Landry v. A-Able Bonding, Inc.

• Decision Date: 15 February 1996
• Docket Number: No. 94-41329,A-A,A-ABLE,94-41329
• Citation: 75 F.3d 200
• Parties: Brian Anthony LANDRY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v.BONDING, INC., et al., Defendants,ble Bonding, Inc., et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 200

75 F.3d 200

Brian Anthony LANDRY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. A-ABLE BONDING, INC., et al., Defendants A-Able Bonding, Inc., et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 94-41329.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

Feb. 15, 1996.

Thomas E. Oxford, Shimon Kaplan, East Texas Legal Services, Inc., Beaumont, TX, for Appellant.

George Michael Jamail, Bernsen, Jamail, Hartley & Goodson, Beaumont, TX, for A-Able Bonding, Inc.

Jerry Watson, Tyler, TX, for International Fidelity Ins. Co.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Before HIGGINBOTHAM, EMILIO M. GARZA and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges.

EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff Brian Anthony Landry appeals the district court's final judgment dismissing his civil rights claims, brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and his state law claim for false imprisonment. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand to the district court with instructions.

I

The facts material to Landry's appeal are not in dispute. Landry was charged with felony theft in Lafayette, Louisiana. He entered a bail bond agreement with Defendants A-Able Bonding, Inc., et al. (collectively "A-Able"). In violation of the terms of the bail bond agreement, Landry left Louisiana without informing A-Able, and failed to appear on his court date. The Louisiana trial court issued an arrest warrant and entered judgment forfeiting the bond. Pursuant to Louisiana law, A-Able was given six months to surrender Landry to the court in order to avoid liability for the bond. After receiving information concerning Landry's whereabouts, Gerold Burrow, owner of A-Able Bonding, Inc., drove with two employees to the home of Norman Boudreaux in Port Arthur, Texas. When Landry appeared at the door, Burrow seized Landry, handcuffed him, and took him to the car. Burrow then drove back to Lafayette, Louisiana, where he surrendered Landry to the sheriff at the Lafayette Parish Jail. Landry filed suit against A-Able in federal district court, asserting § 1983 claims for deprivation of liberty and property without due process of law, and state law claims for false imprisonment and conversion. ¹ After trial by consent of the parties before a magistrate judge, the district court entered judgment for A-Able. Landry filed a motion to alter or amend the judgment, which was denied. Landry then filed a timely notice of appeal.

II

A

Landry first argues that the district court erred in dismissing his § 1983 civil rights claim. In order to recover under § 1983, a plaintiff must prove (1) that he was deprived of a federally protected right, and (2) that the deprivation occurred under color of state law. Flagg Bros., Inc. v. Brooks, 436 U.S. 149, 155, 98 S.Ct. 1729, 1733, 56 L.Ed.2d 185 (1978). In order to prove the deprivation of a right protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, a plaintiff must prove state action. Doe v. Rains County Indep. Sch. Dist., 66 F.3d 1402, 1406 (5th Cir.1995). In § 1983 actions alleging the deprivation of due process rights, the Fourteenth Amendment's "state action" requirement and § 1983's "under color of state law" requirement collapse into a single inquiry. Id. The district court's opinion concluded that Landry failed to prove that any defendant acted under color of state law. We review the district court's findings of fact for clear error. FED.R.CIV.P. 52(a). We review the district court's conclusions of law de novo. Chandler v. City of Dallas, 958 F.2d 85, 89 (5th Cir.1992).

A plaintiff may satisfy the "under color of state law" requirement of § 1983 by proving that the conduct causing the deprivation is "fairly attributable to the State." Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922, 937, 102 S.Ct. 2744, 2753, 73 L.Ed.2d 482 (1982). "Fair attribution" requires (1) that the deprivation is caused by the exercise of a state-created right or privilege, by a state-imposed rule of conduct, or by a person for whom the state is responsible, and (2) that the party charged with the deprivation may be fairly described as a state actor. Id. at 937, 102 S.Ct. at 2753-54.

Louisiana law allows bail bondsmen to arrest their principals for purposes of returning them to detention facility officers. LA.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 340. Landry has therefore satisfied the first prong of the Lugar test, by alleging that his deprivation was caused by the exercise of a privilege created for bail bondsmen by the State of Louisiana. Thus, in order to decide whether Burrow and his employees acted under color of state law, we must determine whether they may be fairly described as state actors. The Supreme Court has articulated a number of different standards for determining whether a party may be fairly described as a state actor. ² However, the Supreme Court has also recognized that state action is necessarily a fact-bound inquiry which should consider the context in which state action is alleged. Lugar, 457 U.S. at 939, 102 S.Ct. at 2755.

