Bletz v. Gribble

• Decision Date: 27 May 2011
• Docket Number: No. 09–2006.,09–2006.
• Citation: 641 F.3d 743
• Parties: Kathryn A. BLETZ, Personal Representative of the Estate of Fred Roger Bletz, Deceased, and Kathryn A. Bletz, individually, Plaintiff–Appellee,v.Travis GRIBBLE and Brent Denny, individually, jointly and severally, Defendants–Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

641 F.3d 743

Kathryn A. BLETZ, Personal Representative of the Estate of Fred Roger Bletz, Deceased, and Kathryn A. Bletz, individually, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.Travis GRIBBLE and Brent Denny, individually, jointly and severally, Defendants–Appellants.

No. 09–2006.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: Jan. 19, 2011.Decided and Filed: May 27, 2011.

ARGUED: Karen M. Daley, Cummings, McClorey, Davis & Acho, P.L.C., Livonia, Michigan, for Appellants. Hugh M. Davis, Jr., Constitutional Litigation Associates, P.C., Detroit, Michigan, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Karen M. Daley, Cummings, McClorey, Davis & Acho, P.L.C., Livonia, Michigan, for Appellants. Hugh M. Davis, Jr., Constitutional Litigation Associates, P.C., Detroit, Michigan, for Appellee.Before: SILER, GILMAN, and GRIFFIN, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

GRIFFIN, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff Kathryn (“Kitti”) Bletz brought this action individually and as a representative of her deceased husband's estate, alleging that defendants Sergeant Travis Gribble and Deputy Brent Denny are liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Michigan state law for fatally shooting her husband in the Bletz family home and unlawfully restraining her during and following her husband's death. The district court denied defendants' summary judgment motion, holding that defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity or state governmental immunity. For the reasons that follow, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I.

On the evening of May 3, 2005, defendant Brent Denny, an Ionia County Deputy Sheriff, consulted a list of outstanding warrants for residents of the Village of Saranac, Michigan. On the list was a bench warrant for Zachary Bletz, issued for his failure to appear at a March 2005 court hearing on misdemeanor drunk-driving charges. The address listed on the bench warrant for Zachary in Saranac, Michigan, was also where Zachary's parents, Fred and Kitti Bletz, resided.

After confirming with the Grand Rapids Police Department that the warrant remained outstanding, Denny joined defendant Travis Gribble, an Ionia County Deputy Sheriff Sergeant, at a Speedway gas station in Saranac. Denny and Gribble decided to drive to the Bletz family residence to execute the warrant and effect Zachary's arrest. Denny testified that he knew that Zachary's parents resided at the home.

The officers arrived at the Bletz home at approximately 11:40 p.m., and parked their separate, marked police vehicles thirty to thirty-five feet away from the entrance of the house. Neither officer activated his police siren, and both turned off their headlights as they pulled into the driveway. The house was dark, except for one “light or a TV or something” in a second-floor bedroom.

Both officers exited their respective vehicles and approached the rear side of the house where there was a porch entry and knocked on the door. Apparently, none of the residents heard the officers' knocking.¹ Zachary did, however, hear his dog barking loudly and went downstairs to investigate. When he reached the door, he saw the officers standing on the back lawn in close proximity to a breezeway on the southwest side of the home. Zachary, who was wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and slippers, exited the residence to speak with the officers. After identifying himself, Zachary was advised by Denny that the officers were there to arrest him pursuant to a bench warrant issued for his failure to appear. Defendants do not dispute that Zachary was cooperative.

Because Zachary was still wearing slippers, a discussion then took place between him and the officers about Zachary reentering the house to put on shoes to wear to jail. While Zachary testified that one of the officers ordered him to reenter the house to get shoes, Denny and Gribble claim that Zachary requested permission to go back inside and that they informed him he could only do so if they accompanied him into the home. Regardless, Zachary started to reenter the house through the breezeway, and the officers followed. According to Zachary, he tried to close the breezeway door behind him, but Denny forced the door open with his hand and gun. Zachary inquired whether the officers had a warrant, but neither Denny nor Gribble responded. Rather, the officers instructed Zachary to secure his dog for their safety.

