Lawson v. Trowbridge

• Decision Date: 28 July 1998
• Docket Number: No. 97-3235,97-3235
• Citation: 153 F.3d 368
• Parties: Scott A. LAWSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Dale TROWBRIDGE, Wendell Howland, and Lee Robarge, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 368

153 F.3d 368

Scott A. LAWSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Dale TROWBRIDGE, Wendell Howland, and Lee Robarge, et al Defendants-Appellees.

No. 97-3235.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued March 30, 1998.

Decided July 28, 1998.

Michael J. Devanie (argued), La Crosse, WI, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Thomas J. Misfeldt, Beverly Wickstrom (argued), Misfeldt, Stark, Richie, Wickstrom & Wachs, Eau Claire, WI, for Trowbridge and Robarge.

Thomas J. Misfeldt, Misfeldt, Stark, Richie, Wickstrom & Wachs, Eau Claire, WI, Raymond G. Clausen (argued), Law Offices of Stilp & Cotton, Madison, WI, for Howland.

Thomas J. Misfeldt, Misfeldt, Stark, Richie, Wickstrom & Wachs, Eau Claire, WI, for Monroe County Prosecutor's Office.

Before MANION, ROVNER, and EVANS, Circuit Judges.

MANION, Circuit Judge.

Scott Lawson, who suffers from schizophrenia, was arrested in Sparta, Wisconsin for carrying a concealed weapon, specifically, a fishing knife with a 6-inch blade. Because he had no money and could not post a cash bond, he remained in custody for ten months. He claims there was no probable cause for his arrest, and that while in custody government officials provided him with no medical care for his disease, and further aggravated his condition by placing him in solitary confinement for long periods of time. Eventually the state dismissed any charges against Lawson, who then filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the arresting officer, Wendell Howland, as well as Dale Trowbridge (Monroe County's Sheriff) and Lee Robarge (the head jailor). The district court severed the liability and damages phases of the trial; the jury returned a verdict of no liability in favor of Howland, but found that Robarge and Trowbridge had violated Lawson's constitutional rights. The jury then awarded Lawson only $2 in damages, apparently on the belief that the defendants were personally responsible for any damages awarded. Lawson appeals the jury's verdict, which we affirm with respect to Howland, but reverse for a new trial with respect to damages against Robarge and Trowbridge.

I.

Scott Lawson already was down on his luck when he set out to hitchhike across the state of Wisconsin in November 1993. Apparently he was headed to his parents' home in Appleton for Thanksgiving, but he took a detour through Sparta because he had heard he could get a job there as a third-shift cook in a restaurant. By the time he arrived, the job was gone. He was unable to hitch a ride out of town, so in Sparta he stayed. Other than his checkbook, Lawson had only spare change and a $50.00 savings bond, which he unsuccessfully tried to cash in town at Side Kicks Tavern. Though the owner couldn't cash his check, he did buy Lawson a beer. But the bar became a less friendly place once Lawson started to ask strange questions--such as: Did the bar have a back door? Did it open inward or outward? Was it kept locked? And: How much money is needed to operate the jukebox and the video games in the bar? In addition, the bartender testified at trial that Lawson seemed to scrutinize her activity whenever she operated the cash register.

That was enough to prompt someone to tell the Sparta Police Department (directly across the street from Side Kicks) that a man was acting strangely in the bar. Officer Howland visited the bar and asked Lawson for identification; Lawson provided his social security card. Howland ran Lawson's name through the police computer, checking for warrants and the like. Lawson passed, and the bartender told Howland it wouldn't be necessary to throw Lawson out. Later that evening, Howland spotted the manager of Side Kicks in a laundromat and asked him whether he knew Lawson. The manager replied no, but added as an afterthought that Howland should be careful if he ran into Lawson again because Lawson had a knife under his coat. That prompted Howland's return to the bar to wait for Lawson to leave (Howland did not want to put anyone at risk in the bar by confronting Lawson there). Shortly after leaving the bar, Lawson was stopped by Howland, who confirmed that Lawson indeed possessed a fishing knife (with a leather sheath and a cord bearing a metal clip). The knife contained a thin, fixed blade approximately 6 inches long; it came to a narrow point. Lawson used the cord to suspend the knife over his left breast; the knife was completely concealed under Lawson's coat. After examining the knife, Howland arrested Lawson for carrying a concealed weapon, and at the trial he explained why:

It was the ... totality of the circumstances; the positioning of the knife in a vertical fashion for quick withdrawal, the fact that he was carrying it concealed when he could have put it in his duffel bags if he was worried about losing it as he testified himself earlier, the fact that he was asking questions in a bar that might lead somebody to suspect that he may be thinking of a burglary or a robbery, the fact that he had no money.

