Dowell v. Lincoln Cnty.

• Decision Date: 26 February 2013
• Docket Number: Case No. 4:11CV615 CDP.
• Citation: 927 F.Supp.2d 741
• Parties: Michael DOWELL, Plaintiff, v. LINCOLN COUNTY, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Missouri

927 F.Supp.2d 741

Michael DOWELL, Plaintiff,

v.LINCOLN COUNTY, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 4:11CV615 CDP.

United States District Court,

E.D. Missouri,

Eastern Division.

Feb. 26, 2013.

Carter Collins Law, Kevin L. Schriener, Law and Schriener, LLC, St. Louis, MO, for Plaintiff.

Joel D. Brett, Barklage and Brett, St. Charles, MO, Peter J. Dunne, Robert T. Plunkert, Peter M. Rohrich, Pitzer Snodgrass, P.C., St. Louis, MO, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CATHERINE D. PERRY, District Judge.

Plaintiff Michael Dowell brought this § 1983 action against Christopher Bartlett, Joseph Eagan, Rodney Boyer, Harry Dilworth, William Carson, and Lincoln County, Missouri. Dowell was acquitted of murder charges, and he seeks damages related to his interrogation, arrest, and prosecution on those and related charges. Defendants have moved for summary judgment on all claims. As more fully described below, I will grant the motions for summary judgment except for the claims in Count 3, which alleges an unconstitutional search. That count alone remains for trial.

Background

On January 7, 1991, the body of Stephanie Hogland was found in a ditch on Highway W in Lincoln County, Missouri. Dr. Mary Case of the St. Louis County Medical Examiner's Office performed the autopsy on Hogland and concluded that the cause of death was closed head trauma. Dr. Case's report also noted blunt trauma of the upper and lower extremities, and sexual assault. Dr. Case found six lacerations in Hogland's vagina, and she cited these lacerations as support for her finding of sexual assault. No arrest was made in connection with the case for over fifteen years.

On December 4, 2006, the Combined DNA Index System generated a match between a sample recently provided by Michael Dowell for an unrelated case and a sample from the fifteen-year-old investigation of the rape and murder of Hogland. On December 14, 2006, the Greater St. Louis Area Major Case Squad was activated at the request of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department. Captain William Carson was deputy commander of the Major Case Squad. During the course of the investigation, Carson worked with Sergeants Joseph Eagan, Harry Dilworth, Rodney Boyer, and Christopher Bartlett.

On December 14, 2006, Sergeants Eagan, Dilworth, and Boyer drove a minivan to the home that Dowell shared with his mother. Upon request by the three officers, Dowell agreed to accompany them to the police station for questioning. Sergeant Boyer drove the van to the location where Hogland's body had been found in 1991. During the drive, the officers informed Dowell that they were investigating Hogland's murder and showed him a photograph of Hogland. In response to the officer's questions regarding the incident, Dowell replied that he did not know Hogland.

Once at the location where Hogland's body had been found, Sergeants Eagan and Dilworth exited the van and asked Dowell to do the same, but he refused. Defendants then reentered the van and drove Dowell to the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department, where they arrived shortly before 6:00 p.m. on December 14, 2006. Dowell was left alone in an interrogation room for approximately fifteen minutes. Sergeants Boyer and Dilworth then entered the room, provided Dowell with a bottle of water, and began asking him questions. They read him his rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), and Dowell signed and initialed a Miranda waiver. Sergeant Boyer asked Dowell whether he had ever had his Miranda rights read to him before, and Dowell answered in the affirmative. The interrogation was videotaped, but the recording stopped abruptly after approximately thirty minutes of run-time.

The questioning continued during the break in recording. When the video did resume, Sergeants Boyer, Dilworth, and Eagan were in the room with Dowell. Immediately upon the recording resuming, Dowell stated, “If I have to hire a lawyer to explain it, that's what I got to do.” The officers continued to ask Dowell questions and he continued to respond. They told him that his DNA was found inside Hogland, but Dowell continued to deny knowing or having had sex with her. Approximately seven minutes after the recording resumed, Dowell stated, “Let's go in front of the judge.” One minute later, he stated, “Hire me a lawyer, motherfucker. I'm gonna need about 100 grand, right? Hire me a lawyer ...” Dowell continued to talk immediately after making these statements. At one point, Sergeant Boyer began play-acting a trial in front of Dowell, pretending to put on the evidence against him. This lasted for over six minutes, during which time Boyer also referenced the fact that Missouri is a death penalty state.

