Lyles v. City of Barling

• Decision Date: 26 June 1998
• Docket Number: No. 97-2275.,97-2275.
• Citation: 17 F.Supp.2d 848
• Parties: Jesse and Shelba LYLES, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF BARLING; Matthew Lamora; in his individual and official capacities; Corporal Larry Merrill; in his individual and official capacities; Captain James Hamilton, in his individual and official capacities; Chief Myron Lamora, in his individual and official capacities, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Arkansas

17 F.Supp.2d 848

Jesse and Shelba LYLES, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF BARLING; Matthew Lamora; in his individual and official capacities; Corporal Larry Merrill; in his individual and official capacities; Captain James Hamilton, in his individual and official capacities; Chief Myron Lamora, in his individual and official capacities, Defendants.

No. 97-2275.

United States District Court, W.D. Arkansas, Fort Smith Division.

June 26, 1998.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Donnie Rutledge, Lisle Law Firm, P.C., Springdale, AR, for Plaintiffs.

Gregory T. Karber, Pryor, Barry, Smith, Karber & Alford, PLC, Fort Smith, AR, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

DAWSON, District Judge.

This matter is now before the Court on Defendants' Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings pursuant to Rule 12(c), Fed.R.Civ. Pro and Motion for Summary Judgment under Rule 56, Fed.R.Civ.Pro filed on February 18, 1998.¹ As the motion incorporates evidence outside the pleadings in the form of affidavits and other documentary evidence, the Court will treat it as a Motion for Summary Judgment and analyze the issues as provided in Rule 56.²

The Second Amended Complaint is filed under the provisions of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 contending that Defendants' actions on the night of January 3, 1997 violated their Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and their Fourteenth Amendment right to be free from the deprivation of property without due process of law. Plaintiffs also assert two claims based on state law. First, that the actions of the Defendants in allegedly taking Plaintiffs' personal property without basis or justification constitutes conversion under Arkansas law, and secondly, that the Defendants' actions violated Ark.Code Ann. § 16123-105 and Art. 2 § 15 of the Arkansas Constitution. Plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages as well as declaratory and injunctive relief.

Jurisdiction is proper under the general federal question statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1331.

Background.

On January 3, 1997, Plaintiffs Jesse and Shelba Lyles resided at 1901 Fort Street, # 103, in the City of Barling. At that time, Brian Hodges and Defendants, Matthew LaMora, Corporal Larry Merrill, Captain James Hamilton and Chief Myron LaMora, were all law enforcement officers with the City of Barling, Arkansas.

Plaintiff Jesse Lyles was formerly married to Sharline Lindsey. On or about March 6, 1986, the Chancery Court for Clay County, Arkansas entered an order requiring plaintiff to pay child support. Over the years, Jesse Lyles became seriously delinquent in payment of the obligated child support payments, and he was found to be in willful contempt of court on more than one occasion.

On May 31, 1996 Sharline Lindsey caused to be filed in the Clay County Chancery Court a Petition for Contempt and Petition to Incarcerate Defendant [Jesse Lyles]. A hearing on the petition was set, and on August 7, 1996 the attorney for Sharline Lindsey filed a Proof of Service certifying that a Notice of Hearing had been served on Jesse Lyles by delivering a copy to his agent via certified mail, return receipt requested.³ By order signed August 10, 1996, the Chancery Judge found that Jesse Lyles had been duly served by Summons in accordance with Arkansas law and that he did not appear at the hearing. The Chancellor went on to find Jesse Lyles in willful contempt of prior orders and sentenced him for a period of sixty days in the Clay County Detention Center. The order directed "any and all law enforcement authorities" to pick up Jesse Lyles and place him in the Clay County Detention Center.

This Order eventually found its way to the "day book" kept by the Barling Police Department. The "day book" is a system for notifying police officers of outstanding warrants. It was during an attempt to execute on the Order that, on the evening of January 3, 1997, Officer Brian Hodges⁴ and Defendants, Officer Matthew LaMora, Corporal Larry Merrill, and Captain James Hamilton converged at the home of Plaintiffs, Jesse and Shelba Lyles.

Also on January 3, 1997 and prior to the arrival of the officers, Plaintiffs left their residence to travel to Jonesboro in order to contest the Order signed August 10, 1996. On or about January 6, 1997, Jesse Lyles was successful in having the Order recalled.

At this point, there exists conflicting evidence concerning who called the officers to the residence; the order in which the several officers arrived; who said what to whom regarding why it was believed the Plaintiff Jesse Lyles was inside the residence; and what events took place once the officers entered the residence.

