Opinion ID: 740792
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Probable Cause for Seizure and Search

Text: 10 An officer has probable cause to seize a suspect when the facts and circumstances within the officer's personal knowledge, or of which he has reasonably trustworthy information, are sufficient in themselves to warrant a man of reasonable caution to believe that an offense has been or is being committed. See United States v. Maher, 919 F.2d 1482, 1485 (10th Cir.1990). Probable cause to conduct a search exists when the officer believes a crime has been committed and that evidence of the crime will be found in the place to be searched. See Franz v. Lytle, 997 F.2d 784, 787-88 (10th Cir.1993). Based on the undisputed facts, we conclude that defendant had probable cause both to seize and to search plaintiffs. 11 We consider first whether defendant lacked probable cause to believe plaintiffs were publicly nude, because their private areas were covered when he first saw them. The term publicly nude is defined by forest service regulation as follows: 12 Publicly nude means nude in any place where a person may be observed by another person. Any person is nude if the person has failed to cover the rectal area, pubic area or genitals. A female person is also nude if she has failed to cover both breasts below a point immediately above the top of the areola. Each such covering must be fully opaque. 13 36 C.F.R. § 261.2. 14 Plaintiffs allege that when defendant arrived at the hot springs, their private areas were obscured by the murky water, and their breasts were hidden behind their arms and knees. Defendant, on the other hand, alleges that the water was sufficiently clear to see through, and that plaintiffs obscured their breasts only after he arrived. Because this case was decided at the summary judgment stage, we accept as true plaintiffs' version of the disputed facts. See Eastman Kodak Co. v. Image Technical Servs., Inc., 504 U.S. 451, 456 (1992). 15 Even if, upon defendant's arrival, plaintiffs were not publicly nude, as defined, we conclude that the officer had probable cause to believe plaintiffs had been publicly nude when entering the hot spring. It was reasonable to believe that plaintiffs were unclothed, based on defendant's observation of their clothing at the edge of the spring and the undisputed evidence that plaintiffs' breasts were above the water line. These observations were corroborated by statements by one of the plaintiffs that they were not violating the law because he could not see them nude and that they could be naked on public land unless it was posted otherwise. See R. I, doc. 28, ex. D at 29, 30, 38; doc. 31, ex. K at 69, ex. N at 56. It was also reasonable to believe that plaintiffs had been nude when entering the hot spring, as their clothes were dry. 16 Lastly, it was reasonable to believe that the hot springs were a place where a person may be observed by another person. 36 C.F.R. § 261.2. Plaintiffs were on public land, in a recreation area open to the general public. See, e.g., Hawaii v. Rocker, 475 P.2d 684, 688 (Haw.1970) (holding that beach isolated by hill and ledge, away from view of road and adjoining beaches, but accessible by path and used by twenty to twenty-five people over two-month period, was a public place because defendants' nudity likely to be seen by a number of casual observers). 17 We turn to plaintiffs' argument that defendant lacked probable cause to believe they violated the closure order, because he knew the order had not been properly posted. Federal regulations require that an order be displayed in such locations and manner as to reasonably bring the prohibition to the attention of the public. 36 C.F.R. § 261.51. The order was posted at the Glenwood Ranger District Office, the Gila National Forest Supervisor's Office, and on a Forest Service bulletin board at the entrance to the hot springs on Forest Service Road 519. Based on the undisputed evidence that despite other methods of access, the primary method of accessing the lower hot springs was via Forest Service Road 519, the district court found the order was posted properly. See R. I, doc. 28, ex. A at 1 (Forest Service Road 519 ... is the only access road leading to the hot springs area), ex. D at 6 (estimating that 99.9 percent of people entering hot springs did so via Forest Road 519), ex. E at 12, 14, 17 (testifying that although other methods existed, bulk of the hot springs traffic entered by passing the bulletin board, including four-wheel drive clubs), ex. G at 4-5, 7 (testifying 99.9 percent of people going to hot springs used road). 18 Plaintiffs argue that the district court erred in making this determination, and that their evidence of alternative methods of access, combined with statements by defendant's supervisors that the order may not have been properly posted, create a factual question as to the reasonableness of the posting. We disagree. Even if plaintiffs were correct, however, qualified immunity shields [law enforcement officers] from suit for damages if a reasonable officer could have believed [the search and seizure] to be lawful, in light of clearly established law and the information the ... [officer] possessed. Hunter v. Bryant, 502 U.S. 224, 227 (1991) (quotations omitted). Defendant knew that the order had been posted at the main entrance to the hot springs, 4 that the vast majority of visitors used this entrance to access the lower hot springs, that the order was posted at the same place as a prior closure order, and that his superiors had decided where to post the notice. We find no clearly established law requiring the officer to second-guess his superiors' judgment regarding the proper place of posting. 19 Plaintiffs also argue that defendant lacked probable cause to order them out of the hot spring, thereby effecting an unlawful search. We conclude that defendant's order was proper, either as a search or as an order incidental to the seizure. Based on the information available, defendant had probable cause to believe both that plaintiffs had been publicly nude, and that a search would reveal evidence of plaintiffs' nudity. See Franz, 997 F.2d at 787-88.