Christensen v. Quinn, CIV. 10–4128–KES.
| Decision Date | 10 September 2014 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV. 10–4128–KES.,CIV. 10–4128–KES. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of South Dakota |
| Parties | Daniel Reed CHRISTENSEN, Plaintiff, v. Rosie QUINN; Second Chance Rescue Center; James Adamson, individually and in his official capacity as a Turner County Commissioner; Luverne Langerock, individually and in his official capacity as a Turner County Commissioner; John Overby, individually and in his official capacity as a Turner County Commissioner; Steve Schmeichel, individually and in his official capacity as a Turner County Commissioner; Lyle Van Hove, individually and in his official capacity as a Turner County Commissioner; Tiffani Landeen–Hoeke, individually and in her official capacity as Turner County State's Attorney; Byron Nogelmeier, individually and in his official capacity as Turner County Sheriff; Jay Ostrem, individually and in his official capacity as a Turner County Deputy; Jim Severson, individually and in his official capacity as a Special Agent for the Division of Criminal Investigation; Lara Cunningham, individually and in her official capacity as a Revenue Agent for the South Dakota Department of Revenue and Regulations; The Humane Society of the United States a/k/a HSUS; Wayne Pacelle; Scottlund Haisley; Dr. Adam Bauknecht; Emergency Animal Rescue Sanctuary a/k/a Ears; Dr. Dawn Dale; and Turner County, South Dakota, Defendants. |
Daniel Reed CHRISTENSEN, Plaintiff,
v.
Rosie QUINN; Second Chance Rescue Center; James Adamson, individually and in his official capacity as a Turner County Commissioner; Luverne Langerock, individually and in his official capacity as a Turner County Commissioner; John Overby, individually and in his official capacity as a Turner County Commissioner; Steve Schmeichel, individually and in his official capacity as a Turner County Commissioner; Lyle Van Hove, individually and in his official capacity as a Turner County Commissioner; Tiffani Landeen–Hoeke, individually and in her official capacity as Turner County State's Attorney; Byron Nogelmeier, individually and in his official capacity as Turner County Sheriff; Jay Ostrem, individually and in his official capacity as a Turner County Deputy; Jim Severson, individually and in his official capacity as a Special Agent for the Division of Criminal Investigation; Lara Cunningham, individually and in her official capacity as a Revenue Agent for the South Dakota Department of Revenue and Regulations; The Humane Society of the United States a/k/a HSUS; Wayne Pacelle; Scottlund Haisley; Dr. Adam Bauknecht; Emergency Animal Rescue Sanctuary a/k/a Ears; Dr. Dawn Dale; and Turner County, South Dakota, Defendants.
No. CIV. 10–4128–KES.
United States District Court, D. South Dakota, Southern Division.
Signed Sept. 10, 2014
Motion granted in part and denied in part.
[45 F.Supp.3d 1055]
Brian Lee Radke, Lee M. Pekoske, Sarah Marie Liberko, Radke Law Office, P.C., Sioux Falls, SD, for Plaintiff.
Jack H. Hieb, Zachary W. Peterson, Richardson, Wyly, Wise, Sauck, Hieb LLP, Aberdeen, SD, Douglas M. Deibert, Cadwell, Sanford, Deibert & Garry, LLP, Lon J. Kouri, David A. Grennan, May & Johnson, P.C., James Ellis Moore, James A. Power, Woods, Fuller, Shultz & Smith, PC, Thomas M. Frankman, Elizabeth S. Hertz, Davenport, Evans, Hurwitz & Smith, Michelle Himes Randall, Thomas G. Fritz, Richard D. Casey, Lynn, Jackson, Shultz & Lebrun, P.C., Gary J. Pashby, Michael Frederick Tobin, Meghann M. Joyce, Boyce Greenfield Pashby & Welk, LLP, Sioux Falls, SD, for Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER ON MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
KAREN E. SCHREIER, District Judge.
Pending are motions for summary judgment by all defendants. Plaintiff, Daniel Reed Christensen, opposes each motion, and separately moves for summary judgment against defendants Humane Society of the United States, Wayne Pacelle, Scottlund Haisley, Dr. Dawn Dale, Dr. Adam Bauknecht, United Animal Nations, Tiffani Landeen–Hoeke, Rosie Quinn, Second Chance Rescue Center, Jim Severson, Lara Cunningham, and Jay Ostrem.
In early 2009, Quinn received a report that Christensen was selling dogs over the internet without a sales tax license. Quinn reported this information to Landeen–Hoeke, who in turn passed the information on to Cunningham. Cunningham determined that Christensen did not have a state sales tax license and prepared a written notice informing Christensen that he was operating as a retailer without a license and had three days to obtain a license, commonly known as a three-day notice to quit. At Landeen–Hoeke's request, Cunningham also prepared an affidavit so Landeen–Hoeke could charge Christensen with the misdemeanor offense of operating a business without a sales tax license.
Cunningham requested the assistance of Turner County law enforcement to act as an escort when she served the three-day notice. Severson, who was in the area working on a murder investigation, volunteered to accompany Cunningham. Ostrem and Deputy Sheriff Jared Overweg, who is not named as a defendant here, were responsible for serving an arrest warrant on Christensen for the misdemeanor charge. One of the law enforcement officials requested the presence of animal control at Christensen's residence, although there is a factual dispute regarding which party requested animal control's assistance.
