ELLISON v. BALINSKI

Citation625 F.3d 953
Decision Date12 November 2010
Docket NumberNo. 09-2033.,09-2033.
PartiesRonald P. ELLISON, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Denise BALINSKI, Defendant-Appellant, Ella Bully-Cummings; City of Detroit, Defendants.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

ARGUED: Sheri L. Whyte, City of Detroit Law Department, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellant. James Clark Cobb, Jr., Detroit, Michigan, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Sheri L. Whyte, City of Detroit Law Department, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellant. James Clark Cobb, Jr., Detroit, Michigan, for Appellee.

Before: MERRITT, GIBBONS, and COOK, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

MERRITT, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff Ronald P. Ellison, Jr. was awarded $100,000 in compensatory damages after a jury trial of his claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging a violation of his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures. The case arises out of a search of Plaintiff's residence and seizure of various property pursuant to a search warrant applied for by Defendant Denise Balinski, an investigator for the Detroit Police Department. Defendant now raises three issues on appeal: (1) whether the district court erred in denying her post-trial motions for judgment as a matter of law, either because the warrant was supported by probable cause or because she is protected by qualified immunity; (2) whether the district court erred in denying her motion for remittitur of the jury's verdict as against the weight of the evidence; and (3) whether the district court abused its discretion in its award of attorney's fees. Rejecting all of Defendant's arguments, we AFFIRM.

I.

This case begins with a rent dispute involving non-parties to this litigation. In February 2006, Zotis and Kimberly Harris began renting a residential property at 13959 Grandville Avenue, in Detroit, Michigan. After the couple initially viewed the home and decided to rent it, Raynard Anderson, a man identifying himself as the property manager, presented them with a lease already signed by owner Asia Thomas, whom the couple briefly met that day. Soon after the Harrises moved in, a dispute over the payment of rent arose. This dispute eventually resulted in two suits filed in landlord/tenant court, where Ms. Thomas sued Mrs. Harris for nonpayment of rent. Both suits were dismissed, the first on procedural grounds and the second after the court found insufficient documentation proving Ms. Thomas's ownership of the property. Four days after the first suit's dismissal, Zotis Harris walked into the Detroit Police Department and stated he wanted to file a fraud report. Mr. Harris related the couple's recent victory in landlord/tenant court and further alleged that, in July 2006, an unknown man knocked on the couple's door and accused the couple of “squatting” on property that, he alleged, was not actually owned by their landlord, Ms. Thomas.

The case was then assigned to Defendant Balinski, an investigator for the Detroit Police Department. Unable to locate Ms. Thomas, Defendant first attempted to identify the owner of the Grandville property by obtaining a deed from the Wayne County Register of Deeds. She discovered a deed reflecting the conveyance of the property from MyaBrooke Properties, LLC to Ms. Thomas for the price of $90,000, and a previous deed reflecting a conveyance to MyaBrooke Properties by one Kimberly Green, for the price of one dollar. Defendant determined that MyaBrooke Properties was owned by Plaintiff Ellison, and also discovered a similar transaction involving another property, 19473 St. Louis Avenue, which MyaBrooke Properties sold to Ms. Thomas for $90,000 after originally purchasing it, again, for one dollar.

These transactions-specifically, the fact that two properties were bought by MyaBrooke for one dollar and sold to Ms. Thomas for $90,000-aroused the suspicion of Defendant, who, based apparently on previous experience with fraudulent deeds, “thought something was wrong” and suspected “fraud.” 1 In an effort to find the closing documents related to the sale of that property by MyaBrooke to Ms. Thomas, Defendant contacted Plaintiff and asked him whether he owned the Grandville property; he responded that he had sold it. Defendant then requested that he bring her documents proving this transaction, and refused to answer when Plaintiff inquired about the reason for the investigation. Plaintiff subsequently ignored further phone messages from Defendant repeating her request for the documents, and never provided them to Defendant.

