should have further investigated the matter 14 and released him, rather than proceeded to the preliminary hearing and grand jury indictment. Appellant’s Br. at 55-56. Radvansky argues that there was an ongoing constitutional violation by the City in not continuing the investigation. The constitutional violation, if any, occurred when Telegdy and Saxer arrested Radvansky, not during the City’s standard processing of his felony. To hold otherwise would result in subjecting every officer who processed Radvansky’s case to liability for not conducting an independent investigation. It is the arresting officers’ responsibility to ensure that the arrest is supported by probable cause. Once Radvansky was arrested, the police are not required to investigate further. The City’s procedure is set in place to safeguard an arrestee’s constitutional rights, by serving as a check on the police’s activities. The City did nothing more than process his case expeditiously, as the Constitution requires. 14 Burland stated at his deposition that the procedure in Olmsted Falls is that the processing of felonies is either through a preliminary hearing in Berea Municipal Court or a grand jury indictment in the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. J.A. at 622-23 (Burland Dep.). Burland explained that felonies are filed simultaneously in Berea Municipal Court and Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court as a way to process them as quickly as possible. In this case, Radvansky had a preliminary hearing in Berea Municipal Court, where he requested an attorney to represent him. The preliminary hearing was continued until an attorney could be assigned. Before the second preliminary hearing could take place, the grand jury in Cuyahoga County returned an indictment against him for burglary. No. 03-3798 Radvansky v. City of Olmsted Falls, et al. Page 15 Because there is no direct causal link between the City’s processing of criminal cases and the violation of Radvansky’s Fourth Amendment rights, the City is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Therefore, the district court’s grant of summary judgment with respect to the City is affirmed.