Adams v. Kraft, No. 5:10–CV–00602–LHK.

• Court: United States District Courts. 9th Circuit. United States District Courts. 9th Circuit. Northern District of California
• Writing for the Court: LUCY H. KOH
• Citation: 828 F.Supp.2d 1090
• Parties: Berry Lynn ADAMS, Plaintiff, v. Daniel L. KRAFT, Phillip Hauck, Kirk Lingenfelter, K.P. Best, J.I. Stone, Chip Bockman, R. Callison, Scott Sipes, Defendants.
• Decision Date: 25 October 2011
• Docket Number: No. 5:10–CV–00602–LHK.

828 F.Supp.2d 1090

Berry Lynn ADAMS, Plaintiff,
v.
Daniel L. KRAFT, Phillip Hauck, Kirk Lingenfelter, K.P. Best, J.I. Stone, Chip Bockman, R. Callison, Scott Sipes, Defendants.

No. 5:10–CV–00602–LHK.

United States District Court, N.D. California,San Jose Division.

Oct. 25, 2011.

Kathleen Wells, Attorney at Law, Santa Cruz, CA, for Plaintiff.

Daniel B. Alweiss, Office of the Attorney General, San Francisco, CA, for Defendants.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT LUCY H. KOH, District Judge.

Plaintiff Berry Lynn Adams (“Adams”) brings this action under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988 against Defendants Daniel L. Kraft (“Kraft”), Phillip Hauck (“Hauck”), Kirk Lingenfelter (“Lingenfelter”), and K.P. Best (“Best”), (collectively “Defendants”), all of whom are California State Park Rangers (“Park Rangers”), alleging unlawful search and arrest, excessive force, and retaliation, in violation of his rights under the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and Article I, §§ 2 and 3 of the California Constitution.¹ Before the Court is Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment. The Court held a hearing on October 20, 2011. Having considered the parties' submission and arguments, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Defendants' motion for summary judgment.

I. BACKGROUNDA. Facts

The following relevant facts are adopted, in large part, from the Court's July 29, 2011 Order Denying Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to Amend, and Granting in Part and Denying in Part Defendants' Motion to Dismiss. See ECF No. 126.

Plaintiff alleges that Defendants, all of whom are California State Park Rangers, violated his constitutional rights while acting in their individual capacities and under the color of state law. SAC ¶ 5. Plaintiff alleges that his problems with the California State Park Rangers began in 1985, when the Rangers replaced the Santa Cruz Sheriff's Office in patrolling Seacliff State Park Beach and Pier (“Seacliff”). Id. at ¶ 8; Adams Decl. ¶¶ 4–5. Plaintiff, a self-proclaimed “expert” surf fisher with over 25 years of experience fishing at Seacliff, claims that he never had any problems with the Sheriff's Office. SAC ¶ 7; Adams Decl. ¶¶ 3–4.

Initial Interactions with Park Rangers

Plaintiff's claims are based on a series of alleged encounters with various Park Rangers. Plaintiff's first claimed interaction with the Defendants occurred on February 15, 2008. SAC ¶ 10; Adams Decl. ¶ 6. Defendant Best issued a ticket to Plaintiff for unlawful possession of alcohol while he was parked in a public parking lot. SAC ¶ 10; Adams Decl. ¶ 6; Evans Decl. ¶¶ 2–4; Dickie Decl. ¶¶ 2–4; Dunlop Decl. ¶ 2. Plaintiff was in fact only drinking root beer and asked Best to read the label on the bottle or to sniff the contents of the bottle, both of which Best refused to do. Adams Decl. ¶ 6. The following day, Plaintiff again encountered Best and told him that he intended to contest the citation and had several witnesses who could corroborate his version of events. Id. ¶ 8. Best agreed to rescind the citation from the previous day, but as he did so, he told Plaintiff that never before in his career had he rescinded a citation, that he was not happy about having to do so, and that he “would never forgive or forget [Adams].” Id.; SAC ¶ 12. Plaintiff believes that Best felt humiliated by having to rescind his February 15, 2008 citation, and that this event triggered a series of retaliatory acts by Best and several of his subordinates designed to punish Plaintiff for “humiliating” Best. SAC ¶ 12; Adams Decl. ¶ 8.

Plaintiff describes several incidents that he believes resulted from Defendants' plan to exact revenge on behalf of Best. First, on June 15, 2008, Kraft and Callison “walked into Monterey Bay” in their uniforms and “demanded to search ADAM's [sic] backpack.” SAC ¶ 13; Adams Decl. ¶ 10; see also Valdez Decl. ¶ 2; Nelson Decl. ¶ 2. During the search, Kraft allegedly told Plaintiff, “My boss [Best] has not forgotten you.” SAC ¶ 13. Second, Plaintiff states that “on numerous occasions KRAFT approached ADAMS and required ADAMS to produce his water bottle to KRAFT so that KRAFT could sniff the liquid contents (water) to confirm that it was not alcohol.” SAC ¶ 14; Adams Decl. ¶ 9.

Third, on July 8, 2008, Stone issued Plaintiff a parking citation for parking at Seacliff after it had closed. SAC ¶ 15; Adams Decl. ¶ 11. Plaintiff does not contest the validity of the citation, but instead alleges that Stone issued the citation without the usual custom of announcing that the park had closed and without issuing a warning. SAC ¶ 15; Adams Decl. ¶ 11. Plaintiff further alleges that Stone did not give citations to other parked vehicles and told Plaintiff that he was “one of the locals who were the worst offenders and needed to be taught a lesson.” SAC ¶ 15; Adams Decl. ¶ 11.

