Lowe v. Aldridge
| Citation | 958 F.2d 1565 |
| Decision Date | 27 April 1992 |
| Docket Number | 91-8418,Nos. 91-8287,s. 91-8287 |
| Parties | Allan LOWE, Peggy Lowe, Patsy Smith, Irvin Smith, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Nancy ALDRIDGE, Defendant-Appellant, James Davis, Defendant-Appellant, Victoria Karp, Victoria Lowe, Defendants, Sharon Moody, Defendant-Appellant, Cobb County Georgia, Defendant. William Howard OAKES, Anne M. Oakes, Plaintiffs-Counter-Defendants, Appellees, v. James E. DAVIS, Nancy Aldridge, Defendants-Counter-Claimants, Appellants, Sharon Moody, Defendant-Appellant, Cobb County, Georgia, Defendant. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit) |
Robert F. Webb, Webb, Casey & Gilson, Kris Skaar, Marietta, Ga., for Moody and Davis in No. 91-8287.
Andrew R. Kirschner, Bedford, Kirschner & Venker, P.C., Atlanta, Ga., for Aldridge.
Alan R. Turem, Turem & Edwards, Atlanta, Ga., for amicus curiae Georgia Council on Child Abuse.
Robert E. Wilson, Dist. Atty., Decatur, Ga., for amicus curiae, Dist. Attys. for the State of Ga.
Joseph P. Quirk, Quirk & Ashenden, Atlanta, Ga., for plaintiffs-appellees in No. 91-8287.
George M. Weaver, England, Weaver & Kytle, Atlanta, Ga., for defendant Victoria Karp.
Robert F. Webb, Webb, Casey & Gilson, Kris Skaar, Matthew D. Williams, Marietta, Ga., for Davis and Moody in No. 91-8418.
Harvey D. Harkness, Awtrey & Parker, Marietta, Ga., for plaintiffs-counter-defendants-appellees in No. 91-8418.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Before KRAVITCH, ANDERSON and BIRCH, Circuit Judges.
Defendants-Appellants James Davis and Sharon Moody, Cobb County Police Officers; and Nancy Aldridge, a psychotherapist in private practice ("Defendants"), appeal from a district court denial of their motion for summary judgment against two sets of plaintiffs in two related cases: Allan Lowe, Peggy Lowe, Patsy Smith and Irvin Smith ("Lowe Plaintiffs"), and William and Anne Oakes ("Oakes Plaintiffs"). The Oakes Plaintiffs and Lowe Plaintiffs sued for damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for alleged violation of the plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. We conclude that Defendants Davis and Moody were entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law, and that there is no factual or legal basis for finding that Defendant Aldridge was acting under color of state law. We therefore REVERSE the judgment of the district court and REMAND with instructions to grant summary judgment for the defendants.
These consolidated lawsuits arise out of a search of the homes owned by William and Anne Oakes, and Patsy and Irvin Smith, on May 1, 1987, pursuant to a search warrant obtained by Detective James Davis based on the allegations made during 1986 and 1987 by then-seven-year-old Alicia Lowe. Alicia Lowe claimed that her father, Allan Lowe; her grandmother, Peggy Lowe; and her great-aunt, Patsy Smith, had sexually abused Alicia and her two brothers, Garrick (Gary) and Darrell, at Patsy and Irvin Smith's home and the Oakes' home, both located in Marietta, Georgia. 1 The search of both the Smith home and the Oakes home revealed no evidence of the abuse and rituals described by Alicia. A grand jury returned a no-bill on the charges of sexual abuse brought against Allan and Peggy Lowe, and Patsy Smith; no charges were ever brought against the Oakes or Irvin Smith. The Oakes Plaintiffs subsequently brought suit against Cobb County, Detective James Davis, Major (then Captain) Sharon Moody, and Nancy Aldridge (Alicia's therapist) under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for damages arising from the alleged violation of their Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. The Lowe Plaintiffs 2 filed an identical suit against the same defendants. 3 All four defendants moved for summary judgment against the Lowe and Oakes Plaintiffs on the basis of qualified immunity. The district court granted the motion as to Cobb County, but denied the motions as to the individual defendants. Defendants filed this appeal.
On August 4, 1986, Victoria Lowe separated from her husband, Plaintiff Allan Lowe, because she suspected him of sexually molesting their then-six-year-old daughter, Alicia. Victoria Lowe filed for divorce on August 27, 1986, and took Alicia to Dr. Robert Manis, a child psychiatrist at Emory University, on September 15, 1986, for a psychiatric evaluation. Dr. Manis concluded that there was no evidence of sexual abuse.
