Case v. Kitsap County Sheriff's Dept.

• Decision Date: 09 May 2001
• Docket Number: No. 98-36260,PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES,98-36260
• Citation: 249 F.3d 921
• Parties: (9th Cir. 2001) DAWN CASE,, v. KITSAP COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT; KITSAP COUNTY; KITSAP COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE; OFFICER LAFRANCE, A KITSAP COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT POLICE OFFICER; DEPUTY BALL, A KITSAP SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT OFFICER; DEPUTY BERGENSON, A KITSAP COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT OFFICER; DEPUTY BURROWS, A KITSAP COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT OFFICER AND JOHN DOE,
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 921

249 F.3d 921 (9th Cir. 2001)

DAWN CASE, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. KITSAP COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT; KITSAP COUNTY; KITSAP COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE; OFFICER LAFRANCE, A KITSAP COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT POLICE OFFICER; DEPUTY BALL, A KITSAP SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT OFFICER; DEPUTY BERGENSON, A KITSAP COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT OFFICER; DEPUTY BURROWS, A KITSAP COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT OFFICER AND JOHN DOE, DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES.

No. 98-36260

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

Argued and Submitted October 6, 2000

Filed May 9, 2001

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

Clayton Ernest Longacre, Port Orchard, Washington, for the plaintiff-appellant.

Jon Walker, Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, Port Orchard, Washington, for the defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington Robert J. Bryan, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-97-05437-RJB

Before: Arthur L. Alarcon, Warren J. Ferguson, and M. Margaret McKeown, Circuit Judges.

McKEOWN, Circuit Judge:

At issue in this appeal is whether a reasonable officer could believe that entering a Washington residence to arrest appellant Dawn Case on an Oregon arrest warrant was consistent with Case's constitutional rights. Following her arrest in Kitsap County, Washington, Case brought suit against Kitsap County, Kitsap County Sheriff's Department, and various individuals (collectively "the County") under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the County on all claims and denied Case's motion for reconsideration.

On appeal, Case challenges the district court's ruling that the deputies are entitled to qualified immunity and that Kitsap County and Kitsap County Sheriff's Department are not subject to municipal liability. Case also argues that the district court erroneously dismissed her state law outrage claim. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

This case stems from Case's 1993 delinquencies in her child support payments, in violation of an Oregon court order. The State of Oregon charged Case with contempt for willfully disobeying the order on eleven occasions, and the circuit court for Yamhill County, Oregon issued a warrant for her arrest. Pursuant to that warrant, Case was arrested in Oregon and spent one day in jail. She pled guilty to the contempt charge, and the Oregon court placed her on probation for two years, ordering her to serve forty-eight hours in jail for each month she failed to make child support payments and ordering that failure to report to jail would result in a warrant for her arrest.

While on probation, Case again failed to make a child support payment and failed to report to jail, so in December 1993, the Oregon court again issued a warrant for Case's arrest. That warrant was entered into the National Crime Information Center computer system ("NCIC"), which is a national criminal records data system administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. See 28 U.S.C. § 534. NCIC contains criminal history information, including outstanding arrest warrants, and is available to police departments nationwide. State law enforcement agencies are connected to NCIC through their computer systems. In Oregon, only felony warrants may be entered into NCIC--it is a violation of Oregon State Police policy to enter non-felony warrants into the system. Similarly, in Washington, law enforcement agencies generally cannot enter non-felony arrest warrants into NCIC.

In August 1994, the District Attorney's Office for Yamhill County obtained information that Case was living with Christopher Russell in Kitsap County. Prior to that time, the office had tried without success to find her. In October 1994, the office obtained Case's Kitsap County address and telephone number. Bonnie Sliper of the Yamhill County District Attorney's Office called Case's Kitsap County telephone number and confirmed that Case lived there.¹

Sliper thereafter contacted Kitsap County, stating that there was an outstanding Oregon arrest warrant for Case for "failure to pay court-ordered child support. Criminal nonsupport." Sliper also stated that the warrant should be in NCIC. Although Sliper believed that the warrant was for a felony offense, Sliper did not specifically inform the dispatcher that it was for a felony. She gave the dispatcher Case's Kitsap County address and noted that Case had misrepresented her identity to law enforcement in the past.

