Hutsell v. Sayre

• Decision Date: 29 September 1993
• Docket Number: No. 6217,No. 6545,No. 92-6216,6545,6217,92-6216
• Citation: 5 F.3d 996
• Parties: 85 Ed. Law Rep. 1055 Stanley R. HUTSELL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Ray SAYRE, Badge, individually and in his capacity as an officer of the University of Kentucky Police Department; W.A. Hayes, Badge, individually and in his capacity as an officer of the University of Kentucky Police Department; and The Board of Trustees of The University of Kentucky, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 996

5 F.3d 996

85 Ed. Law Rep. 1055

Stanley R. HUTSELL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Ray SAYRE, Badge No. 6545, individually and in his capacity as an officer of the University of Kentucky Police Department; W.A. Hayes, Badge No. 6217, individually and in his capacity as an officer of the University of Kentucky Police Department; and The Board of Trustees of The University of Kentucky, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 92-6216.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

Argued June 15, 1993.

Decided Sept. 29, 1993.

William C. Jacobs, Catherine M. Stevens (argued and briefed), Lexington, KY, for plaintiff-appellant.

John C. Darsie, Jr., Office of Legal Counsel University of Kentucky, Stephen L. Barker (argued and briefed), Phillip M. Moloney, Sturgill, Turner & Truitt, Lexington, KY, Walter G. King, John T. Ballantine, Ogden, Newell & Welch, Louisville, KY, Paul C. Van Boven, University of Kentucky Office of Legal Counsel, Lexington, KY, for defendants-appellees.

Before: NELSON and SUHRHEINRICH, Circuit Judges, and EDMUNDS, District Judge. ^*

SUHRHEINRICH, Circuit Judge.

In this Sec. 1983 action, plaintiff Stanley R. Hutsell alleges that defendants University of Kentucky police officers Ray Sayre and W. A. Hayes, as well as the Board of Trustees of the University of Kentucky ("UK"), violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by seeking an arrest warrant without probable cause for an assault of a female student on the UK campus. The district court ruled that plaintiff's claims against UK and the officers in their official capacities were barred by the Eleventh Amendment and that the officers were entitled to qualified immunity in their individual capacities. For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM.

I.

UK student Stacey Prieshoff was assaulted by an unknown assailant on Saturday, September 22, 1990, between 1:30 and 2:00 a.m., on the university campus. Defendant UK police officers Sayre and Hayes were dispatched to the scene shortly after the assault occurred.

Officer Sayre took Prieshoff to the UK Medical Center for examination and treatment of a gash in the back of her head. Prieshoff told Sayre that her assailant struck her in the back of the head with "something." She described her assailant as a black male, 5'10", 170 pounds, medium build, black short afro, stubble on his face, ruddy complexion, no glasses, and wearing a dark jacket, a light colored shirt, and blue jeans.

While Sayre and Prieshoff were at the hospital, Hayes investigated the scene of the assault. Two individuals, Michael Fox and Darren Birch, handed Hayes a white bandanna, a shoe and a wallet which they found on the ground. Prieshoff identified the bandanna and the shoes as hers. The wallet contained plaintiff's driver's license and his Lexington transit identification card.

At approximately 5:30 a.m. that morning, Hayes telephoned plaintiff's residence, but received no response. Later that morning, two other officers went to two addresses listed on plaintiff's identification cards. Hutsell was at neither. The pair then proceeded to the Lexington Transit Bus Garage where plaintiff worked. They were informed that he was not scheduled to work that day.

The next day, September 23, 1990, Prieshoff went to the UK Police Department to assist in the construction of a composite drawing of her assailant. Sayre testified that Prieshoff identified her assailant as Negro, male, between 21 and 25 years of age, medium build, and black hair. At the time, plaintiff, a black male, was 44 years old, with balding gray hair and a mustache.

On September 24, 1990, Hayes ran a criminal history check on plaintiff, which revealed that plaintiff had a previous arrest for criminal solicitation-prostitution. Hayes obtained a photograph of plaintiff from Lexington Metro Central Records and, with the assistance of Lexington-Fayette Urban County Police Department, prepared a photographic lineup of plaintiff and five other black males with a history of arrests or convictions for sexual offenses, and who resembled plaintiff in appearance.

That afternoon, Hayes went to Prieshoff's apartment with the photographic lineup. Prieshoff selected plaintiff's photograph as most resembling her assailant; however, she told Hayes that she could not be "100% certain" because it was more difficult to identify someone in a photograph than in person. Prieshoff explained "that was the person, you know, out of the line-up [sic], I was drawn to that picture and I felt that, you know, he was--he was the one."

