Opinion ID: 152040
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Bernabei Had Probable Cause to Arrest Purvis

Text: The last question we address is whether Bernabei's arresting Purvis is protected by the doctrine of qualified immunity. We apply the same two-part test already discussed; namely to determine whether the doctrine attaches, we ask: (1) whether the facts, taken in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, show that the defendant violated a constitutional right; and (2) whether that constitutional right was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation. Wheeler, 539 F.3d at 639 (citing Saucier, 533 U.S. at 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151). Studying the record, it is clear that Bernabei uncovered sufficient evidence to justify his arresting Purvis. The first question in addressing a qualified-immunity defense concerns the merit of the underlying constitutional claim. Norfleet v. Webster, 439 F.3d 392, 395 (7th Cir.2006). Even viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Purvis, Bernabei had probable cause to arrest her. Therefore, her constitutional rights were not violated. Mustafa v. City of Chicago, 442 F.3d 544, 547 (7th Cir.2006). Bernabei is thus entitled to protection under the doctrine of qualified immunity. Akande v. Grounds, 555 F.3d 586, 590 (7th Cir.2009). Bernabei uncovered considerable evidence of Purvis's having had an illegal, sexual relationship with her student. First, Bernabei read M.R.'s written report, which recounted in considerable detail the substance of his illicit relationship with his teacher. Second, the police officer met with M.R.'s mother, who told him that she had suspected something was going on between her son and Purvis. Bernabei was also informed that M.R. had told his grandmother that he and Purvis had kissed and that Purvis had told him that she loved him. Fourth, on November 16, 2004, Bernabei conducted an in-person interview of M.R., whose ensuing account of his affair with Purvis was consistent with his prior statement. Fifth, the officer arranged with the U.S. Navy that Rick Andes, a witness who was onboard a submarine, would be kept ex communicado until Bernabei spoke with him. When Bernabei spoke with Andes by phone, the latter gave an account that was largely consistent with M.R.'s as to what had transpired one evening in late February/early March 2004. Andes explained that he had driven to Purvis's home that evening to pick up M.R., that he had seen Purvis and M.R. French kiss and that Purvis had said that M.R. was a good lay or was good in bed. Andes also accurately described Purvis's home. The preceding evidence consisted of a victim's statement, which the arresting officer perceived to be credible and which was independently verified in material part by an independent witness. Yet, this was not the only evidence that Bernabei uncovered before making an arrest. M.R.'s mother phoned Purvis on November 11, 2004, and allowed Bernabei to listen in without making his presence known. Purvis adamantly denied having had sexual intercourse with M.R., but admitted that she loved him (in a platonic way), that M.R. had been at her house on two occasions while her husband was away and that she had told M.R. to lie to his parents about his being there, [2] that she had danced with M.R. at homecoming and that she had inadvertently shared a kiss with M.R., which he initiated and had caught her by surprise and that she had messed up by getting too close to him. Bernabei uncovered yet more evidence when he subpoenaed M.R.'s and Purvis's telephone records. They revealed that the teacher and student had exchanged in excess of 500 phone calls between January 18 and May 7, 2004. Some of these calls occurred in the early hours of the morning. On Valentine's Day, they exchanged 20 phone calls, which amounted to three hours' speaking time. In addition to this evidence, Bernabei also spoke with a number of students, who gave varying accounts of the truth of the rumors. He also corroborated the purchase of gifts that M.R. and Purvis had supposedly given each other. Probable cause requires only that a probability or a substantial chance of criminal activity exist. Beauchamp v. City of Noblesville, Ind., 320 F.3d 733, 743 (7th Cir.2003); Holmes v. Village of Hoffman Estate, 511 F.3d 673, 679 (7th Cir. 2007). The evidence need not show that the officer's belief is more likely true than false. Hughes v. Meyer, 880 F.2d 967, 969 (7th Cir.1989). In light of the preceding, undisputed evidence, it seems inescapable to us that this standard is satisfied. Bernabei had a written and highly detailed statement from the alleged victim, which the latter later echoed in a taped interview and which was independently corroborated by a witness who could not have been coached. This inculpatory evidence was bolstered by considerable