Armed with this information-the allegedly suspicious transactions, the Harrises' two victories in landlord/tenant court, and Plaintiff's refusal to provide her with requested documents-Defendant applied for a warrant to search Plaintiff's residence, which records at the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth identified as the location of MyaBrooke Properties. The affidavit in support of the warrant indicated that Defendant was investigating “a fraud complaint,” and related the history of the Thomas/Harris landlord/tenant litigation and Mr. Harris's report about the man accusing them of “squatting.” Then, turning to Plaintiff's role in the investigation, Defendant provided:

Writer in the meantime was still investigating this case in attempt to find out who the owner of the property was. Writer contacted Mr. Ronald Ellison (President and owner of MyaBrooke Properties) who sold the property (according to the Wayne County Register of Deeds) to Ms. Asia Thomas on 02/02/05 for the amount of $90,000.00. (The property had previously been Quit Claimed from Kimberly Ivory (Green) to MyaBrooke Properties for the sum of $1.00, according to the Wayne County Register of Deeds). Writer has contacted Mr. Ellison many times by phone in an attempt to get paperwork on this property. Mr. Ellison has refused to cooperate in this investigation. His company sold the property yet he refuses to show this writer any paperwork in regards to this purchase and sale.

Defendant then related the similar transaction involving the St. Louis property and stated that she was “unable to obtain any information regarding loans or title companies from either property.” As the areas to be searched, the warrant specified Plaintiff's entire residence, including any vehicles. As the items to be seized, the warrant specified:

Any and all computers, computer accessories, any software, any and all paperwork pertaining to MyaBrooke Properties, LLC, and or Ronald Ellison ... [or] 13959 Grandville, any and all documents relating to the property at 19473 St. Louis, any and all documents regarding Asia Thomas, Raynard Anderson, or indicia of any crime.

The warrant was reviewed and signed by both a Wayne County Prosecutor and a 36th District Court Judge. Defendant and unknown police officers then executed the warrant at Plaintiff's residence. Plaintiff arrived when the search was in progress, was advised he was not allowed to enter, and waited outside for at least forty-five minutes, where he anxiously observed several curious neighbors and drivers of passing cars watching the events. At some point, Plaintiff's wife and young daughter drove by the residence, but, seeing Plaintiff there with the police, drove away. The combination of the wide authority granted in the warrant and the apparent disorganization of Plaintiff's home office gave the searching officers some difficulty in determining which of Plaintiff's documents to seize. During the search, Defendant herself seized a large plastic bin found in Plaintiff's bedroom closet containing clothing and shoes, emptied it of its contents, and began filling it with documents; as she testified at trial, “there was so much stuff we just started gathering things up.” Officers also seized Plaintiff's desktop computer, and, after Plaintiff's arrival on the scene, a laptop computer discovered after a search of his car.

Plaintiff then commenced this action. By the time the case went to trial, Plaintiff's case was narrowed to two claims against Defendant Balinski, in her individual capacity: a § 1983 claim for the violation of Plaintiff's Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures, and a state law claim for libel and slander. The jury returned a verdict for Plaintiff on the Fourth Amendment claim, awarding him $100,000 in compensatory damages but declining to award any punitive damages, and a verdict for Defendant on the state law claim.

Defendant then moved for judgment as a matter of law, or, in the alternative, for a new trial or remittitur of the jury's damage award, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 50(b) and 59. The district court denied these motions. Plaintiff moved for attorney's fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988, and the district court, granting in part and denying in part that motion, awarded $102,480.00 in attorney's fees to Plaintiff. Defendant now appeals.

II.

A. Whether the District Court Erred in Denying Defendant Balinski's Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law, Either Because the Search Warrant Was Supported by Probable Cause, or Because Defendant Balinski is Entitled to Qualified Immunity

[1] [2] On appeal, Defendant maintains that the warrant was supported by probable cause. The Fourth Amendment provides that “no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” U.S. Const. amend. IV. In determining whether probable cause exists to support a search warrant, the magistrate asks whether “given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit ... there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place.” Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). The affidavit must establish a nexus between the place to be searched and things to be...

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