Hegarty v. Somerset County

• Decision Date: 04 October 1994
• Docket Number: 94-1517,94-1474,Nos. 94-1473,s. 94-1473
• Parties: John M. HEGARTY as Personal Representative of the Estate of Katherine A. Hegarty, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. SOMERSET COUNTY, Rene Guay, Wilfred Hines, Thomas Giroux, Jr., William Crawford, Jr., Defendants, Appellants. John M. HEGARTY as Personal Representative of the Estate of Katherine A. Hegarty, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. SOMERSET COUNTY, et al., Defendants, Appellants. John M. HEGARTY, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Katherine A. Hegarty, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. SOMERSET COUNTY, et al., Defendants, Appellees. . Heard
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 1367

53 F.3d 1367

John M. HEGARTY as Personal Representative of the Estate of Katherine A. Hegarty, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. SOMERSET COUNTY, Rene Guay, Wilfred Hines, Thomas Giroux, Jr., William Crawford, Jr., Defendants, Appellants.

John M. HEGARTY as Personal Representative of the Estate of Katherine A. Hegarty, Plaintiff, Appellee, v. SOMERSET COUNTY, et al., Defendants, Appellants.

John M. HEGARTY, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Katherine A. Hegarty, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. SOMERSET COUNTY, et al., Defendants, Appellees.

Nos. 94-1473, 94-1474, 94-1517.

United States Court of Appeals,

First Circuit.

Heard Oct. 4, 1994.

Decided May 17, 1995.

William R. Fisher, with whom Monaghan, Leahy, Hochadel & Libby, Portland, ME, was on brief for appellants Guay, Hines, Giroux and Crawford and defendant-appellee Spencer Havey.

Frederick J. Badger, Jr., with whom Ann M. Murray and Richardson, Troubh & Badger, Bangor, ME, were on brief for appellant Wright.

Julian L. Sweet, with whom Jeffrey A. Thaler and Berman & Simmons, P.A., Lewiston, ME, were on brief for plaintiff/appellant Hegarty.

Before CYR, Circuit Judge, BOWNES, Senior Circuit Judge, and McAULIFFE, ^* District Judge.

CYR, Circuit Judge.

On May 15, 1992, state and county law enforcement officers forcibly entered a remote cabin in the Maine woods, without a warrant, and mortally wounded plaintiff's decedent, Katherine A. Hegarty, while attempting to arrest her for recklessly endangering the safety of four campers. Plaintiff John M Hegarty initiated the present action in federal district court for compensatory and punitive damages against the defendant officers and their respective supervisors, based on alleged violations of the Hegartys' statutory and constitutional rights. See 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 (1992); Me.Rev.Stat.Ann. tit. 5, Sec. 4682 (1992). After rejecting their qualified immunity claims, the district court determined that the defendant officers were potentially liable for punitive damages, and the officers initiated an interlocutory appeal. Plaintiff John M. Hegarty in turn cross-appealed from district court orders granting summary judgment in favor of Somerset County Sheriff Spencer Havey on qualified immunity grounds and disallowing plaintiff's section 1983 claim for compensatory damages for loss of spousal consortium.

I BACKGROUND ¹

A. The Warrantless Entry

During the morning of the fateful day, two vehicles, containing four campers, entered through a gate onto woodlands owned by a paper company in Jackman, Maine, and proceeded to their assigned campsite about one and one-half miles past the gate and 200 yards or so beyond the Hegarty cabin. At around 9:00 that evening, Katherine Hegarty became extremely agitated when she saw the campers returning to their campsite for the night, and began screaming that they had trespassed on her property. The campers assured her that the caretaker had given them permission to use the campsite and they would be leaving the next morning. To which Katherine responded: "Only if you make it until morning." She then retrieved a rifle from inside the cabin and fired six rounds from the porch in the direction of the campers, who immediately took cover behind their trucks and boat.

During the next hour or so, Katherine reloaded her rifle several times, firing approximately twenty-five additional rounds in the direction of the campers before eventually yielding to their pleas for permission to depart in safety. Leaving their other belongings behind, the campers drove their vehicles quickly past the cabin, where they saw Katherine on the porch, rifle in hand. Although no further shots were fired, Katherine followed the campers in her truck beyond the entrance gate, then turned back in the direction of her cabin.

Upon their arrival at a truck stop located on Route 201, approximately two miles from the woods road entrance gate, the campers immediately placed a telephone call to the Somerset County Sheriff's Department. Their report described a harrowing encounter with an intoxicated, distraught ("flipped out") and armed woman who might pursue them to the truck stop and shoot at them. Four law enforcement officers were dispatched to the truck stop--Maine State Trooper Gary Wright and three Somerset County Sheriff's Department officers: Patrol Sergeant Wilfred Hines, Deputy Sheriff Rene Guay, and Reserve Officer Thomas Giroux, Jr.

