Lee v. Sandberg

Decision Date19 December 1997
Docket NumberD,No. 73,73
Citation136 F.3d 94
PartiesRichard W. LEE, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Corinne SANDBERG, Individually and as Police Officer, Connecticut State Police; Steven Roy, Trooper, individually and as Police Officer, Connecticut State Police; Brian Kennedy, Sargeant, individually and as Police Officer, Connecticut State Police, Defendants-Appellants. ocket 96-9671.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Ann E. Lynch, Assistant Attorney General, Hartford, CT (Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General of the State of Connecticut, Stephen R. Sarnoski, Assistant Attorney General, Hartford, CT), for Appellants.

Steven M. Basche, Manchester, CT (Jacobs, Walker, Rice & Basche, Manchester, CT), for Appellees.

Before: MESKILL and JACOBS, Circuit Judges, and TSOUCALAS, Judge. *

MESKILL, Circuit Judge:

Connecticut State Troopers Corinne Sandberg, Steven Roy and Brian Kennedy 1 (collectively, the "State Troopers") appeal from an order of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, Eginton, J., denying their motion for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity. Plaintiff Richard Lee commenced this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights lawsuit against the State Troopers, alleging that they violated his Fourth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment rights when they arrested him without

probable cause. The issue presented for review is whether the State Troopers' arrest of plaintiff, under the factual circumstances presented in this case, was "objectively reasonable," thereby entitling the State Troopers to qualified immunity. We conclude the State Troopers' arrest of plaintiff was "objectively reasonable" and that they are therefore entitled to qualified immunity. Consequently, we vacate the order of the district court and remand for entry of summary judgment for the State Troopers. Because of the disposition of plaintiff's federal cause of action at the outset of this lawsuit, we order dismissal of plaintiff's supplemental state law claims for lack of jurisdiction.

BACKGROUND

Shortly after 5:00 p.m. on November 24, 1994, Thanksgiving Day, Connecticut State Troopers Corinne Sandberg, Edward Decker, and Steven Roy were dispatched to 294 Tolland Stage Road in Tolland, Connecticut, to investigate a domestic disturbance at the home of plaintiff Richard Lee and his wife, Jean Lee.

Troopers Decker and Roy were the first officers to arrive at the Lee home. The officers found the plaintiff in his garage. Plaintiff described his dispute with Mrs. Lee to Troopers Decker and Roy. According to the plaintiff, he and his wife had just returned from a friend's home that evening where they had Thanksgiving dinner. At the dinner, a friend had commented that Mrs. Lee's diamond ring was small. Mrs. Lee, who reported this comment to her husband, became angry when plaintiff, rather than taking immediate action, said that he would confront the friend the following day.

Mr. Lee told the officers that when he went into their bedroom to watch television Mrs. Lee followed him and asked him to change the channel. Mr. Lee agreed, but told Mrs. Lee that he would go downstairs to watch another television set. As Mr. Lee was about to exit the room, Mrs. Lee blocked his path. Mr. Lee said that he used his arm to move Mrs. Lee out of the way as he left the room, but that he did not push her forcefully or strike her. Mr. Lee also disclosed to Troopers Decker and Roy that Mrs. Lee was seeing a psychiatrist who prescribed several prescription drugs for Mrs. Lee's depression/anxiety problems.

Trooper Sandberg arrived at the location at about this time and Troopers Decker and Roy recounted to her what the plaintiff had told them. Trooper Sandberg then went inside the home to speak to Mrs. Lee. Mrs. Lee initially reported that Mr. Lee had pushed her in the chest when they were in the garage. Mrs. Lee began to cry as she described how small her diamond ring was. Trooper Sandberg noted Mrs. Lee's disheveled appearance--Mrs. Lee was wearing a bathrobe and dried, white saliva stained the corners of her mouth. Her eyes were red and glassy and her speech was slurred. Mrs. Lee admitted that she had consumed four glasses of wine that afternoon. Trooper Sandberg then asked Mrs. Lee to repeat where she was in the house when Mr. Lee pushed her. Mrs. Lee changed her earlier account and stated that in the bedroom Mr. Lee pushed her twice and in the living room once. 2 Although Trooper Sandberg made no mention of hospitalization, Mrs. Lee stated that she did not want to be tied up and taken to a hospital. Mrs. Lee stated that she had no pain or bruise on her chest where Mr. Lee had allegedly pushed her.

Mr. Lee showed the Troopers a letter dated June 15, 1994 from Dr. Richard Meyer, Mrs. Lee's treating psychiatrist. The letter stated that Mrs. Lee was subject to episodes that caused her to lose control of her behavior and that Mrs. Lee should be brought to the hospital when such episodes occurred. Mr. Lee described Mrs. Lee's behavior during these episodes, stating that she would be "here one minute and then totally out of it," would say things that did not make sense and would become very emotional. Mr. Lee also stated that Mrs. Lee was on medication for this condition.

Trooper Sandberg, concerned about the possible effects of mixing the medication with alcohol, attempted to phone Dr. Meyer, who was unavailable. She spoke instead to Dr. Lee Brauer who was the on-call psychiatrist. Trooper Sandberg told Dr. Brauer that she intended to request an emergency medical examination pursuant to Connecticut General Statute § 17a-503 3 and that Trooper Sandberg would complete the necessary Form MHCC-1, the police emergency examination request. Dr. Brauer, hearing of Mrs. Lee's alcohol consumption and her erratic behavior, agreed that Mrs. Lee should be brought to Hartford Hospital for evaluation and stated that he would personally examine her. Trooper Roy testified in his deposition that he concurred with Trooper Sandberg's decision to seek a medical evaluation of Mrs. Lee.

