Luchtel v. Hagemann

• Decision Date: 07 October 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09-35446.,09-35446.
• Citation: 623 F.3d 975
• Parties: Karey R. LUCHTEL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Officer Clark HAGEMANN, a Seattle Police Officer, in his individual and official capacity; Officer Thomas Hanley, a Seattle Police Officer, in his individual and official capacity; SPD Officers J. Doe # 1 and J. Doe # 2, whose identity is presently unknown, in their individual and official capacities; Gil Kerlikowske, Chief of Police, in his individual and official capacity; John and Jane Doe # 3-7, Supervisory Police Officers of the City of Seattle, the identity and number of whom are presently unknown, in their individual and official capacities; Richard and Jane 1-5 Doe, municipal policymakers of the city of Seattle, the identity and number of whom are presently unknown, in their individual and official capacities; City of Seattle, a Municipal Corporation, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

623 F.3d 975

Karey R. LUCHTEL, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.Officer Clark HAGEMANN, a Seattle Police Officer, in his individual and official capacity; Officer Thomas Hanley, a Seattle Police Officer, in his individual and official capacity; SPD Officers J. Doe # 1 and J. Doe # 2, whose identity is presently unknown, in their individual and official capacities; Gil Kerlikowske, Chief of Police, in his individual and official capacity; John and Jane Doe # 3-7, Supervisory Police Officers of the City of Seattle, the identity and number of whom are presently unknown, in their individual and official capacities; Richard and Jane 1-5 Doe, municipal policymakers of the city of Seattle, the identity and number of whom are presently unknown, in their individual and official capacities; City of Seattle, a Municipal Corporation, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 09-35446.

United States Court of Appeals,Ninth Circuit.

Submitted without argument Dec. 11, 2009.

Submission withdrawn Feb. 24, 2010.

Argued and Submitted May 18, 2010.

Filed Oct. 7, 2010.

John J. Kannin (argued), Kannin Law Firm P.S., Tukwila, WA, for the plaintiff-appellant.

Ted Buck (argued) and James R. Lynch, Stafford Frey Cooper, Seattle, WA, for the defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, Ricardo S. Martinez, District

Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. 2:07-cv-01448-RSM.

Before: ROBERT R. BEEZER, RONALD M. GOULD and RICHARD C. TALLMAN, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge GOULD; Partial Concurrence and Partial Dissent by Judge BEEZER.

OPINION

GOULD, Circuit Judge:

Karey Luchtel, after using crack cocaine and fearing that her husband was trying to kill her, ran into the street with her young son. Witnesses who called 911 reported that she was screaming for help and threatening to harm herself. She hid under a car until her neighbors provided refuge in their house. The police were summoned by Luchtel's husband and other neighbors who heard her screams. Inside the neighbors' house, the officers confronted Luchtel, and she stated that they were not actual police officers but assassins hired to kill her. Luchtel grabbed her elderly neighbor to use for protection. After using their bodies and handcuffs to detain and arrest Luchtel, the officers took her to a hospital for mental evaluation and treatment of injuries.

Luchtel sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, contending that there was a lack of probable cause to arrest her, and that excessive force was used by the officers. She also sued under Washington state law for, among other things, false arrest, negligence, and assault and battery. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants on all claims. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

I

In late 2004 Luchtel began using and became addicted to crack cocaine. In time, she became reclusive and showed some paranoia. On May 18, 2005, Luchtel smoked crack cocaine around 4:00 p.m. That evening, her husband offered her a glass of wine, but she became convinced that, because he was a toxicologist, he was trying to poison her. Luchtel ran from the house with her young son, S.L., and she and S.L. hid under a parked car. Luchtel screamed for help, yelling that someone was trying to kill her.

Several neighbors called 911. One reported that a woman was yelling in the street that someone was trying to kill her. Another reported that the screaming woman was threatening to kill herself. Still another said that the screaming woman was “high on something.” While police were en route, Luchtel went to the house of her neighbors, the Walds.

Two police officers, Officer Clark Hagemann and Officer Thomas Hanley, responded to the 911 calls. The officers spoke to Luchtel's husband, who said that his wife was running around the neighborhood out of control on drugs, and that she had now gone to the Walds' house. The officers went next door to the Walds' house, where the events occurred that led to this lawsuit.

On all accounts, Luchtel became terrified at the officers' arrival. Officer Hanley stated that Luchtel's eyes were wide, her breathing was rapid, her muscles were taught, and she looked like she was “ready to spring.” Mrs. Wald said that as soon as Luchtel saw the officers, “she just went, I would say, ballistic.” Luchtel told Mrs. Wald, “Don't let them come in. They're going to take-they're going to kill me. This is not the police. They're going to kill me.” Mr. Wald took Luchtel's son downstairs, fearing that “things were happening so fast that maybe [S.L.] shouldn't be part of it.”

