Opinion ID: 6983251
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Unlawful Arrests of Ingram and Collins

Text: It is a well-settled principle of constitutional jurisprudence that an arrest without probable cause constitutes an unreasonable seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment. See Donovan v. Thames, 105 F.3d 291, 298 n. 7 (6th Cir.1997). Ingram and Collins allege that Defendants unlawfully seized them by arresting them and placing them behind bars for several hours without probable cause. Defendants charged Ingram and Collins with Obstructing Official Business in violation of Ohio Revised Code § 2921.31. Section 2921.31 provides that “[n]o person, without privilege to do so and with purpose to prevent, obstruct, or delay the performance by a public official of any authorized act within his official capacity, shall do any act which hampers or impedes a public official in the performance of his lawful duties.” Ohio Rev.Code § 2921.31 (Banks-Baldwin 1995). As a preliminary matter, we observe that the termination of criminal proceedings against Ingram and Collins by way of bond forfeiture does not preclude them from raising the claim of arrest without probable cause in the present § 1983 action. Generally, we must give the same preclusive effect, under the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel, to state court judgments that those judgments would receive in courts of the rendering state. See Migra v. Warren City Sch. Bd. of Educ., 465 U.S. 75, 85, 104 S.Ct. 892, 79 L.Ed.2d 56 (1984). Therefore, we must look to Ohio law to determine the effect that the bond forfeiture has on this action alleging arrest without probable cause in violation of the Fourth Amendment. See Donovan v. Thames, 105 F.3d 291, 294-95 (6th Cir.1997). Because there is no Ohio decision addressing the preclusive effect of a bond forfeiture on a subsequent § 1983 action for arrest without probable cause, we must look for guidance to Ohio decisions concerning estoppel generally. 13 See Haring v. Prosise, 462 U.S. 306, 314, 103 S.Ct. 2368, 76 L.Ed.2d 595 (1983). Under Ohio law, res judicata “does not bar a subsequent action where the cause of action prosecuted is not the same, even though each action relates to the same subject matter.” Norwood v. McDonald, 142 Ohio St. 299, 52 N.E.2d 67, 71 (Ohio 1943). Accordingly, res judicata cannot bar the claims of Ingram and Collins because their § 1983 claim is not the same cause of action as the state’s criminal case against them for obstruction. See, e.g., Vinson v. Campbell County Fiscal Court, 820 F.2d 194, 197 (6th Cir.1987). Moreover, we decline to extend res judicata to bar this claim where there is no indication that Ingram and Collins, who would have been in a defensive posture during criminal proceedings on the obstruction charges, could have raised their § 1983 claims during those proceedings. See Donovan, 105 F.3d at 295-96 & n. 5. Ohio law requires that a party asserting the application of collateral estoppel “must prove that the identical issue was actually litigated, directly determined, and essential to the judgment in the prior action.” Goodson v. McDonough Power Equip., 2 Ohio St.3d 193, 443 N.E.2d 978, 985 (Ohio 1983). Issue preclusion will bar relitigation only when the identical issue was actually decided in the first case, and not simply where an issue could have been decided in the first case. See id. at 987. As Ohio law recognizes, it would violate due process to assert collateral estoppel against a party who “had little knowledge or incentive to litigate fully and vigorously in the first action due to the procedural and/or factual circumstances presented therein.” Id. at 986. Under the relevant statute, a finding that the officers arrested with probable cause is not an essential element of the offense of obstruction of official business. See Ohio Rev.Code § 2921.31 (Banks-Baldwin 1995). In any event, it is clear that the issue of whether Defendants had probable cause to arrest Ingram and Collins was never actually litigated in a prior proceeding. We pause to observe that Ohio courts have stated that a bond forfeiture in a criminal proceeding is an absolute defense to a subsequent state law actions for false arrest. See Neff v. Engle, 28 Ohio App.3d 44, 501 N.E.2d 675, 676 (Ohio Ct.App.1986); see also Carpenter v. Meade, No. 93APE09-1306, 1994 WL 64256, at  (Ohio Ct.App. Mar. 3, 1994) (unpublished). However, these decisions address the effect of a bond forfeiture only on a state law action for false arrest, not on a federal civil rights action for arrest without probable cause. When we