Sheik-Abdi v. McClellan

• Decision Date: 14 October 1994
• Docket Number: P,SHEIK-ABD,No. 93-3356,93-3356
• Citation: 37 F.3d 1240
• Parties: Abdi A.laintiff-Appellant, v. Martin E. McCLELLAN, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 1240

37 F.3d 1240

Abdi A. SHEIK-ABDI, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Martin E. McCLELLAN, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 93-3356.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued May 12, 1994.

Decided Oct. 14, 1994.

John H. Bisbee (argued), Macomb, IL, for plaintiff-appellant.

Charles E. Hervas, James G. Sotos, Michael W. Condon, Michael D. Bersani (argued), Itasca, IL, for Martin M. McLellan, Steven Brewer, Joe Wazny.

Karen L. Kendall, Bradford B. Ingram, David A. Perkins (argued), Bradley Scott McMillan, Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, Peoria, IL, for William Akers.

Before ESCHBACH, FLAUM and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges.

FLAUM, Circuit Judge.

Abdi Sheik-Abdi filed suit under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 against three Macomb, Illinois, police officers and a McDonough District Hospital paramedic alleging that they unlawfully arrested and confined him in violation of his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The district court denied Sheik-Abdi's cross-motion for summary judgment and granted summary judgment for all of the defendants. We affirm.

I.

On April 2, 1990, Abdi Sheik-Abdi, an assistant professor at Western Illinois University, arrived home from work shortly after 4:00 p.m. after putting the finishing touches on a manuscript on which he had been working for 17 years. In celebration of his achievement, Sheik-Abdi began imbibing cognac. Within half an hour, Sheik-Abdi had lapsed into a somnolent state on the couch in the den where he was discovered by his wife, Zeinab, who noticed that his eyes were closed and he did not appear to be breathing. After unsuccessfully attempting to rouse her husband, Zeinab telephoned McDonough District Hospital. She advised the switchboard that her husband had become unconscious after a bout of drinking and requested that an ambulance be dispatched to their residence.

Paramedics William Hagler and William Akers responded to the call and arrived at the Sheik-Abdi's home within minutes. Zeinab Sheik-Abdi answered the door, admitted the paramedics to the house, and directed them to the den where they encountered Abdi Sheik-Abdi, lying on the floor glassy-eyed. Hagler and Akers identified themselves and attempted to take Sheik-Abdi's vital signs, but were unable to do so as Sheik-Abdi stood up, waved his arms, and ordered the paramedics out of his house.

Akers and Hagler then retreated to the kitchen where they discussed the situation. Perceiving Sheik-Abdi to be "belligerent and uncooperative," and fearing the development of an "unpredictable situation," the paramedics decided to call the police department for assistance. ¹ Hagler telephoned the police from the ambulance, and Officers Martin McClellan and Joseph Wazny soon arrived in separate squad cars to assist the paramedics with what they perceived to be a "domestic situation." Hagler allowed the officers into the house and advised them that a man inside had been drinking and was possibly combative. When the police ventured into the kitchen area, Sheik-Abdi was on his feet, with his wife holding one of his arms and Akers holding the other. Upon seeing the police officers, Sheik-Abdi became verbally abusive. At that time Akers informed the police that he had observed Sheik-Abdi strike Zeinab in the chest while Hagler was in the ambulance contacting the police. According to Akers, this striking occurred when Zeinab had taken hold of Sheik-Abdi's arm and he shoved her with a forearm in attempting to get free.

Upon hearing Akers' report, the officers declined to further question either Akers or Zeinab Sheik-Abdi with respect to the alleged striking. Instead, after several attempts to persuade Sheik-Abdi to go to the hospital, McClellan offered him the choice of going to the hospital or to jail. Sheik-Abdi continued his verbal abuse, and, according to McClellan, cocked his arm when his wife attempted to cover him with a robe. At this point, McClellan placed Sheik-Abdi in handcuffs. Wazny then escorted Sheik-Abdi to McClellan's squad car as Zeinab denied that her husband had struck her and pleaded with McClellan not to take him to jail.

Sheik-Abdi did not go directly to jail; rather, McClellan drove him to the hospital. Upon arrival, the paramedics noted that Sheik-Abdi was "alert and conscious." McClellan put Sheik-Abdi in a wheelchair and transported him to a holding area known as the "trauma bay." After removing the handcuffs, McClellan attempted to place Sheik-Abdi on a cot, but Sheik-Abdi resisted, striking the officer's arm with a backhanded swipe. At that point, McClellan recuffed Sheik-Abdi, took him back to the squad car, and carted him off to jail before any medical treatment could be rendered. An information attested to by Officer Sterlon Brewer charged Sheik-Abdi with having "intentionally caused bodily harm to Martin McClellan in that he struck McClellan in the arm with his fist, and did then and there commit the offense of battery in violation of [Illinois law]." Sheik-Abdi was released about twenty-four hours later and the charges against him were dropped weeks later at McClellan's request.

