DePiero v. City of Macedonia

• Citation: 180 F.3d 770
• Decision Date: 23 June 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-3292,98-3292
• Parties: Christopher DePIERO, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF MACEDONIA; Joseph Migliorini, in his official capacity as Mayor and Judge of the City of Macedonia's Mayor's Court, and in his individual capacity; Glenn Nicholl, in his official capacity as patrolman for the City of Macedonia, and in his individual capacity, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)

180 F.3d 770

Christopher DePIERO, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF MACEDONIA; Joseph Migliorini, in his official

capacity as Mayor and Judge of the City of Macedonia's

Mayor's Court, and in his individual capacity; Glenn

Nicholl, in his official capacity as patrolman for the City

of Macedonia, and in his individual capacity, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 98-3292.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued March 10, 1999.

Decided June 23, 1999.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio at Cleveland. No. 95-02405--Patricia A. Gaughan, District Judge.

ARGUED: Augustin F. O'Neil, Akron, Ohio, for Appellant. John G. Peto, REMINGER & REMINGER CO., L.P.A., Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Augustin F. O'Neil, Melissa Graham-Hurd, Akron, Ohio, for Appellant. John G. Peto, REMINGER & REMINGER CO., L.P.A., Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellee.

Before: MERRITT, KENNEDY, and FARRIS, ^* Circuit Judges.

OPINION

KENNEDY, Circuit Judge.

We are called upon in this appeal to determine the constitutionality of the plaintiff's conviction in the Macedonia, Ohio Mayor's Court. After being prosecuted in the Macedonia Mayor's Court on traffic misdemeanor and contempt charges, plaintiff Christopher DePiero ("Plaintiff") filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against defendants the City of Macedonia, Ohio, its mayor, Joseph Migliorini, in his official and individual capacities, and Officer Glenn Nicholl, in his official and individual capacities, alleging the denial of substantive and procedural due process rights. Plaintiff now appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment for the defendants and denial of his own motion for summary judgment on Counts I and II of his complaint, which claimed that Ohio Revised Code §§ 1905.01 et seq., the statute authorizing mayor's courts, is facially unconstitutional, and that plaintiff's trial in the Macedonia Mayor's Court deprived him of due process because Mayor Migliorini was not a "neutral and detached" magistrate. Plaintiff also appeals the district court's dismissal of Counts III, IV and V of his complaint, which respectively alleged: deprivation of his right against unreasonable seizure by determination of probable cause and issuance of an arrest warrant by a mayor who was simultaneously a "law enforcement officer;" deprivation of procedural due process by issuance of a parking citation containing no information as to how to contest the complaint; and a claim for damages against Officer Nicholl under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violating his rights under the Fourth Amendment by issuing a traffic ticket citing an ordinance without probable cause to believe plaintiff had violated that ordinance. Finally, plaintiff also appeals dismissal of his pendent state claim for malicious prosecution.

For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM in part and REVERSE in part.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On December 4, 1994, plaintiff was issued a parking ticket in Macedonia, Ohio by police officer Glenn Nicholl ("Officer Nicholl") for violating Macedonia Codified Ordinance § 351.12. ¹ Although the citation itself did not specify where, when, or how plaintiff might contest the complaint, a hearing on the citation was docketed in Macedonia Mayor's Court for December 27, 1994. After plaintiff failed to pay the ticket or appear in court, a summons was mailed to his home address on January 12, 1995 ordering him to appear in court on January 23, 1995 at 10:30 A.M. The summons warned, "If you fail to appear at the time and place stated above, you may be arrested." On February 7, 1995, after plaintiff failed to pay the fine for the violation or appear to contest the ticket in Mayor's Court, Mayor Joseph Migliorini issued a bench warrant for plaintiff's arrest and set bond at $250.00. The warrant was issued by Mayor Migliorini as "Magistrate/Mayor." As a result of plaintiff's failure to appear in Mayor's Court, a criminal contempt charge was also brought against him.