have applied general principles of preclusion, we have hesitated to embrace the presumption that a § 1983 action for the violation of Fourth Amendment rights is the same cause of action as a state law civil claim or criminal proceeding. See, e.g., Donovan, 105 F.3d at 297 (distinguishing § 1983 action for arrest without probable cause from state law action for malicious prosecution); Vinson, 820 F.2d at 197 (distinguishing § 1983 action from state’s criminal case against plaintiff). In Ohio, a defendant can prevail in a claim for false arrest even if he lacked probable cause to arrest, as long as he possessed some reasonable basis for believing the accused was guilty. See McFinley v. Bethesda Oak Hosp., 79 Ohio App.3d 613, 607 N.E.2d 936, 939 (Ohio Ct.App.1992); see also Hansen v. Westerville City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ., Nos. 93-3231, 93-3303, 1994 WL 622153, at  (6th Cir. Nov. 7, 1994) (table). Indeed, the claims are legally distinct from one another, as “probable cause for the institution of a criminal prosecution and lawful justification for a detention or confinement ... are not ... fully synonymous as predicates for tort liability in Ohio.” McFinley, 607 N.E.2d at 939. Moreover, a bond forfeiture only “leaves open the question of guilt and possible conviction,” Neff, 501 N.E.2d at 676, and does not constitute the direct determination of an issue; under the above delineated principles of Ohio estoppel law, a bond forfeiture therefore could not preclude the present action. As the issue of probable cause was not actually litigated in this case and as, in any event, the bond forfeiture precludes only the relitigation of the issue of the reasonableness of, and not the probable cause for, an arrest, we adhere to our conclusion that the bond forfeiture does not bar Ingram and Collins from litigating their § 1983 claims for arrest without probable cause in violation of the Fourth Amendment. In dismissing this claim of arrest without probable cause, the district court implicitly assumed that Ingram and Collins in fact interfered with Defendants’ attempt to apprehend Carroll. However, in deciding a motion for summary judgment, the district court should have taken as true Plaintiffs’ assertions instead of adopting the testimony of Defendants, who claimed that Ingram and Collins obstructed their entry. Plaintiffs produced two affidavits asserting that they did not in any way interfere with the officers who entered their home that afternoon. This factual dispute is material on the question of whether Defendants acted reasonably, and renders erroneous the district court’s conclusion that Plaintiffs raised no genuine issue of material fact as to whether Defendants arrested them without probable cause. Even if we were to accept Defendants’ allegation that Ingram and Collins impeded their entry by blocking their path, Defendants may not have had probable cause to arrest them for a violation of § 2921.31. To determine whether officers had probable cause to arrest an individual, we must look to the law of the jurisdiction at the time of the occurrence. See Manetta v. Macomb County Enforcement Team, 141 F.3d 270, 276 (6th Cir.1998). At the time Defendants arrested Ingram and Collins, Ohio law recognized that because war-rantless entries by the police are presumptively unreasonable, an individual could “act on that presumption and refuse admission. The Fourth Amendment gives him a constitutional right to refuse entry and search. The assertion of that right cannot be a crime.” City of Middleburg Heights v. Theiss, 28 Ohio App.3d 1, 501 N.E.2d 1226, 1229 (Ohio Ct.App.1985). In accordance with this principle, Ohio law conferred upon private individuals “at least some limited right to resist entrance, such as locking or closing the door, or physically placing one’s self in the officer’s way.” Id. at 1230. In recognition of these rights, Ohio courts had held, by the time of the 1994 arrests of Ingram and Collins,. that the assertion of the constitutional rights to refuse and resist entry could not give rise to an obstruction of justice violation. See, e.g., State v. Howard, 75 Ohio App.3d 760, 600 N.E.2d 809, 817 (Ohio Ct.App.1991); State v. Neftzer, 62 Ohio Misc.2d 384, 598 N.E.2d 938, 940-41 (Ohio Clermont County Mun. Ct.1992). Given the facts as alleged by Ingram and Collins, and the status of Ohio law at the time of their arrests, we conclude that a genuine issue of fact existed as to whether Defendants arrested Ingram and Collins without probable cause, and that summary judgment in favor of Defendants on this claim was therefore inappropriate.