Gale v. O'Donohue

• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan
• Writing for the Court: Sean F. Cox United States District Court Judge
• Decision Date: 29 April 2019
• Docket Number: Case No. 17-12172
• Citation: Gale v. O'Donohue, Case No. 17-12172 (E.D. Mich. Apr 29, 2019)
• Parties: Joseph Gale, Plaintiff, v. Corrigan O'Donohue, et al., Defendants.

Joseph Gale, Plaintiff, v. Corrigan O'Donohue, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 17-12172

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION

April 29, 2019

Sean F. Cox United States District Court Judge

OPINION AND ORDER

In the early morning of September 4, 2016, a resident of Royal Oak, Michigan called 911 to report "a strange man" who knocked on her door. Minutes later, the responding police officers encountered Plaintiff Joseph Gale walking down an otherwise deserted street, roughly a quarter mile away from the caller's house. Gale matched the description of the knocker, who the officers suspected was "casing" houses for burglaries. The officers stopped Gale, performed a brief patdown, and removed his wallet from his back pocket to check his ID. After a few minutes of questioning, the officers determined that Gale was not the knocker, and offered him a ride to a more familiar part of town. Gale accepted the ride and one of the officers performed a more thorough frisk before putting him in the back seat of a patrol car. During the ride, Gale had second thoughts and asked to leave the moving car. Roughly 90 seconds later, the officer dropped off Gale at a gas station in downtown Royal Oak.

Gale, a lawyer, filed this action against the three officers at the scene and the Royal Oak Chief of Police. Gale alleges claims for unconstitutional search and seizure, unconstitutional seizure of his wallet, abuse of process, conspiracy to violate his civil rights, Monell liability against the City, false imprisonment, conspiracy to commit false imprisonment, assault and battery, common law trespass, and a violation of Michigan's Freedom of Information Act.

Both sides now move for summary judgment. For the reasons below, the Court will deny Gale's motion, grant summary judgment in favor of Defendants on Gale's federal claims, and decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Gale's state-law claims.

BACKGROUND

At 2:27 a.m. on September 4, 2016, a resident of 1409 Wyandotte Avenue in Royal Oak, Michigan called 911. (ECF No. 18-5). The caller stated, "It's not an emergency, but there is a strange man who knocked on my door." Id. The caller explained that her husband had answered the door, and that the man said "there's a police type thing around here" and that he wanted to help. Id. The caller and her husband provided a physical description of the man: white, 5'10", thin, about 25 years old, wearing jeans and a shirt. Id. The husband asked the police to check the area. Id.

The Royal Oak Police Department put a dispatch call out to its officers. (ECF No. 75-4, PageID 1729). The dispatcher relayed the information provided by the caller:

Suspicious at 1409 Wyandotte, 1409 Wyandotte. Man knocked on the door, a white male, 5-10, thin, about 25 years old wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Told the homeowner he wanted to help him. Homeowner said he didn't need any help, closed the door. Last seen west on foot on Dondero.

Id.

Officers Phillip Klinge and Nathan Heppner responded to the dispatch call and proceeded to the caller's area. Id. Roughly ten minutes after the 911 call, Officer Klinge observed Plaintiff Joseph Gale walking down Wyandotte, near its intersection with East Hudson Avenue. (ECF No. 18-2).

Klinge determined that Gale matched the description, pulled to the side of the road, and turned on his car's lights. Id. Gale immediately stopped and put his hands in his pockets. Id. Klinge exited his car and asked, "You alright, man?" Id.¹ Gale shrugged, and appeared to say "yeah." Id.

As Klinge approached, he ordered Gale to take his hands out of his pockets. Gale immediately complied and put his hands up, roughly to the level of his shoulders. Klinge and Gale talked briefly before two more police officers, Officers Heppner and Michael Paramo, arrived on the scene. As the new officers walked up behind Gale, Klinge apparently asked Gale where he was going. Gale stated, "on 4th Street and - - 4th Street and - - I'm trying to think of where he lives. It's by Chicken - - It's by Chicken - - 4th Street and 11 Mile." 4th Street and 11 Mile do not intersect.

When Paramo reached Gale, he asked, "Do you have any ID on you? Do you mind if I - - do you mind if we check?" Gale responded, "Absolutely." The officers performed a brief patdown, reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet, and checked his ID.

One of the officers asked, "Were you knocking on any doors?" Gale responded, "I have not knocked on anyone's door." Paramo informed Gale that the officers were "just checking some things out" and that he "fit the description of someone knocking on doors." Gale insisted, "Man, it was not me." Paramo responded, "If everything pans out then you'll be on your way, okay?" and told Gale that he could put his hands down.

