Caniglia v. Strom

• Decision Date: 13 March 2020
• Docket Number: No. 19-1764,19-1764
• Parties: Edward A. CANIGLIA, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. Robert F. STROM, as the Finance Director of the City of Cranston, et al., Defendants, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

953 F.3d 112

Edward A. CANIGLIA, Plaintiff, Appellant,

v.Robert F. STROM, as the Finance Director of the City of Cranston, et al., Defendants, Appellees.

No. 19-1764

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

March 13, 2020

Thomas W. Lyons, with whom Rhiannon S. Huffman and Strauss, Factor, Laing & Lyons, Providence, RI, were on brief, for appellant.

Marc DeSisto, Providence, RI, with whom Patrick K. Cunningham, Caroline V. Murphy, and DeSisto Law LLC, Providence, RI, were on brief, for appellees.

Before Barron, Circuit Judge, Souter,^* Associate Justice, and Selya, Circuit Judge.

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

There are widely varied circumstances, ranging from helping little children to cross busy streets to navigating the sometimes stormy seas of neighborhood disturbances, in which police officers demonstrate, over and over again, the importance of the roles that they play in preserving and protecting communities. Given this reality, it is unsurprising that in Cady v. Dombrowski, 413 U.S. 433, 93 S.Ct. 2523, 37 L.Ed.2d 706 (1973), the Supreme Court determined, in the motor vehicle context, that police officers performing community caretaking functions are entitled to a special measure of constitutional protection. See id. at 446-48, 93 S.Ct. 2523 (holding that warrantless search of disabled vehicle's trunk to preserve public safety did not violate Fourth Amendment). We hold today — as a matter of first impression in this circuit — that this measure of protection extends to police officers performing community caretaking functions on private premises (including homes). Based on this holding and on our other conclusions, we affirm the district court's entry of summary judgment for the defendants in this highly charged case.

I. BACKGROUND

We start with the cast of characters. At the times material hereto, plaintiff-appellant Edward A. Caniglia resided with his wife, Kim Caniglia, in Cranston, Rhode Island. The defendants include the City of Cranston (the City), Colonel Michael J. Winquist (Cranston's police chief), and five Cranston police officers.¹

Having identified the central players, we rehearse the relevant facts in the light most congenial to the summary judgment loser (here, the plaintiff). See Avery v. Hughes, 661 F.3d 690, 691 (1st Cir. 2011). On August 20, 2015, marital discord erupted at the Caniglia residence. During the disagreement, the plaintiff retrieved a handgun from the bedroom — a handgun that (unbeknownst to Kim in that moment) was unloaded. Kim initially maintained that the plaintiff also brought out a magazine for the gun, but she subsequently stated in a deposition that she only remembered his retrieval of the handgun. Throwing the gun onto the dining room table, the plaintiff said something like "shoot me now and get it over with." Although the plaintiff suggests that this outburst was merely a "dramatic gesture," Kim took it seriously: worried about her husband's state of mind even after he had left to "go for a ride," she returned the gun to its customary place and hid the magazine. Kim also decided that she would stay at a hotel for the night if the plaintiff had not calmed down when he returned. She began to pack a bag.

The plaintiff's return sparked a second spat. This time, Kim departed to spend the night at a nearby hotel. When Kim spoke to the plaintiff by telephone that evening, he sounded upset and "[a] little" angry.

The next morning, Kim was unable to reach her husband by telephone. Concerned that he might have committed suicide or otherwise harmed himself, she called the Cranston Police Department (CPD) on a non-emergency line and asked that an officer accompany her to the residence. She said that her husband was depressed and that she was "worried for him." She also said that she was concerned "about what [she] would find" when she returned home.

Soon thereafter, Officer Mastrati rendezvoused with Kim. She recounted her arguments with the plaintiff the previous day, his disturbing behavior and statements, and her subsequent concealment of the magazine. At some point during this discussion, Kim mentioned that the handgun her husband produced the previous day had not been loaded. The record contains conflicting evidence about whether Kim told the officers that the plaintiff brought out the magazine in addition to the unloaded handgun. Although Kim made clear that she was not concerned for her own safety, she stressed that, based on her fear that her husband might have committed suicide, she was "afraid of what [she] would find when [she] got home."

