Brooks v. Rothe

• Decision Date: 21 August 2009
• Docket Number: No. 08-1195.,No. 08-1099.,08-1099.,08-1195.
• Parties: Brenda BROOKS, Plaintiff-Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. David ROTHE et al., Defendants-Appellees/Cross-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

577 F.3d 701

Brenda BROOKS, Plaintiff-Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. David ROTHE et al., Defendants-Appellees/Cross-Appellants.

No. 08-1099.

No. 08-1195.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: June 17, 2009.

Decided and Filed: August 21, 2009.

ARGUED:

Jason J. Liss, Fabian, Sklar & King, P.C., Farmington Hills, Michigan, for Appellant. Megan K. Cavanagh, Garan Lucow Miller, P.C., Detroit, Michigan, Marcia L. Howe, Johnson, Rosati, LaBarge, Aseltyne & Field, P.C., Farmington Hills, Michigan, for Appellees.

ON BRIEF:

Jason J. Liss, Fabian, Sklar & King, P.C., Farmington Hills, Michigan, for Appellant. Megan K. Cavanagh, Roger A. Smith, Garan Lucow Miller, P.C., Detroit, Michigan, Marcia L. Howe, Johnson, Rosati, LaBarge, Aseltyne & Field, P.C., Farmington Hills, Michigan, for Appellees.

Before MOORE and GILMAN, Circuit Judges; PHILLIPS, District Judge.^*

GILMAN, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which PHILLIPS, D. J., joined. MOORE, J. (pp. 710-13), delivered a separate dissenting opinion.

OPINION

RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge.

Brenda Brooks, an employee of a domestic violence shelter, called 911 when one of the shelter's residents showed symptoms of a drug overdose. But, adhering literally to the shelter's policy of not admitting law enforcement personnel without a search warrant, Brooks repeatedly refused to admit or give any information to the police officer who responded to the call. After giving several warnings to Brooks that he needed to come inside the shelter to secure what he believed to be a crime scene, and that if she did not cooperate she would be arrested, the officer placed Brooks under arrest for resisting and obstructing a police officer. The charge against Brooks was later dropped.

Brooks then sued the officer, along with a number of other individual officials and municipal entities, for violating her constitutional rights when she was placed under arrest. The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants, holding that the officer was justified in his warrantless entry into the shelter because of exigent circumstances—specifically, a concern about the imminent destruction of evidence. Because the court found that no constitutional violation had occurred, it held that the individual defendants were entitled to qualified immunity and dismissed Brooks's remaining claims against the municipal entities. Brooks now appeals that ruling. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual background

Brooks worked as a shift attendant at the Huron County SafePlace, a shelter for victims of domestic violence. SafePlace's policy and procedures manual, which Brooks had received, stressed the importance of resident confidentiality. It instructed employees to contact their supervisors if law enforcement personnel wanted access to the shelter, and stated that "[a]ll searches must be conducted upon the authority of a search warrant."

In the early morning hours of May 8, 2006, Brooks was the sole employee working at SafePlace. Her shift was scheduled to last from midnight to 8 a.m. At around 4:30 a.m., Brooks went outside with one of the residents (whom the defendants refer to as MR), to smoke a cigarette. MR complained of back pain, had difficulty walking and sitting, and needed help in climbing the stairs. At breakfast a few hours later, Brooks noticed that MR was uncoordinated and had trouble walking and standing. Brooks grew concerned about MR's health and repeatedly asked her if she needed medical attention. MR declined to seek treatment, but when she tried to stand up, she staggered and could not walk.

Another resident kept an eye on MR while Brooks went to the telephone to call Amy Kain, the Managing Director of SafePlace and Brooks's supervisor. Kain told Brooks to defer to MR's wishes regarding medical treatment. Brooks returned to speak with MR and urged her to seek medical attention. MR eventually agreed.

Shortly after 7 a.m., Brooks called 911 to report that there was a woman at SafePlace complaining of back pain who needed medical attention. While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, Brooks checked on MR and told the other residents at the shelter what was happening.

The first person to arrive at SafePlace after Brooks's 911 call was Lieutenant David Rothe of the Bad Axe, Michigan Police Department. Rothe came to the door, identified himself as a police officer, and said that he was there in response to the 911 call. He asked to enter the shelter, but Brooks refused to let him in or to give him any information. Brooks felt uncomfortable giving Rothe any information because he was not with the ambulance. She was suspicious, in light of past incidents of husbands attempting to locate their wives at the shelter, as to whether Rothe was indeed a police officer. Rothe, growing frustrated, explained to Brooks that he was a first responder and needed to come into the building. After Brooks again refused to admit him, Rothe did not pursue the matter further and left SafePlace.

