Matje v. Leis, Civ. A. No. C-1-82-351.

• Decision Date: 12 September 1983
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. C-1-82-351.
• Citation: 571 F. Supp. 918
• Parties: Helen MATJE, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Simon LEIS, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio

571 F. Supp. 918

Helen MATJE, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Simon LEIS, et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. C-1-82-351.

United States District Court, S.D. Ohio, W.D.

September 12, 1983.

Alphonse A. Gerhardstein, Cincinnati, Ohio, for plaintiffs.

Brian E. Hurley, Asst. Pros. Atty., Jerry F. Luttenegger, Asst. City Sol., Cincinnati, Ohio, for defendants.

Daniel B. Mulholland, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Jean Chenault.

OPINION AND ORDER

SPIEGEL, District Judge:

Now before the Court in this civil rights case are a number of motions to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. These include the motion of defendants Simon Leis, Richard Taylor, Hamilton County, and the Regional Enforcement Narcotics Unit (RENU) (doc. 34), plaintiffs' response thereto (doc. 45) and related documents (docs. 51, 55, 59, 61); the motion of defendant Paul Guthrie (doc. 60), plaintiffs' response (doc. 65) and defendants' supplemental memorandum (doc. 85); the motion of defendants Lincoln Stokes, Jack Bywater, and Hamilton County (doc. 35), plaintiffs' opposition thereto (doc. 59) and related documents (docs. 39, 40, 47, 51, 55, 59, 61); a motion on behalf of defendant Otto Roth (doc. 49) which is opposed (doc. 57); and a motion by defendant Jean Chenault (doc. 53) which is opposed (doc. 65). Several additional pending motions will be resolved in separate orders.

I. Introduction

In this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, plaintiffs allege that their decedent's civil rights were violated, first when defendants conducted an undercover narcotics investigation of her which resulted in her conviction on state criminal charges, and second, when inadequate supervision in the Hamilton County Jail resulted in her suicide. The defendants on the investigation claim move for summary judgment based upon contentions that the undercover activity in question was not under color of state law for purposes of § 1983, that they had no knowledge of the activities complained of, and that they have qualified immunity from liability because they acted in good faith. We hold that there are unresolved questions of material fact as to each of these contentions, and so deny the motions. The ruling is based upon plaintiffs' supported allegations that the undercover activity was under color of law as it was action taken by defendants' agents, that defendants had actual knowledge of the investigative tactics complained of, and that their entitlement to good-faith immunity is defeated by that knowledge. The investigatory activities complained of included use of sexual and physical intimidation, and providing drugs for undercover transactions. As to the jailhouse claim, defendants' motions are based on their lack of responsibility to prevent suicide in any case, their contention that the harm complained of did not result from execution of an official policy of supervisory personnel, but from an "isolated act of negligence," and their assertion of immunity from suit. Again, we conclude that the motions must be denied because there are unresolved questions of material fact as to the adequacy of jailors' training and the failure to promulgate appropriate policies or educate employees as to existing policies, which make summary judgment inappropriate at this time. Thus, all defendants' motions for summary judgment are denied.

II. Parties

Plaintiffs in this case are Helen Matje and Linda Kien. They are the mother and sister of Kathleen Matje, now deceased. They seek compensatory and punitive damages for alleged violations of Kathy Matje's civil rights during a narcotics investigation and her subsequent imprisonment and suicide.

Defendants are as follows:

Hamilton County is a political subdivision of the State of Ohio. The Regional Enforcement Narcotics Unit is a police agency assembled under the auspices of the Hamilton County Commissioners. Its funding and personnel come from police departments throughout Hamilton County, including the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office and the Cincinnati Police Department. We have previously denied a motion to dismiss filed by RENU for failure to state a cognizable claim (docs. 4, 7).

Arthur Ney is the Hamilton County Prosecutor and the Director of RENU. He has been substituted for the former prosecutor, Simon Leis, insofar as Leis was sued in his official capacity.

Simon Leis is the former prosecutor and former Director of RENU. He is sued in his individual capacity only, as he has no continued connection with RENU.

Paul Guthrie is the Field Commander of RENU, as well as a Cincinnati Police Sergeant. He is sued in his official and individual capacities.

Richard Taylor is a Hamilton County Sheriff's Deputy and a former undercover narcotics agent working for RENU. He is sued in his official and individual capacities.

