Opinion ID: 2996704
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Chief Alcala’s alleged failure to intervene

Text: Mr. Morfin next argues that the district court erred in granting summary judgment to Chief Alcala. According to Mr. Morfin, the law is clearly established that an officer has a duty to intervene to prevent a false arrest or the use of excessive force if the officer is informed of the facts that establish a constitutional violation and has the ability to prevent it. See Miller v. Smith, 220 F.3d 491, 495 (7th Cir. 2000); Yang v. Hardin, 37 F.3d 282, 285 (7th Cir. 1994). Here, Mr. Morfin maintains that Chief Alcala was informed of the situation at the barbershop by Officer Kovats but, despite this knowledge, failed to take any action to prevent Officer Kovats from going forward with the allegedly unlawful arrest of Mr. Morfin. Chief Alcala cannot be liable for any constitutional violations committed by his officers simply by virtue of his supervisory role. As we have explained on more than one occasion, “[T]o be liable for the conduct of subordinates, a supervisor must be personally involved in that conduct.” [Lanigan v. Vill. of E. Hazel Crest, 110 F.3d 467, 471 (7th Cir. 1999)] (citations omitted). “[S]upervisors who are merely negligent in failing to detect and prevent subordinates’ misconduct are not liable. . . . The supervisors must know about the conduct and facilitate it, approve it, condone it, or turn a blind eye for fear of what they might see. They must in other words act either knowingly or with deliberate, reckless indifference.” Jones v. City of Chi., 856 F.2d 985, 992-93 (7th Cir. 1988) (citations omitted). 22 No. 02-3113 Chavez v. Illinois State Police, 251 F.3d 612, 651 (7th Cir. 2001). The question therefore is whether, based on the facts in the record, Chief Alcala approved, condoned, or turned a blind eye to Officer Kovats’ allegedly unconstitutional actions. If the record suggested that Chief Alcala had knowledge of facts that would cause him to believe that Officer Kovats was about to make an unconstitutional arrest but failed to use his authority to stop the violation, his failure would result in liability under § 1983. However, we do not believe that the record, even when read in the light most favorable to Mr. Morfin, can support a conclusion that Chief Alcala had knowledge that an unlawful arrest (or any other constitutional violation) was imminent. Only three individuals testified regarding Chief Alcala’s telephone conversation with Officer Kovats: Officer Kovats, Chief Alcala and Ryan. Officer Kovats’ deposition does not contain any reference to a specific conversation with Chief Alcala; according to Officer Kovats, he spoke with one or two people at the ECPD before being transferred to Ryan, with whom he had his only substantive conversation. Chief Alcala testified that he was informed by Officer Kovats “[t]hat Rick was disregarding a police order and was attempting to interrupt a crime scene and smudge prints—if there were any fingerprints on the machines—to try to cover it up.” Alcala Dep. at 84. Unsure about Mr. Morfin’s authority, Chief Alcala turned the telephone over to Ryan. Finally, according to Ryan, Officer Kovats told him that Mr. Morfin wanted access to the machines, and, in the middle of the telephone conversation, “Mr. Morfin went for the machines and tried to take them.” Ryan Dep. at 35. According to the evidence in the record, therefore, the only source of information for both Chief Alcala and Ryan concerning what was occurring in the barbershop on May 3, 1999, was Officer Kovats. Mr. Morfin does not point to any evidence No. 02-3113 23 in the record that establishes that Chief Alcala’s knowledge of the events involving Mr. Morfin was broader than that reported to him by Officer Kovats. Similarly, Mr. Morfin fails to come forward with any evidence that Chief Alcala had a reason to question what Officer Kovats reported to him over the telephone. The record reflects that the only information known to Chief Alcala prior to the arrest was that Mr. Morfin was interfering with the crime scene and ignoring the direct orders of police officers. Based on this information, Chief Alcala reasonably could have concluded that there was probable cause to arrest Mr. Morfin and that there was no reason to put Officer Kovats to further inquiry or to prevent him from arresting Mr. Morfin. As noted above, the burden was on Mr. Morfin to come forward with specific facts in the record that demonstrated that there was a genuine issue of material fact for trial. There is no evidence in the record from which a jury could conclude that Chief Alcala was apprised of a different set of events at the barbershop, and “[s]peculation is insufficient to withstand summary judgment.” Ortiz v. John O. Butler Co., 94 F.3d 1121, 1127 (7th Cir. 1996). Consequently, we must affirm the district court’s entry of summary judgment 14 in favor of Chief Alcala. 14 Mr. Morfin also faults Chief Alcala for failing to hasten his release once he discovered Mr. Morfin had been detained. However, again, there is no evidence in the record to suggest that Chief Alcala was aware of facts that would lead a reasonable officer in his position to conclude that Mr. Morfin’s arrest was unlawful. Additionally, as noted above, the fact that Chief Alcala was Mr. Morfin’s ultimate custodian during his short detention on the evening of May 3, 1999, is insufficient involvement to hold Chief Alcala liable for the arrest. (continued...) 24 No. 02-3113 4. Kevin Pastrick’s alleged participation in the arrest Mr. Morfin also maintains that the district court erred in entering summary judgment on behalf of Kevin Pastrick. Mr. Morfin points to the Supreme Court’s decisions in Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co., 500 U.S. 614 (1991), and Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922 (1982), in support of the proposition that private individuals can be held liable under § 1983 when they act jointly with state officials in denying the rights of other citizens. Mr. Morfin believes that a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether Kevin Pastrick acted jointly with Officer Kovats in the allegedly unlawful arrest. The defendants concede “that a private individual could be held liable under Section 1983 upon a showing that the private individual and state actor(s) acted in concert or jointly in depriving a person of civil rights.” Appellees’ Br. at 44. However, the defendants maintain that there is no evidence in the record to suggest that any comment made by Kevin Pastrick influenced the officers to arrest Mr. Morfin. Furthermore, because the decision to arrest “occurred after Morfin’s refusal to follow commands through the various officers’ requests not to touch the voting machines,” “any alleged statements attributed to Pastrick were not decisive.” Id. at 46. We respectfully disagree. 