On March 6, 1995, plaintiff was stopped by a police officer in Boston Heights, Ohio, another municipality, for an unrelated traffic offense. The officer informed plaintiff of the Macedonia bench warrant, handcuffed him, and brought him into custody to the Boston Heights police department, where he was later transported in handcuffs to the police station in Macedonia. Plaintiff was released from custody after posting the $250.00 cash bond. At his arraignment on April 3, 1995, plaintiff pleaded not guilty to the traffic and contempt charges against him and his case was set for trial. Plaintiff was tried in Mayor's Court on April 17, 1995. At trial, Mayor Migliorini found plaintiff guilty of both a misdemeanor parking violation, for which he fined plaintiff $50, and the criminal contempt charge, for which he fined plaintiff $100.e

Plaintiff appealed his convictions to the Cuyahoga Falls Municipal Court, which dismissed both charges against him on June 20, 1995. ²

II. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Based on the aforementioned facts, plaintiff filed this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio against the City of Macedonia, and against Mayor Migliorini and Officer Nicholl in their official and individual capacities. Count I of plaintiff's complaint essentially alleges that adjudication and sentencing by Mayor Migliorini in the contested traffic and criminal contempt proceedings deprived plaintiff of due process. Count II contends that, on its face, the Ohio statute authorizing mayor's courts is an unconstitutional violation of due process because it permits adjudication and sentencing by a Mayor whose executive responsibilities encompass revenue production and law enforcement. Count III alleges that Mayor Migliorini's issuance of a bench warrant for his arrest violated plaintiff's rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments because the Mayor was not "neutral and detached" from law enforcement. Count IV of plaintiff's complaint claims violation of his procedural due process rights because the traffic citation issued by Officer Nicholl did not inform him how he might contest the complaint. Count V of the complaint alleges violation of plaintiff's right to be free from unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment because Officer Nicholl ticketed him for violating § 351.12 of the Macedonia Codified Ordinances without probable cause.

Finally, Count VI set forth a pendent state law claim against Officer Nicholl for malicious prosecution.

Plaintiff filed for summary judgment on Counts I-V of his complaint on January 16, 1997. On June 19, 1997, the district court denied plaintiff's motion as to Counts I and II, and dismissed Counts III, IV and V sua sponte as insufficient as a matter of law. In September 1995, plaintiff and defendants filed a joint stipulation of facts and each also filed motions for summary judgment on Counts I and II. On February 17, 1998, the district court denied plaintiff's motion, but granted defendants' motion for summary judgment as to Counts I and II, dismissed plaintiff's pendent state claim for lack of jurisdiction, and issued a judgment terminating the case. Plaintiff then filed a timely notice of appeal.

III. DISCUSSION

Plaintiff now appeals the district court's denial of plaintiff's motions for summary judgment on Counts I, II, III, IV and V, its grant of summary judgment for defendants on Counts I and II, and the district court's sua sponte dismissal of Counts III, IV, V and VI of his complaint. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 326, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)(district courts possess power to enter summary judgments sua sponte, so long as losing party on notice that she had to come forward with all of her evidence). This court reviews a district court's grant or denial of summary judgment de novo. Smith v. Ameritech, 129 F.3d 857, 863 (6th Cir.1997). Summary judgment is appropriate when there are no issues of material fact in dispute and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the court must view the factual evidence and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Entry of summary judgment is proper "against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. at 322. We also review de novo the district court's dismissal for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Cline v. Rogers, 87 F.3d 176, 179 (6th Cir.1996). We must construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, accept all factual allegations as true, and determine whether the plaintiff undoubtedly can prove no set of facts in support of his claims that would entitle him to relief. Id. (citing In re DeLorean Motor Co., 991 F.2d 1236, 1240 (6th Cir.1993)).

A. Constitutional Challenges to Proceedings in the Macedonia Mayor's Court

Plaintiff contends first that the district court erred in denying his own but granting the defendants' motion for summary judgment on the first two counts of his complaint. In these counts, plaintiff submits that the Ohio statute authorizing mayor's courts on its face violates due process, and that his adjudication and sentencing before Mayor Migliorini in particular was an unconstitutional deprivation of due process because Mayor Migliorini, as a law enforcement officer and chief executive responsible for the financial condition of the municipality, was not "neutral and detached." Plaintiff also appeals dismissal of the third count of his complaint, which challenged Mayor Migliorini's issuance of a bench warrant for plaintiff's arrest for failure to appear in Mayor's Court. We address each of these issues in turn....