Also on the morning of the 24th, Hayes reached plaintiff by telephone, informed him that his wallet had been found and requested that plaintiff come to the station to identify it. When Hutsell appeared, he was advised that he was a suspect in an attempted rape and was advised of his rights. Plaintiff agreed to be interviewed by Hayes and Sayre. He told the officers that his wallet had been missing since Thursday, September 20, 1990. Plaintiff stated that he thought he had lost it at the UK hospital while visiting his wife, who was a patient there. Sayre subsequently checked the hospital's records; plaintiff's wife had not been a patient there since 1986. Plaintiff also consented to a search of his vehicle. The search of his vehicle revealed a baseball bat and work gloves in his trunk.

Hayes's involvement on the case ended on September 26, 1990. Sayre continued to investigate the matter. He interviewed Fox, who told Sayre that Prieshoff had stated that a black man attempted to rape her and struck her in the back of the head with "a bat or something like that."

Based upon this information, Sayre approached Fayette District Judge Thomas Clark in order to obtain a criminal complaint against plaintiff. Judge Clark issued a warrant for plaintiff's arrest on December 14, 1990, after reviewing Sayre's affidavit and revised complaint.

Plaintiff was indicted and tried in state court. On March 26, 1991, he was acquitted of the charge of Criminal Attempt, Rape 1st Degree. Plaintiff brought this suit on September 23, 1991, in federal court under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, alleging that UK and its agents, Hayes and Sayre, violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by obtaining an arrest warrant without probable cause and seeking money damages. The district court dismissed the action and this appeal followed.

II.

A.

Because plaintiff's suit implicates the Eleventh Amendment, which presents a potential jurisdictional bar, ¹ and Congress has not abrogated state sovereign immunity in suits under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, Cowan v. University of Louisville School of Medicine, 900 F.2d 936, 940-41 (6th Cir.1990) (citing Quern v. Jordan, 440 U.S. 332, 341, 99 S.Ct. 1139, 1145, 59 L.Ed.2d 358 (1979)), we begin our analysis here. It is well-settled that " 'a suit in federal court by private parties seeking to impose a liability which must be paid from public funds in the state treasury is barred by the Eleventh Amendment.' " Cowan, 900 F.2d at 940 (quoting Quern, 440 U.S. at 337, 99 S.Ct. at 1143). ² This bar against suit also extends to state officials acting in their official capacities. See Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 167, 105 S.Ct. 3099, 3106, 87 L.Ed.2d 114 (1985).

When suit is brought against a public agency or institution, and/or its officials, "the application of the Eleventh Amendment turns on whether said agency or institution can be characterized as an arm or alter ego of the state, or whether it should be treated instead as a political subdivision of the state." Hall v. Medical College of Ohio at Toledo, 742 F.2d 299, 301 (6th Cir.1984) (citing Mt. Healthy City School Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 280, 97 S.Ct. 568, 572, 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977)), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1113, 105 S.Ct. 796, 83 L.Ed.2d 789 (1985). See also Estate of Ritter v. University of Mich., 851 F.2d 846, 848 (6th Cir.1988) (federal question of whether the Eleventh Amendment is applicable entails consideration of the status of the state agency under state law). The most important factor in resolving this question, however, is whether any monetary judgment would be paid out of the state treasury. Ritter, 851 F.2d at 850 (citation omitted).

That UK is considered an arm of the state under state law and not merely a political subdivision is apparent from the statutory scheme which governs it. To begin with, the university's statutory existence is found in Chapter 164 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes, which is entitled "State Universities and Colleges; Regional Education; Archaeology." It is required by statute that UK "be maintained by the state with such endowments, incomes, buildings and equipment as will enable it to do work," Ky.Rev.St.Ann. Sec. 164.100, and that it "shall be the principal state institution for the conduct of statewide research and statewide service programs and shall be the only institution authorized to expend state general fund appropriations on research and service programs of a statewide nature financed principally by state funds." Ky.Rev.Ann. Sec. 164.125(2). Cf. Hall, 742 F.2d at 303 (MCO is included in definition of "state university or college" found in Sec. 3345.12(A)(1), and the school is governed by the provisions of Revised Code chapter 3345, entitled "State Universities--General Powers").

More importantly, any claim for money damages against the UK, to the extent authorized, is classified by statute as a claim against the state treasury. Chapter 44, "Claims Upon the Treasury," states in pertinent part that:

44.073. State institutions of higher education declared agencies of state government; jurisdiction of board of claims; sovereign immunity. (1) For purposes of KRS 44.072, state institutions of higher education under KRS Chapter 164 are agencies of the state. (Emphasis added).

Section 44.072 authorizes claims for negligence against the Commonwealth, or any of its agencies, departments, officers or employees, but expressly reserves sovereign...