Burns v. Reed, 88-3397
| Decision Date | 06 February 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-3397,88-3397 |
| Citation | 894 F.2d 949 |
| Parties | Cathy BURNS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Rick REED, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Michael K. Sutherlin (argued), Indianapolis, Ind., for plaintiff-appellant.
David A. Nowak, Dist. Atty. Gen. (argued), Indianapolis, Ind., Thomas H. Neuckranz, Williams & Montgomery, Chicago, Ill., William G. Bruns, Cannon & Bruns, Muncie, Ind., Edwin L. Gagnon, Byrum, Gagnon & Diehl, Indianapolis, Ind., for defendant-appellee.
Before BAUER, Chief Judge, CUMMINGS, and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges.
The present appeal is from the district court's order granting defendant's motion for a directed verdict in this action for damages under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. After hearing plaintiff's evidence, the district court determined that defendant, the Chief Deputy Prosecutor for Delaware County, Indiana, was absolutely immune from suit for the allegations testified to at trial. The question before the court is whether a state prosecutor is absolutely immune from suit under Sec. 1983 for his acts of giving legal advice to two police officers about their proposed investigative conduct, and for eliciting misleading testimony from one of the officers in a subsequent probable cause hearing.
Muncie, Indiana police officers Paul Cox and Donald Scroggins were assigned to investigate a September 2, 1982, incident in which an unknown assailant entered Cathy Burns' home and rendered her unconscious by striking her with a blunt object. The intruder then shot Burns' sons Eddie Griffin and Denny Sells two times apiece while they slept. Before leaving, the assailant used a lipstick to scrawl the following message on Burns' bathroom mirror: "I took what you loved most." When Burns regained consciousness, she called the police in a hysterical state and reported the incident. She and her sons were subsequently taken to a local hospital and treated for their wounds.
After conducting an initial investigation of the incident, Officers Cox and Scroggins concluded that Burns was their prime suspect. They questioned Burns on numerous occasions after the incident, but she repeatedly denied shooting her sons. The officers asked Burns to submit to a polygraph examination. She did so, and the examination results supported her claims of innocence. Unpersuaded, Cox and Scroggins asked Burns to submit handwriting exemplars; these were also exculpatory. After conducting a voice stress test with negative results, the officers reached the only conclusion that would save their theory of the case: Burns was a multiple personality.
On September 21, 1982, the officers questioned Burns once more. This time, they persuaded her to submit to questioning under hypnosis as the only way to flesh out any further evidence concerning the incident. Before proceeding, Officer Cox reminded Scroggins that during their police academy training, it was stressed that the use of hypnosis on criminal suspects or defendants was an unacceptable investigative technique. Cox's recollection prompted the officers to call Chief Deputy Prosecutor Richard Reed, the police liaison attorney, to inquire about the propriety of placing Burns under hypnosis and questioning her. That afternoon, Scroggins called Reed at his home and informed him of their desire to hypnotize Burns because she was the only one who could provide them with "additional information" about the incident. Scroggins testified that he informed Reed that Burns was their prime suspect in the shooting. Nonetheless, Reed told the officers that if hypnotizing Burns was their only remaining avenue, they should proceed.
With the assistance of an employee at a local supermarket chain, the officers hypnotized Burns and questioned her about the incident. During the video taped questioning, Burns described her assailant as someone wearing overalls, a halloween mask, and a dark wig. She also referred to the assailant as "Katie." After further questioning by the officers, Burns also made reference to herself as "Katie." The officers interpreted this response as evidence supporting their split personality theory and as a "confession" by Burns' other "self." When Burns was taken out of the hypnotic state, she reiterated her assertion that she had nothing to do with the shooting of her sons.
Soon after the hypnotic session, Officers Cox and Scroggins met with Reed at the station to ask his opinion about whether they had probable cause to arrest Burns. Reed stated that he thought they did. On the following day, Reed appeared at a probable cause hearing before a county court judge to obtain a warrant to search Burns' house and automobile. During that hearing, Reed elicited testimony from Officer Scroggins regarding Burns' alleged confession. At no point in the hearing did Reed ask Scroggins to clarify that Burns' alleged confession was in fact his interpretation of her hypnotically induced statements about "Katie." On the basis of Scroggins' misleading testimony, the judge found that there was probable cause to issue a search warrant. Burns' house and car were subsequently searched for items relating to the shooting.