During September of 1986, Victoria Lowe telephoned the Cobb County District Attorney's Office and relayed her suspicions that Alicia had been sexually abused. Assistant District Attorney Nicolette Templar suggested that Nancy Aldridge, a licensed therapist in private practice, might be able to help Alicia. Templar knew that Aldridge previously had testified in custody cases and cases involving child sexual abuse, but at no time did Aldridge have any formal connection with the Cobb County District Attorney's Office or any other governmental entity.
Nancy Aldridge met with Alicia Lowe on October 14, 1986, interviewed her, and concluded that the child had been the victim of sexual abuse by her father, Allan Lowe. Aldridge then called the Cobb County Department of Family and Children's Services to confirm that Victoria Lowe had reported her suspicions of child abuse. When Aldridge questioned Alicia as to why she had not told Dr. Manis about the abuse, Alicia told her that Dr. Manis was a man and that she was afraid of him.
Aldridge testified at a temporary custody hearing on October 21, 1986, and recommended that Victoria Lowe be given custody of the four children; the court agreed and denied Allan Lowe visitation rights. Aldridge treated Alicia again on October 27, 1986, and began seeing Alicia's brothers, Gary and Darrell, in December of 1986. 4 Although all three initially denied being abused, they soon reported ritualistic abuse at the Smith home involving Allan Lowe (their father), Peggy Lowe (their paternal grandmother), and Patsy Smith (their paternal great-aunt), as well as other adults they did not know. The descriptions offered by all of the children were excruciatingly detailed. Alicia used anatomically correct dolls to demonstrate how she had been sexually assaulted, and all three children told Aldridge and Detective Davis that they had been orally and anally sodomized, that animals and humans had been sacrificed during satanic rituals, and that their abuse had been videotaped.
Aldridge told Victoria Lowe that the exacting detail with which the children recounted their abuse made their stories generally credible, although some parts of their report seemed fantastic and, in some cases, impossible.
Victoria Lowe continued to seek prosecution of Allan Lowe for child abuse, but her requests that he be arrested were refused. She then sought an arrest warrant in the City of Alpharetta and succeeded in having Allan Lowe arrested in Roswell by the Alpharetta Police Department in October of 1986. The charges were dismissed, however, because Alpharetta is located in Fulton County and the criminal acts were alleged to have occurred in Cobb County.
On January 13, 1987, Dr. James Stark examined the three children at Nancy Aldridge's request. Dr. Stark concluded that Gary had been sexually victimized by his father and paternal grandmother, and that Alicia had been sexually victimized by her father.
Victoria Lowe contacted Detective James Davis of the Cobb County Police Department on March 24, 1987, and reported the children's stories of abuse, Dr. Stark's conclusions, and Aldridge's opinion regarding the children's credibility. Mrs. Lowe told Detective Davis that she had reported her suspicions to other police authorities, but that they had not followed up on her allegations. Detective Davis then contacted Aldridge, who reported that the children had initially denied being molested but, over time, had reported progressively more horrible accounts of abuse. On April 6, 1987, Detective Davis interviewed Alicia and Gary separately to confirm their stories. At Detective Davis' suggestion, Aldridge was present at the interview.
Alicia told Detective Davis that her father, grandmother, and great-aunt had taken her to a "house store" where pornographic materials were traded, and that she and her brothers had been repeatedly abused. Although she did not know the people who owned the "house store," Alicia offered to direct Detective Davis to its location. In his deposition, Detective Davis stated that Alicia was in the back seat of his car and gave very specific and precise directions to the house. Victoria Lowe, who was also in the car, asked Alicia once if she was sure about the directions, at which point Detective Davis reminded her not to help Alicia. Alicia eventually directed Detective Davis to 185 Sentinel Place in Marietta, Georgia, where she identified the grey house as the "house store" and the site of her abuse. Detective Davis subsequently determined that the house belonged to William and Anne Oakes.
Detective Davis had the children examined by Dr. Sally Marcus on April 22, 1987. Dr. Marcus found that Alicia had "a enlarged vaginal introitus" that was consistent with her account of abuse, but found no evidence of abuse of Gary. Another doctor, E. Earl Pennington, found no evidence of abnormality with respect to Darrell.
On April 29, 1987, Detective Davis, under the supervision of Major Moody, presented a sworn affidavit to the Cobb County State Court detailing the Lowe children's reports of abuse and the investigation Detective Davis had undertaken to confirm their story, and requesting a warrant to search the homes of Patsy and Irvin Smith and William and Anne Oakes. The court issued warrants for the arrest of Allan Lowe, Peggy Lowe, and Patsy Smith, and for the search of the Smith and Oakes houses. The two homes were searched at or around midnight on May 1, 1987, but the "no-knock" provisions were not used...
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