Mills v. City of Barbourville

• Decision Date: 12 November 2004
• Docket Number: No. 02-6404.,02-6404.
• Parties: Lisa MILLS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. THE CITY OF BARBOURVILLE; The Barbourville Police Department; Michael Broughton, in his individual and official capacities; Johnny Smith, in his individual and official capacities; Knox County; The Knox County Jail; Preston Smith, in his individual and official capacities; Ray Campbell, in his individual and official capacities; Sonja Warren, in her individual and official capacities, and Angel Mills-Rogers, in her individual and official capacities, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

389 F.3d 568

Lisa MILLS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. THE CITY OF BARBOURVILLE; The Barbourville Police Department; Michael Broughton, in his individual and official capacities; Johnny Smith, in his individual and official capacities; Knox County; The Knox County Jail; Preston Smith, in his individual and official capacities; Ray Campbell, in his individual and official capacities; Sonja Warren, in her individual and official capacities, and Angel Mills-Rogers, in her individual and official capacities, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 02-6404.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: April 22, 2004.

Decided and Filed: November 12, 2004.

ARGUED: Brenda Popplewell, Somerset, KY, for Appellant. Bradford L. Breeding, Farmer, Kelley, Brown, Williams & Breeding, London, KY, Daniel G. Yeast, Travis, Pruitt, Lawless, Powers & Yeast, Somerset, KY, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Brenda Popplewell, Somerset, KY, for Appellant. Bradford L. Breeding, Farmer, Kelley, Brown, Williams & Breeding, London, KY, Daniel G. Yeast, Travis, Pruitt, Lawless, Powers & Yeast, Somerset, KY, for Appellees.

Before: MERRITT and MOORE, Circuit Judges; DUGGAN, District Judge.^*

MERRITT, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which DUGGAN, D. J. joined. MOORE, J. (p. 582), delivered a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.

OPINION

MERRITT, Circuit Judge.

In this factually complicated case, plaintiff Lisa Mills was arrested and had her home searched in Knox County, Kentucky, incident to a charge of selling a marijuana cigarette to a teenager. The police apparently concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the case and the charge against her was later dropped. After her arrest, plaintiff was searched for contraband at the Knox County Jail. Although the search was conducted by female jailers, she alleges that at one point during the search a male jailer passed by and saw her bare breasts during the search. She brought suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against various officials,¹ in both their individual and official capacities, connected with the City of Barbourville, the Barbourville Police Department, Knox County and the Knox County Jail, claiming that her constitutional rights were violated when (1) the police searched her residence and arrested her pursuant to a defective warrant obtained through a faulty affidavit and (2) a male jailer saw her bare chest during the search at the jail after her arrest.

Plaintiff moved for summary judgment, and defendants made cross-motions for summary judgment. Before judgment was entered, plaintiff moved to dismiss a number of the defendants.² The motion was granted and these defendants were dismissed with prejudice. The district court awarded summary judgment to the remaining defendants and plaintiff moved to alter or amend the judgment. That motion was denied and plaintiff timely appealed. On appeal, plaintiff named Knox County Jailer Preston Smith as a party, despite the fact that he was dismissed below with prejudice as a result of plaintiff's own motion. Plaintiff also names several entities as parties to her appeal that were not named parties to the proceeding below: the City of Barbourville, the Barbourville Police Department, Knox County, and the Knox County Jail. We presume that naming these governmental entities as parties on appeal arises because plaintiff sued the city and county officials in their official capacities.

For the reasons set forth below, we reverse summary judgment for defendants Officer Michael Broughton and Police Chief Johnny Smith of the Barbourville Police Department because the search warrant used in this case does not establish any link between the place to be searched and any criminal activity and hence lacks probable cause. We agree with the district court that the facts in the record do not create a dispute of material fact giving rise to a constitutional violation regarding the search at the jail.

I.

A. Facts Pertaining to the Search of Mills' Home and Her Subsequent Arrest

Plaintiff's first § 1983 claim pertains to the allegedly faulty warrants that resulted in the search of her home and her arrest in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The parties relating to this claim are the City of Barbourville, the Barbourville Police Department, Officer Michael Broughton and Police Chief Johnny Smith, although only the two officers were named, in both their individual and official capacities, in the complaint.

On March 1, 1999, a security officer at Knox Central High School informed the Barbourville City Police Department that three of its students, Leo Cox, Mike Reynolds, and Clayton Moore, had skipped school and smoked marijuana. The three students were taken to the police station and questioned after being read their rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).

