James v. City of Wilkes–Barre

• Decision Date: 29 November 2012
• Docket Number: No. 11–3345.,11–3345.
• Citation: 700 F.3d 675
• Parties: Cheryl JAMES; Warren James; Nicole James v. The CITY OF WILKES–BARRE; Wright Township; Wilkes–Barre Hospital Company, LLC, Doing Business as Wilkes–Barre General Hospital; The Wyoming Valley Health Care System; The Wilkes–Barre City Police Department; The Wright Township Police Department; Dr. Russell Elmer James; Dr. Noel Pacleb Estioko; Amy Lynn Craig; Beth Ann Noble; Lora Denise Paulukonis; Brian Thomas Moran; Tanya Lynn Ostopick; Ryan Russell Seltzer; Carole Fleming Pirow; Dennis Monk; Brian Stout; Michael Marshall; Charlie Casey; Kathy Pickarski Vidumski; Jason Frank Killian, Dr. Maureen M. Litchman, Michael Marshall, Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

700 F.3d 675

Cheryl JAMES; Warren James; Nicole James

v.The CITY OF WILKES–BARRE; Wright Township; Wilkes–Barre Hospital Company, LLC, Doing Business as Wilkes–Barre General Hospital; The Wyoming Valley Health Care System; The Wilkes–Barre City Police Department; The Wright Township Police Department; Dr. Russell Elmer James; Dr. Noel Pacleb Estioko; Amy Lynn Craig; Beth Ann Noble; Lora Denise Paulukonis; Brian Thomas Moran; Tanya Lynn Ostopick; Ryan Russell Seltzer; Carole Fleming Pirow; Dennis Monk; Brian Stout; Michael Marshall; Charlie Casey; Kathy Pickarski Vidumski; Jason Frank Killian, Dr. Maureen M. Litchman, Michael Marshall, Appellants.

No. 11–3345.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued Oct. 23, 2012.

Filed: Nov. 29, 2012.

Rufus A. Jennings, John P. Morgenstern [Argued], Deasey, Mahoney, Valentini & North, Philadelphia, PA, Attorneys for Michael Marshall, Defendant–Appellant.

James A. Brando [Argued], William L. Higgs, Law Offices of William L. Higgs, Mountain Top, PA, Attorneys for Plaintiff–Appellees.

Before: HARDIMAN, GREENAWAY, JR., and VANASKIE, Circuit Judges.

OPINION OF THE COURT

HARDIMAN, Circuit Judge.

This appeal requires us to decide whether the District Court erred when it denied a police officer's motion to dismiss a civil rights action.

I

On the evening of September 28, 2009, fifteen-year-old Nicole James sent a text message to a friend stating that she planned to commit suicide by ingesting ibuprofen pills. The friend called 911 and soon thereafter Officer Michael Marshall of the Wright Township Police Department arrived at the James residence. Officer Marshall was accompanied by two other police officers and emergency medical personnel.

When questioned by her parents, Warren and Cheryl James, Nicole admitted that she had planned to commit suicide, but said that she had changed her mind and had not ingested any pills. Nevertheless, Officer Marshall stated that Nicole had to go to the hospital for an evaluation. Nicole's parents disagreed, insisting that they wanted to handle the matter themselves. Officer Marshall then “informed Warren and Cheryl that [he] would charge [them] with assisted manslaughter if something happened to Nicole because they did not send Nicole to the hospital with the emergency medical services personnel.” Compl. ¶ 50. Mr. and Mrs. James relented and gave permission for their daughter to be taken to the hospital.

Officer Marshall then informed Mr. and Mrs. James that one of them would need to accompany Nicole. They initially refused, stating that they felt unable to travel because they had taken prescription medication earlier that evening. ¹ Officer Marshall persisted, however, and Mrs. James agreed to go to the hospital with her daughter.

Cheryl James later brought suit against Officer Marshall for false arrest and false imprisonment pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.² Officer Marshall then removed the case to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). In the alternative, Officer Marshall argued that he was entitled to qualified immunity. The matter was referred to Magistrate Judge Mildred E. Methvin, who recommended that the claims be dismissed for failure to state a claim. In light of this recommendation, the issue of qualified immunity was not addressed.

After the Jameses filed objections, the District Court rejected Magistrate Judge Methvin's Report and Recommendation to the extent that it dismissed Mrs. James's § 1983 claims for false arrest and false imprisonment, and denied Officer Marshall's motion to dismiss. James v. City of Wilkes–Barre, 2011 WL 3584775, at *6 (M.D.Pa. Aug. 15, 2011). Officer Marshall appealed to this Court, arguing that he was entitled to qualified immunity.

Because the District Court did not address the issue of qualified immunity in its opinion, we summarily remanded the matter for an explanation as to why it denied qualified immunity to Officer Marshall. Two days later, the District Court filed a supplemental memorandum opinion. James v. City of Wilkes–Barre, 2012 WL 425236, at *1 (M.D.Pa. Feb. 9, 2012). The case is now ripe for disposition.