Approximately seventeen minutes after the recording resumed, Dowell asked to use the restroom and Sergeant Eagan responded that he could go “in just a minute.” Dowell then asked to call his mother. Approximately four minutes later, Dowell again mentioned his requested phone call. Then, approximately twenty-one minutes after the recording had resumed, Dowell stated that he was “invoking his rights,” asked to be taken back to his cell, asked for a phone call, and declared that he had nothing more to say. A few minutes later, Dowell asked whether the officers would let him pee. He asked to use the restroom again one more time. About fifty-one minutes after the recording had resumed, and thirty-four minutes after his initial restroom request, Dowell was taken to use the restroom and the interrogation ended. During the entire course of the interrogation, Dowell denied knowing Hogland, having had sexual intercourse with her, or recognizing her car. He admitted that he may have recognized her photo from seeing similar ones posted after her disappearance. At one point during the interrogation, Dowell was placed under arrest. Captain Carson was present at the station for the duration of the interrogation, and watched the majority of it on a monitor from a separate room.

Later on the night of December 14, 2006, Sergeants Eagan, Dilworth, and Boyer returned to Dowell's residence. Dowell's mother owned the house, and had access to Dowell's room when he was gone. She gave oral consent for the officers to search his room, although she later testified that she only did so upon the officers' assertion that Dowell had already consented to the search. There is also a written consent form signed by Dowell's mother, but she testified that she does not remember signing it and does not believe that the signature affixed thereon was her own. Dowell was not present at the search.

On December 15, 2006, defendant Bartlett drafted and filed a probable cause statement to support an arrest warrant for the murder and rape of Stephanie Hogland. The statement referenced Dr. Case's autopsy report, including her citation of vaginal trauma and finding of rape. The statement also noted the DNA match between Dowell's submitted sample and a sample retrieved from Hogland's underwear. Finally, the statement referenced the prior day's interrogation, including Dowell's denial of knowing or having had sexual intercourse with Hogland. Later on December 15, Bartlett and Dilworth went to Dowell's holding cell, read him the charges, and informed him that the State would be seeking the death penalty. Dowell claims that defendants attempted to coerce a confession out of him at this time. Dowell began crying, and according to Bartlett, admitted that he had slept with Hogland.

Dowell's preliminary hearing occurred on March 20, 2007. Dowell was charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, rape, and in the alternative rape with infliction of serious physical injury. Dowell moved for and was granted a change of venue to Boone County. The armed criminal action and rape count were dismissed by the trial court as time-barred. Because the State sought the death penalty, the rape with infliction of serious physical injury count was severed. Dowell filed a motion to suppress, which the trial court granted with respect to any statements made on December 14, 2006 after Dowell stated that he wanted the interrogation over and to go to his cell, and with regard to any statements Dowell made during the December 15, 2006 encounter. Dowell went to trial on the murder charges and was found not guilty by a jury on October 3, 2008. During the trial, the State offered videotaped testimony of Dr. Case. Dr. Case testified that her finding of probable sexual assault was based on the entirety of the circumstances of how Hogland was found, and was not tied directly to the lacerations in Hogland's vagina. She also testified that she could not state her findings with “medical certainty,” but that sexual assault was probable. Dr. Case cited years of professional and educational experience in guiding her opinion.

After the murder acquittal, the remaining rape with infliction of serious physical injury count was dismissed without prejudice. On October 11, 2008, Bartlett drafted a second probable cause statement. This statement was nearly identical to the original, removing only the references to murder and to Dowell's December 14, 2006, interrogation. The State subsequently refiled the rape with infliction of serious physical injury charge. Dowell moved to dismiss the case with prejudice based on collateral estoppel, and the Circuit Court granted the motion to dismiss on April 7, 2009. The State appealed, and the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal. Dowell remained in custody until the April 7, 2009 dismissal by the Circuit Court.

Dowell brought this suit on April 7, 2011 under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging ten counts related to his arrest, interrogation, and prosecution, and to the hiring, training, and supervision of the officers involved in his case. On March 28, 2012, Dowell filed an amended complaint. Among the amendments was the addition of count 3, which alleges unlawful search of his residence. Defendants Eagan, Boyer,...