While waiting for an ambulance to arrive, Mrs. Lee requested permission to get dressed. Trooper Sandberg refused and only allowed Mrs. Lee to put on footwear. Trooper Sandberg also denied Mrs. Lee's request to take her birth control pills to the hospital, allowing her only to take some chewing gum. Trooper Sandberg accompanied Mrs. Lee to the bathroom to get her slippers. Mr. Lee and Trooper Roy were there collecting Mrs. Lee's medications. Mrs. Lee, spying her two-karat diamond ring on the sink vanity, picked it up and threw it at the toilet, stating "Here's the ring and as far as I'm concerned you can f----ing flush it down the toilet." The ring missed the toilet and deflected off the rim of the seat. Mr. Lee picked up the ring and placed it in his pocket.

Shortly thereafter, the ambulance arrived. Trooper Sandberg remained at the residence and obtained a written statement from Mr. Lee, who repeated what he had told Troopers Decker and Roy earlier. Trooper Sandberg, in her subsequent deposition, stated that Mr. Lee was calm throughout the incident and that he was not hostile to Mrs. Lee or the Troopers. Mr. Lee told Trooper Sandberg that he did not hit Mrs. Lee and Trooper Sandberg later testified that she believed him. Mr. Lee was not arrested after this initial incident.

Trooper Sandberg, shortly after this incident, spoke to 911 Dispatcher Gentile who handled the initial 911 call from Mrs. Lee reporting the domestic disturbance. Gentile stated that when her call was received, Mrs. Lee blurted out that she wanted a restraining order against her husband. Mrs. Lee, according to Gentile, stated that Mr. Lee had belittled her in front of relatives and that her diamond ring was small. Gentile reported that Mrs. Lee was not always coherent during the conversation; for example, one moment Mrs. Lee was speaking about Mr. Lee's past arrest for fraud and then Mrs. Lee jumped to a statement that she wanted a restraining order against her husband.

At approximately 9:50 p.m. that same evening, Trooper Sandberg was again dispatched to the Lee residence on a second domestic disturbance report. When she arrived, Mrs. Lee was standing in the garage. Mrs. Lee told Trooper Sandberg that Mr. Lee had assaulted her, hitting her forearm with a "karate-chop." Trooper Sandberg, however, did not see any signs of physical assault on Mrs. Lee's arm, such as bruising or swelling.

Trooper Sandberg entered the residence with Mrs. Lee and found Mr. Lee on the phone with Dr. Brauer. Trooper Sandberg then spoke to Dr. Brauer, who explained that Mrs. Lee had been evaluated and released. Dr. Brauer stated that although his examination revealed that Mrs. Lee was slightly intoxicated, she was not dissociating and could accurately relate facts as to the alleged physical At approximately 11:00 p.m., Trooper Roy arrived at the Lee residence. Trooper Roy obtained a written statement from Mr. Lee of the following events. Mr. Lee had been sleeping and was awakened by Mrs. Lee's return from the hospital. He went downstairs and saw Mrs. Lee rummaging through his pants pockets to find cab fare to pay her driver. Mrs. Lee paid the driver and accused her husband of stealing her ring and cursed at him. Mrs. Lee told him that he was "f---ed" and that he would be "kissing her ass for the rest of her life." Mr. Lee also stated that he did not physically touch Mrs. Lee or harm her in any way. According to him, he called the Connecticut State Troopers to report this second domestic disturbance.

assault. Dr. Brauer told Trooper Sandberg that although he had not received the Form MHCC-1 at the time he evaluated Mrs. Lee, his evaluation would not have been different had he read the form.

Trooper Sandberg obtained a written statement from Mrs. Lee. Mrs. Lee, however, refused to provide a written statement until Trooper Sandberg gave Mrs. Lee directions to the Connecticut State Troopers'...

To continue reading

Request your trial
208 cases
  • Donovan v. Briggs
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Court of Western District of New York
    • February 26, 2003
    ...of having been a crime victim") (citation and internal quotation marks omitted; alterations in original) (quoted in Lee v. Sandberg, 136 F.3d 94,103 (2d Cir.1997)). Applying these principles to the undisputed facts before me, I find that Peglow did have probable cause to arrest plaintiff on......
  • Kaplan v. Cnty. of Orange
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. Southern District of New York
    • March 23, 2021
    ...have reasonably believed that probable cause existed in the light of well established law.’ " Id. at 202–03 (quoting Lee v. Sandberg , 136 F.3d 94, 102 (2d Cir. 1997) ).Individual Town Defendants argue that they are entitled to qualified immunity because "it was not clearly established that......
  • Savarese v. City of N.Y.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. Southern District of New York
    • July 2, 2021
    ...could have reasonably believed that probable cause existed in light of well established law.’ " Id. at 202-03 (quoting Lee v. Sandberg , 136 F.3d 94, 102 (2d Cir. 1997) ). "The essential inquiry in determining whether qualified immunity is available to an officer accused of false arrest is ......
  • Petrosky v. New York State Dept. of Motor Vehicles, 96-CV-0902 DRH.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Court of Northern District of New York
    • November 15, 1999
    ...Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The moving party bears the burden of demonstrating that no genuine issue of material fact exists. Lee v. Sandberg, 136 F.3d 94, 102 (2d Cir.1997). Once the movant has come forward with sufficient evidence in support of the motion for summary judgment, the opposing party ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT