Mumm v. Mornson

• Decision Date: 10 January 2006
• Docket Number: No. A04-729.,A04-729.
• Citation: 708 N.W.2d 475
• Parties: Beverly MUMM, as Trustee for the Surviving Spouse and Next of Kin of Duane P. Mumm, decedent, Respondent, v. Geralyn E. MORNSON, et al., Respondents, v. City of Minneapolis, et al., Appellants.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 475

708 N.W.2d 475

Beverly MUMM, as Trustee for the Surviving Spouse and Next of Kin of Duane P. Mumm, decedent, Respondent, v. Geralyn E. MORNSON, et al., Respondents, v. City of Minneapolis, et al., Appellants.

No. A04-729.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

January 10, 2006.

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Jay M. Heffern, Timothy S. Skarda, Asst. City Atty., Minneapolis, for appellant.

Kurtis A. Greenley, DeAnne Hilgers, Lindquist & Vennum, P.L.L.P., Minneapolis, for respondent Mumm.

Robert T. Stich, Louise Annette Behrendt, Stich, Angell, Kreidler & Dodge, P.A., Minneapolis, for respondent Mornson.

James S. Ballentine, Schwebel Goetz & Sieben, Minneapolis, for amicus curiae MN Trial Lawyers Ass'n.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

BLATZ, Chief Justice.

This case presents issues of qualified immunity and common law official immunity for police officers engaged in a vehicular pursuit of a mentally disturbed individual, as well as the issue of vicarious official immunity for the officers' employer, the City of Minneapolis. The case arose out of a police pursuit of Geralyn Mornson ("Mornson") that ended when police officers rammed their squad car into Mornson's vehicle, resulting in a crash in which Mornson's vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian. The decedent's spouse, Beverly Mumm ("Mumm"), filed this suit against Mornson and her husband, the owner of the vehicle that Mornson was driving, alleging negligence. Subsequently, Mumm and the Mornsons brought federal constitutional and state tort claims against the city and the officers for the officers' conduct during the pursuit.

The officers and city moved for summary judgment on immunity grounds. The district court denied the motion and the court of appeals affirmed. Mumm v. Mornson, No. A04-729, 2004 WL 2794421, at *5 (Minn.App. Dec. 7, 2004). We hold that the police officers are entitled to qualified immunity as to respondent Mumm's Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process claim, but that the officers are not entitled to summary judgment on qualified immunity as to respondent Mornson's Fourth Amendment claim. We also hold that the officers are not entitled to official immunity as to respondents' state law tort claims. Because we deny official immunity to the police officers, we hold that the City of Minneapolis is not entitled to vicarious official immunity. We therefore affirm in part and reverse in part.

In the late afternoon of March 28, 2002, Minneapolis Police Officer Lance DuPaul responded to a 911 call regarding a potentially suicidal woman, Mornson. Mornson was at her therapist's office when the therapist recommended that Mornson be transported to the hospital and placed the 911 call. Upon arriving at the therapist's office, DuPaul saw Mornson and her husband speaking with the therapist in the parking lot. DuPaul spoke briefly with the therapist but had no contact with Mornson. Mornson did not want to be transported to the hospital, but, instead, wanted to go to her church in Eden Prairie. While the others were talking, Mornson got into her husband's vehicle and drove out of the parking lot. DuPaul activated his squad car's emergency lights and siren and followed Mornson out of the parking lot, but Mornson continued driving, failing to stop for a stop sign.

With his lights and siren on, DuPaul followed Mornson from the therapist's office onto I-94. While on 94, DuPaul received a dispatch from Sergeant Kjos of the Minneapolis Police Department telling DuPaul to "call that chase off." A moment later, Lieutenant Doyle of the Minneapolis Police Department instructed DuPaul by radio to "monitor" Mornson with his siren off. In response, DuPaul turned off his lights and siren and continued to follow Mornson.

Both Mornson and DuPaul then proceeded southbound on I-35W. Another squad car, occupied by Minneapolis Police Officers Lappegaard and Brickley, joined DuPaul in following Mornson on 35W. Soon thereafter, two state patrol cars, one driven by State Patrol Officer Engeldinger, the other driven by State Patrol Officer Brumm, joined the chase with their lights and sirens on. At that point, Lappegaard activated his lights and siren, concluding that he was engaged in a pursuit, not merely monitoring.

