Purvis v. Daniel Oest

• Citation: 614 F.3d 713
• Decision Date: 02 August 2010
• Docket Number: Nos. 09-1098, 09-1101.,s. 09-1098, 09-1101.
• Parties: Gina PURVIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Daniel OEST; Patricia Lunn; Gary Vicini; and Douglas Bernabei, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)

614 F.3d 713

Gina PURVIS, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.Daniel OEST; Patricia Lunn; Gary Vicini; and Douglas Bernabei, Defendants-Appellants.

Nos. 09-1098, 09-1101.

United States Court of Appeals,Seventh Circuit.

Argued Nov. 12, 2009.

Decided Aug. 2, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

Nicholas F. Esposito (argued), Esposito & Staubus, Burr Ridge, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Craig L. Unrath (argued), Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, Peoria, IL, for Douglas Bernabei.

Joseph J. Ferrini (argued), Clausen Miller, Chicago, IL, for Daniel Oest, Patricia Lunn, Gary Vicini.

Before CUDAHY, MANION, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

CUDAHY, Circuit Judge.

Gina Purvis was a high-school teacher, who was suspected of having a sexual relationship with her then-15-year-old biology student, “M.R.”. The school conducted an investigation in which Gary Vicini, the dean of students, played a leading role. This created a potential conflict of interest, since Vicini had himself been accused by Purvis of sexually harassing a student a year previously. After Vicini threatened M.R. with expulsion and possible jail time should he continue to deny his having had an affair with Purvis, the student capitulated and admitted the existence of such a relationship. The school district's superintendent, Daniel Oest, then reported the allegations to the police. The chief of the Spring Valley Police Department, Douglas Bernabei, notified the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS). Both began investigating. The DCFS investigator, Judith O'Brien, ultimately recommended that Purvis be indicated as a sexual perpetrator. Purvis was indicted by a grand jury and arrested on December 15, 2004.

After being acquitted following a bench trial, Purvis brought suit against Vicini, Oest, the school principal, Patricia Lunn and Bernabei, among others. In relevant part for the present appeal, she alleged deprivation of due process and false arrest. The district court declined to grant summary judgment in favor of the defendants. It found that the school defendants lacked qualified immunity and that a reasonable jury could find facts sufficient to amount to a deprivation of due process. With respect to the alleged false arrest, the district court determined that, “by the slimmest of margins,” Purvis had demonstrated a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Bernabei had probable cause. It also found that qualified immunity did not protect Bernabei in the circumstances.

For the reasons that follow, we reverse the district court's holding as to Bernabei, finding that sufficient evidence to establish probable cause existed as a matter of law. We also conclude that the district court erred in finding that Oest, Vicini and Lunn are not protected by qualified immunity.

I. BACKGROUND

Whispers of an illicit, sexual relationship between a teacher, Gina Purvis, and her then-15-year-old student, M.R., began circulating in the spring of 2004 at Hall High School District 502 in Spring Valley, Illinois. They were questioned by Patricia Lunn, the principal, but both M.R. and his teacher denied the veracity of the rumors. The gossip returned anew the following semester, which prompted school officials to act. The superintendent, Daniel Oest, and the principal decided that an investigation was in order, which would be carried out by Oest and Gary Vicini, the dean of students.

The rumors obviously concerned a matter of the utmost importance. Schools are mandatory reporters under Illinois law, such that they must report suspected child abuse immediately to the DCFS if they have “reasonable cause to believe” that such abuse took place. 325 Ill. Comp. Stat.. 5/4. Given the circumstances, some inquiry to determine whether there was any semblance of truth to the rumors was surely advisable.

The investigation was stymied by an extraordinary defect, however, for one of the investigators, Vicini, had himself been accused by Purvis of sexually harassing a female student the year before. Moreover, Vicini had been informed that Purvis was the person who had reported him. Obviously, it would be unsurprising if Vicini harbored some form of resentment toward Purvis. The school principal, Lunn, was aware of this conflict of interest, yet said nothing. Throughout the ensuing investigation, Oest, the superintendent, remained unaware of the potential bias on Vicini's part.

On November 10, 2004, Oest and Vicini interviewed M.R., who twice denied having had any sexual relationship with Purvis. The following fact is of considerable importance to the present appeal: there is evidence that Vicini, biased as he may have been against Purvis, threatened M.R. with expulsion and even imprisonment should he continue to deny the existence of the relationship. The student asked whether the matter would be kept confidential, which Oest assured him would be the case. The school's official policy, however, was only to keep such statements confidential “to the extent possible given the need to investigate.”