After briefly interviewing the four campers, the officers decided that the suspect had committed at least one offense by shooting at the campers. See Me.Rev.Stat.Ann. tit. 17-A, Sec. 211 (1994) (reckless endangerment). Moreover, from the description the campers gave of the woman, the locations of the cabin and the campsite, and from their knowledge of the area, the officers concluded that Katherine Hegarty was their suspect. The officers knew that Katherine was an experienced hunter and a licensed Maine guide, with a reputation as a "crack shot," and that she kept several powerful firearms at her cabin. Further, the officers knew she had some history of emotional instability (i.e., a nervous "breakdown" in 1991, requiring sedation, physical restraints and a brief period of involuntary hospitalization), substance abuse (two arrests for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol ("OUI") in 1991), and incidents of erratic, violent behavior directed at law enforcement personnel--kicking and throwing punches at State Trooper Gary Wright, asking irrational questions, and exhibiting extreme mood swings (alternately screaming and laughing) at the time of her first OUI arrest, and an assault/harassment against Trooper Wright at his residence shortly after the same arrest. For these reasons, the officers concluded that they should arrest Katherine immediately, without obtaining a warrant or informing her of their true intentions until after she had been restrained, for fear that she would become violent.

At around midnight, the officers rendezvoused with a fifth officer, Sergeant William Crawford, Jr., of the Somerset County Sheriff's Department, drove about three miles and parked their cruisers approximately a mile from the Hegarty cabin. Their sporadic discussions since meeting at the truck stop had led to a skeletal plan of action for effecting the arrest. Concerned that Katherine might be waiting for them somewhere in the vicinity, they proceeded on foot toward her cabin, led by Trooper Wright--with a police dog--in an effort to forewarn themselves of Katherine's presence without heralding their approach. As they neared, at approximately 12:15 a.m., the officers observed Katherine's truck in front of the darkened cabin and heard a radio blaring music from inside. The clearing surrounding the cabin was plainly visible in the moonlight, but the cabin interior was not illuminated.

Following a quick visual inspection of the cabin site and the interior of the Hegarty truck, four officers approached unannounced and placed themselves along the outer cabin walls. The fifth officer, Thomas Giroux, Jr., who was better acquainted with Katherine Hegarty, gave a prearranged signal to the other officers from behind a tree across the road in front of the cabin. Giroux began calling to Katherine by name--first identifying himself and then expressing concern for her safety--in an attempt to coax her from the cabin to speak with him. Giroux heard no response above the blaring radio. Sergeant Hines then pounded on the cabin door and identified himself as a deputy sheriff. He received no response.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Crawford, who had worked his way around to the rear of the cabin, shined a flashlight into a darkened window and saw a fully-clothed woman lying on a bed, with a rifle astride her chest. When the woman began to raise the rifle in his direction, Crawford dove for cover, yelling out to the other officers that there was an armed person inside the cabin. Katherine soon asked Crawford to identify himself. After he did so, Crawford heard Katherine leave the bedroom and move toward the front of the cabin. The radio soon became inaudible.

As Katherine walked about inside the darkened cabin, she kept asking what the officers were doing there, and requested that they leave her property. The officers replied that they were investigating a report of campsite burglaries in the area, were concerned for her safety, and wanted her to come out of the cabin so she could speak with them. Laughing intermittently during these exchanges, Katherine ultimately rejected their requests--stating that she had seen no one suspicious.

Deputy Sheriff Rene Guay--posted outside the closed window at the front of the cabin--next saw Katherine face-to-face as she peered out the window from a kneeling position on a nearby couch. When Guay trained his flashlight on her, Katherine said, "I can see you." At this time, Guay observed that Katherine had no weapon in hand nor within the vicinity illuminated by his flashlight. Guay immediately communicated this information to Sergeant Hines and Trooper Wright, who were posted on either side of the front door, then gave them a signal to "go."

Sergeant Hines proceeded to break in the front door, but a chain lock momentarily delayed entry. From a crouched position outside the front window, Guay saw Katherine pick up a rifle beside the couch and begin to raise it in the direction of Hines and Wright, who were about to break through the front door. As she continued to raise the rifle in their direction, the officers ordered her to drop it. Katherine paid no heed and was fatally wounded by the officers before she could fire a shot.

B. The District Court Proceedings

In January 1993, John Hegarty, in his individual and representative capacities, filed a four-count complaint in the District of Maine against, inter alia, the five officers and their respective supervisors, alleging deprivations of the Hegartys' Fourth and Fourteenth...