The dispatcher confirmed that the warrant was listed in NCIC. The NCIC listing indicated that Yamhill County would extradite Case. The dispatcher relayed this information to the warrants division of Kitsap County Sheriff's Department. Deputy Burrows, a deputy in the warrants division, concluded that the warrant was for a felony offense. Deputy Burrows had been with the sheriff's office for fifteen years and was certified to use Washington's computerized access system, including NCIC. Thereafter, he went to the Kitsap County residence, where he encountered Russell. When Deputy Burrows explained that he wanted to speak with Case, Russell informed him that Case was staying at the house but that she was out. Deputy Burrows gave Russell his card and asked that Case call him.

Later that day, Deputy Burrows gave Case's file to Deputy LaFrance for follow-up. Because Case had tried to evade the police in the past by misrepresenting her identity, Deputy LaFrance called Sliper, who confirmed that Case had used false names numerous times in the past. Deputy LaFrance obtained a photo of Case and other descriptive information from Sliper. The next day, Deputy LaFrance drove out to arrest Case at the residence. While he was en route, Case called the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office from the residence and spoke with Deputy Burrows, who told Case to stay at the house because a sheriff's deputy was on his way to see her. Deputy Burrows then informed Deputy LaFrance that Case had just called and that she was at the house, expecting his arrival.

Deputy LaFrance, in uniform, arrived at the house a few minutes later. He knocked on the door and announced that he was from the sheriff's office, but no one answered. Deputy LaFrance observed a light on in the house and four vehicles in the driveway. A neighbor informed him that no one had left the house all day. Deputy LaFrance then called Deputy Burrows and asked him to call the house. While Deputy LaFrance waited outside the house, he heard the phone ring inside. When Russell picked up the phone, Deputy Burrows asked for Case. Russell responded that Case was not there.

Deputy LaFrance continued to knock repeatedly on the door, but again no one answered. He called for assistance from two other deputies in the area and, upon their arrival, they took up positions around the house in the event that someone attempted to flee. When Deputy Burrows tried calling the house again, no one answered the phone, so he left a message on the answering machine, requesting that the persons inside the house exit the house from the front door. The deputies also gave a warning over the radio loudspeaker.

After receiving no response, Deputy LaFrance opened an unlocked window near the front door in an attempt to survey the interior of the residence prior to entering. He pulled back the shade of the window, with his gun drawn, and saw Russell in the front room. Russell asked LaFrance whether he had a warrant. Officer LaFrance responded that he had an arrest warrant and repeatedly demanded that Russell open the door, informing him that the deputies were there to arrest Case.

After Russell refused to open the door, Deputy LaFrance kicked it in. The deputies secured Russell in the front room and asked him where Case was located. Russell at first refused to answer, but ultimately responded that he did not know. Deputy LaFrance and one of the other deputies searched the residence and found Case hiding in a closet, whereupon they arrested her.

The deputies transported Case to jail and booked her. Two hours after Case's arrest, the deputies received a copy of the Oregon warrant and Yamhill County confirmed that it would extradite her. Case was charged in Kitsap County with being a fugitive from justice on the Oregon warrant. Three days later, she was released, and the Washington court thereafter dismissed the fugitive charge without prejudice.

Case then brought the present action in the superior court for the State of Washington, alleging under § 1983 that the County violated her constitutional rights for false arrest and imprisonment, illegal search and seizure, negligent investigation of the warrant, trespass, and malicious prosecution. Case also claimed that the County committed the tort of outrage under Washington law. The County removed the case to federal court. The district court granted the County's motion for summary judgment and ruled that the deputies are entitled to qualified immunity² and that Kitsap County and Kitsap County Sheriff's Department are not subject to municipal liability. The district court also dismissed Case's outrage claim and denied Case's motion for reconsideration.

ANALYSIS

A. Qualified Immunity

We review de novo the district court's grant of summary judgment. United States v. Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, 235 F.3d 429, 432 (9th Cir. 2000). "In deciding whether Defendants are entitled as a matter of law to qualified immunity, we must accept the facts in the light most favorable to the Plaintiffs and then determine whether, in light of clearly established principles governing the conduct in question, the officers objectively could have believed that their conduct was lawful." Mena v. City of Simi Valley, 226 F.3d 1031, 1036 (9th Cir. 2000).

The Supreme Court has recognized that qualified immunity " `provides ample support' to all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law," protecting officers from violations of constitutional magnitude. Burns v. Reed, 500 U.S. 478,...