The knife was not Lawson's only problem. Once the police searched his bags at the stationhouse, they found a variety of tools, including screwdrivers, wrenches, and a multimeter. According to the government, Lawson told the booking officer he had no permanent address, a fact which may have swayed the district attorney to press charges against him. But Lawson claims that he had a permanent residence in Verona, Wisconsin, and that Howland knew this based on his computer checks. Whether Howland knew Lawson's address is immaterial; what is important is that the district attorney charged Lawson with one misdemeanor (carrying a concealed weapon) and one felony (possession of burglarious tools).

It was only the beginning for Lawson because he did not have the $500 he needed to post bond. He received monthly disability payments from the Veterans Administration (he was disabled veteran because of his schizophrenia), but he used that money to pay his rent. So, on November 19, 1993, he was put in jail (with only ten cents on him). He also had two bottles of Symmetrel, used (along with Prolixin) to treat his disease. One of the defendants, Lee Robarge (the jail administrator) testified that he was aware one of Lawson's acquaintances had called the jail to notify the authorities that Lawson was a schizophrenic who needed medication. Robarge and Trowbridge do not mention this fact in their briefs; their Statement of Facts instead assures us that Lawson himself "never told the Monroe County jail staff" that he was schizophrenic and needed psychotropic drugs. Presenting favorably incomplete facts is unhelpful to our review and contrary to our rules. See Circuit Rule 28(d)(1) (stating that a party's Statement of Facts "shall be a fair summary" of the case); see also Avitia v. Metropolitan Club of Chicago, Inc., 49 F.3d 1219, 1224 (7th Cir.1995) ("A misleading statement of facts increases the opponent's work, our work, and the risk of error."). In addition, they include in their factual summary "facts" that were contested at trial. Our rules are "designed to make appellate briefs as valuable an aid to the decisional process as they can be," Avitia, id. The defendants' brief not only caused delay but could have caused a misstep. Along with this opinion we therefore issue to Robarge and Trowbridge's attorneys a rule to show cause why they should not be sanctioned under Circuit Rule 38 for failing to comply with Rule 28(d)(1). Their response is due within 14 days of this opinion.

We return to the facts. Between his arrest on November 19, 1993 and March 3, 1994, Lawson was held in solitary confinement for at least 65 days. The parties do not tell us why. Lawson then spent three months in a state hospital for mental examination; he was held there until restored to competency in June. Eventually Lawson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to ten years' conditional release, but the conviction was thrown out on appeal. On remand, the state dismissed its charges against him. Lawson finally was released from prison on September 19, 1994, exactly 10 months after Howland arrested him for carrying a concealed weapon. Shortly thereafter he filed this action under § 1983 alleging violations of his constitutional rights relating to the manner of his arrest and incarceration. Lawson sued Howland for making an arrest without probable cause, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution. He also sued Trowbridge and Robarge, alleging they were recklessly indifferent to his serious medical needs and unconstitutionally punished him by placing him in solitary confinement (thereby violating his procedural due process). As noted above, the jury returned a verdict of no liability with respect to Howland. The jury found Robarge liable with respect to both claims against him; it found Trowbridge liable only with respect to the claim relating to Lawson's solitary confinement. But after finding liability, the jury awarded him only $2 in damages ($1 with respect to Robarge and Trowbridge, each).

II.

On appeal Lawson claims the district court committed several errors entitling him to a new trial. As to defendant Howland, Lawson claims that one of the district court's instructions (defining "dangerous weapon" under Wisconsin law) misled the jury into believing that it could find Lawson's fishing knife to be inherently dangerous without regard to Lawson's intent in carrying it. According to Lawson, this impression was inappropriately reinforced by expert testimony which should have been kept out of the trial. As to Trowbridge and Robarge, Lawson seeks a new trial because the district court made two errors. The first involved a "mitigation" instruction which inappropriately left the jury with the understanding that Lawson's damages must be reduced if it found Lawson could have avoided further injury simply by posting bond. The second occurred when the district court allowed Trowbridge and Robarge--without cross-examination-to imply that they were personally liable for any...