Jonas v. City of Atlanta

• Decision Date: 12 June 1981
• Docket Number: No. 80-7070,80-7070
• Citation: 647 F.2d 580
• Parties: Peggy B. JONAS and Samuel Keith Jonas, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The CITY OF ATLANTA, Defendant-Appellee. Peggy B. JONAS and Samuel Keith Jonas, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Martha E. WALLACE, "John" f. n. u. Satterfield, S. A. Cumberworth, W. A. Wallace, Defendants-Appellees. . Unit B
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 580

647 F.2d 580

Peggy B. JONAS and Samuel Keith Jonas, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The CITY OF ATLANTA, Defendant-Appellee.

Peggy B. JONAS and Samuel Keith Jonas, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Martha E. WALLACE, "John" f. n. u. Satterfield, S. A.

Cumberworth, W. A. Wallace, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 80-7070.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Unit B

June 12, 1981.

Herbert Shafer, Atlanta, Ga., for plaintiffs-appellants.

Ferrin Y. Mathews, James A. Barnett, Atlanta, Ga., for defendant-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Before HILL and FRANK M. JOHNSON, Jr., Circuit Judges, and SCOTT ^*, District Judge.

FRANK M. JOHNSON, Jr., Circuit Judge:

Peggy Jonas and her son Samuel Jonas brought these Section 1983 suits against the City of Atlanta and City of Atlanta police officers Martha E. Wallace, "John" f.n.u. Satterfield, S. A. Cumberworth, and W. A. Wallace. From adverse judgments, plaintiffs appeal.

The following is a fair summary of the evidence presented at trial. At about one a. m. on February 19, 1978, defendant Satterfield, acting in his capacity as a City of Atlanta police officer, was patrolling the downtown Atlanta area. He received a radio call informing him that an attempted robbery of a pedestrian had taken place at International and Williams Streets. He proceeded to the intersection, where he was met by a black male named Tony Love. Love told defendant Satterfield that he had attempted to buy some marijuana from two white males. One of the males pulled a gun and demanded Love's money, but Love managed to escape from the men without property loss. As reflected on defendant Satterfield's crime report, Love described the men as "one white male with long blond hair, and thin, in his twenties" and "one white male, clean-cut, and twenties." The car was described as a 1968 or 1969 white station wagon with wood grain down the sides. Defendant Satterfield caused a lookout to be broadcast over the police radio for the suspects and the vehicle.

At approximately one a. m. the same morning, nineteen-year-old plaintiff Samuel Jonas drove two University of Georgia students, Samuel Srochi and Jefferson Singer, to the Greyhound Bus Terminal in downtown Atlanta, where they planned to board a bus to Athens, Georgia. Samuel Jonas returned home. While waiting for the bus, Srochi discovered that he did not have his wallet and was without funds to buy a ticket. Srochi called the home of plaintiffs and asked Samuel Jonas to locate the wallet. Since the last bus to Athens had departed, Srochi asked Samuel Jonas to pick Singer and him up at the bus terminal.

With Samuel Jonas at his home was Jeffrey Haskel, a University of Florida student. Young Jonas asked Haskel to pick up Srochi and Singer. Because his car was low on gasoline Haskel drove Peggy Jonas' green 1973 station wagon. He picked up the two students and proceeded toward the Jonas' residence. As he was driving down the interstate a police car with flashing lights pulled in front of him, another police car pulled behind him, and a third police car pulled up beside him. Haskel pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car. Several officers emerged; ¹ according to Haskel, at least four officers had guns drawn.

The officers asked Haskel for his driver's license. When he could not produce a license, the officers told the three men to get out of the car, which they did. After searching the three and finding no weapons or contraband, the officers asked Haskel who owned the car; Haskel replied the Jonases of 854 West Pace Ferry Road. Defendant Satterfield remarked that Haskel did not meet the description of the suspect they were seeking. Nevertheless, Satterfield continued to question Haskel, and in response to his question whether Jonas was a white male with long stringy hair, Haskel replied in the affirmative. Defendant Satterfield radioed for a police car to check the area around the bus station and try to locate Love, the alleged robbery victim.

Meanwhile, without a warrant the other officers searched the car, finding and seizing a quantity of marijuana. Defendants contend that the marijuana was in plain view; plaintiffs dispute this allegation. Although plaintiffs requested an evidentiary hearing on this issue, the trial court did not hold a hearing. Thus, the record does not contain a basis for determining whether the warrantless search and seizure were justified. ²

After searching the car, the officers searched the young men again. This time they found marijuana in Singer's coat pocket.

