Craig v. St. Martin Parish Sheriff

• Decision Date: 22 August 1994
• Docket Number: No. 90-CV-1967.,90-CV-1967.
• Citation: 861 F. Supp. 1290
• Parties: Howard Eugene CRAIG v. ST. MARTIN PARISH SHERIFF, Charles A. Fuselier, et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Louisiana

861 F. Supp. 1290

Howard Eugene CRAIG v. ST. MARTIN PARISH SHERIFF, Charles A. Fuselier, et al.

No. 90-CV-1967.

United States District Court, W.D. Louisiana, Lafayette-Opelousas Division.

August 22, 1994.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Daniel C. Hughes, Hughes & Associates, Lafayette, LA, for plaintiff.

Chester R. Cedars, Breaux Bridge, LA, William E. Scott III, Watson, Blanche, Wilson & Posner, Baton Rouge, LA, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

COBB, Visiting Judge.

Plaintiff Howard E. Craig has brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against St. Martin Parish Sheriff Charles A. Fuselier, Captain Scott Haydel, Deputy Paul O'Mary, 16th Judicial District Attorney Bernard Boudreaux and Assistant District Attorney John P. Haney in both their individual and official capacities. The suit is based on events which took place on March 23, 1990 in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana.¹ There are two motions pending before the Court: 1) Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim Upon Which Relief Can Be Granted/Alternatively, Motion For Summary Judgment by defendants Boudreaux and Haney; 2) Motion to Dismiss And/Or For Summary Judgment by defendants Fuselier, Haydel, and O'Mary.²

Factual Background

On the morning of March 23, 1990, Officer Paul O'Mary of the St. Martin Sheriff's Department was on routine patrol on Interstate 10 accompanied by his department's narcotics dog. It was extremely foggy that morning. At approximately 3:15 A.M., Deputy O'Mary observed the plaintiff, Howard E. Craig, driving a Chevrolet Caprice in an erratic manner in the outside lane of westbound I-10; Craig weaved from the shoulder of the Interstate into the inside lane. O'Mary pulled behind Craig and followed him for approximately one mile. Craig's erratic driving continued and O'Mary stopped him.

Craig produced a valid Alabama driver's license and an Alabama certificate of title for the Caprice. Tommy Sanderson, who was listed on the title as the owner, had endorsed the back of the title. Craig explained that he had recently purchased the Caprice from Sanderson and that its poor shock absorbers caused his weaving. Craig also told O'Mary that he was in the car business and was travelling from his hometown of Leighton, Alabama to Beaumont, Texas to buy cars. However, in response to O'Mary's questions, Craig could not name a specific car seller, nor did he know where he would be staying in Texas. Craig could not produce proof of insurance for the vehicle.

O'Mary sought and received oral permission from Craig to search the car³. During the search, O'Mary observed an amplified citizens band (CB) radio and a radar detector (Craig at 68) on the front seat. In the trunk, O'Mary found $18,000.00 in small bills bundled in a paper bag. (A later search of the car during Craig's detention at the Sheriff's department produced an additional $13,250.00.) O'Mary did not utilize the drug dog to "sniff" Craig's car while on the Interstate,⁴ nor did he discover any narcotics, contraband or weapons. After finding the cash, O'Mary called for back-up.

The parties dispute whether Craig claimed ownership of the cash after its roadside discovery. Craig stated in his deposition that he told O'Mary that the money belonged to him. However, the defendants' deposition testimony indicates that Craig disclaimed the money immediately upon its discovery.⁵

O'Mary decided to "detain"⁶ Craig and transport him to the Sheriff's department in St. Martinville. The trip took approximately thirty minutes; Craig, accompanied by O'Mary, arrived at the Sheriff's Department at approximately 4 a.m. Although it is difficult to glean from the current record the exact events at the station, it is undisputed that Craig was held incommunicado for approximately 8 hours and was questioned at length about the money and the circumstances surrounding his trip. The questioning at the station occurred primarily in four rooms: the large detectives' office, "Butch" Dupuis' office, Scott Haydel's office and an adjacent conference room. Craig was apparently shuttled around the four offices, where Captain Scott Haydel, Captain "Butch" Dupuis, and Assistant District Attorney John P. Haney,⁷ questioned Craig in turn.⁸ At times, all three men participated in the questioning.

During the questioning in Haydel's office, Craig maintains, and Haydel admits, that Craig requested an attorney.⁹ Haydel testified that he informed Craig that he was free to call a lawyer, noting that two telephones were nearby. However, Craig denies that he had an opportunity to call an attorney. No attorney was called and it is undisputed that the questioning continued after Craig's request. The parties dispute whether Craig was free to leave the station. While Captain Haydel maintains that Craig could have left at any time, Craig was apparently escorted by a Sheriff's Deputy during his visits to the restroom.