M.R. then changed his story, recounting myriad details about his alleged relationship with Purvis. He wrote a statement in which he indicated that he and Purvis had gotten closer to one another in January 2004, that, in February, the two had kissed at school and had engaged in sexual activity in her house, her car and his house, that some similar activity took place in May, but that later that month she told him that they needed to slow down. He contended, however, that on September 2 she kissed him again.

After obtaining this statement, Oest attempted, but was unable, to contact Purvis, since she didn't answer her cell phone. He then contacted local law enforcement and informed Douglas Bernabei of the Spring Valley Police Department of what had transpired. Bernabei then contacted DCFS, which appointed Judith O'Brien to conduct an inquiry on its behalf. No one informed either Bernabei or O'Brien of Vicini's potential conflict of interest. Nor were they informed of the pressure that Vicini had exerted on M.R., or that he had purportedly induced the student to change his story.

Bernabei met with Oest the very same day, where Bernabei was informed of the rumors and read M.R.'s written statement. Bernabei then met with M.R.'s mother, who told him that she had suspected something was going on between Purvis and her son. She also told Bernabei that her son had informed her of his sexual encounters with Purvis earlier that day. M.R.'s mother also explained that Purvis had previously mentioned rumors of a fling, which the teacher denied, saying that she was merely mentoring the boy.

Bernabei then interviewed M.R., who explained that Purvis initiated what ultimately became a mutual French kiss in a lab-storage area of the classroom on February 9, 2004. M.R. told Bernabei that this encounter preceded his first sexual one with Purvis a few days later and that he and his teacher had sex two to three times per week during February, March and April of 2004. He recounted myriad, specific details of the sexual acts in which the two engaged. On one of these occasions, he purported to have had “intercourse nine different times.” M.R. also said that Purvis had shown him a vibrator that she kept in her dresser drawer. M.R. also told Bernabei that his cousin, Rick Andes, while on leave from the Navy, picked him up from Purvis's house. M.R. said that, while there, Andes had seen M.R. and Purvis kissing. In addition, M.R. described a variety of gifts that Purvis had given him, which included a baseball necklace, numerous photos and an Old Navy shirt.

M.R. explained that the sexual relationship had ended by late April or early May, but that he and Purvis stayed in contact by phone and internet over the summer. At the start of the fall semester, he and Purvis exchanged a couple of kisses. Finally, he informed Bernabei that he had told some of his fellow students at school that the rumors were true.

Bernabei proceeded further into this investigation, which involved listening in on a phone call between M.R.'s mother and Purvis, obtaining telephone records, interviewing some of M.R.'s fellow students and meeting M.R.'s cousin to corroborate the former's statements. These facts are developed below, as necessary to our analysis. Through his investigation, Bernabei also unearthed some exculpatory evidence. This, too, is explored below.

Purvis was indicted by a grand jury and arrested on December 15, 2004. On October 20, 2005, Purvis and the school district entered into an agreement pursuant to which she voluntarily resigned her employment in exchange for $43,000. On October 31, 2005, Purvis was acquitted of all charges after a bench trial. She then brought the present lawsuit, alleging in relevant part deprivation of due process and false arrest. Oest, Lunn, Vicini and Bernabei all moved for summary judgment, which the district court denied in part relevant for this appeal. The court found that none of the defendants was entitled to qualified immunity. It also determined that there were genuine issues of material fact as to whether Oest, Lunn and Vicini deprived Purvis of due process by giving Vicini a leading role in the school investigation and as to whether Bernabei had probable cause to arrest the plaintiff.

For the reasons that follow, we reverse the district court and find that Oest, Lunn, Vicini and Bernabei are entitled to summary judgment.

II. DISCUSSION

We review a district court's denial of summary judgment de novo. See Sullivan v. Ramirez, 360 F.3d 692, 696 (7th Cir.2004). We similarly review a trial court's denial of a defendant's claim of qualified immunity de novo. See Finsel v. Cruppenink, 326 F.3d 903, 906 (7th Cir.2003). Although qualified immunity is an affirmative defense, once raised, it becomes the plaintiff's burden to defeat it. See Wheeler v. Lawson, 539 F.3d 629, 639 (7th Cir.2008). In a qualified-immunity setting, the plaintiff bears the burden of showing that the constitutional right...