Shortly after Rothe's departure, the ambulance arrived, and Brooks let the paramedics into the shelter. Brooks again called Kain while the paramedics were attending to MR in order to get Kain's permission to copy MR's file for the paramedics. During this conversation, Kain was informed that Brooks had refused to let Rothe enter the shelter. Kain testified that she told Brooks "He's fine, you can let him in." Brooks, however, denied that she was ever told by Kain to admit Rothe.

At about the same time, Brooks received a call from defendant Elizabeth Weisenbach, who identified herself as a Huron County assistant prosecutor and a SafePlace board member. Weisenbach demanded information about the events at the shelter and yelled at Brooks for not letting Rothe enter the building. Brooks refused to give Weisenbach any information and hung up the phone.

Brooks was not forthcoming with information for the paramedics who were attending to MR. The paramedics observed that MR was drooling and unresponsive and noted that her symptoms were consistent with a drug overdose. Additionally, an unknown resident approached one of the paramedics and told the paramedic that she had seen MR with a plastic bag containing Soma and Ativan pills. (Soma is a powerful muscle relaxer, and Ativan is a benzodiazepine, a type of drug used to treat anxiety disorder.) The resident did not know if MR had actually taken the drugs. MR was taken to the hospital shortly thereafter.

After the paramedics left, MR's roommate at SafePlace (JL) told Brooks that she had seen MR take three white pills from a plastic bag. JL gave the empty plastic bag to Brooks, who locked it up in the cabinet reserved for the residents' prescription drugs. (The residents were not allowed to keep medication in their shared bedrooms.) Brooks became concerned at this point that MR had suffered from a drug overdose, but did not report this information to anyone else. At least one child had shared a room with MR, which left the child at continued risk of exposure to drugs in that room. Brooks encouraged the other residents to retreat to their bedrooms, which most did.

Around this time, Kain called SafePlace and asked if Brooks could work an extra hour, until 9 a.m., because Kain was running late. Brooks then told Kain about the call she had received from Weisenbach, but Kain told Brooks not to worry about it.

Meanwhile, after Brooks refused to let him enter SafePlace, Lieutenant Rothe called Weisenbach and told her that he had been denied entry to SafePlace. Weisenbach responded that she would take care of the matter. Rothe then contacted his boss, defendant Police Chief John Bodis, and reported what had happened at the shelter. A short time later, Bodis received a call from his wife, who was a supervisor at the 911 center. Bodis's wife told him that another 911 dispatcher had learned from the paramedics at the scene that the call from SafePlace involved a drug overdose rather than a back injury. The dispatcher also told Bodis's wife that the dispatcher had seen a video made by the paramedics at SafePlace.

Upon learning that the SafePlace call involved a potential drug overdose, Police Chief Bodis called defendant Mark J. Gaertner, the prosecuting attorney for Huron County. Bodis explained the situation to Gaertner, who told him that SafePlace needed to be secured and investigated. Next, Bodis called the president of the board of SafePlace, informed him of the incident, and expressed displeasure that Lieutenant Rothe had not been admitted. Bodis called Gaertner back to apprise him of his call with the board president and express his concerns about the safety of the SafePlace residents because he did not know what type of drug was involved in the overdose or who continued to have access to it. They discussed whether a warrant was required or whether exigent circumstances justified a warrantless entry because of the potential destruction of evidence and concern for the residents' safety. Gaertner instructed Bodis that a warrant was not necessary and that immediate action was appropriate to prevent the destruction of evidence.

At about 8:30 a.m., Weisenbach arrived at the police station and met with Bodis and Rothe. Rothe and Weisenbach then departed for SafePlace. Their plan, which they had discussed with Bodis, was for Rothe to ask to be let in to conduct a police investigation and, if that failed, for Weisenbach to use her position as a board member and prosecutor to get inside. Neither possessed a search warrant.

When Rothe and Weisenbach arrived at SafePlace, Brooks refused to let them enter, claiming that it was SafePlace's policy not to let law enforcement personnel enter the building. Rothe explained several times to Brooks that he needed to gain access to investigate a possible crime and that if Brooks would not let him in, he would have to place her under arrest. The accounts...