Officer Mastrati then called the plaintiff, who said that he was willing to speak with the police in person. By this time, Sergeant Barth and Officers Russell and Smith had arrived on the scene. The four officers went to the residence and spoke with the plaintiff on the back porch while Kim waited in her car. The plaintiff corroborated Kim's account, stating that he brought out the firearm and asked his wife to shoot him because he was "sick of the arguments" and "couldn't take it anymore." When the officers asked him about his mental health, he told them "that was none of their business" but denied that he was suicidal. Officer Mastrati subsequently reported that the plaintiff "appeared normal" during this encounter, and Officer Russell described the plaintiff's demeanor as calm and cooperative. This appraisal, though, was not unanimous: Sergeant Barth thought the plaintiff seemed somewhat "[a]gitated" and "angry," and Kim noted that he became "very upset" with her for involving the police.

The ranking officer at the scene (Sergeant Barth) determined, based on the totality of the circumstances, that the plaintiff was imminently dangerous to himself and others. After expressing some uncertainty, the plaintiff agreed to be transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. The plaintiff claims that he only agreed to be transported because the officers told him that his firearms would not be confiscated if he assented to go to the hospital for an evaluation. But the record contains no evidence from any of the four officers who were present at the residence suggesting that such a promise was made.

At some point that morning, someone (the record is unclear as to whether the "someone" was Kim or the plaintiff) informed the officers that there was a second handgun on the premises. After the plaintiff departed by ambulance for the hospital, unaccompanied by any police officer, Sergeant Barth decided to seize these two firearms. A superior officer (Captain Henry) approved that decision by telephone. Accompanied by Kim, one or more of the officers entered the house and garage, seizing the two firearms, magazines for both guns, and ammunition. Kim directed the officers to each of the items seized. The parties dispute both whether Kim indicated that she wanted the guns removed and whether the officers secured her cooperation by telling her that her husband had consented to confiscation of the firearms. There is no dispute, though, that the officers understood that the firearms belonged to the plaintiff and that he objected to their seizure.

The plaintiff was evaluated at Kent Hospital but not admitted as an inpatient. In October of 2015 — after several unsuccessful attempts to retrieve the plaintiff's firearms from the CPD — the plaintiff's attorney formally requested their return. The firearms were returned in December. The CPD never prevented the plaintiff from obtaining other firearms at any time. Nor did the events at issue involve any criminal offense or investigation.

Shortly before his firearms were returned, the plaintiff repaired to the federal district court, pressing a salmagundi of claims stemming from the defendants' alleged seizures of his person and his firearms. These claims included, as relevant here, claims brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging violations of the Second and Fourth Amendments, as well as state-law claims alleging violations of the Rhode Island Constitution; the Rhode Island Mental Health Law (RIMHL), R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 40.1-5-1 to - 43 ; and the Rhode Island Firearms Act (RIFA), R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 11-47-1 to - 63.

Once discovery was completed, the parties cross-moved for summary judgment. With one exception, the district court granted summary judgment in the defendants' favor on the plaintiff's federal and state-law claims. See Caniglia v. Strom, 396 F. Supp. 3d 227, 242 (D.R.I. 2019).² This timely appeal followed.

II. ANALYSIS

Orders granting summary judgment engender de novo review. See Avery, 661 F.3d at 693. In conducting this tamisage, we scrutinize the record in the light most hospitable to the nonmovant (here, the plaintiff) and affirm "only if the record reveals ‘that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.’ " Id. (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a) ). We are not wedded to the district court's reasoning but, rather, may affirm "on any ground made manifest by the record." Mason v. Telefunken Semiconductors Am., LLC, 797 F.3d 33, 38 (1st Cir. 2015). Against this backdrop, we examine the plaintiff's claims one by one.

A. The Fourth Amendment Claims.

The centerpiece of the plaintiff's asseverational array is his contention that the defendant officers offended the Fourth Amendment both by transporting him involuntarily to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation and by seizing two firearms after a warrantless entry into his home. We begin with constitutional bedrock: the Fourth Amendment guarantees "[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." U.S. Const. amend. IV. The officers assert that their conduct at the plaintiff's residence constituted a reasonable exercise of their community caretaking responsibilities and thus did not transgress the Fourth Amendment. The district court agreed.³ See Caniglia, 396 F. Supp. 3d at 234-35. Before...