Opinion ID: 167399
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Mr. Trask's unlawful detention and arrest claims

Text: 33 The district court granted the probation officers summary judgment on Mr. Trask's § 1983 claims of unlawful detention and arrest. The court found no affirmative link between Mr. Trask's alleged constitutional deprivations and the probation officers' exercise of control or failure to supervise NMSP Officer Smith. Aplts' App. at 102. On appeal, we review de novo the court's grant of summary judgment on these claims, construing the factual record and reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to Mr. Trask. DeSpain, 264 F.3d at 971. 34 Mr. Trask maintains that the probation officers are responsible for his detention and arrest because (1) they called NMSP Officer Smith to the residence, (2) they falsely represented that they had lawful authority to search the residence, and (3) NMSP Officer Smith arrested and charged Mr. Trask as a result of the[ir] actions and representations. Aplts' Br. at 23-24. The officers respond that they should not be held liable because they did not personally participate in Mr. Trask's detention or arrest. They note that NMSP Officer Smith decided to detain Mr. Trask for officer safety, and later arrested him for obstructing an officer when it became clear that Mr. Trask had lied about Ms. Bliss's location. 35 Mr. Trask can survive summary judgment if he presents adequate evidence of the probation officers' liability either in a supervisory or non-supervisory capacity. We agree with the district court that no evidence in the record suggests that the probation officers personally participated in or supervised Mr. Trask's detention and arrest. The absence of supervision, though, does not end our analysis. Anyone who `causes' any citizen to be subjected to a constitutional deprivation is also liable. Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir.1978). The requisite causal connection is satisfied if the defendant[s] set in motion a series of events that the defendant[s] knew or reasonably should have known would cause others to deprive the plaintiff of [his] constitutional rights. Snell v. Tunnell, 920 F.2d 673, 700 (10th Cir.1990) (quoting Conner v. Reinhard, 847 F.2d 384, 397 (7th Cir.1988)). 36 Even if a factfinder concludes that the residential search was unlawful, the officers only would be liable for the harm `proximately' or `legally' caused by their tortious conduct. Bodine v. Warwick, 72 F.3d 393, 400 (3d Cir.1995). They would not, however, necessarily be liable for all of the harm caused in the `philosophic' or but-for sense by the illegal entry. Id. In civil rights cases, a superseding cause, as we traditionally understand it in tort law, relieves a defendant of liability. See, e.g., Warner v. Orange County Dep't of Prob., 115 F.3d 1068, 1071 (2d Cir.1997); Springer v. Seaman, 821 F.2d 871, 877 (1st Cir. 1987), abrogated on other grounds by Jett v. Dallas Indep. Sch. Dist., 491 U.S. 701, 109 S.Ct. 2702, 105 L.Ed.2d 598 (1989). 37 In Bodine, then-Judge Alito outlined a hypothetical scenario relevant here: 38 Suppose that three police officers go to a suspect's house to execute an arrest warrant and that they improperly enter without knocking and announcing their presence. Once inside, they encounter the suspect, identify themselves, show him the warrant, and tell him that they are placing him under arrest. The suspect, however, breaks away, shoots and kills two of the officers, and is preparing to shoot the third officer when that officer disarms the suspect and in the process injures him. Is the third officer necessarily liable for the harm caused to the suspect on the theory that the illegal entry without knocking and announcing rendered any subsequent use of force unlawful? The obvious answer is no. The suspect's conduct would constitute a superseding cause, see Restatement (Second) of Torts § 442 (1965), that would limit the officer's liability. See id. § 440. 39 Bodine, 72 F.3d at 400 (other citation omitted). 40 In assessing but for and proximate causes of Mr. Trask's alleged injuries, we can first reasonably infer that Mr. Trask's detention and arrest would not have occurred but for the probation officers' inspection and conduct. We next determine if they should be legally responsible as a proximate cause of the unlawful detention and arrest that Mr. Trask alleges. The probation officers' conduct was not the proximate cause of Mr. Trask's alleged injuries if another act intervened and superseded the officer's liability for subsequent events. White v. Roper, 901 F.2d 1501, 1506 (9th Cir.1990); see also Restatement (Second) of Torts § 442 (1965) (outlining important considerations in determining whether an intervening force is a superseding cause). Another cause of Mr. Trask's alleged unlawful detention was his appearance at the door with knives, which required NMSP Officer Smith to handcuff him for officer safety. Absent the knives, NMSP Officer Smith would not have handcuffed Mr. Trask immediately. 41 Whether Mr. Trask's appearance with knives was a superseding act that limited the probation officers' liability depends upon what the probation officers reasonably foresaw when they first called for police backup. See White, 901 F.2d at 1506 (explaining how a prisoner's intervening conduct may supersede a prison official's liability for alleged deliberate indifference, depending on what was reasonably foreseeable to the prison official). Foreseeable intervening forces are within the scope of the original risk, and ... will not supercede the defendant's responsibility. W. Page Keeton et al., Prosser and Keeton on Torts § 44, at 303-04 (5th ed.1984). Therefore, Mr. Trask's appearance with knives superseded the probation officers' responsibility if the officers, when they called for assistance, did not reasonably foresee detention of Mr. Trask during the search. 42 Further, if the reasonable foreseeability of [an intervening act's occurrence] is a factor in determining whether the intervening act relieves the actor from liability for his antecedent [wrongful act], and under the undisputed facts there is room for reasonable difference of opinion as to whether such act was [wrongful] or foreseeable, the question should be left for the jury. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 453 cmt. b (1965). The record on appeal leaves too much unanswered, and it is premature without more evidence to discern what the probation officers reasonably foresaw when they called for backup assistance. A factfinder might reasonably infer after evaluating more evidence that the officers expected to use backup assistance (1) to detain anyone answering the door other than Ms. Bliss while they searched the residence, (2) to have force available in case the search warranted someone's detention, (3) to encourage the residents to open the door, or (4) to assist only in entering the home if no one answered. 43 As to the unlawful arrest claim, Mr. Trask lied to NMSP Officer Smith and the probation officers when he told them that Ms. Bliss was no longer in the house. While the probation officers' conduct was a but-for cause of the arrest, Mr. Trask's false statement was an additional cause. After more evidence is collected, a factfinder might need to determine whether it was reasonably foreseeable to the probation officers that Mr. Trask would lie or warrant arrest. Even an intervening criminal act is not a superseding act to limit the probation officers' liability if the criminal act was foreseeable. See id. § 448. 44 On remand, either the court or a factfinder must determine how much of Mr. Trask's alleged unlawful detention and arrest were proximately (or legally) caused by the probation officers' conduct. After the record is more developed, the court should handle these questions of proximate cause if the facts are not in dispute and reasonable persons could not differ about the application to those facts of . . . `proximate cause.' Keeton et al., supra, § 45, at 321. If reasonable persons could differ, a factfinder should determine the issues of proximate cause. Id. Accordingly, we reverse the grant of summary judgment on these claims.