Fridley v. Horrigs
| Decision Date | 02 August 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. C-3-99-008.,C-3-99-008. |
| Citation | 162 F.Supp.2d 772 |
| Parties | Mark S. FRIDLEY, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Walter HORRIGS, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio |
Konrad Kuczak, Dayton, OH, for plaintiffs.
Michael J. McGee, Assist. Atty. Gen., Springfield, IL, for defendant.
DECISION AND ENTRY OVERRULING PLAINTIFFS' OBJECTIONS (DOC. # 67) TO REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE (DOC. # 63); PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT (DOC. # 49) OVERRULED; DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (DOC. # 58) SUSTAINED; PLAINTIFFS' CLAIMS AGAINST DONALD NEAL DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE FOR WANT OF PROSECUTION; CONFERENCE CALL SET TO ESTABLISH HEARING DATE TO DETERMINE PLAINTIFFS' DAMAGES AGAINST DEFENDANT DONALD GLUSZEK; PLAINTIFFS' CLAIMS AGAINST OTHER DEFENDANTS DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE
On September 2, 1997, Plaintiff Mark Fridley ("Plaintiff") traveled from his home in Ohio to Illinois, where he exchanged car parts, titles and vehicle identification numbers for the sum of $5,000. Unbeknownst to the Plaintiff, those with whom he completed that transaction were an informant and officers of the Illinois Secretary of State Police. Under Illinois law, it is illegal to sell a vehicle identification number which has been removed from the vehicle to which it had originally been attached. See 625 ILCS § 5/4-103(a)(5) ("§ 5/4-103(a)(5)"). As a consequence, he was arrested, incarcerated until being released the following day and subsequently prosecuted for violating Illinois law. During that prosecution, Plaintiff moved to dismiss the charges, claiming that he was the victim of entrapment. The trial court did not rule upon that request; rather, at the request of the prosecutor, the charges against Plaintiff were dismissed without prejudice.
The Plaintiff then initiated this litigation, setting forth four federal claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, to wit: 1) a claim that he was arrested without probable cause, in violation of the Fourth Amendment; 2) a claim that he was maliciously prosecuted, in violation of the Fourth Amendment; 3) a claim that he was denied the assistance of counsel, in violation of the Sixth Amendment; and 4) a claim that he was deprived of his property without due process of law, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. In addition, he has set forth claims of false arrest/ imprisonment and malicious prosecution under the common law of Illinois.1
This Court referred this litigation to United States Magistrate Judge Michael Merz, for purposes, inter alia, of a Report and Recommendations on dispositive motions. On June 14, 2000, that judicial officer filed his Report and Recommendations, in which he recommended that this Court enter summary judgment in favor of the Defendants on all claims set forth by the Plaintiffs.2 See Doc. # 63. In addition, Judge Merz recommended that this Court overrule the Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. # 49).3 This case is now before this Court on the Plaintiffs' Objections to the Report and Recommendations of the Magistrate Judge. See Doc. # 67. In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), this Court must conduct a de novo review of that judicial filing. See Roland v. Johnson, 856 F.2d 764, 768-69 (6th Cir.1988); Brown v. Wesley's Quaker Maid, Inc., 771 F.2d 952, 954 (6th Cir. 1985), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 830, 107 S.Ct. 116, 93 L.Ed.2d 63 (1986); EEOC v. Keco Industries, Inc., 748 F.2d 1097, 1102 (6th Cir.1984). This Court begins that de novo review by setting forth the standards which are applicable to all motions for summary judgment.
Summary judgment must be entered "against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Of course, the moving party:
always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any," which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.
Id. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. See also Boretti v. Wiscomb, 930 F.2d 1150, 1156 (6th Cir. 1991) () (quoting Gutierrez v. Lynch, 826 F.2d 1534, 1536 (6th Cir.1987)). The burden then shifts to the nonmoving party who "must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e)). Thus, "[o]nce the moving party has met its initial burden, the nonmoving party must present evidence that creates a genuine issue of material fact making it necessary to resolve the difference at trial." Talley v. Bravo Pitino Restaurant, Ltd., 61 F.3d 1241, 1245 (6th Cir.1995). Read together, Liberty Lobby and Celotex stand for the proposition that a party may move for summary judgment by demonstrating that the opposing party will not be able to produce sufficient evidence at trial to withstand a directed verdict motion . Street v. J.C. Bradford & Co., 886 F.2d 1472, 1478 (6th Cir.1989).
Once the burden of production has so shifted, the party opposing summary judgment cannot rest on its pleadings or merely reassert its previous allegations. It is not sufficient to "simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). See also Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service, Inc. v. Babin, 18 F.3d 337, 341 (6th Cir.1994) (). Rather, Rule 56(e) "requires the nonmoving party to go beyond the [unverified] pleadings" and present some type of evidentiary material in support of its position. Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Summary judgment "shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Summary judgment shall be denied "[i]f there are ... `genuine factual issues that properly can be resolved only by a finder of fact because they may reasonably be resolved in favor of either party.'" Hancock v. Dodson, 958 F.2d 1367, 1374 (6th Cir.1992) (citation omitted). Of course, in determining whether a genuine issue of material fact exists, a court must assume as true the evidence of the nonmoving party and draw all reasonable inferences in the favor of that party. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (emphasis added). If the parties present conflicting evidence, a court may not decide which evidence to believe, by determining which parties' affiants are more credible; rather, credibility determinations must be left to the fact-finder. 10A Charles Alan Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Mary Kay Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure, § 2726. In ruling on a motion for summary judgment (in other words, in determining whether there is a genuine issue of material fact), "[a] district court is not ... obligated to wade through and search the entire record for some specific facts that might support the nonmoving party's claim." InterRoyal Corp. v. Sponseller, 889 F.2d 108, 111 (6th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1091, 110 S.Ct. 1839, 108 L.Ed.2d 967 (1990). See also L.S. Heath & Son, Inc. v. AT & T Information Systems, Inc., 9 F.3d 561 (7th Cir.1993); Skotak v. Tenneco Resins, Inc., 953 F.2d 909, 915 n. 7 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 832, 113 S.Ct. 98, 121 L.Ed.2d 59 (1992) (). Thus, a court is entitled to rely, in determining whether a genuine issue of material fact exists on a particular issue, only upon those portions of the verified pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with any affidavits submitted, specifically called to its attention by the parties.
As an initial matter, the Plaintiff has not objected to Judge Merz' recommendations that summary judgment be entered in favor of the Defendants on his (Plaintiffs) § 1983 claims under Sixth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (his Third and Fourth Claims for Relief). In the absence of any objection, the Court adopts the Report and Recommendations as it relates to those two claims.4 The central issue raised by the other claims (both state and federal) is whether the Defendants had probable cause to arrest Plaintiff.5 For reasons which follow, the Court concludes that the evidence does not raise a genuine issue of material fact as to whether they were without such probable cause.
As is indicated, § 5/4-103(a)(5) makes it illegal to sell a vehicle identification number which has been removed from the vehicle to which it had originally been attached. On September 2, 1997, the date of Plaintiffs arrest, arresting officers observed him sell vehicle identification numbers which had been removed from the vehicle to which they had originally been attached; therefore, they had probable cause to believe...
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