Mosley v. Lock
| Decision Date | 31 March 2016 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 2:10-cv-02817-AKK |
| Parties | JABARI MOSLEY, Plaintiff, v. ALABAMA LOCK & KEY CO., INC., et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama |
Jabari Mosley brings this suit against Alabama Lock & Key Co., Inc., ("ALK") and the City of Birmingham ("City") alleging conversion of personal property. Before the court is ALK's motion for summary judgment, doc. 43, and the City's motion for summary judgment, doc. 45. The motions are briefed and ripe for review. See docs. 44, 46, 49, and 50. For the reasons explained below, the court will grant the motions.1
The bizarre series of events in this case trace their origin to May 18, 2010, when Mosley called Ross Spurlock, a locksmith at ALK, to inquire about whetherALK could open a safe for which Mosley represented he had forgotten the combination. 2:10-cv-2601-AKK, doc. 1 at ¶ 5(a).2 Based on Spurlock's response, Mosley subsequently arrived at ALK with a safe. Id. at ¶ 5(b). When Spurlock opened the safe "with a crowbar", doc. 1 at 45, he saw that it contained a large amount of money packed in seven plastic bags (which was subsequently inventoried as $894,800 in U.S. currency). Id. at ¶¶ 5(b) & (d). To no surprise, given the suspicious nature of the scene, Spurlock told Mosley, Doc. 1 at 45. Mosley offered Spurlock one of the seven bags of money as an enticement to keep quiet. 2:10-cv-2601-AKK, doc. 1 at ¶ 5(b). Spurlock declined and called the police, id. at ¶ 5(c), probably because the offer to keep a seventh's share for simply opening a safe reaffirmed his suspicions that something seemed amiss.
City of Birmingham police officers arrived at ALK at some point with a drug detection dog that indicated the presence of drugs in the safe. Id. However, Mosley maintains that he "did not see any noticeable reaction in the dog." Doc. 1 at 45. Shortly thereafter, United States Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") task-force agents arrived and interviewed Mosley. 2:10-cv-2601-AKK, doc. 1 at ¶ 5(d). In response to questions from the agents, Mosley made it clearthat the safe belonged to him and that he had saved the money over a 10-year period, id., presumably because he had more faith in his memory recall or in the ability of locksmiths to save him from his memory, than in the nation's banking system.
Perhaps because of the positive hit by the drug detection dog, or because the officers simply refused to believe that Mosley could have accumulated the cash legally, John Walker, a DEA agent, confiscated the money. Walker left his business card with Mosley, doc. 1 at 14, and gave Mosley a receipt for the cash seized, id. at 61. The DEA subsequently sent Mosley written notice of the seizure by certified mail. Id. at 26, 32, 35, 38, and 52.
Two days after the seizure, Mosley filed an in rem action in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County seeking the return of the allegedly unlawfully seized $894,800, or in the alternative, a civil action against ALK, the City, and Walker in his capacity as a DEA officer.3 Doc. 1 at 10-12. Walker subsequently removed the action to this court, id. at 1-5, which then substituted the United States as a defendant in place of Walker and consolidated the action with the forfeiture proceedings the United States had initiated regarding the $894,800, docs. 8 & 10. To make matters even more interesting, the DEA executed a search warrant andseized another $25,000 in U.S. currency from Mosley's residence, leading to another action by the United States seeking the forfeiture of this additional amount. See 2:11-cv-1156-AKK, doc. 1. The court eventually consolidated the two forfeiture actions. See 2:10-cv-2601-AKK, docs. 14 & 15.
Nearly four years after Mosley walked into ALK to seek its assistance in opening the safe, the United States and Mosley settled their dispute, and entered into a Stipulation of Settlement resolving all issues regarding the forfeiture of the currency and all claims by Mosley against the United States. Doc. 40 at 3. Consistent with their agreement, the court entered a Final Order and Judgment of Forfeiture awarding the United States $176,960 and extinguishing Mosley's interest in that $176,960. Doc. 41 at 4. The United States remitted $742,840 to Mosley. See id. Mosley subsequently filed a Stipulation of Dismissal, dismissing the United States from all further proceedings, acknowledging "full payment" of its obligations of the settlement, and with regards to the United States, disclaiming his interest in the remaining $176,960 of the cash found in the safe. Doc. 52. Having reached an agreement with the United States, the only remaining issue is Mosley's conversion claim against ALK and the City, and Defendants' contention that they are entitled to summary judgment.
