Collins v. Nagle

Decision Date22 December 1989
Docket NumberNo. 89-5132,89-5132
Citation892 F.2d 489
PartiesBen COLLINS, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. John NAGLE, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Ralph D. Gibson, argued, Burnside, Ky., for plaintiffs-appellants.

Beth Angus Baumstark, Randall McDowell, Office of Gen. Counsel, Natural Resources & Environmental Protection Cabinet, Frankfort, Ky., Russell H. Davis, Jr., argued, Baird & Baird, Pikeville, Ky., for defendants-appellees.

Before KEITH, MILBURN and NORRIS, Circuit Judges.

KEITH, Circuit Judge:

Ben Collins ("B. Collins"), Michael Neal Collins ("M. Collins"), and Burl Fultz ("Fultz") (collectively "appellants") appeal from the district court's order granting a motion for summary judgment in favor of John Nagle ("Nagle"), Jack T. Brown ("Brown"), Roger Martin ("Martin") and Charles Riddle ("Riddle") (collectively "mining investigators"). Appellants also appeal the district court's order granting a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim in favor of Bill Davis Ford, doing business as W.F. Davis Motor Company, Inc. ("Bill Davis Ford"). For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM.

I.

On September 29, 1986, Nagle, Brown, Martin and Riddle, Special Investigators with the Kentucky Department for Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, went to the Buck Creek area to investigate suspected mining activity that had been observed three days earlier during a routine aerial surveillance in Letcher County, Kentucky. 1 When the mining investigators discovered a locked gate barring their entrance to the Buck Creek access road located on property owned by B. Collins, they opened the gate with a winch and proceeded in the direction of the sound of heavy equipment in operation. At the scene, the mining investigators observed a man operating a loader and another man standing beside a running bulldozer. When the two men saw the mining investigators, they ran into the woods. The mining investigators proceeded with their inspection of the site. At the completion of the on-site investigation, they returned down the Buck Creek access road. At the gate, they discovered that their exit was blocked by a blue Ford pickup truck.

The mining investigators found M. Collins and Fultz, who had been at Buck Creek Hollow measuring the clearance for a trailer that was hauling refuse on the property, resting near the pickup truck on a mound of dirt. M. Collins and Fultz had arrived at the gate during the period when the mining investigators were on the property and recognized B. Collins' truck in front of the gate. Prior to the arrival of M. Collins and Fultz, B. Collins had arrived to meet them and noticed that the gate on his property was broken. He pushed the gate together and positioned his pickup truck to temporarily secure the gate. B. Collins left on foot to obtain a chain to resecure the gate. His friends, Chester Holland ("Holland") and Calvin Ball, agreed to take him back to the gate.

Martin, Brown and Riddle recognized the blue pickup truck blocking the gate as the same one that M. Collins and Fultz had used, on September 18, 1986, to block a coal access road on the right fork of Buck Creek. Similarly, on July 10, 1986, Fultz's pickup truck had blocked the exit of Riddle and Martin and two other mining investigators that are not parties to this action. On that occasion, the truck was locked and Fultz claimed that his children had lost the keys. After a half hour, Fultz produced the keys and permitted the mining investigators to leave.

Bearing the previous events in mind, the mining investigators identified themselves, told the men that they were investigating suspected illegal mining activity and asked M. Collins and Fultz to move the truck so that they could leave. M. Collins and Fultz informed the mining investigators that the truck belonged to B. Collins, M. Collins' father. The doors to the truck were locked and, they explained, they did not have the keys to move it. The mining investigators discussed among themselves the options that they could employ given the fact that M. Collins and Fultz were interfering with the performance of their duties.

John Nagle and Charles Riddle placed M. Collins and Fultz under arrest for unlawful interference with the performance of the mining investigation, a violation of Ky.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 350.990(8). 2 M. Collins and Fultz were asked to produce their driver's licenses or another form of identification. When Fultz refused to produce his license, Riddle and Martin held his arms while Nagle searched him. When Nagle produced Fultz's wallet, Fultz wrested himself from their restraint and grabbed his wallet from Nagle. After Riddle and Martin regained control, Nagle proceeded with the pat down search and removed a small pocket knife from Fultz's pocket.