Mornson continued on 35W, driving on the shoulder at times and weaving in and out of traffic and on and off the road. She honked her horn frequently to induce other drivers to move out of her way. At one point, Mornson nearly hit the state patrol car driven by Brumm, which had pulled over on the shoulder of 35W. Doyle continued to instruct the Minneapolis police officers, eventually granting them permission to "take her out safely" if the use of stop sticks¹ proved inadequate to stop Mornson.

Mornson exited 35W and turned onto 60th Street in Richfield with the state patrol and Minneapolis police cars following. Mornson then turned south onto Nicollet Avenue. While driving southbound on Nicollet, Lappegaard tried to maneuver his squad car in front of Mornson's vehicle to stop her. When he was unable to get in front of Mornson's vehicle, Brickley told Lappegaard to "take her out," and Lappegaard turned the squad car to the right and made contact with the left side of Mornson's vehicle. Both officers claim that they felt that Mornson was a danger to the public because of her disturbed mental state and dangerous driving. After briefly straightening out, Lappegaard's squad car rammed Mornson's vehicle a second time, causing both vehicles to drive off the right side of the road.² When Mornson's vehicle left the road, it struck and killed Duane Mumm as he stood on the sidewalk.

As trustee for the surviving spouse and next of kin, Mr. Mumm's wife filed a complaint against Mornson and her husband alleging negligence. The Mornsons filed a third-party complaint against the city, Lappegaard, Brickley, and DuPaul, alleging a 42 U.S.C. § 1983³ claim arising from a Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process violation and also alleging negligence. Mumm amended her complaint to allege a similar substantive due process claim and negligence, assault, and battery claims against the city and the officers. The officers and the city moved for summary judgment on the grounds of qualified immunity as to the constitutional claims, official immunity as to the tort claims, and vicarious official immunity for the city. The district court denied their motion.

On appeal, the court of appeals affirmed the district court's denial of summary judgment. Mumm, 2004 WL 2794421, at *1. In support of its decision, the court of appeals concluded that, as to the issue of qualified immunity, material questions existed regarding the reasonableness of the officers' conduct that could not be answered without further development of the facts. Id. at *3-4. In addition, as to official immunity, the court of appeals determined that the officers' acts were discretionary, not ministerial, but noted that further fact-finding was required to decide whether their conduct was willful or malicious and therefore outside the embrace of official immunity. Id. at *5. The city and officers filed a petition for further review on the questions of qualified immunity, official immunity, and vicarious official immunity, and we granted review. We also granted respondents' petition for cross-review of the court of appeals' conclusion that the officers' conduct was discretionary. We affirm the denial of summary judgment on official immunity grounds and the denial of summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds as to Mornson's Fourth Amendment excessive force claim. We reverse the denial of summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds as to Mumm's Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process claim.

I.

The issues before us are whether the court of appeals erred in affirming the denial of summary judgment by holding that the police officers are not entitled to qualified immunity or official immunity and that the city is not entitled to vicarious official immunity. An order denying summary judgment on immunity grounds is immediately appealable. Anderson v. Anoka Hennepin Indep. Sch. Dist. 11, 678 N.W.2d 651, 655 (Minn.2004); Elwood v. County of Rice, 423 N.W.2d 671, 675 (Minn.1988). In reviewing an appeal from the denial of summary judgment, we must determine whether there are genuine issues of material fact and whether the district court erred in applying the law. Watson v. Metro. Transit Comm'n, 553 N.W.2d 406, 411 (Minn.1996). When reviewing a summary judgment ruling, we must consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Molloy, 679 N.W.2d at 716. Immunity is a legal question that is reviewed de novo. Anderson, 678 N.W.2d at 655.

In our grant of review, we requested that the parties discuss what constitutional claims respondents have pled and what claims they can maintain, as the record below is unclear on these points. These issues must be resolved before questions of immunity can be addressed. The parties disagree over what constitutional claims are properly before us. Both Mumm and the Mornsons claim to have pled Fourth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment claims, while the city and officers argue that respondents have pled only Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process claims.

The Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure require that a complaint "contain a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Minn. R. Civ. P. 8.01. The complaint should put the defendant on notice of the claims against him. See L.K. v. Gregg, 425 N.W.2d 813, 819 (Minn.1988). When a plaintiff has not specified in the complaint the particular constitutional provisions that form the basis of his claims, we have at times nonetheless chosen to address the plaintiff's constitutional claims "if the facts alleged * * * state a claim." Johnson v. Morris, 453 N.W.2d 31, 35 n. 7 (Minn.1990); Elwood, 423 N.W.2d at 675. I...