circumstantial evidence. We find that it easily meets the standard of probable cause. The district court gave short shrift to the preceding, undisputed evidence, focusing instead on evidence uncovered by Bernabei that potentially served to undermine the inculpatory evidence. The court was, of course, correct to construe all contested evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and also to draw all reasonable inferences from undisputed facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Harney v. Speedway SuperAmerica, L.L.C., 526 F.3d 1099, 1104 (7th Cir.2008). But even viewed in this light, the record could not support a jury finding that Bernabei lacked probable cause. Ultimately, the district court overstepped in finding that Purvis had by the barest of margins presented a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Bernabei had probable cause. In considering the factors that proved controlling to the district court, it is worth emphasizing that there is a difference between evidence of the kind that negates proof beyond a reasonable doubt and that which is so significant as to undo the existence of probable cause. As noted above, the evidence required to establish probable cause is considerably less than that required to sustain a criminal conviction. See Braun v. Baldwin, 346 F.3d 761, 766 (7th Cir.2003) (Probable cause is not proof beyond a reasonable doubt, or even proof by a preponderance of the evidence.). Ultimately, of course, the exculpatory evidence unearthed proved sufficient to earn Purvis an acquittal following a bench trial. But as we now explain, it did not result in Bernabei's lacking probable cause to arrest Purvis. The first factor relied upon by the district court was that Bernabei knew that M.R. had initially denied the rumors when questioned by school officials. This, of course, is relevant evidence going to the question of Purvis's guilt, but this fact's impact should not be exaggerated. After all, a student's initial hesitancy to reveal the story of his illicit affair with a teacher should hardly be surprising. While it is exculpatory, it hardly suffices to undo the fact of probable cause when viewed in light of the extensive inculpatory evidence discussed above. See Spiegel v. Cortese, 196 F.3d 717, 724-25 (7th Cir.1999). Second, the district court noted evidence that Bernabei knew that M.R. was working as a paid police informant. This injects a further twist into an already bizarre case and could certainly evidence possible bias. But standing alone, and even viewed in the light most favorable to Purvis, it does not negate the existence of probable cause, which does not even require proof [of guilt] by a preponderance of the evidence. Braun, 346 F.3d at 766. Even if one discounts the reliability of M.R.'s statements, it bears noting that certain, important details of those statements were corroborated by a third party, Andes. There is also the significant matter of the voluminous circumstantial evidence of an improper relationship, from the telephone records to Purvis's own admissions on the phone to M.R.'s mother. Third, the district court put weight on the fact that M.R. lied to Bernabei about not contacting Purvis after his November 10, 2004 interview with the police officer. Indeed, evidence suggests that M.R. contacted her the very same day as his interview and then again on November 15 to warn her that he had told the police that they had had a sexual relationship. This clearly goes to M.R.'s credibility, but it seems to us that this evidence might be more accurately characterized as impeaching, rather than exculpatory. In light of the strong, inculpatory evidence discussed above, the victim's impulse to protect the teacher with whom he may have had an affair cannot fairly be said to nullify probable cause. Fourth, the district court found fault with Bernabei's reporting of the contents of the telephone conversation between M.R.'s mother and Purvis. Specifically, the court observed that Bernabei reported the contents of the conversation in a way that cast the conversation as corroborative of a sexual relationship. Yet, Bernabei's report began by noting that Purvis had repeatedly denied having sexual intercourse with M.R. In any event, many details unearthed during this particular phone conversation suggest an inappropriate relationship between M.R. and Purvis, such as her admitting that they had kissed, her inviting him to her house while her husband was away and her telling him to lie to his parents about it. The substance of the phone call, it would seem to us, added to rather than detracted from the evidence supporting probable cause to arrest Purvis. Next, the court focused on M.R.'s somewhat implausible claim that he came nine times in the course of a few hours while having sex with Purvis. Evidence exists that Bernabei told M.R. that this claim was