At about the time when Fultz resisted the search incident to his arrest, B. Collins arrived in a car driven by Holland. B. Collins got out of the car and approached the scene. Brown ordered him to leave, but B. Collins refused. He did not identify himself, however he stated that he had a right to be there. Brown drew his gun and repeated his order to B. Collins who obeyed.

The mining investigators called the Kentucky State Police requesting a trooper to transport M. Collins and Fultz and a wrecker to move the pickup truck that blocked their exit. Trooper Herman Hall responded. After searching M. Collins and Fultz, he put them in the back seat of his cruiser.

Bill Davis Ford was registered with the Kentucky State Police as a provider of towing services and participated in their rotating call system. Bill Davis Ford responded to a call for towing services on Buck Creek. After B. Collins' truck was towed to Bill Davis Ford's car lot, the mining investigators conducted an inventory search on the impounded pickup. They discovered the pickup was registered to Maggie Collins of LaFollette, Tennessee. An employee of Bill Davis Ford removed the drive shaft of the vehicle to prevent it from being stolen.

On October 2, 1986, Riddle informed the Kentucky State Police and Bill Davis Ford that the pickup could be released. Bill Davis Ford reinstalled the drive shaft and attempted, unsuccessfully, to reach B. Collins. During the night of October 2, 1986, the gate of the car lot was cut. The impounded pickup along with the tailgate of a new Ford pickup and a license plate off of a used vehicle were stolen.

II.

Appellants sued the mining investigators and Bill Davis Ford pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988 and alleged violations of their fourth and fourteenth amendment rights. Appellants also asserted pendent state claims of false arrest, false imprisonment, assault, battery, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, and conspiracy tort.

On January 3, 1989, the district court granted Bill Davis Ford's motion to dismiss and granted summary judgment in favor of the mining investigators. The federal claims alleged by appellants were dismissed with prejudice, while the pendent state claims were dismissed without prejudice. Appellants filed a timely notice of appeal in this court on February 1, 1989.

On appeal, B. Collins argues that when they seized his Ford pickup, the mining investigators violated his fourth amendment right to be secure against unreasonable seizures of property and his fourteenth amendment right to procedural due process. In addition, B. Collins alleges that the mining investigators' use of excessive force deprived him of his substantive due process rights in violation of the fourteenth amendment. B. Collins further contends that the mining investigators and Bill Davis Ford conspired willfully, knowingly and with specific intent to deprive him of his fourth and fourteenth amendment rights.

On appeal, M. Collins and Fultz contend that they were denied substantive and procedural due process guarantees, as well as their fourth amendment rights, when the mining investigators arrested them by employing excessive force and without probable cause.

III.

This case requires us to conduct a de novo review of the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the mining investigators, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 56, and its dismissal of the claims against Bill Davis Ford pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Cf. Burkart v. Post-Browning, Inc., 859 F.2d 1245, 1249 (6th Cir.1988) (de novo review of district court's grant of summary judgment). See also Dugan v. Brooks, 818 F.2d 513, 516 (6th Cir.1987) (district court's dismissal pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) subject to de novo review). Disputed facts will be construed in favor of M. Collins, B. Collins and Fultz--the nonmoving parties. Bishop v. Wood, 426 U.S. 341, 347, 96 S.Ct. 2074, 2078, 48 L.Ed.2d 684 (1976); Arnett v. Kennedy, 416 U.S. 134, 139-40, 94 S.Ct. 1633, 1637, 40 L.Ed.2d 15 (1974); Dugan, 818 F.2d at 516.

Both the summary judgment motion and the motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim are properly granted when the moving party establishes that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact. Rule 56 mandates the entry of summary judgment against a party who fails to establish the existence of an essential element of that party's case, and on which the party bears the burden of proof at trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-53, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). When considering a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, we accept all factual allegations in the complaint as true. Windsor v. The Tennessean, 719 F.2d 155, 158 (6th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 826, 105 S.Ct. 105, 83 L.Ed.2d 50 (1984). Dismissal pursuant to rule 12(b)(6) is proper when it is established beyond a doubt that the plaintiff cannot prove any set of facts consistent with the allegations that would entitle such plaintiff to relief. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-02, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); Nishiyama v. Dickson County, 814 F.2d 277, 279 (6th...

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