According to the plaintiffs, whose version of the events is supported by the Affidavit of Brian Hodges, on January 3, 1997 Officer Matthew LaMora was the first to arrive at the residence and attempt to execute the body attachment order. Officer LaMora requested assistance from the other officers over the radio. Officer Hodges, Captain Hamilton and Corporal Merrill responded and arrived separately, but at about the same time. Upon arriving at the scene, Officer LaMora told Officer Hodges that he believed Mr. Lyles was inside, although he had not actually seen Mr. Lyles. Receiving no response to Officer LaMora's knock on the door, LaMora and Hamilton began beating on the exterior doors and walls of the trailer with their flashlights.

Officer Hodges avers that Officer LaMora asked Captain Hamilton whether it would be permissible to enter the trailer and forcibly remove Mr. Lyles. Captain Hamilton asked LaMora whether he had seen Mr. Lyles in the trailer, and LaMora said that he had not. Hodges claims Captain Hamilton did not think the officers should enter the trailer.

Officer Hodges then asked a neighbor named Martha, who was in the trailer in front of the Lyles, whether Mr. Lyles was home. The neighbor informed him that she did not know, but that she had called the Barling Police Department when she saw that the truck was parked beside the trailer. Hodges also states that Martha told him that there was often a small red car parked beside the trailer, but that it had recently departed. This information was reported to Captain Hamilton. Officer Hodges denies seeing or hearing anything inside the trailer on the night in question, and he denies telling any of the other officers that he had seen or heard anything.

Eventually, Captain Hamilton radioed Chief Myron LaMora for permission to enter the trailer by force and execute the warrant. After checking on the validity of the warrant, Chief LaMora told the officers to proceed. Officer Hodges contends that this permission was given without first inquiring as to whether the officers suspected Lyles was inside the trailer.

While Officer Matthew LaMora attempted to gain entry to the trailer by cutting a screen and opening a window, Captain Hamilton used a Leatherman tool belonging to Officer Hodges to pry on the door and door frame until it gave way. Officer Hodges was the first to enter the trailer and he ran through the kitchen, the living room and the master bedroom. It did not appear to him that anyone was home. While in the master bedroom, he looked inside the closet and then closed the doors. He observed the bedroom was neat, with the bed made and the dresser drawers closed. He then walked out into the kitchen where Captain Hamilton was going through mail on the desk, and Officer LaMora was going through some papers on a shelf. Corporal Merrill was in the smaller bedroom, and Officer Hodges went in to see Merrill looking through a small closet.

When Hodges left the smaller bedroom he went back into the master bedroom and passed by Captain Hamilton who was on his way out of the master bedroom. Officer Hodges observed Officer LaMora inside the master bedroom, and at this time Officer Hodges noticed that the bed sheets had been pulled up at the sides and clothes were hanging out of the open dresser drawers. The closet doors were also opened, and a small glass box on top of the dresser had been moved and was open. When Officer Hodges asked Officer LaMora what he was doing, Officer LaMora replied that he was looking for drugs.⁵

Officer Hodges asserts that Officer LaMora took a wedding picture of the plaintiffs explaining that the picture was needed so that the officers would know what Mr. Lyles looked like.

According to Officer Hodges, upon leaving the residence, Captain Hamilton admitted to Hodges that the front door would not close properly because it was broken. Captain Hamilton then had the idea of looking for Jesse Lyles under the trailer, so Officers LaMora and Hodges pulled away the skirting and looked underneath. No one was there. The search took about forty-five minutes from start to finish.

The Defendants' version of the events is markedly different. According to the Affidavits of Officer Matthew LaMora, Officer Larry Merrill, and Officer James Hamilton, each was contacted over the radio by Officer Hodges and asked to assist in serving a warrant on Jesse Lyles. Upon arriving at the scene, each officer was advised by Officer Hodges that Mr. Lyles was inside the residence but refusing to answer the door. Each of these officers states in his affidavit that, after knocking on the door, a decision was made to enter the residence in order to effectuate service of the "warrant", and the residence was entered without causing any damage. None of these affidavits refers to a radio call to Chief LaMora for permission to forcibly enter the trailer. Each states that a short search of the premises was conducted from which it was determined that Mr. Lyles was not home. Each denies that anything was taken from the residence or that anything was damaged. Each of these officers avers that he acted in good faith with the belief that Mr. Lyles was present in the residence.

The Affidavit of Matthew LaMora states that upon arriving at the scene, Officer Hodges told him that "the hood of Mr. Lyles' vehicle was still warm from...