incredible a month or two before trial. The district court thought that this conversation, viewed in the light most favorable to Purvis, suggests that Bernabei did not find this claim to be reliable prior to his arresting the plaintiff. This evidence could of course be used to impeach M.R., but implausible boasts of sexual prowess by a teenage boy would hardly be unprecedented. A reasonable police officer could discount such an assertion as hyperbolic grandstanding, while still finding credible the underlying claim of interest, namely that M.R. and Purvis had had a sexual relationship. Sixth, the district court was concerned with Bernabei's reporting of his interviews with various students at Hall High School concerning their views on the accuracy of the rumors that had circulated about M.R. and Purvis. Specifically, Bernabei's report omitted non-corroborative information, such as some students' denials of a sexual relationship between the two, one student's statement that M.R. had said that he was going to get Purvis for what she had done to him and Oest's note that [p]eople made up stuff. While selective reporting is certainly problematic, at least two factors lead us to believe that the evidence obtained from the students was not sufficiently exculpatory as to nullify probable cause. First, one might reasonably question the reliability of high-school-student testimony as to the validity of circulating rumors. Second, the fact that some students believed the rumors and some did not does not undo the significant inculpatory evidence Bernabei unearthed from other sources. Seventh, evidence existed that M.R. had stolen the plaintiff's internet, instant-messaging password and had used it to impersonate Purvis in conversations with Purvis's mother to obtain personal information. There was also evidence that Purvis had spoken in class about the location and design of her tattoo, such that M.R.'s knowledge of it did not necessarily show that he had had intimate relations with her. Moreover, some evidence suggests that M.R. had found out about Purvis's vibrator from a fellow student who had accidentally discovered it while babysitting for Purvis's daughter. In addition, Purvis complained that some of her personal effects had been stolen from her desk at school. Construing this evidence in the light most favorable to Purvis, in conjunction with the undisputed facts in the record, it does not follow that Bernabei lacked probable cause. It certainly goes some way toward establishing a reasonable doubt as to Purvis's guilt, but M.R.'s specific testimony, corroborated by an independent witness, and buttressed by considerable circumstantial evidence in the form of phone records and otherwise, establishes a substantial chance that criminal activity had occurred. Beauchamp, 320 F.3d at 743. The last factor relied upon by the district court involved perceived shortcomings in Bernabei's investigation. These involved his failure immediately to investigate the classroom storage area where M.R. and Purvis supposedly first had sex, his delay in searching Purvis's home and computer and his failure to examine M.R.'s home computer. With respect to the storage area, Bernabei aptly points out that the sexual encounter was alleged to have taken place more than half a year before. It is not clear what kind of evidence one would expect to find after such an interval. With respect to the computers and home search, it would seem that the district court may have envisioned a flawless and fully comprehensive investigation's being a prerequisite to Bernabei's having probable cause to arrest Purvis. Such is clearly not the case, for we have long recognized that the law does not require that a police officer conduct an incredibly detailed investigation at the probable cause stage. Gerald M. v. Conneely, 858 F.2d 378, 381 (7th Cir.1988). Ultimately, no investigation is perfect, but given the totality of the circumstances, the record makes clear that Bernabei had probable cause to arrest Purvis, even when it is viewed in the best possible light for her. To find otherwise on the record before us would be to subject police officers to potentially disabling threats of liability. Tangwall v. Stuckey, 135 F.3d 510, 514 (7th Cir.1998). We note in closing that, even if we were wrong in this regard and Bernabei in fact lacked probable cause to arrest Purvis, a reasonable officer could have believed that probable cause existed, even if that belief were ultimately mistaken. See Wheeler, 539 F.3d at 639. A police officer faced with the evidence unearthed by Bernabei could not be characterized as plainly incompetent in concluding that probable cause existed to arrest Purvis. Id.; see also Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 349, 106 S.Ct. 1092, 89 L.Ed.2d 271 (1986). Even on this alternative ground, then, Bernabei is entitled to qualified immunity.