Morelli v. Webster, No. 07-CV-89-P-S.
| Decision Date | 19 May 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 07-CV-89-P-S. |
| Citation | 554 F.Supp.2d 46 |
| Parties | Rosanna MORELLI, Plaintiff, v. Steven WEBSTER, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Maine |
Barbara L. Goodwin, Murray, Plumb & Murray Zachary L. Heiden Maine Civil Liberties Union Portland, ME, for Plaintiff.
Edward R. Benjamin, Jr., Thompson & Bowie, Portland, ME, for Defendant.
ORDER ON MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Before the Court is Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket # 8). Through this Motion, Defendant Steven Webster seeks summary judgment on all counts alleged by Plaintiff Rosanna Morelli arising out of an incident with Defendant on the evening of March 3, 2006. After reviewing the parties' submissions, the Court GRANTS the Motion for the reasons explained below.
Generally, a party is entitled to summary judgment if, on the record before the Court, it appears "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." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). An issue is "genuine" if "the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A "material fact" is one that has "the potential to affect the outcome of the suit under the applicable law." Nereida-Gonzalez v. Tirado-Delgado, 990 F.2d 701, 703 (1st Cir.1993).
The party moving for summary judgment must demonstrate an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In determining whether this burden is met, the Court must view the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and give that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences in its favor. Santoni v. Potter, 369 F.3d 594, 598 (1st Cir. 2004). Once the moving party has made a preliminary showing that no genuine issue of material fact exists, the nonmoving party must "produce specific facts, in suitable evidentiary form, to establish the presence of a trialworthy issue." Triangle Trading Co. v. Robroy Indus., Inc., 200 F.3d 1, 2 (1st Cir.1999) (citation and internal punctuation omitted); Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). "As to any essential factual element of its claim on which the nonmovant would bear the burden of proof at trial, its failure to come forward with sufficient evidence to generate a trialworthy issue warrants summary judgment to the moving party." In re Spigel, 260 F.3d 27, 31 (1st Cir.2001) (citation and internal punctuation omitted). Construing the record in the light most favorable to Plaintiff and with all reasonable inferences in her favor, the Court proceeds to set forth the background in this case.
At all times relevant to this Motion, Defendant Steven Webster was employed as a police officer with the South Portland Police Department. Officer Webster graduated from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in 1987 and has been employed by the South Portland Police Department since that time.1 Officer Webster began working with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency in 2000 and returned to the South Portland Police Department as an acting Sergeant in 2005. On March 3, 2006, he was serving as a Detective Sergeant and was fully certified by the State of Maine to function as a law enforcement officer for the City of South Portland.
In 2006, Plaintiff Rosanna Morelli was self-employed and working as an exotic dancer for private parties, with occasional calls for work through an escort service, Serena's Heaven on Earth ("Serena's"). Morelli sometimes used the alias "Vanessa." On March 3, 2006, Morelli was 53 years old.
On March 3, 2006, Officer Webster was assisting the South Portland Police Department's Selective Enforcement Unit with a prostitution sting detail being conducted jointly with the Portland Police Department at the Merry Manor Hotel on Main Street in South Portland, Maine. Also on that date, South Portland Officer Peter McVane was working undercover and had assumed the role of a prospective prostitution customer. In that role, Officer McVane contacted several escort services that advertised in the Phoenix newspaper including Serena's. Officer McVane made arrangements for a female, who used the name "Vanessa," to come to his hotel room, Room 203.
Room 203 was outfitted with a surveillance camera, and video and audio from Room 203 were being transmitted to the room next door, Room 205, where it was being monitored. Officer Webster was in Room 205, along with other officers from both Portland and South Portland and Assistant District Attorney Mary Donovan.
