Ochser v. Funk

• Decision Date: 21 December 2011
• Docket Number: No. CV–11–0028–PR.,CV–11–0028–PR.
• Parties: Clifford J. OCHSER, a single man, Plaintiff/Appellant, v. Deputy Gerard FUNK, in his individual capacity as a deputy with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, and Jane Doe Funk, husband and wife; Sergeant Anthony R. Cruz, in his individual capacity as a deputy with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, and Jane Doe Cruz, husband and wife, Defendants/Appellees.
• Court: Arizona Supreme Court

228 Ariz. 365

266 P.3d 1061

574 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 35

Clifford J. OCHSER, a single man, Plaintiff/Appellant,

v.Deputy Gerard FUNK, in his individual capacity as a deputy with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, and Jane Doe Funk, husband and wife; Sergeant Anthony R. Cruz, in his individual capacity as a deputy with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, and Jane Doe Cruz, husband and wife, Defendants/Appellees.

No. CV–11–0028–PR.

Supreme Court of Arizona, En Banc.

Dec. 21, 2011.

Robbins & Curtin, P.L.L.C. by Joel B. Robbins, Anne E. Findling, Phoenix, Attorneys for Clifford J. Ochser.

Jones, Skelton & Hochuli, P.L.C. by Eileen Dennis GilBride, Phoenix, Attorney for Gerard Funk, Jane Doe Funk, Anthony R. Cruz, and Jane Doe Cruz.

Thomas C. Horne, Arizona Attorney General by Paula S. Bickett, Assistant Attorney General, Daniel P. Schaack, Assistant Attorney General, Phoenix, Attorneys for Amicus Curiae State of Arizona.Lasota & Peters PLC by Kristin M. Mackin, William J. Sims, III, Phoenix, Attorneys for Amici Curiae Arizona Municipal Risk Retention Pool, The League of Arizona Cities and Towns, and The Arizona Counties Insurance Pool.

OPINION

PELANDER, Justice.

¶ 1 Clifford Ochser brought this civil rights action against two deputy sheriffs for arresting him on a warrant that had been quashed some thirteen months earlier. Although we hold that Ochser's arrest was an unreasonable seizure prohibited by the Fourth Amendment, we conclude that the deputies are entitled to qualified immunity because then-existing law did not clearly establish the unconstitutionality of their actions.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶ 2 We view the facts in the light most favorable to Ochser, against whom summary judgment was entered below. Andrews v. Blake, 205 Ariz. 236, 240 ¶ 12, 69 P.3d 7, 11 (2003). In January 2003, after Ochser did not appear at a status conference in his marriage dissolution proceeding, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge found him in civil contempt for failure to pay child support and issued an arrest warrant. In March, the court quashed the warrant after determining that Ochser never received notice of the January status conference. The minute entry quashing the warrant indicates it was faxed to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (“MCSO”). Nonetheless, as a precautionary measure, Ochser obtained certified copies of the order quashing the warrant, keeping one in his vehicle and one at his office.

¶ 3 In May 2004, MCSO conducted Operation Mother's Day, in which officers arrested parents with outstanding child-support arrest warrants. Deputies Gerard Funk and Anthony Cruz were assigned several warrants for execution in northern Arizona, including the 2003 warrant for Ochser's arrest. MCSO checked each warrant for validity before assigning it, but despite having been quashed, the warrant showed as active in MCSO's records. Before executing the warrant, the deputies confirmed its validity with the MCSO Operations Information Center (“OIC”), which maintains warrant records.

¶ 4 On May 5, 2004, Funk and Cruz went to Ochser's workplace at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. After Ochser arrived in a company vehicle, the deputies arrested him. Ochser protested, stating the 2003 warrant had been quashed. He told the deputies that he had a certified copy of the court's minute entry quashing the warrant in the inbox at his office, about twenty yards from the scene of the arrest. One of the deputies replied, “I don't need to go to your office to find anything. I've got everything I need.”

¶ 5 Ochser continued to assert that the warrant had been quashed. After several minutes, Funk went into the observatory. What occurred thereafter is not entirely clear from the record. Funk testified in his deposition that he first called the judge's chambers and talked to a “temp” who did not know how to check warrants, and he then called OIC. After Funk allegedly informed OIC that Ochser insisted the warrant had been quashed, Funk testified that OIC confirmed its validity. Cruz, however, testified that when Funk came out from the building, Funk said he had talked to a court clerk who informed him the warrant was valid.