The majority of federal courts that have addressed the state action issue in the context of bail bondsmen have based their decisions on whether the bondsmen enlisted the assistance of law enforcement officers in arresting their principals. ³ However, the Fourth Circuit has alternatively found the conduct of bail bondsmen generally to constitute state action, because of the interdependent relationship between bondsmen and the state's criminal court system. ⁴ In the case now before us, Burrow possessed a Louisiana state court arrest warrant for Landry at the time that Landry was seized and driven back to Louisiana. However, Burrow did not purport to act pursuant to the warrant in any respect. Burrow did not attempt to enlist the assistance of local law enforcement officials, and he did not display the warrant to Landry or anyone else. Burrow and his two employees unilaterally seized Landry in Texas and returned him to Louisiana. On these facts, we hold that the mere possession of an arrest warrant does not render a bail bondsman a state actor under § 1983, where he neither purports to act pursuant to the warrant, nor enlists the assistance of law enforcement officials in executing the warrant. ⁵ Therefore, we find that Burrow and his two employees did not act under color of state law when they seized Landry in Texas and returned him to Louisiana. ⁶ Consequently, the district court did not err in dismissing Landry's § 1983 claims for failure to prove that any defendant acted under color of state law.

B

Landry next argues that the district court erred in dismissing his state law false imprisonment claim. To recover for false imprisonment under Texas law, ⁷ a plaintiff must prove willful detention, lack of consent, and absence of authority of law. James v. Brown, 637 S.W.2d 914, 918 (Tex.1982). In its Memorandum Concerning Plaintiff's Motion to Alter or Amend Judgment, the district court found that Burrow and his employees willfully detained Landry without his consent. Landry v. A-Able Bonding Inc., 870 F.Supp. 715, 720 (E.D.Tex.1994). However, the district court also found that Landry failed to show an absence of legal authority for his arrest and detention. Id. at 721-22. A person has legal authority for detaining another where the detention is executed by virtue of legally sufficient process issued by a court of competent jurisdiction. Pete v. Metcalfe, 8 F.3d 214, 218-19 (5th Cir.1993). In this case, where none of the material facts are in dispute, the question of whether the authority for Landry's detention was legally sufficient is a question of law.

Texas has adopted the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act to govern the extradition of "fugitives from justice." TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 51.13. Texas law defines "fugitive from justice" as a person who is charged with a crime in one state, leaves that state, is sought in connection with that charge, and is found in another state. Ex Parte Robertson, 151 Tex.Crim. 635, 210 S.W.2d 593, 594 (1948). Landry was charged with theft in Louisiana and released on bond. He then left Louisiana, moved to Texas, and failed to appear for his court date. A warrant was subsequently issued for his arrest. Landry was thus a "fugitive from justice," as defined by Texas law.

The Texas Uniform Extradition Act provides that a private person may execute a lawful arrest without a warrant "upon reasonable information that the accused stands charged in the courts of a State with a crime punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one year." TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 51.13 § 14. We have previously held this provision to make lawful the arrest of a California fugitive in Texas by secret service agents who had knowledge of a California warrant for his arrest. United States v. Johnson, 815 F.2d 309, 313-14 (5th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1068, 108 S.Ct. 1032, 98 L.Ed.2d 996 (1988). Section 14 has also been held to make lawful the arrest of an Alabama fugitive in Texas by Texas authorities acting on an Alabama warrant. Heard v. State, 701 S.W.2d 298, 302 (Tex.App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1985, pet. ref'd). When they arrested Landry, Burrow and his employees were private citizens acting upon a Louisiana arrest warrant. That warrant provided Burrow with reasonable information that Landry had been charged in Louisiana with a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term of more than one year. ⁸ Thus, Landry's arrest was authorized by Texas law.

Liability for false imprisonment is not foreclosed by a lawfully executed initial arrest, for false imprisonment may result from an unlawful detention following a lawful arrest. See Gladden v. Roach, 864 F.2d 1196, 1201 (5th Cir.) (finding that no defense of lawful authority to false imprisonment claim was available to officers who unlawfully detained the plaintiff after a lawful arrest), cert. denied, 491 U.S. 907, 109 S.Ct. 3192, 105 L.Ed.2d 700 (1989). The Texas Uniform Criminal Extradition Act provides that, following a lawful...