Newton v. Etoch
| Decision Date | 19 March 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 97-325,97-325 |
| Citation | 332 Ark. 325,965 S.W.2d 96 |
| Parties | R.L. NEWTON, Individually and in his official capacity as an Officer with the Arkansas State Police; and T. David Carruth, Individually and in his official capacity as Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for the First Judicial District, Monroe County, Appellants, v. Louis A. ETOCH, Appellee. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Charles E. Halbert, Jr., Helena, Stephen Ryals, St. Louis, for appellants.
Winston Bryant, Atty. Gen., Rick D. Hogan, Deputy Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.
This is an interlocutory appeal from a denial of a motion to dismiss filed by appellants R.L. Newton and T. David Carruth on immunity grounds. Appellee Louis A. Etoch, an attorney licensed to practice in Arkansas since 1989, filed a complaint in Phillips County Circuit Court against Newton, individually and in his official capacity as an officer with the Arkansas State Police, and T. David Carruth, individually and in his official capacity as deputy prosecuting attorney for the First Judicial District, Monroe County. In his complaint, Etoch alleged:
Newton either acting under the direction and supervision of Carruth or conspiring with Carruth, drafted a materially false affidavit for warrant of arrest alleging therein that Etoch had given conflicting incriminating statements to Newton with regards to two automobiles owned by an alleged criminal defendant. The material statements in the affidavit were in accurate (sic), incomplete, and drafted in an effort to mislead the magistrate.
He further asserted that "Newton knew the allegations to be materially false [and] inaccurate, and Newton intentionally misled the Municipal Court Judge for the City of Hazen[.]" This resulted in the Municipal Judge's issuing an arrest warrant for Etoch. He again alleged that this was done at Carruth's "urging, direction and supervision" or "pursuant to the conspiracy."
Etoch further asserted that on June 22, 1995, as a result of that arrest warrant, while appearing on behalf of numerous clients in West Helena Municipal Court, Phillips County, he was arrested, handcuffed, and shackled by Newton without probable cause in a place, time, and manner "calculated and effectuated in an attempt to purposely embarrass, humiliate, and damage Etoch's business and personal reputation." He was then transported by car from West Helena to Hazen in Prairie County.
Upon his arrival in handcuffs and shackles at Hazen Municipal Court, Etoch alleged that he was met by a large number of people, including members of the media and Carruth, and added:
Carruth, acting alone or with others, completely and totally outside his jurisdiction and without any authority under the law, orchestrated the public display of Plaintiff in custody, in handcuffs and shackles, as he appeared in court and alerted [media] sources to assure that the arrival and presentment of Etoch in court in Hazen be given maximum coverage and exposure, all for the malicious purpose of causing Plaintiff humiliation, embarrassment, harm and damage to his personal and professional reputation and to detrimentally effect (sic) his law practice.
According to the complaint, Carruth also made statements to the media at that time that Carruth knew or reasonably should have known were false, all for the purpose of injuring him.
In addition, Etoch alleged in the complaint that Newton and Carruth undertook their activities with the expectation that Etoch would never be prosecuted and adds that a criminal information was never filed prior to the expiration of the speedy-trial period under Ark. R.Crim. P. 28. Etoch asserted causes of action against Newton and Carruth for a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and for the state-law torts of false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, and outrage. Etoch also sought damages against Carruth for slanderous statements made to members of the media and to others in connection with his arrest. Newton and Carruth moved to dismiss Etoch's complaint for lack of subject-matter and personal jurisdiction pursuant to Ark. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) and (2). They stated in their motion that the trial court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction due to sovereign immunity under Ark. Const. art. 5, § 20, and that personal jurisdiction was absent due to the immunity provisions for public employees and officials set out in Ark.Code Ann. § 19-10-305 (Repl.1994). They further asked to dismiss the false imprisonment and slander counts due to the one-year statute of limitation found at Ark.Code Ann. § 16-56-104 (1987). Carruth asserted generally that he was not subject to suit due to prosecutorial immunity, which is absolute.
After a hearing, the trial court denied the motions to dismiss and entered an order, which concluded: (1) accepting as true the allegations in the complaint, the false imprisonment and slander counts were not time-barred; (2) sovereign immunity did not protect officers and employees of the state from their malicious actions; and (3) Carruth was not entitled to absolute prosecutorial immunity because the complaint alleged that he was acting outside of the scope of his duties.