According to separate statements signed by the boys, they collectively formed the intent to purchase a marijuana cigarette. Cox told the other two that he knew where to get one. He took five dollars from Moore, and told Moore and Reynolds to wait by a fence near Union College. Moore and Reynolds stated that Cox walked to the housing projects located on Minton Drive, and returned a few minutes later with the cigarette (specifically, one boy said five minutes later, the other said fifteen). According to Cox's statement, he went to the "Housing projects located on North Allison Ave." He knocked on a door and "a woman by the name of Lisa who has blonde hair open[ed] the door" and told him to come in. Cox asked her if she had a "joint" to sell and she said yes and went upstairs, returning a few minutes later with a marijuana cigarette. Cox paid her five dollars for the cigarette and left. Statement of Leo Cox, dated Mar. 1, 1999, J.A. at 280-81.³

Officer Michael Broughton of the Barbourville Police Department, a defendant, prepared the statements of Cox and Moore, and Officer Robert Brown, who was dismissed as a defendant and whose dismissal was not appealed, prepared Reynolds' statement. Officer Broughton claims that after taking the statements, he and defendant Police Chief Johnny Smith drove to the housing project with Cox, and Cox pointed out plaintiff's residence on North Allison Avenue. M. Broughton Dep. at 127, J.A. at 512. They then returned to the station, where Officer Broughton prepared an affidavit for the search of plaintiff's home and one for an arrest warrant. He then met with Judge John Knox Mills (no relation to plaintiff), who signed the warrants.

That afternoon, Officer Broughton and Chief Smith executed the warrants at plaintiff's home. Other officers were present, but Broughton and Smith conducted the search. They allegedly "ransacked" her home, damaging some of her personal property in the process. They found no drugs in the search, but did find what they termed "drug paraphernalia:" rolling papers and plastic baggies. According to plaintiff, the baggies were in her son's closet (she claims they were for her son's baseball and basketball cards), while the rolling papers were found on her dresser (she claims they belonged to her deceased father, who used to smoke homemade tobacco cigarettes). They arrested plaintiff and took her to the Knox County Jail. The allegations giving rise to the separate § 1983 claim concerning the conduct of the jailers will be recited below.

On March 16, 1999, Officer Broughton brought Leo Cox back in for another interview. Broughton claims he reinterviewed Cox of his own initiative "in case I missed something." M. Broughton Dep. at 70-73, J.A. at J.A. at 498-501. According to Officer Broughton and Officer Brown, who was also present, Cox began to cry and told them he had received a death threat that Cox believed related to his statement against plaintiff. Id. at 73, J.A. at 501. Officer Broughton then prepared another statement that Cox signed saying that Cox had "lied about buying the marijuana from Lisa Mills," that he never bought any marijuana from her or went to her apartment, and that he "made ... up" the allegations in the statement he had signed on March 1. Statement of Leo Cox, dated Mar. 16, 1999, J.A. at 284.

After Cox recanted his statement, the course of the investigation and prosecution against plaintiff is unclear from the record before us. While a dispute exists as to whether plaintiff's criminal case was ever presented to the grand jury, it is clear that no criminal charges arising out of the sale of the marijuana were pursued against plaintiff.

Two years later, in May 2001, plaintiff obtained an unsworn written statement by Cox and witnessed by his mother, elaborating on his earlier recantation from March 16, 1999. Statement of Leo Cox, dated May 10, 2001, J.A. at 288-89. In the 2001 statement, Cox claims he bought the drugs from a friend named A.G. Mills (again, no relation to plaintiff) who lived in the same housing project as plaintiff. He also claimed that false statements about plaintiff were "pushed upon" him during questioning by Officer Broughton. Id. He says he was asked during his initial questioning if the last name of the person he brought the drugs from was "Mills." He said he did not know A.G.'s last name at the time but "thought it would be harmless to agree. I mean, he was giving me an escape route." Cox went on to state that "to this day I don't know where [Lisa Mills] lived" and that he "still [didn't] know what Lisa looked like." Id.

Subsequent events have not clarified the situation. Three months after plaintiff's arrest, an A.G. Mills was arrested for selling drugs. The police recovered drugs from his apartment, which plaintiff claims is directly on the other side of the fence from where Reynolds and Moore waited for Cox, while her apartment was not within sight from the place where the two boys waited for Cox. The person who could shed much-needed light on the situation, Leo Cox, was not deposed for this lawsuit and plaintiff's ...