Rooni v. Biser

• Decision Date: 04 February 2014
• Docket Number: No. 13–1511.,13–1511.
• Citation: 742 F.3d 737
• Parties: Mitch ROONI, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. Bradley BISER, Defendant–Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

742 F.3d 737

Mitch ROONI, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.Bradley BISER, Defendant–Appellee.

No. 13–1511.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued Sept. 20, 2013.

Decided Feb. 4, 2014.

Daniel Snyder, Attorney, Snyder Law Office, Park Falls, WI, for Plaintiff–Appellant.

Karla Z. Keckhaver, Attorney, Office of the Attorney General Wisconsin Department of Justice, Madison, WI, for Defendant–Appellee.

Before WOOD, Chief Judge, and BAUER and FLAUM, Circuit Judges.

WOOD, Chief Judge.

Deer hunting is serious business in the state of Wisconsin. Although the hunters and the state game wardens may coexist peacefully most of the time, in this case they did not. A dispute erupted between Mitch Rooni, a hunter, and Bradley Biser, a warden employed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and it has now wended its way into federal court. According to Rooni, on November 19, 2005, Biser arrested him without probable cause and used excessive force against him both before and after the arrest. Asserting that his civil rights had been violated by these actions, Rooni brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Biser; Biser responded with a motion for summary judgment in his favor on all counts. The district court granted the motion with one exception, for the charge that Rooni used excessive force before the arrest. The parties then jointly filed a motion to dismiss the pre-arrest excessive-force claim with prejudice. The district court agreed to do so and entered a final judgment in Biser's favor.

Rooni contends on appeal that the district court erred by granting summary judgment on the unlawful-arrest claim and the claim of excessive force after the arrest in connection with his handcuffing. He also argues that the court was mistaken to conclude that Biser was entitled in any event to qualified immunity. We conclude that the district court correctly granted summary judgment in Biser's favor on the handcuffing claim; at a minimum, Biser is entitled to qualified immunity on this part of the case. Rooni's arrest claim, however, is another matter. Taking his reasonable allegations as true, as we must, we conclude that neither probable cause nor “arguable” probable cause supported Rooni's arrest. This means that a trier of fact could conclude (if it accepted Rooni's evidence) that Biser violated Rooni's clearly established constitutional rights in so arresting him. We thus affirm in part and remand in part to the district court for further proceedings on the wrongful-arrest claim.

I

The account of the facts that follows accepts Rooni's version for present purposes, without of course vouching for anything. On November 19, 2005, Rooni, accompanied by his son, Peter Rooni, and a friend, Brad Weerts, went deer hunting in northern Wisconsin. Their trip was successful: they left with two bucks and a doe loaded onto a trailer attached to Weerts's truck.

The trouble began when the group stopped to register the deer at a DNR post located at a gas station in Brule, Wisconsin. Christopher Sand and Kevin Feind, two DNR employees, met and congratulated Rooni on his hunt; Sand tagged and aged the deer. Rooni then went into the gas station to buy another tag, which he needed so that the party could continue hunting. While Rooni was there, Biser arrived at the station, walked inside, and asked Rooni how many deer he had downed. Rooni, evidently not a fan of Biser or perhaps game wardens generally, did not respond. Biser then proclaimed, loudly enough for everybody in the station to hear, that Rooni did not like the DNR. Rooni responded in kind, saying something like “no, just people like you.” Biser made further comments but Rooni tried to ignore them.

Biser eventually left the gas station, hotdog in hand, and approached Sand, who was registering the deer in Weerts's trailer. Biser leaned up against the trailer while speaking to Sand. Rooni then came out of the gas station and approached Biser, who was still leaning against the trailer. Rooni stood five or six feet away from Sand and waited, believing that Biser was going to question him, but Biser did not turn to look at Rooni or say anything. At that point, Rooni attempted to walk around Biser. He had to pass very closely, because there was slush on the ground with a few trails beaten down by pedestrians. Biser was leaning right next to one of those trails. As Rooni walked by, Biser extended his leg to block Rooni's way. Rooni stopped, took a few steps closer, and looked at Biser, who remained silent. Rooni then said, “Brad, get off the trailer and let me get through,” and “brushed” between Biser and the trailer. As Rooni brushed past Biser on the trail, Biser moved back and spit a piece of hotdog at Rooni. (Biser strongly disputes this account, but this is not the time and we are not the ones who can say what “really” happened.) Biser accuses Rooni of pushing him, but Rooni denies doing so.

