Karrick v. Johnson
| Decision Date | 14 April 1995 |
| Parties | Cindy KARRICK and Scott Karrick v. Roger L. JOHNSON. 1940136. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Daniel F. Aldridge of Brinkley, Chesnut & Aldridge, Huntsville, for appellants.
Julian D. Bulter and J. Jeffery Rich of Sirote & Permutt, P.C., Huntsville, for appellee.
Cindy Karrick and her husband Scott Karrick sued Big B Drugs, Inc. ("Big B"), Buy Wise Drugs ("Buy Wise"), and Madison County Deputy Sheriff Roger L. Johnson, alleging two counts of malicious prosecution and two counts of false imprisonment. The trial court entered an order dismissing all claims against Deputy Johnson and made that order final, pursuant to Rule 54(b), Ala.R.Civ.P. The Karricks appeal.
On November 22, 1991, Cindy Karrick, who had suffered an on-the-job injury when she struck her head on a metal bar, was treated at the Huntsville Hospital emergency room by Dr. Robert Platt. After examining Mrs. Karrick, Dr. Platt issued her a prescription for a pain medicine called Vicodin, which is a controlled substance containing Hydrocodone, a synthetic narcotic. The Karricks had the prescription filled that same day at a Buy Wise drug store by the attending pharmacist, William R. Carter, Jr.
Carter testified that after he had filled the prescription and the Karricks had left Buy Wise, he became suspicious of the number of refills that was denoted on the prescription and contacted Dr. Platt by telephone to verify whether he had ordered refills on Mrs. Karrick's prescription. Dr. Platt informed Carter that on the prescription he had not authorized any refills. Carter testified that based on Dr. Platt's response, he then telephoned Deputy Johnson and informed him that the Karricks had presented an altered prescription. Deputy Johnson instructed Carter to note on the drug store's computer that he was to be informed if the Karricks tried to refill the prescription.
On November 28, 1991, the Karricks attempted to get the prescription refilled at a Big B store. The pharmacist at Big B telephoned Buy Wise and was informed that Deputy Johnson was to be notified if the Karricks attempted to refill the prescription. In response, Big B contacted Deputy Johnson. When Mrs. Karrick received the refill from Big B, Deputy Johnson arrested her and Mr. Karrick. The Karricks were charged with violating Ala.Code 1975, § 13A-12-212, which provides:
The court dismissed the criminal charges alleging violation of § 13A-12-212, based on the Karricks' allegedly obtaining drugs by presenting an altered prescription, and this lawsuit followed.
Deputy Johnson moved to dismiss the claim against him, asserting that he had absolute immunity from the Karricks' claim for malicious prosecution and that the false imprisonment claim was due to be dismissed because he made the arrest pursuant to a lawfully issued warrant.
Our first inquiry is whether Deputy Johnson is immune from suit. Recently, we addressed the issue of immunity in Alexander v. Hatfield, 652 So.2d 1142 (Ala.1994). In Alexander, a deputy sheriff, Betty Hatfield, was sued individually and in her capacity as a deputy sheriff on claims of negligence and/or bad faith service of process. We upheld the summary judgment entered in favor of Hatfield, based on the sovereign immunity granted under Art. I, § 14, Alabama Constitution of 1901. Specifically, we stated:
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