Heft v. Moore

• Citation: 351 F.3d 278
• Decision Date: 26 November 2003
• Docket Number: No. 02-4110.,02-4110.
• Parties: Cleta HEFT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Cody MOORE, Carl Carpenter, Ed Root, Jeff McClain, and Ric Hughes, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)

351 F.3d 278

Cleta HEFT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Cody MOORE, Carl Carpenter, Ed Root, Jeff McClain, and Ric Hughes, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 02-4110.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued November 5, 2003.

Decided November 26, 2003.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Jerry Serritella, (argued), Peoria, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Craig L. Unrath, Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, Peoria, IL, for Defendants-Appellees.

Mary E. Welsh (argued), Office of the Atty. Gen., Civ. App. Div., Chicago, IL, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before FLAUM, Chief Judge, and BAUER and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

FLAUM, Chief Judge.

Cleta Heft filed suit against police officers who searched her home alleging that the officers violated her civil rights by injuring her, causing unreasonable property damage to her home, and planting evidence. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants accused of causing unreasonable property damage and planting evidence. After Heft presented all of her evidence at trial regarding injuries caused by the search, the district court granted the sole remaining defendant a directed verdict. Heft now appeals the district court's order of summary judgment and the directed verdict. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

On the evening of October 21, 1999, officers from the Illinois State Police and Decatur Police Department executed a valid search warrant at Cleta Heft's home. Sergeant Kilby was in charge at the scene and the ranking officer. Defendants Carl Carpenter, Ed Root, Jeff McClain, Ric Hughes, and Cody Moore were officers present when the warrant was executed.

According to Heft, she was at home watching television when she heard a noise at the front door. She started walking towards the door and was two or three feet away when police officers used a battering ram to gain entry. Heft heard shouts telling her to get down. Heft claims that as she turned to lay down, she was hit in the lower back and was knocked to the floor. Simultaneously, she heard a loud explosion from the flash-bang device which the officers had thrown into her home. At some point during this sequence, Heft suffered injury to her knee and hand and a large bruise on her back.

The officer who struck Heft's door open with the battering ram was Defendant Moore. As the door opened, he saw the door hit Heft in the upper body and face. Officer Mullins also saw Heft struck in the face by the door, and then saw her fall backwards. Officers Coventry and Squires were the first two officers to enter Heft's home. Officers Moore and Mullins then entered the home, followed by Officers Bell, McClain, Kilby, Carpenter, and Hughes. When the officers entered the home, Heft was on the floor. All of the officers deny striking Heft or seeing her struck by another officer. Heft cannot identify who or what struck her, but she does state that she was not struck by the door.

Defendants Root, Hughes, McClain, and Carpenter all testified that when they entered Heft's home it was cluttered and disorderly. It was so messy that the officers believed it would be difficult to move around and search. Heft claims that her home was in a "state of devastation" immediately after the search, but provides no evidence regarding the condition of her home prior to the search.

During the search of Heft's home, Carpenter found a metal box containing drugs and drug paraphernalia in the front bedroom. When she was asked about it, Heft stated she was not aware it was there and knew nothing about it. Heft's son, who lived in her front bedroom until 1997 and still had many belongings there, also denied knowledge of the contraband. Heft's son still had a key to the home, as did Heft's sister who sometimes stayed in the front bedroom overnight. Heft's second son visited Heft approximately once a month and also had access to the front bedroom. At her deposition, Heft stated that it was possible that the box belonged to one of her sons. Criminal charges were never brought against Heft based on the contents of the box.

II. DISCUSSION

On appeal, Heft argues that the district court erred by: (1) granting summary judgment to Defendants Root, Hughes, and McClain on the issue of whether they used excessive violence in searching Heft's home; (2) granting summary judgment to Defendant Carpenter on the issue of whether he planted contraband in Heft's home; (3) granting Defendant Moore's motion in limine excluding Heft's evidence that the police searched the wrong house and planted contraband at her house; and (4) granting Defendant Moore a directed verdict on the issue of whether he injured Heft during the search.