Under Rule 56(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment is proper "if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." "Rule 56[] mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U. S. 317, 322 (1986) (alteration in original). The moving party bears the initial burden of proving the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Id. at 323. The burden then shifts to the nonmoving party, who is required to "go beyond the pleadings" to establish that there is a "genuine issue for trial." Id. at 324 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). A dispute about a material fact 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 (1986).
The court must construe the evidence and all reasonable inferences arising from it in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157 (1970); see also Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255 (). Any factual disputes will be resolved in the non-moving party's favor when sufficientcompetent evidence supports that party's version of the disputed facts. See Pace v. Capobianco, 283 F.3d 1275, 1276, 1278 (11th Cir. 2002) (). However, "mere conclusions and unsupported factual allegations are legally insufficient to defeat a summary judgment motion." Ellis v. England, 432 F.3d 1321, 1326 (11th Cir. 2005) (citing Bald Mountain Park, Ltd. v. Oliver, 863 F.2d 1560, 1563 (11th Cir. 1989)). Moreover, "[a] mere 'scintilla' of evidence supporting the opposing party's position will not suffice; there must be enough of a showing that the jury could reasonably find for that party." Walker v. Darby, 911 F.2d 1573, 1577 (11th Cir. 1990) (citing Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252)).
As a preliminary matter, the court turns first to Mosley's contention that the court should deny summary judgment because Mosley has not had an opportunity to engage in discovery. Doc. 48 at 1. To succeed on these grounds, Mosley "may not simply rely on vague assertions that additional discovery will produce needed, but unspecified, facts, but rather . . . must specifically demonstrate how postponement of a ruling on the motion will enable [him], by discovery or other means, to rebut the movant's showing of the absence of a genuine issue of fact." Vitech Am., Inc. v. Gateway, Inc., 149 F. App'x. 860, 861 (11th Cir. 2005)(quoting Reflectone, Inc. v. Farrand Optical Co., 862 F.2d 841, 843-44 (11th Cir. 1989)). Rather than making the necessary showing, Mosley relies solely on his counsel's statement that "based upon practicing law in the State of Alabama for forty years, I am convinced that neither Plaintiff Jabari Mosley nor I can adequately present to the Court all 'facts essential to justify' his opposition to the motions for summary judgment filed by [the Defendants] until after discovery is completed." Doc. 48-2 at 3. Such a contention is precisely the kind of vague assertion that this Circuit has rejected. See Vitech Am., 149 F. App'x at 861. Accordingly, in light of the verified complaints the United States filed, 2:10-cv-2601-AKK, doc. 1 and 2:11-cv-1156-AKK, doc. 1, and the sworn affidavit Mosley filed in response to Defendants' motions for summary judgment, doc. 48-1, the court will proceed with the merits of the motions without any delay for discovery. See U.S. v. 3402 53rd Street West, Bradenton, FL, 178 Fed. App'x. 946 (11th Cir. 2006) ().
To establish a claim for conversion under Alabama Code §6-5-261,4 there must be "[1] a wrongful taking or [2] a wrongful detention or interference, or [3] an illegal assumption of ownership, or [4] an illegal use or misuse of another's property." Edwards v. Prime, Inc., 602 F.3d 1276, 1303-04 (11th Cir. 2010)(citing Covington v. Exxon Co., 551 So. 2d 935, 938 (Ala.1989)). Usually, conversion consists "either in the appropriation of the thing to the party's own use and beneficial enjoyment, or its destruction, or in exercising of dominion over it, in exclusion or defiance of the plaintiff's right, or in withholding the possession from the plaintiff, under a claim of title inconsistent with his own." Perkins v. City of Creola, 713 F. Supp. 2d 1326, 1348-49 (S.D. Ala. 2010). Relevant here, Mosley concedes in his complaint that the seized funds...
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