Estrada v. Rhode Island

• Citation: 594 F.3d 56
• Decision Date: 04 February 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09-1149.,09-1149.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit
• Parties: Astrid G. ESTRADA; Wendy M. Estrada; Guilfredo E. Muñoz; José A. Aquino; Cruz F. Rivera; Carlos E. Tamup; José Burgos; Abelino M. Urizar; Israel Tebalan; Rolando Noriega; Boris Cruz; Elsa Hernández Vilavicencio, Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. State of RHODE ISLAND, State Police Department; Steven M. Pare, individually and in his official capacity as Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police; C. Thomas Chabot, individually and in his official capacity as a state trooper employed by the State of Rhode Island, Defendants, Appellees, Jane Doe, individually and in her official capacity as a state trooper employed by the State of Rhode Island, Defendant.

594 F.3d 56

Astrid G. ESTRADA; Wendy M. Estrada; Guilfredo E. Muñoz; José A. Aquino; Cruz F. Rivera; Carlos E. Tamup; José Burgos; Abelino M. Urizar; Israel Tebalan; Rolando Noriega; Boris Cruz; Elsa Hernández Vilavicencio, Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. State of RHODE ISLAND, State Police Department; Steven M. Pare, individually and in his official capacity as Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police; C. Thomas Chabot, individually and in his official capacity as a state trooper employed by the State of Rhode Island, Defendants, Appellees, Jane Doe, individually and in her official capacity as a state trooper employed by the State of Rhode Island, Defendant.

No. 09-1149.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard October 8, 2009.

Decided February 4, 2010.

V. Edward Formisano, with whom American Civil Liberties Union, Rhode Island Affiliate, Sinapi, Formisano, & Co., Ltd., was on brief for appellants.

John M. Moreira, Special Assistant Attorney General, with whom Patrick C. Lynch, Attorney General, James R. Lee and Brenda D. Baum, Assistants Attorney General, were on brief for appellees.

Larry James, General Counsel, Christina Corl, Crabbe, Brown & James, LLP, Michael M. Hethmon, Garrett R. Roe, and Immigration Reform Law Institute, Inc., as amicus curiae The National Fraternal Order of Police.

Before LYNCH, Chief Judge, TORRUELLA, and HOWARD, Circuit Judges.

TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellants Astrid G. Estrada, Wendy M. Estrada, Guilfredo E. Muñoz,¹ José A. Aquino, Cruz F. Rivera, Carlos E. Tamup, José Burgos, Abelino M. Urizar, Israel Tebalan, Rolando Noriega, Boris R. Cruz, and Elsa Hernández Vilavicencio were passengers in a van that was stopped for failing to signal when changing lanes. They filed this civil action in the District Court of Rhode Island challenging the actions of Officer Thomas Chabot of the Rhode Island State Police during the stop, namely, that he inquired into their immigration status, contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") and transported them to ICE in violation of their Fourth Amendment rights. Plaintiff Tamup also challenges the two pat-down searches to his person performed by Officer Chabot. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the district court on all counts.

I. Background²

The events transpired in the early morning of July 11, 2006. Plaintiff-Appellant Carlos E. Tamup ("Tamup") was driving a fifteen-passenger van heading south on Interstate 95 in Rhode Island. The remaining eleven Plaintiffs were passengers in that van and were on their way to work in Westerly, Rhode Island. Somewhere near exit 4 in the Town of Richmond, Tamup failed to activate his turn signal as he switched lanes in the two-lane stretch of road. Rhode Island State Police Officer Thomas Chabot ("Officer Chabot") was stationed in a marked state police cruiser parked on the grassy median on Interstate 95. Upon observing that the van had failed to signal its lane change, Officer Chabot engaged his overhead lights to stop the van.³

At Officer Chabot's request, Tamup produced his driver's license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance. Responding to Officer Chabot's question, Tamup stated that his wife owned the van and that he and the other passengers were driving to work polishing jewelry in Westerly, Rhode Island. Walking over to the passenger's side of the van, Officer Chabot asked the front seat passenger, Plaintiff Guilfredo E. Camay Muñoz ("Camay"), for identification. When Camay stated that he did not have identification on his person, Officer Chabot asked for his name and birth date. Although there was an obvious language barrier, Camay was able to give his name and provide his birth date.