14 (...continued) We also note that Mr. Morfin’s claim against the City of East Chicago rests on the involvement of Chief Alcala and his role as a policymaker for the City. Consequently, because we hold that there is insufficient evidence in the record to hold Chief Alcala liable for Mr. Morfin’s allegedly unlawful arrest, we also uphold the district court’s judgment in favor of the City with respect to this claim. No. 02-3113 25 “Although the conduct of private parties lies beyond the Constitution’s scope in most instances, governmental authority may dominate an activity to such an extent that its participants must be deemed to act with the authority of the government and, as a result, be subject to constitutional constraints.” Edmonson, 500 U.S. at 620. A court must be guided by two considerations in determining whether to hold a private citizen liable for an alleged constitutional violation: 1) “whether the claimed constitutional deprivation resulted from the exercise of a right or privilege having its source in state authority”; and 2) “whether the private party charged with the deprivation could be described in all fairness as a state actor.” Id. There is no question that Mr. Morfin’s arrest resulted from the exercise of a privilege of a police officer, having its source in state authority. The only issue is whether Kevin Pastrick, in this scenario, can be considered a state actor. A private citizen may be considered a state actor for any number of reasons, for instance, “because he has acted together with or has obtained significant aid from state officials, or because his conduct is otherwise chargeable to the State.” Lugar, 457 U.S. at 937. This is necessarily a factbound inquiry, and, as the Supreme Court has observed, “[o]nly by sifting facts and weighing circumstances can the nonobvious involvement of the State in private conduct be attributed its true significance.” Burton v. Wilmington Parking Auth., 365 U.S. 715, 722 (1961). We cannot say as a matter of law that, on the record before us, Kevin Pastrick did not act jointly with Officer Kovats in the arrest of Mr. Morfin. According to Mr. Morfin and Shaffer, Mr. Morfin cooperated with the officers in the barbershop and only examined the machines with the permission of Officer Kovats. There was no concern with respect to Mr. Morfin’s actions until Kevin Pastrick arrived on 26 No. 02-3113 the scene. Then, after Kevin Pastrick’s repeated orders for Officer Kovats to arrest Mr. Morfin, Officers Kovats and Arcuri arrested Mr. Morfin. The combination of these events could lead a jury to conclude that, without the influence of Kevin Pastrick, Officer Kovats would not have arrested Mr. Morfin. The present situation is not unlike the procedural and factual situation addressed by the Supreme Court in Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144 (1970). In that case, the Supreme Court held that genuine issues of material fact precluded summary judgment on the issue of whether the employees of the Kress store had acted in concert, or had conspired, with local police in arresting a Caucasian woman for attempting to eat with a group of African-American students. The Supreme Court noted that in moving for summary judgment, Kress argued that “uncontested facts” established that no conspiracy existed between any Kress employee and the police. To support this assertion, Kress pointed first to the statements in the deposition of the store manager (Mr. Powell) that (a) he had not communicated with the police, and that (b) he had, by a prearranged tacit signal ordered the food counter supervisor to see that Miss Adickes was refused service only because he was fearful of a riot . . . . Kress also relied on affidavits from Hattiesburg chief of police, and the two arresting officers, to the effect that store manager Powell had not requested that petitioner be arrested. Finally, Kress pointed to the statements in petitioner’s own deposition that she had no knowledge of any communication between any Kress employee and any member of the Hattiesburg police, and was relying on circumstantial evidence to support her contention that there was an arrangement between Kress and the police. No. 02-3113 27 Id. at 154-56 (footnotes omitted). Although the plaintiff admitted that she had no knowledge of an agreement between any Kress employee and the police, she did bring forward evidence that the policeman who arrested her was present in the store at the time she was refused service. In the Court’s view, the presence of this policeman in the store created a genuine issue of material fact with respect to whether an agreement had been reached between that officer and a Kress employee. The Court explained: If a policeman were present, we think it would be open to a jury, in light of the sequence that followed, to infer from the circumstances that the policeman and a Kress employee had a “meeting of the minds” and thus reached an understanding that petitioner should be refused service. Id. at 158. Similarly, in this case, although there is no evidence of an overt agreement between Kevin Pastrick and Officer Kovats to arrest Mr. Morfin, Kevin Pastrick’s presence at the scene, his urgent insistence concerning Mr. Morfin’s arrest and the sequence of events leading to Mr. Morfin’s arrest would allow a reasonable juror to conclude that Kevin Pastrick and Officer Kovats had reached a meeting of the minds that Mr. Morfin should be arrested or had acted jointly in doing so. Consequently, the district court erred in entering summary judgment for Kevin Pastrick on Mr. Morfin’s Fourth Amendment claim.