¶ 6 MCSO's Records Specialist Supervisor, Julie Ahlquist, testified that if a deputy had called OIC and told her the arrestee insisted that a warrant had been quashed, she would have checked the minute entries website for the Maricopa County Superior Court. According to Ahlquist, taking that step is what reasonable OIC employees do when there is a question of whether the warrant has been quashed. She testified that checking the superior court website typically takes less than ten minutes, and she retrieved the order quashing Ochser's warrant within two minutes at her deposition.¹

¶ 7 What is undisputed is that the deputies did not go to Ochser's office to obtain the minute entry quashing the warrant. Ochser was handcuffed, shackled, and taken to Phoenix, where he was jailed overnight. He was released the next day when it was determined that his warrant had been quashed.

¶ 8 A defense expert on police procedures testified that if Ochser had told the deputies he had a copy of the order quashing the warrant on his desk, the deputies should have retrieved it. Similarly, the MCSO captain who supervised Funk and Cruz at the time of the arrest testified that if an arrestee had informed the deputies that he had paperwork showing the warrant had been quashed, the deputies should have checked the paperwork to ensure the warrant was valid, provided that doing so would not jeopardize their safety.

¶ 9 Ochser filed this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2006), alleging the deputies violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The trial court granted the deputies' motion for summary judgment, ruling that an arresting officer is entitled to qualified immunity when the arrest is made on a facially valid warrant. A divided court of appeals affirmed, concluding that although Ochser had “a broad constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, ... [i]t is not clearly established that an arresting officer acting pursuant to a facially valid warrant has the obligation to investigate documentary evidence.” Ochser v. Funk, 225 Ariz. 484, 489 ¶ 17, 240 P.3d 1246, 1251 (App.2010). The dissenting judge rejected the qualified immunity claim, believing it was “ ‘clearly established’ at the time of [Ochser's] arrest ... that an arresting officer may not disregard documentary evidence offered by a person named on an arrest warrant that proves the warrant is invalid.” Id. at 494 ¶ 45, 240 P.3d at 1256 (Johnsen, J., dissenting). She concluded that because retrieving the minute entry would not have required “extraordinary effort” or “jeopardized [the deputies'] mission or public safety,” no reasonable officer could disagree “that the deputies should have retrieved and inspected the order.” Id. at ¶ 43.

¶ 10 We granted review to consider the scope of qualified immunity in the context of arrests made pursuant to a facially valid but quashed warrant, a legal issue of statewide importance. We have jurisdiction under Article 6, Section 5(3) of the Arizona Constitution and A.R.S. § 12–120.24 (2003).

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

¶ 11 We review de novo a grant of summary judgment, viewing the evidence and reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Andrews, 205 Ariz. at 240 ¶ 12, 69 P.3d at 11. Summary judgment is appropriate only if no genuine issues of material fact exist and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1); Orme Sch. v. Reeves, 166 Ariz. 301, 309, 802 P.2d 1000, 1008 (1990). “The de novo standard also applies to our review of the defendant officers' entitlement to qualified immunity as a matter of law.” Glenn v. Washington Cnty., 661 F.3d 460, 465 (9th Cir.2011).

B. Qualified Immunity

¶ 12 Qualified immunity from a § 1983 claim is governed by federal law. See Weatherford ex rel. Michael L. v. State, 206 Ariz. 529, 532 ¶ 8, 81 P.3d 320, 323 (2003). The doctrine “shields federal and state officials from money damages unless a plaintiff pleads facts showing (1) that the official violated a statutory or constitutional right, and (2) that the right was ‘clearly established’ at the time of the challenged conduct.” Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, ––– U.S. ––––, 131 S.Ct. 2074, 2080, 179 L.Ed.2d 1149 (2011) (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982)).

¶ 13 Actions against government officials for money damages raise competing policy considerations. If a government official abuses his or her office, an “action for damages may offer the only realistic avenue for vindication of constitutional guarantees.” Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 638, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987) (quoting Harlow, 457 U.S. at 814, 102 S.Ct. 2727) (alteration omitted). But freely permitting lawsuits against government officials “can entail substantial social costs, including the risk that fear of personal monetary liability and harassing litigation will unduly inhibit officials in the discharge of their duties.” Id.; accord Harlow, 457 U.S. at 807, 102 S.Ct. 2727 (expressing “the need to protect officials who are required to exercise their discretion and the related public interest in encouraging the vigorous exercise of official authority”).

¶ 14 The qualified immunity doctrine arose to “accommodate[ ] these conflicting concerns,” Anderson, 483 U.S. at 638, 107 S.Ct. 3034, by “hold [ing] public officials accountable when they exercise power irresponsibly,” but “shield[ing] officials from harassment, distraction, and liability when they perform their duties reasonably.” Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 231, 129 S.Ct. 808, 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009); see also Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 341, 106 S.Ct. 1092, 89 L.Ed.2d 271 (1986) (stating qualified immunity protects “all but the plainly incompetent or those who...