On March 3, 2006, Morelli went to the Best Western Merry Manor Hotel in response to a call to Serena's to perform an exotic dance for a man she had spoken to on the phone who claimed to be staying in the hotel. She arrived at Room 203, and Officer Farris, in the observation room, recognized Morelli and advised the officers in the observation room who she was and his belief that she was a known prostitute.2
Morelli typically hugs her clients when she arrives to perform, and she hugged Officer McVane when he greeted her. She immediately felt uncomfortable. She sensed that McVane, who she later learned was a police officer, was nervous and acting strangely. In addition, she could see beer in the room, but did not smell any beer on Officer McVane's breath. Later in the encounter, Morelli's intuition told her that something was wrong and that Officer McVane was associated with law enforcement.
Morelli wore a heavy shearling coat to the hotel and placed it on the bed. Later, Morelli learned that the coat had partially blocked the camera that was set up to monitor the interaction.
Morelli and Officer McVane had discussed the price for Morelli's dancing services on the telephone prior to her arrival. When she arrived at the hotel room, Morelli repeated the price she had quoted, and Officer McVane placed the money on a counter; Morelli did not touch the money.
Morelli became more uncomfortable as she continued to speak to Officer McVane. She told him that she was only there to dance. At Officer McVane's request, she began to take off her jeans, but as she was pulling them down, she became convinced that this was "a law enforcement set up and a waste of [her] time." (Declaration of Rosanna Morelli (Docket # 16-2) at ¶ 7.) She pulled her pants back up and, because he had told her repeatedly to take off her clothes, she sarcastically suggested to Officer McVane that he should take all of his clothing off instead.3
As Morelli was preparing to leave, she told Officer McVane that he should give her twenty dollars for gas because he had wasted her time. There is no indication on the record at summary judgment that Officer McVane consented to Morelli taking any money. Morelli took $20.00 from the counter, picked up her coat, which she placed over her right arm, and left the hotel room. The officers in the observation room did not know how much money had been taken, and as she left Room 203, several police officers left the surveillance room. Upon entering the hallway, Morelli immediately saw a number of people in the hallway, who she acknowledged were police officers, and heard an officer state that she had taken some of the money. She held out the bill, which was promptly taken by one of the officers. Morelli looked straight ahead and walked, and did not run, down the hallway.4
Officer Webster exited the observation room and proceeded down the hallway and stood in front of Morelli as she slowly approached him.5 At the time, Officer Webster was in plain clothes but wearing a badge prominently displayed on his belt. Officer Webster is about a foot taller than Morelli and substantially heavier. He is approximately 6'2" and in good physical shape and was accompanied by several plain clothes officers and at least one uniformed police officer. Officer Webster was aware that there were a number of families with children staying in the hotel in nearby rooms as he had seen children out in the hallway earlier that evening. In addition, at that point, Officer Webster believed Morelli still had the money from the South Portland Police Department that she had grabbed off the counter before leaving Room 203. This was a mistaken belief on Officer Webster's part since Morelli had returned the money immediately after leaving Room 203, and the money was in the possession of another officer by the time Officer Webster confronted Morelli in the hallway.
Morelli decided to try and circumvent Officer Webster in the hall in order to exit the hotel. Officer Webster blocked Morelli's path. Morelli stated that she" was leaving the hotel, and Officer Webster responded that she was not going anywhere.6 In attempting to move around Officer Webster, Morelli brushed against him because he was in close proximity to her. She had kept her right arm, which had her coat over it, stiff so that she could protect her personal space as she walked past Officer Webster. Then, Officer Webster reacted angrily. He told her that she was not going anywhere. He grabbed her right wrist, yanked her around, slammed her against the wall and held her pinned against the wall for several minutes. Officer Webster was the only person who tried to prevent Morelli from leaving the hotel.
Officer Webster then directed Morelli to return to Room 203, and he physically guided her back to the room. Although Officer Webster believed that she had not committed any act related to prostitution, he wanted to identify Morelli and investigate any connections to prostitution. Once Officer Webster knew that the money had been recovered, he told Morelli that he was not going to charge her with any crime and that if she would be respectful of other...
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Morelli v. Webster
...use of excessive force. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant (a police officer). See Morelli v. Webster, 554 F.Supp.2d 46 (D.Me.2008). We affirm as to the unlawful detention claims, but reverse as to the excessive force claims. I. BACKGROUND Because this is ......