Magwood v. Giddings

• Decision Date: 14 March 1996
• Docket Number: No. 93-CV-1302.,93-CV-1302.
• Citation: 672 A.2d 1083
• Parties: Janice MAGWOOD, Appellant, v. Tyrone GIDDINGS, et al., Appellees.
• Court: D.C. Court of Appeals

672 A.2d 1083

Janice MAGWOOD, Appellant, v. Tyrone GIDDINGS, et al., Appellees.

No. 93-CV-1302.

District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Argued November 20, 1995.

Decided March 14, 1996.

Shelah Fidellman Lynn, Bethesda, MD, for appellant.

Richard Bergeron, Assistant Corporation Counsel, with whom Garland Pinkston, Jr., Acting Corporation Counsel at the time the brief was filed, and Charles L. Reischel, Deputy Corporation Counsel, and Janet L. Maher, Deputy Corporation Counsel, were on the brief, for appellees.

Before STEADMAN, KING, and REID, Associate Judges.

KING, Associate Judge:

On the evening of August 4, 1991, Janice Magwood was taken into custody and involuntarily transported to the emergency room of D.C. General Hospital by a mental health specialist employed by the District of Columbia, who applied for her admission to St. Elizabeth's Hospital for observation and diagnosis as a suicide risk. Magwood appeals from the trial court's dismissal of her claims arising from that incident filed against the appellees, Kenneth Freeman, Tyrone Giddings, and the District of Columbia ("District appellees") for false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and battery.

After a hearing, the trial court dismissed Magwood's claims, setting forth alternative grounds for doing so.¹ The trial court also granted the defense motion for summary judgment, ruling that there were no disputed material facts on the question whether Magwood was detained pursuant to lawful authority under D.C.Code § 21-521 (1989 Repl. & 1995 Supp.). Because we conclude that the trial court did not err in resolving this matter on the latter basis, we affirm.

I.

The trial court may enter summary judgment "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Super.Ct.Civ.R. 56(c) (1989); see Young v. Delaney, 647 A.2d 784, 788 (D.C.1994); Beard v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 587 A.2d 195, 198 (D.C.1991). This court conducts an independent review of the record, in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, and applies the same standards as the trial court. See Sherman v. District of Columbia, 653 A.2d 866, 869 (D.C.1995); Graff v. Malawer, 592 A.2d 1038, 1040 (D.C.1991). Once a moving party makes an initial showing that the record presents no genuine issue of material fact, the burden shifts to the opposing party to set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. See Beard, supra, 587 A.2d at 198. Conclusory allegations are insufficient to defeat an entry of summary judgment. Id. at 199 (citing Super.Ct.Civ.R. 56(e)). The court "may assume that the facts as claimed by the moving party are admitted to exist without controversy except as and to the extent that such facts are asserted to be actually in good faith controverted in a statement filed in opposition to the motion." Super.Ct.Civ.R. 12-I(k) (1995).

II.

Viewed in the light most favorable to Magwood, the record shows that, in August of 1991, Magwood telephoned Tyrone Giddings, whom she had met when they both worked at D.C. General Hospital. Several months earlier Magwood and Giddings briefly dated, but they had not been dating for three months when the phone call was made. During the telephone conversation, Magwood indicated that she was suffering from premenstrual syndrome ("PMS"), and was "a little down," but was not depressed. At some point during this conversation, Giddings, who had become concerned that Magwood might harm herself, requested Kenneth Freeman, who was employed by the Commission on Mental Health Services as a Mental Health Specialist at the Emergency Psychiatric Response Division ("EPRD"), to listen to the conversation by way of a three-way telephone mechanism. As a Mental Health Specialist at EPRD for over five years, Freeman was authorized and assigned to evaluate persons' mental condition and detain them if he determined a need for psychiatric intervention or emergency hospitalization.

In his affidavit accompanying the summary judgment motion, Freeman averred that he heard Magwood state an intention to kill herself, that she had told her sons that she would commit suicide, and that she had made plans for their future care. Freeman also heard Magwood state that she had recently begun reading books on suicide, that she wanted to go to sleep and not wake up, and that she did not "feel like going on." Magwood's affidavit in opposition claimed simply that she "never once stated that she wanted to kill herself nor that she had advised her sons that she intended to kill herself."

