Anderson v. Sager, 13834.
| Citation | 173 F.2d 794 |
| Decision Date | 01 April 1949 |
| Docket Number | No. 13834.,13834. |
| Parties | ANDERSON et al. v. SAGER. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Sigurd Anderson, Atty. Gen., E. D. Barron, Asst. Atty. Gen. State of South Dakota (Earl V. Morrill, of Sturgis, S. D., on the brief), for appellants.
H. F. Fellows, Geo. A. Bangs and W. A. McCullen, all of Rapid City, S. D., for appellee.
Before GARDNER, Chief Judge, and RIDDICK and STONE, Circuit Judges.
This is an appeal from a judgment in an action for damages for an alleged false arrest and imprisonment. In her complaint appellee charged that she had suffered actual damages in the sum of $10,000 and was entitled to exemplary damages in the sum of $5,000. Jurisdiction is based upon diversity of citizenship. The trial court withdrew from the jury the question of exemplary damages, ruled that the arrest and detention of appellee were unlawful, and directed the jury to determine from the evidence her actual damage, if any.
Appellant Anderson is the sheriff of Meade County, South Dakota. The other appellants are police officers of Meade County and of the State of South Dakota.
On November 8, 1947, Anderson, acting after consultation with the State's Attorney of Meade County, called to his aid the other appellants for the purpose of making a raid on the North Star Night Club, then being operated in the village of Black Hawk in Meade County, about 21 miles distant from Sturgis, the county seat. At about 11 o'clock on the night of November 8, the appellants, armed with a search warrant, went to the North Star Night Club and proceeded to search it.
The law of South Dakota denounces as a common nuisance the keeping or operation of any establishment in which alcoholic beverages are sold, consumed, or given away in violation of the laws of the State, and any place in which gambling in any form is permitted. Those who keep or maintain or participate in keeping or maintaining places of the character described are guilty of misdemeanors. Section 1, chapter 15, of the Session Laws of 1939, as amended in 1943, Laws 1943, c. 13, § 1; section 24.9903 of the South Dakota Code 1939. Section 13.0203 of the South Dakota Code of 1939 provides that all persons concerned in the commission of a crime, whether it be a felony or a misdemeanor, or whether they directly commit the act constituting the offense or aid or abet in its commission, are principals.
Without going into a detailed statement of the facts revealed by the search made by the appellants, it is sufficient to say that the evidence discloses without dispute that the North Star Night Club was a common nuisance denounced by South Dakota law, and that the operators and those who aided or abetted them in violations of the liquor and gambling laws were guilty of misdemeanors.
Section 34.1609 of the South Dakota Code of 1939 provides that a peace officer may, without a warrant, arrest a person for a public offense committed or attempted in his presence. On the night of the raid and arrest out of which this action arises, the peace officers were without warrants for the arrest of any persons in connection with the operation of the North Star Night Club. Nevertheless, after having found that the club was being operated in violation of the statutes of the State, the sheriff directed the arrest of the proprietors of the club and all employees on the premises at the time of the raid. After the arrest of two proprietors who were present, the sheriff obtained from one of them a list of the employees. One of the police officers assisting in the raid found the appellee working in the kitchen. The club was a large building, including, besides the kitchen, a dining and ballroom capable of accommodating 200 guests, a bar, a gambling room in the basement, and a storeroom in which supplies for the kitchen, the dining room, and the bar were kept. Appellee's name was on the list of employees of the club.
The North Star Night Club began operations the latter part of September 1947. Appellee is the wife of a soldier who had for some time prior to her arrest been stationed at an army airbase near the club. She was a frequent visitor to the club. She testified that she had been a guest of the club as many as 25 times during its operation. She was a friend of the wife of one of the proprietors, and on several occassions had worked in the kitchen when the club was short of help.
On the night of appellee's arrest, she had come to the club on the invitation of the wife of one of the proprietors. They reached the club about 7:15 in the evening and had dinner. While they were in the dining room, one of the proprietors of the club asked the appellee if she would help in the kitchen. Her testimony is that she agreed to do so as a friend of the proprietor and his wife. She went into the kitchen about 8 o'clock and remained there until her arrest about 1 o'clock the next morning. She testified that she had no part in the management of the club and no financial interest in it. The arresting officers saw nothing at the time of the arrest to indicate that she sold or served intoxicating beverages or in any way participated in any law violation. She was engaged in washing dishes and in peeling potatoes. She was so engaged when accosted by one of the appellants and when told that she was under arrest. This was the extent of her connection with the operation of the club so far as known to appellants at the time of her arrest.
After the arrests, the sheriff took the proprietors in his car to the courthouse at Sturgis and directed the employees to follow. Appellee and other employees did so in a car owned by one of the employees. On arrival at the courthouse they were taken before a magistrate. Appellee was released on bond furnished by the wife of one of the proprietors. She was detained at the courthouse about 30 minutes and returned to her home about 4 o'clock in the morning. On November 12, 1947, an information, sworn to by appellant Anderson, was filed in court, charging the appellee and other employees of the club with the crime of aiding and assisting in maintaining a common liquor nuisance. At a preliminary hearing on November 14, 1947, appellee was discharged by the committing magistrate.
The court charged the jury that the fact that the officers raiding the club had a search warrant which authorized them to search the premises did not authorize them to arrest without a warrant any person on the premises, unless they saw the person arrested committing an offense. The jury was told as a matter of law that the appellee on the evidence was not committing any offense,...
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