Louis Kahn was, at all relevant times, an undercover narcotics Special Operative Informant (SOI) employed by RENU to provide information regarding prospective targets for RENU investigations, and to assist with the investigation of those targets. Kahn worked both for money and "in consideration of" charges against him which pertained to serious narcotics offenses.

Lincoln Stokes is the Sheriff of Hamilton County and, as such, is responsible for the operation of the Hamilton County Jail. Jack Bywater is the Administrator of the Jail, Jean Chenault was a matron at the jail, and Otto Roth is a paramedic at the jail. All four are sued in their official and individual capacities.

III. Facts

As noted, this case arises from the investigation, prosecution, and conviction of Kathy Matje on drug charges, and her subsequent imprisonment and suicide. All parties have extensively briefed and argued the various motions pending, and so we treat them as motions for summary judgment. Under Rule 56, Fed.R.Civ.P., summary judgment

shall be rendered forthwith 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 judgment as a matter of law.

Because all such motions in this case were filed by defendants, we must consider all of the materials listed in the Rule in the light most favorable to plaintiffs, as the non-moving parties, and the burden is on defendants to demonstrate their entitlement to summary judgment. Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 1608, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970); Felix v. Young, 536 F.2d 1126 (6th Cir.1976). In addition, the courts have uniformly held that summary judgment is inappropriate in certain categories of cases, notably those which involve sensitive civil rights issues of potentially substantial public import. Plaintiffs urge that this is such a case, and cite 10A Wright & Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure §§ 2732, 2732.2.

A.

On November 20, 1981, Kathy Matje was convicted, after a bench trial in the Court of Common Pleas of Hamilton County, Ohio, of trafficking in a controlled substance (doc. 45, plaintiffs' response, at Exhibit A-2; doc. 26, amended complaint, at 4; Ohio v. Matje, Criminal No. B-812693 (Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, November 20, 1981)). She had no prior criminal record. The conviction arose out of an investigation of Matje by RENU, through its agent Richard Taylor and its informant, Louis Kahn.

We have pieced the following facts together from the filings.

Matje first met Kahn in 1978. She was, at the time, a nursing student working at Cincinnati General (now University) Hospital as a clerk while Kahn was hospitalized for a gunshot wound. The two briefly dated after Kahn's discharge. They renewed their acquaintance in February of 1981, after a chance meeting.

Between 1978 and 1981, Kahn had begun working for RENU as a paid informant. He was also working in consideration of charges, that is, in return for a reduced charge or prosecutorial recommendation for leniency as to his own criminal conduct. In late March of 1981, Kahn contacted Taylor with information that Matje was involved in the sale of methaqualone. Taylor and Kahn subsequently went to Matje's apartment on two occasions in the Spring of 1981. According to Matje's testimony at her criminal trial, Kahn had asked her to keep a package of Quaaludes for him, and she had done so because he had begun to physically abuse her and she was frightened of him. She testified that when he came to her apartment with Taylor, he retrieved the pills and transacted business with Taylor in another room, having informed Matje that the transaction was part of his investigative activities for RENU. Taylor, on the other hand, has provided an affidavit averring that the transactions took place between himself and Matje, with Kahn involved only as a bystander.

Based upon these transactions, Matje was indicted by the Hamilton County Grand Jury. She was arrested on the charges on June 27, 1981 (doc. 45 at Exhibit A-5).

Between the date of her arrest and her trial, and probably in early September, 1981 (see doc. 34, Exhibit 1, affidavit of Simon Leis), certain allegations were brought to the attention of Leis by counsel for Matje. These allegations included the following: that Kahn had seduced Matje through the Spring of 1981; that the two had engaged in an intimate relationship which extended through the period during which the drug transactions occurred; and that Kahn had either conducted the drug transactions himself, or had induced Matje to conduct them on his behalf.¹

As a result of these allegations, an investigation of Kahn's conduct was commenced and he was removed from the rolls of paid RENU informants in late September of 1981 (doc. 34, Exhibit 1 at 2).

By this time, Matje had graduated from nursing school and was working as a registered nurse. She had, as noted above, no criminal record and was quite concerned over the prospect of being sent to prison. As a result of her fears, she made it known, as her trial date approached, that she...