Opinion ID: 557798
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Execution of the Search Warrants

Text: 55 We reach a different conclusion to the extent that plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment claims are grounded on allegations of improper execution of the search warrants. The bases for these claims include the assertions that the agents battered plaintiffs' doors without first knocking or identifying themselves, that the searches were not merely thorough but were unreasonably destructive, and that the treatment of Rivera, with one officer forcing her head to the floor with his foot and others subsequently performing a publicly observable strip search, was excessively intrusive. These claims raised questions of fact. 56 We reject defendants' contention that we should uphold the summary dismissal of claims based on the agents' failure to knock and identify themselves on the grounds that plaintiffs merely failed to hear knocks and identifications that actually occurred, or that exigent circumstances justified any failure to provide notice. The Fourth Amendment required the officers to make a reasonable effort to provide actual, and not merely pro forma, notice of their identity and imminent entry. See United States v. Mapp, 476 F.2d 67, 75 (2d Cir.1973) (notice of purpose and identity required by both Sec. 3109 and Fourth Amendment); Miller v. United States, 357 U.S. 301, 311, 78 S.Ct. 1190, 1196, 2 L.Ed.2d 1332 (1958) (responding to request for identification by saying police in a low voice that might not have been heard is not sufficient notice for purposes of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3109); see also United States v. Andrus, 775 F.2d 825, 844 (7th Cir.1985) (applying Sec. 3109 notice requirement in Fourth Amendment context); United States v. Francis, 646 F.2d 251, 257-58 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1082, 102 S.Ct. 637, 70 L.Ed.2d 616 (1981) (same); United States v. Baker, 638 F.2d 198, 202-03 & n. 7 (10th Cir.1980) (same); but see United States v. Nolan, 718 F.2d 589, 600-02 (3d Cir.1983) (opining that prohibitions of Fourth Amendment and Sec. 3109, though overlapping, do not perfectly coincide). Further, exigent circumstances may excuse noncompliance with the notice requirement for executing search warrants only where (1) the officers believe there is an imminent danger of bodily harm to persons inside or of destruction of critical evidence and (2) their belief is objectively reasonable. See United States v. Spinelli, 848 F.2d 26, 29 (2d Cir.1988); United States v. Stewart, 867 F.2d 581, 584 (10th Cir.1989). 57 Whether defendants made any effort whatever to announce themselves is in sharp dispute. The resolution of that dispute is a matter for the finder of fact, not for the court on summary judgment. Similarly, a determination of whether exigent circumstances made it justifiable for the agents to enter, or reasonably to believe they had a right to enter, without announcing themselves is fact-specific. See Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 641, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 3040, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987); United States v. MacDonald, 916 F.2d 766, 769 (2d Cir.1990) (en banc), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 1071, 112 L.Ed.2d 1177 (1991). On a motion for summary judgment, the court is required to resolve all ambiguities and draw all factual inferences in favor of the party against whom summary judgment is sought. See, e.g., Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). 58 There are similar questions as to the conduct of the searches. Absent special circumstances, the police of course have the authority to detain occupants of premises while an authorized search is in progress, regardless of individualized suspicion. See Michigan v. Summers, 452 U.S. 692, 101 S.Ct. 2587, 69 L.Ed.2d 340 (1981). They also have the authority to make a limited search of an individual on those premises as a self-protective measure. See, e.g., United States v. Barlin, 686 F.2d 81, 87 (2d Cir.1982) (search of handbag of woman who had entered an apartment together with individuals known to be involved in drug transactions in the apartment constituted a reasonable, self-protective minimal intrusion). Beyond this general authority to detain persons and make limited security searches, however, there must be probable cause, or at least some degree of particularized suspicion, to justify further searches or seizures of individuals who are neither named in the warrant nor arrested as a consequence of the search. See generally Ybarra v. Illinois, 444 U.S. 85, 91-94, 100 S.Ct. 338, 342-43, 62 L.Ed.2d 238 (1979). Mere possession of a search warrant, for example, will not normally authorize strip searches of the occupants of the premises. See generally Burns v. Loranger, 907 F.2d 233 (1st Cir.1990). A strip search is by its very nature a highly intrusive invasion. M.M. v. Anker, 607 F.2d 588, 589 (2d Cir.1979); see Walsh v. Franco, 849 F.2d 66, 69-70 (2d Cir.1988); Burns v. Loranger, 907 F.2d at 235 n. 6 (there can be no question that a strip search, by its very nature, constitutes an extreme intrusion upon personal privacy, as well as an offense to the dignity of the individual). Even misdemeanor arrestees have a right, absent a particularized suspicion that the arrestee is concealing weapons or other contraband based on the crime charged, the particular characteristics of the arrestee, and/or the circumstances of the arrest, not to be subjected to strip searches by prison officials. Weber v. Dell, 804 F.2d 796, 802 (2d Cir.1986), cert. denied, 483 U.S. 1020, 107 S.Ct. 3263, 97 L.Ed.2d 762 (1987). 59 In the present case, Boylan's investigation of the persons residing in the targeted apartments had not revealed any indication that those persons had ever been involved in wrongdoing. There are substantial questions here as to whether the circumstances warranted any belief on the part of the officers that a pat-down search would not suffice to reveal the concealment of any weapons, and whether it would have been reasonable for the officers to think that at 6 a.m. an occupant of the apartment would be concealing contraband on her person or under her undergarments. 60 In sum, though it was undoubtedly reasonable as a matter of law for the agents to frisk the occupants of the apartments and to prevent them, prior to completion of the searches, from making telephone calls that could prematurely alert coconspirators, the claims that no notice of entry was given, that property was unreasonably destroyed, and that physical treatment was excessively rough or intrusive, raised questions of fact. Any question as to whether, if plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment rights were violated, the individual defendants have qualified immunity because they had a reasonable belief that, under the circumstances, their actions did not violate those rights, also rests on disputed questions of fact. See Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. at 642-46, 107 S.Ct. at 3040-42. We conclude that the district court erred in ruling that the treatment of the occupants and their property during the execution of the warrants was reasonable as a matter of law and in dismissing these claims on summary judgment.