II

The District Court exercised jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343(a)(3). We have appellate jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and the collateral order doctrine. See Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 530, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985); see also Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 672, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (“[T]he applicability of the [collateral order] doctrine in the context of qualified-immunity claims is well established; and this Court has been careful to say that a district court's order rejecting qualified immunity at the motion-to-dismiss stage of a proceeding is a ‘final decision’ within the meaning of § 1291.” (citing Behrens v. Pelletier, 516 U.S. 299, 307, 116 S.Ct. 834, 133 L.Ed.2d 773 (1996))).

Because this case comes to us upon a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, we accept the factual allegations contained in the Complaint as true, but we disregard rote recitals of the elements of a cause of action, legal conclusions, and mere conclusory statements. See Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678–79, 129 S.Ct. 1937;Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555–57, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007); Burtch v. Milberg Factors, Inc., 662 F.3d 212, 220–21 (3d Cir.2011). We exercise de novo review of a district court's denial of a motion to dismiss on qualified immunity grounds as it involves a pure question of law. McLaughlin v. Watson, 271 F.3d 566, 570 (3d Cir.2001) (citing Acierno v. Cloutier, 40 F.3d 597, 609 (3d Cir.1994)).

III

The doctrine of qualified immunity insulates government officials who are performing discretionary functions “from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). The Supreme Court has established a two-part analysis that governs whether an official is entitled to qualified immunity. Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001). We ask: (1) whether the facts alleged by the plaintiff show the violation of a constitutional right; and (2) whether the right at issue was clearly established at the time of the alleged misconduct. Id.;Kelly v. Borough of Carlisle, 622 F.3d 248, 253 (3d Cir.2010). Courts may address the two Saucier prongs in any order, at their discretion. Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 236, 129 S.Ct. 808, 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009). If the plaintiff fails to satisfy either prong, the defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See id. at 232, 129 S.Ct. 808.

A

The first question of the Saucier analysis is whether a constitutional violation occurred. This “is not a question of immunity, but whether there is any wrong to address.” Ray v. Twp. of Warren, 626 F.3d 170, 174 (3d Cir.2010) (citing Curley v. Klem, 499 F.3d 199, 207 (3d Cir.2007)). Here, the Complaint alleges that Officer Marshall falsely arrested and imprisoned Mrs. James when he insisted that she accompany her daughter to the hospital in an ambulance.

B

To state a claim for false arrest under the Fourth Amendment, a plaintiff must establish: (1) that there was an arrest; and (2) that the arrest was made without probable cause. See Groman v. Twp. of Manalapan, 47 F.3d 628, 634 (3d Cir.1995); Dowling v. City of Phila., 855 F.2d 136, 141 (3d Cir.1988). The Complaint at issue in this appeal fails to allege facts that give rise to a seizure under the Fourth Amendment. Accordingly, Officer Marshall is entitled to qualified immunity on this claim.

“Only when the officer, by means of physical force or show of authority, has in some way restrained the liberty of a citizen may we conclude that a seizure has occurred.” Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429, 434, 111 S.Ct. 2382, 115 L.Ed.2d 389 (1991) (quoting Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19 n. 16, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968)) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Berg v. Cnty. of Allegheny, 219 F.3d 261, 269 (3d Cir.2000) (“A person is seized for Fourth Amendment purposes only if he is detained by means intentionally applied to terminate his freedom of movement.”). When a person claims that her liberty is restrained by an officer's “show of authority,” a seizure does not occur unless she yields to that show of authority. California v. Hodari D., 499 U.S. 621, 626, 111 S.Ct. 1547, 113 L.Ed.2d 690 (1991); United States v. Smith, 575 F.3d 308, 313 (3d Cir.2009). “[T]he test for existence of a ‘show of authority’ is an objective one: not whether the citizen perceived that [s]he was being ordered to restrict [her] movement, but whether the officer's words and actions would have conveyed that to a reasonable person.” Hodari D., 499 U.S. at 628, 111 S.Ct. 1547;see also United States v. Brown, 448 F.3d 239, 245 (3d Cir.2006). We examine the totality of the circumstances in determining whether a seizure occurred. Bostick, 501 U.S. at 437, 111 S.Ct. 2382; United States v. Crandell, 554 F.3d 79, 86 (3d Cir.2009). Some factors indicative of a seizure include “the threatening presence of several officers, the display of a weapon by an officer, some physical touching of the person of the citizen, or the use of language or tone of voice indicating that compliance with the officer's request might be compelled.” United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 554, 100 S.Ct. 1870, 64 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980); see also United States v. Drayton, 536 U.S. 194, 204, 122 S.Ct. 2105, 153 L.Ed.2d 242 (2002) (concluding that the defendant was not seized because “[t]here was no application of force, no intimidating movement, no overwhelming show of force, no brandishing of weapons, no blocking of exits, no threat, no command, not...