As the officers waited in the breezeway leading into the house for Zachary to comply with their instructions, Denny observed a long-haired man standing to his left between the kitchen and dining room pointing a gun at him. Denny yelled “Gun!” and then crouched down in the corner of the breezeway. Gribble similarly took cover in the breezeway and yelled at the man, later identified as homeowner Fred Bletz, to “put the gun down!” or “put the f-king gun down!” According to Gribble, he also yelled “Sheriff's Department!” one time, but Denny, who also was in the breezeway, did not hear it. Denny also testified that he did not identify himself as a police officer. Regardless, Fred Bletz, who had poor vision and hearing, and was without his glasses or hearing aid, responded by repeatedly asking, “Who are you?”

When Fred Bletz did not promptly comply with Gribble's instructions to drop his weapon, Gribble fired four shots directly at the center mass of Fred's body, striking him one time. Fred Bletz died as a result of the gunshot wound. During the standoff, Fred Bletz did not fire any shots and, according to Zachary, was lowering his weapon at the time Gribble fired his weapon. Gribble claims, however, that Fred was pointing his gun directly at him when he fired. Officer Denny did not see any portion of the encounter, which lasted only six to ten seconds, because his face was “buried into a corner” of the breezeway.

Immediately following the shooting, Officers Gribble and Denny quickly moved into the house. Denny handcuffed Zachary, who was already lying face down on the kitchen floor, while Gribble kicked the decedent's unloaded gun out of his hand.² At that point, Kitti entered the dining room. Gribble ordered Kitti Bletz to the ground and instructed Denny to secure both her and Zachary. Denny then removed Zachary and Mrs. Bletz from the home and placed them, handcuffed, in separate locked police cars. Zachary was then arrested pursuant to the warrant. Mrs. Bletz, however, was not placed under arrest.

Both Mrs. Bletz and Zachary were cuffed and held in police custody for approximately three hours. At some point during their detainment, Mrs. Bletz and Zachary were transferred from defendants' patrol cars to state police cars. They were both released from police custody later that night.

This action was originally filed as two separate cases in Ionia County Circuit Court. The state court consolidated the actions, and defendants removed the consolidated case to the District Court for the Western District of Michigan. As the personal representative of her husband's estate, and individually, Mrs. Bletz asserted claims against both officers under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of her and her deceased husband's Second, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights, and under state law for gross negligence, assault and battery of both herself and her deceased husband, false arrest, and false imprisonment. In addition, Mrs. Bletz asserted a bystander-liability claim based on her witnessing her husband's death.³ Defendants moved for summary judgment, and Kitti cross-moved for summary judgment on her own individual Fourth Amendment and state-law tort claims.

On July 10, 2009, the district court denied Kitti's motion for summary judgment, and granted in part and denied in part defendants' motion. The district court dismissed all claims under the Fifth and Eighth Amendments, and Kitti's claim under the Second Amendment, because they had been abandoned by plaintiff. In addition, the district court dismissed the estate's Second Amendment claim, as well as both Fourteenth Amendment claims. The district court, however, determined that defendants were not entitled to qualified immunity on the Fourth Amendment claims. Similarly, the district court determined that defendants were not entitled to governmental immunity on the related state-law claims.

Defendants now timely appeal.

II.

In this appeal, defendants raise four arguments: (1) they are entitled to summary judgment and qualified immunity on the estate's Fourth Amendment claim; (2) they are entitled to summary judgment and qualified immunity on Kitti's Fourth Amendment claim; (3) they are entitled to summary judgment and governmental immunity on the estate's claim of gross negligence; and (4) they are entitled to summary judgment and governmental immunity on both the estate's and Kitti's intentional-tort claims. We address each argument in turn.

Plaintiff first claims that defendants are liable under § 1983 for violating her late husband's Fourth Amendment rights. Under § 1983, an individual may bring a private right of action against anyone who, under color of state law, deprives a person of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or conferred by federal statutes. Blessing v. Freestone, 520 U.S. 329, 340, 117 S.Ct. 1353, 137 L.Ed.2d 569 (1997); Maine v. Thiboutot, 448 U.S. 1, 4, 100 S.Ct. 2502, 65 L.Ed.2d 555 (1980). Defendants contend that they are entitled to summary judgment on plaintiff's § 1983 claims on the basis of qualified immunity. Generally, summary judgment based on qualified immunity is proper if the officer was not on notice that his conduct was clearly unlawful. Higgason v. Stephens, 288 F.3d 868, 876 (6th Cir.2002). However, if genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether the officer committed acts that would violate a clearly established right, then summary judgment is improper. Poe v. Haydon, 853 F.2d 418, 425–26 (6th Cir.1988).

“We review the denial of summary judgment on grounds of qualified immunity de novo because...