Holland v. City of Portland, 96-1226

• Decision Date: 29 July 1996
• Docket Number: No. 96-1226,96-1226
• Citation: 102 F.3d 6
• Parties: Rory C. HOLLAND, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. CITY OF PORTLAND, Sullivan Rizzo and Bruce Coffin, Defendants, Appellees. . Heard
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 6

102 F.3d 6

Rory C. HOLLAND, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. CITY OF PORTLAND, Sullivan Rizzo and Bruce Coffin,

Defendants, Appellees.

No. 96-1226.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard July 29, 1996.

Decided Dec. 6, 1996.

Stuart W. Tisdale, Portland, ME, for plaintiff, appellant.

John E. Sedgewick with whom Berman & Simmons, P.A., Lewiston, ME, was on brief for defendants, appellees.

Before TORRUELLA, Chief Judge, BOUDIN, Circuit Judge, and LISI, ^* District Judge.

BOUDIN, Circuit Judge.

Rory Holland sued the City of Portland, Maine, and two Portland police officers, Sullivan Rizzo and Bruce Coffin, for damages and injunctive relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Maine tort law for Holland's allegedly wrongful false arrest and detention. Following discovery, the district court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment on all of Holland's claims. Holland appeals from the court's judgment dismissing his section 1983, but not his state law, claim.

The facts, taken most favorably to Holland, are as follows. At about 1:20 p.m. on October 18, 1994, Portland police radio traffic reported a robbery at the Key Bank in Canal Plaza. The police dispatcher described the suspect as a black male, about 6'2"' tall, 185 pounds, unshaven, wearing a brown jacket, possibly suede, and a black hat, and carrying a black leather briefcase. The dispatcher reported that the suspect had fled on foot and did not indicate that any vehicle had been involved.

Shortly after 2:00 p.m. on the same day, Holland was driving a Subaru to the Cumberland County Courthouse in Portland. He drove past a bicycle patrolman, Daniel Knight, and turned the corner. Knight had heard the dispatcher's report about the robbery. When he saw the Subaru, he noticed that the driver, Holland, was a tall, thin black man wearing a brown or black jacket and a hat who appeared to meet the description of the suspect, and he also noticed that the car had no back window.

Knight reported to the police dispatcher, "Ten-twenty on Rory Holland, he's in the area." Although Knight had not met Holland, he thought that the Subaru driver fit descriptions of Holland that Knight had seen in police bulletins. The dispatcher asked if Holland's clothing matched that of the reported suspect. Knight did not respond, but the dispatcher immediately sent backup police units and indicated that the suspect was a "possible match."

After turning the corner Holland parked his car and started walking across the street towards the courthouse. He wore a brown tweed jacket and a brown leather hat, and was carrying a black nylon briefcase and a white canvas book bag. Knight stopped Holland in the crosswalk and, addressing Holland by name, said that a bank robbery had just been committed and asked where Holland had been. Knight also asked about the contents of Holland's bag. Holland remained silent.

Coffin, Rizzo, and another officer soon arrived at the scene, and the officers then walked up to Holland, backing him up to his car. Coffin was familiar with Holland's past history from information circulated within the police department and thought that the Subaru driver was Holland. Rizzo had also heard about Holland in department briefings and previously had seen a photograph of Holland. Coffin and Rizzo then began to ask Holland questions concerning the bank robbery.

Although Rizzo told Holland that he was not under arrest, and that the police just wanted to learn about the bank robbery Holland remained silent. Noticing the missing rear window in Holland's car, Rizzo asked Knight if Holland had been driving. When Knight said that he had, Rizzo allegedly said, "well, then we can get him for not having a license or something or other." Rizzo then said, "Rory, you know, I can arrest you if you don't show me a valid driver's license and tell me where you live...."

Holland continued to remain silent. Rizzo asked Holland several more times to produce his license and to tell Rizzo where he lived, saying that otherwise Rizzo would arrest him "for failure to identify yourself to me." Eventually, Rizzo told Holland that he was under arrest. At that point, Rizzo and Coffin patted down Holland, removed his wallet, and found a driver's license in the wallet that identified the driver as Rory Holland. Rizzo then allegedly said, "I guess we got a license in here, I guess we can't get you for that."

