Opinion ID: 2996682
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Property Destruction

Text: Heft first challenges the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Defendants Root, Hughes, and McClain, who Heft accused of destroying her personal property. It is true that the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments provide a remedy when a citizen’s property is unreasonably damaged during a search. See United States v. Ramirez, 523 U.S. 65, 71 (1998) (holding that the “general touchstone of reasonableness which governs Fourth Amendment analysis, governs the method of execution of the warrant. Excessive or unnecessary destruction of property in the course of a search may violate the Fourth Amendment, even though the entry itself is lawful and the fruits of the search are not subject to suppression.”) (citations omitted); see also Daniels 6 No. 02-4110 v. Southfort, 6 F.3d 482, 486 (7th Cir. 1993). However, in this case Heft failed to show that her property was damaged at all, and thus the grant of summary judgment was proper. Summary judgment is proper where “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23 (1986). To determine whether there is a genuine issue of material fact, courts construe all facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and draw all reasonable and justifiable inferences in favor of that party. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986). Even construing all of the facts in the light most favorable to Heft, however, there is no genuine issue of material fact. The entirety of evidence presented by Heft in support of her claim that the defendants used unreasonable force in the search of her home was her allegation that her home was in a state of devastation immediately after the police raid. While the defendants agreed that they moved several items that belonged to Heft during the course of the search, they also alleged that her house was cluttered and disorderly prior to the search. Heft provided no evidence regarding the pre-search condition of her home or any specific evidence that any property item was damaged. In other words, Heft failed to provide evidence that the police harmed her property at all, let alone provide evidence that the police harmed her property unreasonably.1 For that reason, the 1 In further support of her appeal, Heft cites to her own affidavit which offers slightly more evidence in support of her claim of (continued...) No. 02-4110 7 district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of Officers Root, Hughes, and McClain.