Within minutes of concluding his conversation with Magwood, Giddings appeared at Magwood's home. After protesting that she was ready for bed and did not want company, Magwood agreed to let Giddings inside her home and the two spoke for a few minutes. When Magwood opened the door to let Giddings out, however, Freeman and an assistant pushed their way into Magwood's home. With the help of Giddings and the assistant, Freeman restrained Magwood until members of the Metropolitan Police Department arrived. Magwood was taken to D.C. General Hospital, where Freeman completed an application for Magwood's emergency hospitalization. In the application for emergency hospitalization, Freeman explained that he believed Magwood to be mentally ill and that he had taken her into custody in part because she "threatened suicide two times," stated that she wanted to "go to sleep and not wake up," and stated that she did not "feel like going on."

While at the emergency room at D.C. General Hospital, Magwood was placed on a gurney with arm and leg restraints, and intravenously tested for drugs. Magwood told the examining physician that she was "feeling down" after breaking off a relationship with a boyfriend. The treating physician, noting that Magwood seemed "preoccupied with her misfortunes" and stared "blankly into space," determined that Magwood was suicidal and suffering from depression. Early the next morning Magwood left D.C. General Hospital without being formally discharged. She was then listed as an escapee and the police were notified.

Later the same day, the police again took Magwood into custody pursuant to the application for emergency hospitalization and transported Magwood to St. Elizabeth's Hospital. Magwood voluntarily, although she claims under protest, requested examination by a psychiatrist and admission into the hospital if needed. After being examined by the admitting psychiatrist on duty, Magwood was admitted as a voluntary patient on August 6, 1991. She was discharged from St. Elizabeth's Hospital on August 7, 1991.

Magwood's amended complaint sought damages from Giddings, Freeman, and the District of Columbia for false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and battery. Magwood alleged that Giddings and Freeman acted within the scope of their duty as employees for the District of Columbia, and sued the District as their employer. Alternatively, if it was determined that either Giddings or Freeman acted outside the scope of their employment, Magwood alleged that they were liable as individuals for abusing their positions as health care workers. The trial court granted the District appellees' Motion to Dismiss and it entered summary judgment in the District appellees' favor. This appeal followed.

III.

We first turn to Magwood's claim of false imprisonment. For a claim of false imprisonment to succeed, there must be an unlawful detention. See Jackson v. District of Columbia, 412 A.2d 948, 954 (D.C.1980). If a person detains another with the authority of law, he cannot be liable in tort for the reasonable exercise of that authority. For example, it is a familiar principle that probable cause for an arrest and detention constitutes a valid defense to a claim of false arrest or imprisonment. See, e.g., Gabrou v. May Dep't Stores Co., 462 A.2d 1102, 1104 (D.C. 1983); Wade v. District of Columbia, 310 A.2d 857, 862 (D.C.1973) (en banc).

In this case, the District appellees claim their authority for detaining Magwood derives from § 21-521 of the District of Columbia Code, which provides:

An accredited officer or agent of the Department of Human Services of the District of Columbia, or an officer authorized to make arrests in the District of Columbia, or a physician or qualified psychologist of the person in question, who has reason to believe that a person is mentally ill and, because of the illness, is likely to injure himself or others if he is not immediately detained may, without a warrant, take the person into custody, transport him to a public or private hospital, and make application thereto for purposes of emergency observation and diagnosis. The application shall reveal the circumstances under which the person was taken into custody and the reasons therefor.

D.C.Code § 21-521 (1989 Repl. & 1995 Supp.).

It is undisputed that Kenneth Freeman, as an employee of the EPRD of the Commission of Mental Health Services, is an "agent of the Department of Human Services" ("DHS") pursuant to the statute. Thus, Freeman was authorized to take Magwood into custody, provided that (1) prior to assumption of custody, he believed that she was mentally ill and likely to injure herself or others if not immediately detained; (2) the belief was reasonable; and (3) he disclosed in the application for hospitalization the circumstances for which Magwood was taken into custody and the reasons therefor.² See id.; see also Johnson v. United States, 178 U.S.App.D.C. 391, 397, 547 F.2d 688, 694 (1976). If Freeman satisfied these conditions, he acted with the authority of law and cannot be liable for false imprisonment in initiating the detention of Magwood. See Jackson, supra, 412 A.2d at 954.

In his affidavit filed...