Plaintiff claims that he later contacted the Rangers' supervisor, Defendant Lingenfelter, to complain about this “harassment.” SAC ¶ 17; Adams Decl. ¶ 12. Plaintiff alleges that Lingenfelter told him to put his complaints in writing, which Adams did. Adams Decl. ¶ 12; see Adams Decl. Ex. 1. Rather than respond to Plaintiff's complaints of harassment, however, Lingenfelter sought to have the District Attorney obtain a court order prohibiting Plaintiff from being present on several beaches, including Seacliff. SAC ¶ 17; Adams Decl. ¶¶ 12–14. Lingenfelter allegedly wrote a July 23, 2009 letter to the District Attorney, which claimed Plaintiff was lodging baseless complaints about State Park Peace Officers and consuming the officers' time, and that Plaintiff was causing disturbances, which Lingenfelter believed would continue to occur. SAC ¶ 17; Adams Decl. ¶ 14. Plaintiff alleges the disturbances were almost always in response to being erroneously accused, with subsequent public outcry at how the Rangers were treating him. SAC ¶ 17. The District Attorney allegedly sought a stay away order, but the Superior Court refused to issue one. SAC ¶ 17; Adams Decl. ¶ 14.

Plaintiff believes that the Park Rangers' resolve to harass him heightened after he gave a televised interview to a news channel during a June 22, 2009 rally at Seacliff opposing proposed budget cuts to the State Parks System. SAC ¶ 19; see Adams Decl. ¶ 15. The rally, attended by 1,200 people, was covered by major news media, including joint coverage by KCBA–TV, a local affiliate of the Fox and CBS networks and a main source of local news in the Monterey Bay area widely viewed by the public. SAC ¶ 19; Adams Decl. ¶ 15. Plaintiff told the interviewer that the State of California could save a lot of money by returning beach patrolling responsibility to the Sheriff's Office. SAC ¶ 19; Adams Decl. ¶ 15. Plaintiff believes that his interview was either viewed or reported to all the Park Rangers because one of their colleagues, Ranger Allyn Kaye, was also interviewed during the same broadcast. SAC ¶ 19; Adams Decl. ¶ 15.

Also on June 22, 2009, Plaintiff crossed paths with Greg Inloes (“Inloes”), another Seacliff frequenter. SAC ¶ 20; Adams Decl. ¶ 16. In his initial complaint, Plaintiff alleged he was upset with Inloes because Inloes had shared information about Plaintiff's new fishing lure with the Western Outdoor News, without Plaintiff's permission. Compl. ¶¶ 8–10; Adams Decl. ¶ 16. The two argued, and Plaintiff threatened to sue Inloes if he did not refrain from certain conduct in relation to fishing journalism. SAC ¶ 20; Adams Decl. ¶ 16; Nelson Decl. ¶ 4; Rodriguez Decl. ¶ 2. Plaintiff alleges that at no point did he threaten Inloes with any physical violence. SAC ¶ 20; Adams Decl. ¶ 16; Nelson Decl. ¶ 4; Rodriguez Decl. ¶ 2.

June 24, 2009 Arrest and Criminal Prosecution

Inloes subsequently complained to the Park Rangers about his interaction with Adams. SAC ¶ 21; Adams Decl. ¶ 17. According to Ranger Hauck, Inloes came into the Seacliff Ranger office at about 12:30 p.m. on June 24, 2009 and reported that Adams threatened him two days earlier, on June 22, 2009. Hauck Decl. ¶ 6; Kraft Decl. ¶ 14. Inloes allegedly reported that Adams said the following things to Inloes in warning him not to continue writing news articles: “I will have to come fuck your crippled ass up”; “When you're in the ICU you will understand”; “I will fuck you up and put you in the ICU.” Hauck Decl. ¶ 6. Hauck states that he promptly looked up the elements of California Penal Code § 422 and began asking Inloes follow-up questions to determine whether probable cause to arrest Adams existed. Inloes indicated to Hauck that he thought Adams would follow through on his threats, that Adams was not capable of controlling his physical rage, and that he had seen Adams attack other people on the pier after first making violent threats. Id. ¶ 7. Inloes “also noted a past instance of a knife fight on the pier when things got out of hand with people on the pier,” without specifying that this knife fight involved Adams. Id. ¶ 8.

Hauck alleges that after speaking with Inloes, he conferred with Kraft, his field-training officer, about whether there was sufficient probable cause under § 422, during which Kraft noted that his own past involvement with Inloes led him to believe Inloes was a credible witness. Id. ¶ 9; Kraft Decl. ¶ 14. Kraft then called the Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office to obtain a second opinion, and the District Attorney's Office confirmed that, based on the facts as reported by Inloes, there was probable cause to arrest under § 422. Hauck Decl. ¶ 9; Kraft Dec. ¶¶ 16–17; Lingenfelter Decl. ¶ 11.

Hauck alleges that he thereafter spoke with both Rangers Stone and Sipes about whether they had any past experience with Adams threatening or verbally harassing people on the pier. Hauck Decl. ¶¶ 10–11. Stone reported an incident on May 12, 2009, in which there was a 911 call reporting a suspect, whose description matched Adams, on the pier yelling obscenities and threatening people. Adams, when...