Abdi Sheik-Abdi brought suit under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, alleging that Officers McClellan, Wazny, and Brewer and Paramedic Akers violated his constitutional rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. Specifically, Sheik-Abdi charged that the defendants unlawfully seized him from his home without a warrant or probable cause to believe that he had committed a crime and illegally subjected him to summary punishment without due process. The defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing first that Sheik-Abdi had failed to state a claim of constitutional violation, and, alternatively, that they were entitled to qualified immunity. Officer Brewer also asserted that he could not be held liable under Sec. 1983 because he had not personally participated in the arrest. Sheik-Abdi filed a cross motion for summary judgment on the liability issues.

The district court granted summary judgment for all of the defendants and denied Sheik-Abdi's cross motion. The district court found that exigent circumstances justified the officers' entry into the home and probable cause supported their decision to arrest Sheik-Abdi for battery on the basis of the paramedic's statement that Sheik-Abdi had struck his wife. Even if probable cause had not existed, the court noted that the officers would be entitled to qualified immunity. The court also found that Sheik-Abdi had failed to state a claim against Brewer, who had no connection to the arrest, or against Akers, who acted reasonably in calling for police assistance and who had no authority to intervene in the officers' decision to arrest Sheik-Abdi. Finally, the court concluded that Sheik-Abdi had failed to state a claim against any defendant for summary punishment. ²

II.

We review the grant of summary judgment de novo, drawing all reasonable inferences from the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Jean v. Dugan, 20 F.3d 255, 259 (7th Cir.1994). To affirm, we must find that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

A.

We turn first to Sheik-Abdi's claim that Officers McClellan and Wazny unlawfully seized him from his home in violation of the Fourth Amendment when they arrested him. The district court apparently treated the officers' warrantless entry and arrest as a single episode and found that both probable cause and exigent circumstances supported the officers' actions. On appeal, Sheik-Abdi disputes the existence of probable cause on several grounds, including the officers' failure to investigate the charge on the scene. Alternatively, Sheik-Abdi contends that even if the paramedic's report was sufficient to create probable cause, the officers' decision to arrest still was improper because a minor offense such as battery does not give rise to the required exigent circumstances to effectuate a home arrest without a warrant.

1.

Allegations of unlawful arrests in the home ordinarily call for separate determinations of the propriety of the initial entry into the home and the subsequent arrest. In this case, we note as an initial matter that Sheik-Abdi apparently misapprehends the applicability of exigent circumstances, a concept that is relevant only to whether the officers had authority to enter the premises for the purpose of arrest or seizure, see, e.g. Welsh v. Wisconsin, 466 U.S. 740, 748, 104 S.Ct. 2091, 2096-97, 80 L.Ed.2d 732 (1984), not to whether they could arrest someone once lawfully inside for some other reason. The Supreme Court consistently has emphasized "the overriding respect for the sanctity of the home that has been embedded in our traditions since the origins of the Republic," because the home, more than any other location "provide[s] the setting for those most intimate activities that the Amendment is intended to shelter from government interference or surveillance." Oliver v. United States, 466 U.S. 170, 178-79, 104 S.Ct. 1735, 1741-42, 80 L.Ed.2d 214 (1984) (citation omitted). "The principal protection against unnecessary intrusions into private dwellings is the warrant requirement imposed ... on agents of the government who seek to enter the home for purposes of search or arrest." Welsh, 466 U.S. at 748, 104 S.Ct. at 2097 (citation omitted); see also Illinois v. Rodriguez, 497 U.S. 177, 181, 110 S.Ct. 2793, 2797-98, 111 L.Ed.2d 148 (1990); Minnesota v. Olson, 495 U.S. 91, 100, 110 S.Ct. 1684, 1689-90, 109 L.Ed.2d 85 (1990); Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 583, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 1378, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980). Accordingly, when police officers seek to conduct law enforcement activities within the confines of someone's home, they ordinarily must obtain a search warrant prior to conducting a search or an arrest warrant prior to making an arrest. Only "exigent circumstances"--few in number and carefully delineated, see United States v. Diaz, 814...