As the back-and-forth escalated, Biser grabbed Rooni. After telling Biser to get his hands off of him, Rooni pushed down, with his palms facing himself, in an attempt to detach Biser's hands from his person. In response, Biser put his hands back on Rooni and grabbed Rooni's stomach through his shirt. Rooni again attempted to push Biser's hands away. Biser pushed Rooni against the trailer and started hitting his hands and arms. As he was hitting Rooni, Biser repeatedly told Rooni not to grab him, though it was Biser who had been hitting Rooni. At this point, Rooni's son came over, and Rooni told him to call the police. In response, Biser told Rooni he was under arrest. While in the process of handcuffing Rooni, Biser grabbed Rooni by the back of the neck and jerked him back, almost pulling Rooni over. Biser then handcuffed Rooni with double-locked handcuffs (a type that cannot be tightened or loosened). Biser moved Rooni to his truck, at which point Rooni complained that the handcuffs were too tight. Biser responded by telling him to “shut up.” Soon Deputy Sheriff Alan Peterson arrived, and Rooni again said that the handcuffs were on too tight and hurt; he added that Biser had purposefully twisted the handcuffs so that they would hurt him. Although Peterson did not believe that the handcuffs were too tight, he offered to place Rooni in shackles so that he could be handcuffed in the front instead of from behind. Rooni agreed, and when Peterson changed the handcuffs, Rooni pointed out the red marks on his wrists. Peterson transported Rooni to the Douglas County jail, telling him that he had been arrested for disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer. While in the jail, Rooni did not seek medical attention. He did, however, observe blood and blister-type discoloration under his skin, his hands were numb and painful, and his fingers were swollen for a few days.

Rooni was charged with disorderly conduct, but the charges were dismissed. In April 2006, Rooni was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome.

II

Because this case reaches us from a grant of summary judgment, we review the district court's decision de novo, taking all facts and reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party. Marion v. City of Corydon, Ind., 559 F.3d 700, 704 (7th Cir.2009). As the party with the burden of proof, Rooni had to present evidence that, if believed by the trier of fact, would support a finding that his constitutional rights were violated. See Sow v. Fortville Police Dep't, 636 F.3d 293, 300 (7th Cir.2011) (citing McAllister v. Price, 615 F.3d 877, 881 (7th Cir.2010)). One acceptable type of evidence is the plaintiff's own affidavit, as long as it otherwise contains information that would be admissible if he were testifying directly. There is nothing suspect about the fact that such affidavits are normally “self-serving.” See Hill v. Tangherlini, 724 F.3d 965, 967 & n. 1 (7th Cir.2013); Payne v. Pauley, 337 F.3d 767, 773 (7th Cir.2003).

A. Unlawful Arrest Claim

Probable cause is an absolute defense to a claim of wrongful arrest under section 1983. Chelios v. Heavener, 520 F.3d 678, 685 (7th Cir.2008). A police officer has probable cause to arrest if, at the time of the arrest, the facts and circumstances within the officer's knowledge are sufficient to permit a prudent person to believe that the suspect had committed, is committing, or is about to commit an offense. See id. at 686;Wagner v. Washington County, 493 F.3d 833, 836 (7th Cir.2007) ( per curiam ) (citing Michigan v. DeFillippo, 443 U.S. 31, 37, 99 S.Ct. 2627, 61 L.Ed.2d 343 (1979)). “The probable cause determination must be made by a jury ‘if there is room for a difference of opinion concerning the facts or the reasonable inferences to be drawn from them.’ ” Chelios, 520 F.3d at 686 (citing Maxwell v. City of Indianapolis, 998 F.2d 431, 434 (7th Cir.1993)).

Because the district court jumped directly to the qualified immunity inquiry, it assumed (as it was permitted to do under Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 236, 129 S.Ct. 808, 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009)) that Rooni's actions did not give Biser probable cause to arrest him for disorderly conduct. We find it useful, however, to take a closer look at that question as we move through the immunity inquiry.

The district court found that even though it was “undisputed that plaintiff gave defendant a sudden verbal command ‘in a loud voice,’ ” probable cause for the arrest would clearly have been lacking if Rooni had done no more than shout at Biser. But, the district court thought, there was more: after the shout Rooni “brushed” against Biser. Yet the court acknowledged that it “might be obvious that disorderly conduct requires more than accidental physical contact with an officer.” Here, as the district court saw it, the combination of the accidental physical contact and the confrontational and loud statements made it “more reasonable” to interpret plaintiff's actions as threatening and disruptive. Coupled with Rooni's act of pushing Biser's hands away from him, the court thought...