Conrod v. Missouri State Highway Patrol, 16929
Decision Date | 06 May 1991 |
Docket Number | No. 16929,16929 |
Citation | 810 S.W.2d 614 |
Parties | Earnest CONROD, Jr., Plaintiff-Respondent, v. The MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL, Defendant-Appellant. |
Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
James M. McClellan, Demptster, Barkett & McClellan, Sikeston, for plaintiff-respondent.
William L. Webster, Atty. Gen., Timothy W. Anderson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for defendant-appellant.
By his petition in three counts, each alleging a different theory of recovery, plaintiff Earnest Conrod, Jr., sought a judgment against the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Roger B. Davis, as a member of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, for $10,750. In general, the petition was based upon the alleged illegal seizure of that amount of currency from the plaintiff. The trial court entered a summary judgment for that amount against the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The Missouri State Highway Patrol appealed. The appeal was, by order of this Court, held in abeyance because there had been no adjudication of the plaintiff's claim against Roger B. Davis. Subsequently, the plaintiff dismissed his petition as against Roger B. Davis. The appeal of the Missouri State Highway Patrol was submitted upon the April 1991 docket.
Count I alleged the plaintiff was traveling on I-55 in Scott County, Missouri, when he was stopped for a speeding violation and taken to the Scott County Sheriff's Office. He further alleged "the defendant Roger B. Davis, in concert with the defendant, Missouri State Highway Patrol" illegally seized $10,750 in U.S. currency from the plaintiff. The prayer was for an order of the court requiring delivery of said funds to the plaintiff. Count II alleged the action of the defendants violated the Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and therefore violated 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. The prayer was for a judgment in the amount of $10,750 plus interest, and reasonable attorney fees. Count III alleged that by their actions the defendants converted the $10,750 in currency. The prayer was for a judgment for $10,750.
According to the Docket Sheet, which is a part of the Legal File, the summons to the Missouri State Highway Patrol was served by delivering it to the secretary of the superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The Attorney General filed a joint answer on behalf of the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Roger B. Davis. The answer was in poor form as it did not respond in separate counts directed to the counts of the petition. The answer in general terms alleged and admitted the plaintiff was arrested for a speeding violation, that $10,750 in currency was discovered in a "pat down" search and was seized by Roger B. Davis. The answer further alleged several affirmative defenses including sovereign immunity, official immunity, collateral estoppel or res judicata, and seizure upon probable cause.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol and Roger B. Davis filed a motion for summary judgment with extensive suggestions in support of that motion. The motion was subsequently supported by verified evidentiary material. That evidentiary material established the facts alleged in the pleadings and the following additional facts. That upon questioning, the plaintiff and his mother gave conflicting accounts of the source of the currency carried by the plaintiff. A narcotics dog was brought to the scene. The dog searched the car and found nothing, but the dog did indicate the currency had drugs on it. Davis turned the money over to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the United States Department of Justice. The evidentiary material also established that the DEA followed the procedure outlined in 21 U.S.C. § 881 and regulations issued pursuant thereto to establish a forfeiture of that currency. Such proceedings were consummated by the forfeiture of the currency to the United States.
Subsequently, the plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment. The ground alleged was "that the defendants admit that following plaintiff's arrest for the speeding violation that defendant, Roger B. Davis seized currency from plaintiff in the sum of $10,750.00 and there is no lawful authority for said seizure and furthermore, that the Drug Enforcement Administration does not have original exclusive jurisdiction over this matter, that plaintiff is not collaterally estopped to proceed by any determination made by [the] Drug Enforcement Administration". Without reference to the counts of the petition, the motion prayed for judgment against the defendants in accordance with Rule 74.01. The evidentiary material accompanying plaintiff's motion in general confirmed the facts previously recited.
The judgment of the trial court appealed from recites that on March 12, 1990, the plaintiff appeared by counsel and the defendants appeared by counsel "for hearing on plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment and defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment". The trial court found that The trial court then granted "summary judgment against defendant Missouri State Highway Patrol alone because there is no genuine issue as to any material fact".
The remaining defendant in this action is the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The plaintiff and the Attorney General have assumed the Missouri State Highway Patrol is a legal entity and may be sued in its own name. This court has not been cited to and has found no statute or case to establish that proposition. It is far from clear that the Missouri State Highway Patrol as a legal entity is a proper party defendant. See Parker v. Unemployment Compensation Commission, 358 Mo. 365, 214 S.W.2d 529 (1948). However, as counsel and the trial court assumed that proposition to be true, this court, for the purpose of this appeal, will accept that premise.
The basic facts have been stated. A recitation of the detailed facts is not necessary. The evidentiary material does, as the trial court found, establish there is no dispute concerning the decisive facts. However, that does not establish per se a basis for the entry of a summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff. An additional prerequisite to such a summary judgment is that the evidentiary material show "that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Rule 74.04(c). The contrary is true in this case.
Count I was entitled "Property Action". The prayer of that count was for the court to order "delivery of said funds to the plaintiff". That count obviously seeks the return of the currency in specie. The evidentiary material establishes the currency was delivered to the DEA and the DEA adopted the seizure of the currency by Roger B. Davis. The evidentiary material further establishes that the forfeiture of the currency was consummated under the provisions of 21 U.S.C. Section 881 and the regulations promulgated pursuant to it. No Missouri court assumed jurisdiction of the currency.
In re 33rd Dist. Court, 138 Mich.App. 390, 360 N.W.2d 196, 198 (1984). (Emphasis added.)
See also United States v. Alston, 717 F.Supp. 378 (M.D.N.C.1989). The trial court had no authority to sustain a motion for summary judgment upon Count I of the plaintiff's petition.
Count II seeks a money judgment against the Missouri State Highway Patrol on the basis of a violation of 42 U.S.C. Section 1983.
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