Coffin and Rizzo took Holland to the Cumberland County Jail. According to Holland, some officers referred to him as a bank robbery suspect. Holland refused to speak with the booking officer or others at the jail. Holland was released on bail after the police apprehended another bank robbery suspect. Ultimately, no charges of any kind were pressed against Holland.

Thereafter, Holland brought the present suit against Rizzo, Coffin and the city. As the basis for his section 1983 claim, Holland alleged that his arrest had violated the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures made applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Specifically, the complaint alleged that the police lacked probable cause to arrest him for any reason, that the actual charge was a pretext to detain him for questioning about the bank robbery, and that the arrest was retaliation for his refusal to speak.

In the course of discovery Holland--who had previously been in disputes with the Portland police--learned that some weeks before the arrest, the police had circulated information about him in so-called crime alert bulletins. Knitting the bulletins together with the disputes, Holland suggested that his arrest was part of a general campaign of harassment directed against him by the police. Holland did not amend his complaint.

On January 25, 1996, the district court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment. The district court ruled that the police had probable cause to arrest Holland for failing to identify himself or provide his license. It called the charge of harassment "hollow." And it ruled that the city was not liable because, quite apart from the lack of a municipal custom or policy, this arrest had been justified. Holland now appeals.

1. On review of a grant of summary judgment, this court considers the matter de novo, taking the facts most favorably to the non-moving party. St. Hilaire v. City of Laconia, 71 F.3d 20, 24 (1st Cir.1995), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 2548, 135 L.Ed.2d 1068 (1996). We begin by considering whether the police had probable cause to arrest Holland--that is, whether the facts known to the police indicated that Holland had committed a criminal offense. The parties agree that Holland was charged with violating 29 Me.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 2501 (later renumbered) which said:

Whoever, while operating a vehicle in violation of this [motor vehicle regulations] Title, fails or refuses, when requested by an officer authorized to make arrests, to give the operator's correct name, address and date of birth is guilty of a Class E crime.

At first blush, the literal language might appear to make the officers' authority depend upon whether the driver was actually operating in violation of state law. But the Maine Supreme Judicial Court has interpreted section 2501 to permit an officer to stop a driver and ask his name on the basis of an articulable suspicion that the driver has done something wrong. State v. Littlefield, 677 A.2d 1055, 1057 (Me.1996). Indeed, even if it then becomes clear that the suspected violation had not occurred, the officer may still insist on seeing the driver's license and registration. State v. Hill, 606 A.2d 793, 794-95 (Me.1992).

Holland may not have violated any motor vehicle law by driving with a missing rear window. But the missing rear window, or any other similar non-cosmetic damage, could reasonably create a suspicion of such a violation. See 29 Me.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 2503(1)(D) (requiring that motor vehicle equipment "[n]ot pose a hazard...."). Thus, when the officers asked Holland to identify himself, section 2501 required Holland to provide his name, address, and date of birth--or face arrest. See 17-A Me.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 15(B) (authorizing arrest for Class E crimes committed in an officer's presence).

Holland does not challenge the initial stop, see Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), nor argue that the statute itself is unconstitutional. Cf. California v. Byers, 402 U.S. 424, 91 S.Ct. 1535, 29 L.Ed.2d 9 (1971). He instead argues that the police had no reason to request his name since they already knew it, citing Rodriguez v. Comas, 888 F.2d 899 (1st Cir.1989). But where the law requires the motorist to supply his name, the police can reasonably insist upon confirmation. Further, the police also sought Holland's present address, which the statute required him to provide, and there is no indication that the police had this information.

Holland's reliance on Rodriguez is misplaced. There, Rodriguez was arrested on a charge of obstruction of justice because he declined to provide his name and address to an officer. Rodriguez was well known to the officer, and there was no separate statute--such as Maine's motor vehicle law--requiring that he provide his name and address. This court held only that the refusal could not even arguably constitute "obstruction of justice" where the refusal to provide this already-known information neither could nor did obstruct the officer's investigation. 888 F.2d at 902.

Quoting language from other cases, Holland also claims that police officers may not arrest a suspect if they can obtain the information that they seek through a reasonable investigation. See Sevigny v. Dicksey, 846 F.2d 953 (4th Cir.1988); BeVier v. Hucal, 806 F.2d 123 (7th Cir.1986). But these cases impose no such limitation; rather, they demand that officers undertake reasonable investigation to determine whether probable cause exists to arrest a suspect. Sevigny, 846...