I. Sovereign Immunity
On appeal, Newton and Carruth make the same immunity points argued before the trial court. We first consider the question, however, of whether this is an appealable order and answer in the affirmative.
This court has held that an appeal may be taken from an order denying a motion to dismiss under Ark. R.App. P. Civ. 2(a)(2) based on the movant's assertion that he is immune from suit. See Virden v. Roper, 302 Ark. 125, 788 S.W.2d 470 (1990); Robinson v. Beaumont, 291 Ark. 477, 725 S.W.2d 839 (1987). The rationale justifying an interlocutory appeal is that the right to immunity from suit is effectively lost if the case is permitted to go to trial. Robinson v. Beaumont, supra. Because Newton and Carruth contend that they are immune from suit, as opposed to being immune solely from liability, the denial of the motion to dismiss on immunity grounds is an appealable order. Cf. Jaggers v. Zolliecoffer, 290 Ark. 250, 718 S.W.2d 441 (1986) ().
When a party appeals an adverse ruling on a motion brought under Ark. R. Civ. P. 12, this court treats the facts alleged in the complaint as true and views them in the light most favorable to the party who filed the complaint. Brown v. Tucker, 330 Ark. 435, 954 S.W.2d 262 (1997); Van Dyke v. Glover, 326 Ark. 736, 934 S.W.2d 204 (1996); Cross v. Coffman, 304 Ark. 666, 805 S.W.2d 44 (1991). Newton and Carruth contend that, even under this standard of review, they are entitled to immunity.
We turn then to the issue of sovereign immunity. Sovereign immunity is jurisdictional immunity from suit, although we have not couched the immunity in terms of subject-matter jurisdiction. See Cross v. Arkansas Livestock & Poultry Comm'n, 328 Ark. 255, 943 S.W.2d 230 (1997); Department of Human Servs. v. Crunkleton, 303 Ark. 21, 791 S.W.2d 704 (1990). One reason for this distinction is that sovereign immunity may be waived by the State, where subject-matter jurisdiction can never be waived. See, e.g., State v. Tedder, 326 Ark. 495, 932 S.W.2d 755 (1996).
Article 5, Section 20 of the Arkansas Constitution reads: "The State of Arkansas shall never be made a defendant in any of her courts." The first question presented, then, is whether the State of Arkansas is the defendant in the instant case. Clearly, the State has not been named as a party, but our inquiry does not stop there.
We established the test for whether a suit is one brought against the State in Page v. McKinley, 196 Ark. 331, 336-37, 118 S.W.2d 235, 238 (1938):
While a suit against state officials or agencies is not necessarily a suit against the state, the general rule that a state cannot be sued without its consent cannot be evaded by making an action nominally one against the servants or agents of a state when the real claim is against the state itself, and it is the party vitally interested. Accordingly, it is well settled, as a general proposition, that, where a suit is brought against an officer or agency with relation to some matter in which defendant represents the state in action and liability, and the state, while not a party to the record, is the real party against which relief is sought so that a judgment for plaintiff, although nominally against the named defendant as an individual or entity distinct from the state, will operate to control the action of the state or subject it to liability, the suit is in effect one against the state and cannot be maintained without its consent[.]
Id. See also Cross v. Arkansas Livestock & Poultry Comm'n, supra; Fireman's Ins. Co. v. Arkansas State Claims Comm'n, 301 Ark. 451, 784 S.W.2d 771 (1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 824, 111 S.Ct. 76, 112 L.Ed.2d 50 (1990); Beaulieu v. Gray, 288 Ark. 395, 705 S.W.2d 880 (1986). We have further held that the end result of tapping the State's treasury for payment of damages will render the State a defendant. State of Arkansas Office of Child Support Enforcement v. Mitchell, 330 Ark. 338, 954 S.W.2d 907 (1997).
Tapping the State's treasury may well be the end result when only employees and officers of the State are parties. This is so because the General Assembly has mandated the State to pay actual damages based on judgments obtained against its officers and employees, so long as the action by the officer or employee was "without malice and in good faith within the course and scope of his employment and in the performance of his official duties." Ark.Code Ann. § 21-9-203(a) (Repl.1996). Thus, to the extent the State will be obligated to pay damages under this provision, it is the real party in interest, and sovereign immunity comes into play. See Beaulieu v. Gray, supra. See, e.g., Assaad-Faltas v. Univ. of...
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