The officers continued to question Gale. He stated that he had attended Arts, Beats and Eats—a local festival—and that he was walking back to his friend's house, which was at "11 mile and 4th Street." The officers noted that those streets run parallel to each other. Paramo asked, "Doyou know where you at?" Gale responded, "Frankly, I do not."

The officers asked Gale if he wanted them to call him a cab. He declined. One of the officers stated, "We can't have you walking around the street intoxicated." The officers again asked Gale if he wanted a taxi. He said, "that would be great." The officers asked if he knew the address of where he was going. Gale said that he could find it "if you were to take me to 3^rd on the Rock."² Paramo stated "Here's the thing, dude. You're way off from where you said you need to be...we're trying to get you out of here, that way no one else calls on you again. We're not back down here wasting our time on you, okay?" Gale said, "I do not want to make you waste your time whatsoever." One of the officers asked, "Do you want us to get you to a - -" Gale stated, "If you can take me downtown, that would be great." Paramo stated, "I'll get you downtown."

Paramo and Gale walked toward Paramo's patrol car, which was parked on Hudson. As they approached, Paramo stated, "Before you hop in, I'm just gonna pat you down, man, just for my own safety." Gale asked, "Am I under arrest or something?" Paramo responded, "You're not under arrest, dude," and explained that, for safety reasons, he needed to search anyone he put his car. Gale stated, "I'm just asking." Paramo reiterated that Gale was "free to go walk on [his] own" and patted him down again. After the patdown, Gale got into the backseat of the patrol car. He could not open the doors from the inside.

Paramo got in the car, turned the corner onto Wyandotte, and pulled to the side of the road again. He and another officer had a brief conversation before he asked Gale for his friend's name. Paramo hoped that he could look up the friend's address and drop off Gale there instead of the Rock on Third. Gale, whose phone was dead, stated "if you got a iPhone charger up there, man, I'll plugthis shit in and I will tell you the exact address." Paramo did not respond; apparently, he was listening to an incoming dispatch call about another suspect who matched the knocker's description.

Seemingly put off by Paramo's unresponsiveness, Gale stated, "All right. Am I free to leave the vehicle?" Paramo responded, "Yeah, you're good. I'm just trying to get your buddy's name so I can take you to your buddy instead of the Rock on Third." Gale replied, "Yeah, I mean if you can just go to the Rock on Third, that would be great."

The exchange got heated as Paramo kept asking for the name of Gale's friend. Exasperated by Gale's unwillingness to provide a name, Paramo stated:

Listen to me. You're not under arrest. You're not in trouble. I'm doing you a favor. I'm trying to get you out of here, okay, so no one else calls on you. That's the thing. You've got a lot - - this is what's going on. We've had a ton of B&Es down here. Obviously it's not you. If I leave you down here to walk, someone's going to call on you again and we're going to come back out here again. I'm trying to avoid that for you.

Gale responded, "Well, I appreciate it." After a few more of Paramo's attempts to get a name, Gale stated "I'll just walk there, okay?"

Paramo began driving. Gale asked, "Am I free to leave?" In response, Paramo called into dispatch saying, "I'll be taking [Gale] downtown to the Rock on Third and dropping him off." He then asked Gale, "There, are you happy?"

Gale replied, "No, I'm just asking if I'm free to leave the vehicle." Paramo yelled back, "What did I tell you the first time, dude? I said you're not under arrest. What don't you understand about that?"

Gale stated, "No, I'm requesting to get out of the vehicle." At that time, Paramo had briefly paused at a stop sign before turning onto Lincoln Street, which had other traffic on it despite the early hour. Paramo stated, "I'm getting you out of here." After another request to leave the vehicle,Paramo stated, "I'm getting you out of here, dude. I don't want anyone calling on you. You're not under arrest. I'm getting you out of Dodge."

Roughly 90 seconds after Gale's first request to leave the vehicle, Paramo dropped him off at a gas station in downtown Royal Oak. As he walked away, Gale stated, "I appreciate it."

On October 6, 2016, Gale filed a citizen complaint with the Royal Oak Police Department, alleging that Klinge, Heppner, and Paramo had acted improperly. Lieutenant David Van Ness investigated the complaint and met with Gale on October 17, 2016. This meeting was recorded. As the Court has previously noted, "[c]onsidered in context, Van Ness's statements [during the meeting] described innocuous, routine police work: responding to calls, investigating suspicious activity, managing intoxicated individuals, and identifying persons stopped by police." After his investigation, Van Ness determined that the officers had acted appropriately.

On January 2, 2017, Royal Oak Chief of Police Corrigan O'Donohue wrote a...