Officer Chabot opened the front passenger door⁴ and counted the number of people inside, stating that there were fifteen persons.⁵ Using Tamup as a translator, Officer Chabot asked the rest of the passengers to produce identification. Some of the passengers produced various forms of identification: a gym membership card, a non-driver's license identification issued by the Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles, and two identifications issued by the Guatemalan Consulate. Continuing to use Tamup as a translator, Officer Chabot then asked the passengers if they could produce documentation establishing their U.S. citizenship.⁶ None of the passengers was able to produce such documentation. According to Officer Chabot's deposition testimony, he did not observe any unusual or suspicious activity from Tamup or the van's passengers at this or any other time.⁷ Officer Chabot also testified, however, that he normally requested identification from passengers in vehicles he stopped, and that more than 99 percent of the passengers from whom he requests identification can supply it.

Officer Chabot then requested that Tamup step out of the van so that he could perform a pat-down search.⁸ See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). The search did not yield anything, but during the course of the pat-down, Officer Chabot asked Tamup if he and the rest of the passengers had green cards or work papers, and specifically requested that Tamup give him his social security number and green card. Tamup stated that he only had his driver's license and that the other passengers did not have any other documentation.

Apparently, sometime before Officer Chabot returned to his vehicle to run Tamup's license, many or most of the Plaintiffs had essentially admitted being in the country illegally. While the deposition testimony is sometimes less than clear on what exactly Officer Chabot asked the passengers, and Officer Chabot himself never testified that he understood the passengers to have stated directly that they were in the country illegally, Plaintiffs Tamup and Estrada both testified in their depositions that they had admitted to Officer Chabot that they and the rest of the passengers were not in the country legally.⁹

After Tamup sat back in the driver's seat in the van, Officer Chabot returned to his cruiser and conducted a background check on Tamup. Tamup's license came back as valid and his criminal background check was negative. Officer Chabot then contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") and reported that he had pulled over a passenger van transporting individuals whom he believed might be illegal immigrants. Officer Chabot had to wait approximately three minutes to receive a return call from the ICE Providence office with instructions.

After speaking with someone at the ICE Providence office, Officer Chabot returned to the van and conducted a second pat-down of Tamup. A second state trooper, Officer Heather Donahue, arrived at the scene and conferred with Officer Chabot. Officer Chabot then informed Tamup that Tamup would have to drive the passenger van with all the passengers to the ICE Providence office. Tamup testified at his deposition that Officer Chabot told him it was his responsibility to take everyone to immigration and that "if anybody tried to escape, they could lose their life." Plaintiffs contend they did not consent to the detainment or the travel to ICE.¹⁰ Plaintiff Camay testified that he himself heard Officer Chabot say "You lock the van or somebody's going to die."¹¹ Other Plaintiffs testified that they heard Tamup translate the threat.

State troopers escorted the passenger van being driven by Tamup to the ICE Providence office without significant incident.¹² All of the van's passengers were taken into custody upon arrival.

In January 2007, all the passengers filed a complaint in Rhode Island District Court. The complaint alleged an illegal search and seizure in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution as well as Article I, § 6 of the Rhode Island Constitution; unlawful discrimination under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, Article I, § 2 of the Rhode Island Constitution, and R.I. Gen. Laws 31-21.2 (the Rhode Island Racial Profiling Prevention Act of 2004); and a state tort claim of negligence.

At the conclusion of discovery, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment defending both on qualified immunity grounds and substantive grounds. Plaintiffs also filed a motion for partial summary judgment. The district court entered judgment in favor of defendants on all counts on December 30, 2008. Plaintiffs timely appealed.¹³

II. Standard of Review

Summary judgment is appropriate if the record shows "that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and [] the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). On a summary judgment motion, "[a] genuine issue exists where a `reasonable jury could resolve the point in favor of the nonmoving party.'" Meuser v. Fed. Express Corp., 564 F.3d 507, 515 (1st Cir.2009) (quoting Suárez v. Pueblo Int'l, Inc., 229 F.3d 49, 53 (1st Cir.2000)). "A fact is material only if it possesses the capacity to sway the outcome of the litigation under the applicable law." Vineberg v. Bissonnette, 548 F.3d 50, 56 (1st Cir.2008) (internal quotation marks omitted).

Where, as here, the parties have filed cross-motions for summary judgment, the court must "determine whether either of the parties deserves judgment as a matter of law on facts that are not disputed." Barnes v. Fleet Nat'l Bank, N.A., 370 F.3d 164, 170 (1st Cir.2004). "It is not for the court on summary judgment to weigh the evidence `but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial.'" Cont'l Cas. Co. v. Canadian Universal Ins. Co., 924 F.2d 370, 373 (1st Cir.1991) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)). Ruling on each party's motion, the court views all facts and draws all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Id.

III. Discussion

In this appeal, Plaintiffs press four main issues. First, Plaintiffs argue that the district court erred in ruling...