A. Jurisdiction

As a preliminary matter we must address this Court's jurisdiction. In this case, Magistrate Judge Bernthal granted Heft's motion to dismiss various defendants before Heft and all of the defendants had consented to proceed before a magistrate judge. Some of the dismissed defendants later filed written consent to proceed before the magistrate, while others never filed written consent but simply abandoned the case once they were dismissed. If the magistrate's dismissals were invalid due to a lack of authority, those defendants would remain parties to the case and we would lack jurisdiction because there would be no final order as to all defendants as is required by 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b).

The Federal Magistrate Act of 1979 authorized magistrate judges to conduct "any or all proceedings in a jury or nonjury civil matter and order the entry of judgment in the case," as long as the magistrates are "specially designated ... by the district court" and are acting "[u]pon consent of the parties." 28 U.S.C. § 636(c)(1). Although 28 U.S.C. § 636(c)(2) and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 73(b) provide the method for gaining formal consent from the parties, the Supreme Court has recently held that consent also "can be inferred from a party's conduct during litigation." See Roell v. Withrow, 538 U.S. 580, 123 S.Ct. 1696, 1699, 155 L.Ed.2d 775 (2003). The Court further held that as long as the parties have voluntarily consented, the magistrate has full civil jurisdiction under § 636(c)(1) even if the technical requirements of § 636(c)(2) and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 73(b) are not met. See id. at 1702.

Here, all of the current parties to the litigation voluntarily consented to proceed before a magistrate judge. Both the plaintiff and defendants entered general appearances before the magistrate and participated in hearings before the magistrate. As for the dismissed defendants, all but three signed formal written consent after their dismissals. Prior to the written consent, these defendants evidenced their voluntary consent by participating in proceedings before the magistrate. Therefore, these defendants properly consented to the magistrate's jurisdiction and were appropriately dismissed.

This leaves three dismissed defendants who did not appear or otherwise consent to proceed before a magistrate. However, they are effectively no longer parties to this litigation because the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed all claims against them and then abandoned pursuing those claims. This case is analogous to Baltimore Orioles, Inc. v. Major League Baseball Players Ass'n, 805 F.2d 663, 667 (7th Cir.1986), in which this Court held that an order that effectively ends the litigation on the merits is appealable as a final order even if the lower court did not formally enter judgment on a separate claim if that separate claim was abandoned. Heft has long abandoned her claims against these defendants, and this Court therefore has jurisdiction over the appeal.

B. Property Destruction

Heft first challenges the district court's grant of summary judgment to Defendants Root, Hughes, and McClain, who Heft accused of destroying her personal property. It is true that the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments provide a remedy when a citizen's property is unreasonably damaged during a search. See United States v. Ramirez, 523 U.S. 65, 71, 118 S.Ct. 992, 140 L.Ed.2d 191 (1998) (holding that the "general touchstone of reasonableness which governs Fourth Amendment analysis, governs the method of execution of the warrant. Excessive or unnecessary destruction of property in the course of a search may violate the Fourth Amendment, even though the entry itself is lawful and the fruits of the search are not subject to suppression.") (citations omitted); see also Daniels v. Southfort, 6 F.3d 482, 486 (7th Cir.1993). However, in this case Heft failed to show that her property was damaged at all, and thus the grant of summary judgment was proper.

Summary judgment is proper where "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). To determine whether there is a genuine issue of material fact, courts construe all facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and draw all reasonable and justifiable inferences in favor of that party. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

Even construing all of the facts in the light most favorable to Heft, however, there is no genuine issue of material fact. The entirety of evidence presented by Heft in support of her claim that the defendants used unreasonable force in the search of her home was her allegation that her home was in a state of devastation immediately after the police raid. While the defendants agreed that they moved several items that belonged to Heft during the course of the search, they also alleged that her house was cluttered and disorderly prior to the search. Heft provided no...