Talbert v. Kelly
| Decision Date | 25 August 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 85-5810,85-5810 |
| Citation | 799 F.2d 62 |
| Parties | Alan TALBERT and Fred Clayton, Jr. v. Robert KELLY, Individually and as a Police Officer of the City of Newark, Angelo Digeralomo, Individually and as a Police Officer of the City of Newark, L.P. McGee, Individually and as a Police Officer of the City of Newark, Michael Stackhaus, Individually and as an employee of the City of Newark, Jane and John Doe, Individually and in their capacity as Police Officers or Employees of the City of Newark, Hugh B. Gallagher, Individually and as Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Newark, et al. Appeal of CITY OF NEWARK. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
Kathleen C. Goger (argued), Michael Dougherty, Rosalind Lubetsky Bressler, Newark, N.J., for appellant.
Charles P. Cohen (argued), Neil G. Markowitz, Cohen, Markowitz & Garson, Verona, N.J., for appellees.
Before ADAMS, WEIS and HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judges.
After their arrest for a misdemeanor, plaintiffs were held in jail for four days by the defendant city police. The district court determined that the plaintiffs' constitutional rights had been violated by this prolonged detention and that the city was estopped to deny liability because it had failed to identify the individuals responsible. In addition, the court found that the city had adopted an unconstitutional policy in restricting bail decisions to magistrates, rather than adopting a state procedure rule which permitted delegation to police supervisory officers. In response to questions certified for appeal, we conclude that the city's policy was not unconstitutional, nor did it cause any violation of the plaintiffs' rights. We also hold that the record does not support the imposition of estoppel. However, because a pendent state claim has not yet been resolved, we will remand the case for further proceedings in the district court.
After hearing evidence on the liability phase of the case, the district court granted the plaintiffs' motion for a directed verdict. The question of damages was then submitted to the jury, which determined that plaintiffs had been detained for an excessive period of time, but awarded no damages. The district court granted a new trial and certified controlling questions of law to this court. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1292(b).
Plaintiffs were arrested on Thursday, May 6, 1982, at approximately 11:30 a.m. and were charged with the theft of cobblestones from a street, a misdemeanor. After arrest reports were completed, plaintiffs were transported to the Newark West District Police Headquarters where they spent the night.
The following morning, Friday, plaintiffs were taken to Municipal Court for a bail hearing, but their cases were not reached before the luncheon recess. Shortly after court resumed in the afternoon and just before the plaintiffs' cases were to be called, the judge announced that he would hear no other matters and recessed court for the weekend. Plaintiffs were then taken to cells at another precinct, where they remained until Monday morning when they returned to Municipal Court. The judge then set bail at $50, and on payment, plaintiffs were released. In the subsequent criminal proceedings, plaintiffs were acquitted.
Plaintiffs brought the present suit in the district court, alleging deprivation of constitutional rights as the basis for their claims under Sec. 1983 and appending a state claim under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act. Named as defendants were the City of Newark, the arresting officers, an employee of the Division of Streets and Engineering, corporation counsel for the city of Newark and his assistant. Also named were "Jane and John Doe, police officers or employees of Newark."
Testimony at the trial established that municipal court judges were accessible on weekends, holidays, and during evening hours when the court was not in regular session. Thus, they were available for bail hearings twenty-four hours a day. These hearings were frequently conducted over the telephone. If the accused was not heard during regular court hours, the lieutenant in charge of the police station would call the duty judge for a bail ruling. The police also maintained a "twenty-four hour sheet" to monitor and record the status of all jail inmates. Despite these procedures, no request for a bail ruling was made on behalf of plaintiffs after the court recessed on Friday afternoon. At trial no testimony was produced identifying the individual officer responsible for monitoring the plaintiffs' status.
After conclusion of the liability evidence, the trial judge ruled that probable cause for the arrest had existed. He dismissed the city employees and the arresting officers, finding as to the latter, "there is no evidence whatsoever that they played any part in the extended detention of plaintiffs." The court commented, "[t]he only defendant which remains is the city itself."
Reviewing City of Oklahoma City v. Tuttle, 471 U.S. 808, 105 S.Ct. 2427, 85 L.Ed.2d 791 (1985), and its reference to Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), the district judge noted the plaintiffs' burden to prove the existence of a municipal policy that had caused the deprivation of their constitutional rights. He then observed,
After commenting that the persons individually responsible for processing plaintiffs were not named parties, the judge stated that the City could easily have identified them. He then scrutinized the City's response to interrogatories asking for the names of persons connected with the events.
On October 12, 1984, more than five months after the two year statute of limitations had run, plaintiffs had served the following interrogatory on the City.
The attachments were the police department's records containing details of the arrest, identification of the accused, names of the arresting officers, the name of the lieutenant classifying and approving the report, the name of the lieutenant accepting bail, names of persons receiving the prisoners at the cell block, initials of officers taking prisoners to court, initials of person who fingerprinted prisoners, and the name of the person who searched the prisoners. The records also reflected the prisoners' movements, activities, and meals. Each entry bore the name or initials of the "doorman" and the badge number of the officers who accompanied the prisoners.
No objection to this answer had been filed by plaintiffs, nor had they requested any further information about the identity of the persons referred to in the reports. Nevertheless, the judge commented,
On this basis, the court directed a verdict on liability for plaintiffs against the City and submitted interrogatories to the jury inquiring what portion of the detention period had been unreasonable and what damages were due plaintiffs.
After some period of deliberation, the jury asked several questions, including whether it was "mandatory that an award be made if we feel the system breakdown may have been justified under the conditions at the time." The judge responded that the jury could not refuse to give an award for that reason because the court had decided liability as a matter of law. The jury found that each plaintiff had been detained two days "more than he should have been," but that "[w]e feel there is no amount of dollars justified."
Plaintiffs filed a motion for a new trial on damages, and the City moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. In granting the plaintiffs' motion, the court found the jury's denial of damages "manifestly unjust" and "without support in the record." The City's motion for reconsideration and judgment n.o.v. was denied.
The court did, however, modify its legal basis for finding liability on the part of the City. Assuming no constitutional deprivation in the twenty-eight hour lapse between arrest and Friday afternoon, the trial judge conceded that "the individuals ultimately responsible for the violation were the officers on duty on that Friday and the succeeding weekend days," who had failed to contact a Municipal Court judge. However, the court reasoned that the employee's negligence did not exempt the City from liability "if the city had a policy which encouraged or increased the likelihood of, or failed to prevent, the deprivation."
The court noted with approval Rule 3:4-1 of the Rules Governing Criminal Practice promulgated by the New Jersey Supreme Court. That rule, if followed by the City, would have permitted the supervising police officer at the stationhouse to issue a summons to plaintiffs and then release them or admit them to bail. Had the City...
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