On September 28, 1982, the judge issued a warrant for Burns' arrest after Jack L. Stonebraker, an investigator for the office of the Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney, submitted an affidavit in support of probable cause. Again, the judge was not informed that the alleged confession was obtained while Burns was under hypnosis. After the judge issued the warrant, Burns was arrested for attempted murder and was detained in the psychiatric ward of Ball Memorial Hospital for four months. 1 During that time, Burns was observed and tested by several medical experts who concluded that she did not suffer from a multiple personality. For example, the doctor who was asked to examine Burns to determine her mental competency to stand trial offered the following conclusion:
I do not find sufficient criteria to make a diagnosis of multiple personality. There are no episodes of depersonalization nor abrupt changes in personality. There were no homicidal ideation or inappropriate interactions with staff or family members. She is able to handle the stress of being on a psychotic unit as well as a fear of losing custody of her children and her employment with maturity. I doubt very much that Cathy shot her children. Dr. Phillip Coons of LaRue Carter Hospital in Indianapolis provided psychiatric consultation. Dr. Coons has had extensive training and experience with multiple personalities. It is of interest to note that he concurs that this patient does not have a multiple personality.
Prior to Burns' trial, the court granted her motion to quash the statements she made to Officers Scroggins and Cox while under hypnosis. In the face of this development, the prosecutor's office dismissed all pending criminal charges against Burns. Nevertheless, Reed allegedly stated to the press that he thought Burns was in fact guilty of the crimes that had been charged.
At the conclusion of the foregoing ordeal, Burns filed the present Sec. 1983 suit in federal court against Officers Cox and Scroggins, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Reed, Investigator Stonebraker, as well as numerous other Muncie Police officials. Burns alleged, among other things, that the defendants violated her constitutional rights under the color of law. Each of the defendants moved for summary judgment, claiming that they were immune from suit. The district court denied the qualified immunity defenses of Cox and Scroggins because it found that their actions may well have violated Burns' clearly established constitutional rights. The court also denied Reed's claim of absolute immunity for his activities because Reed could not recall the vital facts regarding his role in the decisions to hypnotize Burns, to seek a search warrant, and to obtain a warrant for her arrest. Therefore, the court was unable to determine whether Reed was acting within the scope of his prosecutorial duties. Accordingly, it concluded that there were genuine issues of material fact which precluded summary judgment on Reed's behalf. Finally, the court found that investigator Stonebraker was neither absolutely nor qualifiedly immune from suit for submitting a knowingly false affidavit to the judge at the probable cause hearing.
Prior to trial, Officers Cox and Scroggins made a combined offer of judgment to Burns in the amount of $150,000. Stonebraker, in turn, made an offer of judgment in the amount of $100,000. Burns accepted these offers and proceeded to trial against Reed. Upon the close of Burns' case in chief, Reed moved for a directed verdict pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 50. The parties briefed the motion and on November 8, 1988, the trial court entered a directed verdict in favor of defendant. The court found that Reed's act of giving legal advice to officers Cox and Scroggins and his appearance before the judge to seek the search and arrest warrants constituted conduct for which Reed was absolutely immune from suit. Burns timely filed the present appeal.
Burns' central claim on appeal is that the district court committed reversible error when it determined that Reed was absolutely immune from suit for both the act of advising the officers that they should proceed to hypnotize her and for his act of eliciting false testimony during the probable cause hearings. 2 She contends that Reed's acts do not enjoy absolute immunity because they fall outside the scope of his prosecutorial duties since his conduct related to the investigation of her case. In light of this Circuit's interpretation of the Supreme Court's decision in Imbler v. Patchman, 424 U.S. 409, 96 S.Ct. 984, 47 L.Ed.2d 128 (1976), we conclude that the district court properly granted the defendant's motion.
In Imbler, the Court held that a prosecutor enjoys absolute immunity from suits for damages...
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