The officers detained Haskel, Srochi, and Singer in separate police cars for about an hour. During this time defendant Satterfield called the City Wide Wrecker Service to have Ms. Jonas' car impounded. Also during this time period some other officers brought a black man to the cars. Singer overheard the black man say, "These are not the ones." The three students were taken to Atlanta City Jail where they were booked on charges of possession of a controlled substance. Haskel was also charged with not having a driver's license. All the charges against Haskel, Srochi, and Singer were subsequently dismissed.

Before the three students were transported to jail, defendant Satterfield received word that Love could not be located. He then radioed for a police accompaniment ³ in the area of the West Pace Ferry Road address supplied by Haskel. With defendant W. A. Wallace he proceeded to the area where they met defendants Cumberworth and Martha Wallace. Defendants Satterfield and W. A. Wallace advised defendants Cumberworth and Martha Wallace of the earlier occurrences of the evening. The four officers went to the Jonas' residence. Satterfield testified that he only wanted to investigate the alleged robbery and that he would not have made an arrest without a warrant. Martha Wallace, however, testified that she was under the impression that the officers would act as a group, that if Samuel Jonas was at the residence he would be arrested, and that "whoever had knowledge of the hold-up would be the one doing the actual arresting."

Because the officers were apprehensive about Jonas being armed, when they arrived at the house defendants Satterfield and W. A. Wallace stayed at the front of the house while defendants Martha Wallace and Cumberworth went to the rear. On the way to the back of the house, defendant Cumberworth observed Samuel Jonas and his sixteen-year-old sister Sarah running past a large window toward the back of the house. Officer Cumberworth informed the other officers of her observation. Defendant Cumberworth then saw Samuel and Sarah Jonas come out a side door. As she approached them, she told them to stop.

A discussion and a scuffle, the facts of which are disputed, ensued. Samuel Jonas was arrested by Martha Wallace, who at that time told him he was being arrested for armed robbery but who at trial testified that she arrested him for assaulting a police officer. The officers searched him, finding marijuana and a quantity of white powder. He was placed in the back seat of one of the police cars.

The officers then questioned Sarah Jonas. They asked her if they could come inside since it was cold outside, and Sarah allowed them to enter the house. She told the officers that her mother was in bed with the flu. Sarah testified that she wanted to wake her mother, but the officers indicated that there was no need. On the other hand, the officers testified that Sarah was at all times free to wake her mother and that she consented to a search of the house. The officers searched several rooms in the house, finding nothing of evidentiary value. Sarah then decided that her mother needed to be present.

Once awakened, Peggy Jonas immediately got out of bed and went into the room where the officers were standing. Defendant Satterfield told her that Samuel had been arrested for armed robbery and that they were holding three of his friends. The police officers subsequently took Samuel Jonas to the downtown station and officially charged him with assault. After spending the night in jail, he was released on bond. All charges were dismissed the next day.

After the charges against Samuel Jonas were dismissed, Peggy Jonas requested that her station wagon be returned to her. Employees of City Wide Wrecker Service, which had a contract to impound cars for the City of Atlanta, told her that the car was being held until the cases against Haskel, Srochi, and Singer were resolved. Subsequently, on October 26, 1978, over eight months after impoundment, Ms. Jonas received a notice from City Wide Wrecker Service informing her that she could obtain her car upon paying a $970 storage fee. On October 31, 1978, Ms. Jonas' attorney sought to obtain release of the vehicle. City Wide Wrecker Service refused to release it unless Ms. Jonas paid the storage fee.

Peggy and Samuel Jonas sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that defendants Satterfield, Cumberworth, Martha Wallace, and W. A. Wallace, acting under color of state law, searched, seized and arrested Samuel Jonas without a warrant and without probable cause; that Martha Wallace beat Samuel Jonas about the face with a flashlight; that defendants conducted a warrantless search of Peggy Jonas' home; and that defendants maliciously prosecuted Samuel Jonas. Peggy Jonas subsequently amended the complaint to include a claim for damages for the conversion of her automobile. On the basis of information gathered during discovery, plaintiffs instituted a similar suit against the City of Atlanta, alleging that the actions of the police officers were taken with the consent, approval, and ratification of the City of Atlanta. The cases were consolidated.

Prior to trial plaintiffs filed a motion for an order suppressing the use at trial of any evidence unlawfully seized from the automobile and from Samuel Jonas. The trial court denied the motion without prejudice to its...