As the questioning continued, Craig explained that he, along with his business associate Jeff Leatherwood, planned to purchase cars in Beaumont. Haney and the other officers made a series of telephone calls to verify Craig's account. Calls to Tommy Sanderson, the previous owner of the car, and Percy Lee Ricks¹⁰, Chief of the Leighton, Alabama police department, produced at best only minor inconsistencies with Craig's story.¹¹ Hilliard T. Wimberly, Deputy of the Colbert County, Alabama¹² Sheriff's Department informed Haney and the other officers that Craig was not suspected of drug activity. However, Wimberly had personally arrested Jeff Leatherwood on a drug charge several years earlier. Leatherwood was charged, tried and acquitted. Despite the acquittal, Wimberly continued to suspect Leatherwood of drug activities using his wrecking business as a cover.

Sheriff Charles Fuselier was present at the station at some point during the morning in question. Captain Haydel informed the Sheriff of Craig's ongoing investigation. The sheriff did not give Haydel any advice regarding the investigation. District Attorney Boudreaux, on the other hand, was not present at the station that morning.

Haney and Dupuis eventually prepared a "Disclaimer of Ownership of Currency or Property" in which Craig disclaimed ownership of $31,520.00 in cash and the 1978 Chevrolet Caprice, and waived notice of the forfeiture proceeding¹³. Craig admits that he signed the document, but maintains that his approval was involuntary: Haney, Haydel and O'Mary told him that he would not be released from the Sheriff's department until he signed the disclaimer.¹⁴ The defendants deny this allegation.¹⁵

Around the conclusion of the detention, O'Mary issued Craig two traffic citations, to-wit: "Improper lane usage" and "No proof of insurance." After Craig signed the disclaimer, and approximately eight hours after the original traffic stop, an unidentified Sheriff's deputy dropped him off at the Lafayette bus station. The District Attorney has never brought criminal charges against Craig.

On Monday, March 26, 1990, three days after the traffic stop, the 16th District Court in and for St. Martin's Parish held a forfeiture hearing styled "State of Louisiana v. Howard Eugene Craig." Based on a skeletal affidavit signed by Captain Butch DuPuis, and the disclaimer form signed by Craig, the court found that probable cause existed for the forfeiture.¹⁶ Craig, who apparently did not receive notice of the proceeding, did not make an appearance.

Craig filed this § 1983 suit on August 28, 1990, alleging that the detention and seizure of both his person and property violated his Constitutional rights.

Summary Judgment

Summary judgment is appropriate when the movant is able to demonstrate that the pleadings, affidavits, and other evidence available to the Court establish that there are no genuine issues of material fact, and that the moving party is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law.¹⁷ Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-25, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-54, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2511, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 585-88, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1355-57, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). The Court must view the evidence introduced and all factual inferences from the evidence in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. Eastman Kodak v. Image Technical Services, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 112 S.Ct. 2072, 2077, 119 L.Ed.2d 265 (1992); Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 587, 106 S.Ct. at 1356. Finally, credibility determinations are inappropriate at this stage. Richardson v. Oldham, 12 F.3d 1373, 1379 (5th Cir.1994).

Individual Capacity Claims

42 U.S.C. § 1983¹⁸ provides a Federal remedy for deprivations of Constitutional rights by authorizing suits against local public officials and governmental entities. See Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167, 81 S.Ct. 473, 5 L.Ed.2d 492 (1961). In order to recover under § 1983, a civil rights plaintiff must prove two elements: (1) deprivation of a Federally protected right "secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States," and (2) state action taken under color of law. Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922, 930, 102 S.Ct. 2744, 2750, 73 L.Ed.2d 482 (1982) (quoting Flagg Brothers v. Brooks, 436 U.S. 149, 155-56, 98 S.Ct. 1729, 1732-34, 56 L.Ed.2d 185 (1978)).

The defendants assert that the doctrine of qualified immunity shields them from suit in their individual capacities. See Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 167, 105 S.Ct. 3099, 3106, 87 L.Ed.2d 114 (1985). The Supreme Court has "clarified the analytical structure under which a claim of immunity should be addressed." Siegert v. Gilley, 500 U.S. 226, 231, 111 S.Ct. 1789, 1793, 114 L.Ed.2d 277 (1991). This Court must therefore first determine whether the plaintiff has "alleged the violation of a clearly established constitutional right." Id. If the plaintiff has met the first prong, the Court must then...