On April 9, 2009, Cunningham drove to Christensen's property to serve the three-day notice. She was accompanied by Severson, Ostrem, Overweg, Quinn, and Dana Wigg, an animal control officer who is not a defendant in this matter. When the party arrived at Christensen's property, a garage door was open and vehicles were present. When Christensen did not answer his door, Cunningham began to walk around the other buildings on the property to see if she could locate Christensen. During this time, Cunningham was accompanied by at least some of the other law enforcement officials, but it is unclear how closely the group stayed together.
When Christensen could not be located at his property, Cunningham and Severson decided to travel to David and Kelly Christensen's property to see if Christensen could be found there. The rest of the party left Christensen's property. After it became clear that no one was present at David and Kelly's property, Cunningham and Severson returned to Christensen's property and waited on the side of the road across from Christensen's driveway for Christensen to return.
When Christensen returned, Severson notified Ostrem. At that time, Cunningham served the three-day notice on Christensen.
[45 F.Supp.3d 1057]
Christensen gave Cunningham permission to enter his house for the purpose of examining his business records. Cunningham and Severson then left Christensen's property to copy the records he provided. Ostrem arrested Christensen pursuant to the misdemeanor warrant and took Christensen in for booking. Christensen was released shortly thereafter. Subsequently, Christensen pleaded guilty to operating a business without a sales tax license, and he obtained a license within the three-day period.
In August 2009, Quinn received at least one complaint about a sick Weimaraner puppy that had been sold by Christensen. Based on that report, Quinn obtained a search warrant for David and Kelly Christensen's property, where she believed the Weimaraners were located. She executed that warrant on August 27, 2009, accompanied by Wigg and Ostrem. No Weimaraners were located on David and Kelly's property, and Ostrem noted that the health of the dogs present appeared adequate, although the living conditions observed were substandard. Quinn and Wigg also went to Christensen's property on August 27, 2009, although the record is in dispute as to how long they were on Christensen's property or what they did while they were there.
Based on the conditions observed at Christensen's property on April 9 and at both properties on August 27, Quinn decided to apply for search and seizure warrants for both properties. Quinn sent the draft affidavits in support of the warrant applications to Landeen–Hoeke for review. Landeen–Hoeke instructed Quinn to omit information from the warrant applications that had been obtained on April 9. The warrant applications also did not contain information that had been observed on August 27 at David and Kelly's property and at Dan Christensen's property.
On the morning of September 2, 2009, Quinn, Wigg, and Landeen–Hoeke appeared before State Circuit Court Judge Tim Bjorkman. Judge Bjorkman granted the search and seizure warrant for David and Kelly's property, but denied the application for Christensen's property. Judge Bjorkman allowed Quinn to testify, but again denied the warrant application. Landeen–Hoeke asked Judge Bjorkman if he would consider additional evidence observed by Quinn when she walked around Christensen's property. After Judge Bjorkman said he would consider that evidence, Landeen–Hoeke and Quinn stepped out of the courtroom briefly. When they returned, Quinn testified about her observations from April 9. After hearing the additional information, Judge Bjorkman issued the search and seizure warrant for Christensen's property.
In the days leading up to September 2, 2009, Quinn reached out to HSUS for assistance in removing what she anticipated to be a large number of dogs from both properties. HSUS arranged for a team, led by Haisley, to assist Turner County law enforcement with the search and seizure warrants. UAN, which frequently partnered with HSUS on such operations, arranged to have some volunteers present to care for the dogs once they were removed. Temporary housing for the dogs was set up at the Turner County Fairgrounds.
After Judge Bjorkman issued the two search and seizure warrants, Quinn, Ostrem, and the HSUS team proceeded to David and Kelly's property. Once all the dogs were removed from that property, the team moved to Christensen's property. In all, 173 dogs 2 were seized from both
[45 F.Supp.3d 1058]
properties and transported to the Turner County Fairgrounds, where volunteers examined each animal. HSUS filmed its activities at the properties and the fairgrounds.
Subsequently, a grand jury indicted Christensen on 173 counts of inhumane treatment of an animal. While the criminal charges were pending, some of the dogs seized from Christensen died, while others were adopted or placed in foster care. After a suppression hearing, State Court Magistrate Judge Tami Bern ruled that Quinn misled Judge Bjorkman when requesting the September 2 warrants and ordered the evidence from the warrants suppressed. Subsequently, the criminal charges against Christensen were dismissed on July 2, 2010. Docket 73–5.
After the criminal charges against him were dismissed, Christensen 3 filed this suit, alleging a conspiracy to commit various constitutional violations and other state-law causes of action. According to Christensen, the defendants conspired to (1) illegally search his property on April 9, 2009; (2) illegally seize his property and deprive him of his due process rights on September 2, 2009; (3) commit the torts of malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress; (4) violate the South Dakota Animal Enterprise Protection Act; and (5) engage in conduct amounting to criminal trespass and intentional damage to private property. See Docket 133 (amended complaint). All...
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