Luchtel could not remember whether Mrs. Wald was sitting or standing, but she testified that when the officers walked in, she stood up and grabbed onto Mrs. Wald, seeking her protection. Mrs. Wald reported that the officers moved in “to grab” Luchtel and Luchtel “put her arms around” Mrs. Wald. Mrs. Wald recounted, “I think she was hoping that I was protecting her, because she, she kind of lounged [sic] at me. And then when the police came over to her, we both fell on the floor.” Mrs. Wald did not remember whether the officers first lunged for Luchtel or whether Luchtel first lunged toward Mrs. Wald. Luchtel alleges that the officers moved in to grab her and she responded by seeking the protection of Mrs. Wald. The officers allege that after S.L. left the room, Luchtel immediately “shot up” from the corner, darted across the room, and grabbed Mrs. Wald by the shoulders, apparently “to use her as a human shield.” Mrs. Wald testified, “All I know it was in a split second and both of us were down on the floor.” Putting to the side immaterial differences in the testimony, what is undisputed is that after the officers arrived, Luchtel grabbed Mrs. Wald, apparently for protection, and they both ended up on the floor.

While Luchtel was lying on the floor, the police sought to restrain her. Luchtel admitted that she did “everything [she] could to keep [the officers] from handcuffing [her]” because she was afraid the officers were trying to kill her. The officers said that she tried to strike, scratch, and bite them. The officers said that while trying to handcuff her, Luchtel “tried to move her arms and shoulders with such force that it was difficult even to keep a grip on her.” Luchtel denies that she tried to bite, scratch, or hit the officers. Mr. Wald testified that Luchtel was indeed kicking, though not necessarily at the officers, and more generally that he was “amazed” at how much Luchtel fought.

Luchtel was taken to the hospital. The doctors diagnosed her with “[a]cute psychosis secondary to cocaine intoxication,” and her urinalysis tested positive for cocaine. The doctors also diagnosed her with a dislocated shoulder and torn shoulder ligaments, requiring surgery. The doctors noted bruises, swelling, and abrasions on her forearms, abdomen, hip, and lower extremities. Luchtel had surgery to fix her shoulder, but she claims that she can no longer swim, hike, play tennis, hold her son, or eat normally. Luchtel also claims that her tooth was chipped during the arrest.

Luchtel sued Officers Hagemann and Hanley and two unnamed police officers under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for arresting her without probable cause and using excessive force during the arrest. She also sued the officers for false arrest, negligence, and assault and battery under state law. She sued Chief of Police Gil Kerlikowske, unnamed supervisory officers in the Seattle Police Department, unnamed municipal policymakers for Seattle, and the City of Seattle under theories of negligent hiring, training, and supervision. She appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants on all these claims.

II

We review de novo a grant of summary judgment. Edwards v. Wells Fargo & Co., 606 F.3d 555, 557 (9th Cir.2010). We must determine whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Luchtel, the district court correctly applied the relevant substantive law and whether there are any genuine issues of material fact. Id.

III

We affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the officers on Luchtel's § 1983 claim that the police lacked probable cause to arrest her.

Probable cause exists when “under the totality of circumstances known to the arresting officers, a prudent person would have concluded that there was a fair probability that [the suspect] had committed a crime.” United States v. Smith, 790 F.2d 789, 792 (9th Cir.1986); see also Maryland v. Pringle, 540 U.S. 366, 371, 124 S.Ct. 795, 157 L.Ed.2d 769 (2003) (examining “the events leading up to the arrest” and whether the “historical facts, viewed from the standpoint of an objectively reasonable police officer, amount to probable cause” (citation and quotation marks omitted)). Under the totality of the circumstances, a reasonable officer could believe that Luchtel had possessed cocaine in violation of Washington law. See Wash. Rev.Code §§ 69.50.4013, 69.50.206. Luchtel's husband and the 911 callers told the police that Luchtel was high on drugs. Luchtel said in her deposition that, given her comments to the police officers, it would have been reasonable for them to believe she was on drugs. Evidence of drug intoxication combined with corroborating evidence can be sufficient to convict for prior possession. See State v. Carter, 77 Wash.App. 8, 888 P.2d 1230, 1233 (1995). There was probable cause to arrest Luchtel for cocaine possession here.

The police officers also had reasonable cause to take Luchtel to the hospital for mental evaluation under Washington's mental health evaluation statute. See Wash. Rev.Code § 71.05.150(4) (2006) (current version at Wash. Rev.Code § 71.05.153(2)). That statute gives police officers the authority to take a person to a hospital for mental evaluation upon “reasonable cause to believe that such person is suffering from a mental disorder and presents an imminent likelihood of serious harm or is in imminent danger...