Ryburn v. Huff

• Decision Date: 23 January 2012
• Docket Number: No. 11–208.,11–208.
• Parties: Darin RYBURN, et al. v. George R. HUFF, et al.
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

565 U.S. 469

132 S.Ct. 987

181 L.Ed.2d 966

Darin RYBURN, et al.

v.George R. HUFF, et al.

No. 11–208.

Supreme Court of the United States

Jan. 23, 2012.

PER CURIAM.

Petitioners Darin Ryburn and Edmundo Zepeda, along with two other officers from the Burbank Police Department, responded to a call from Bellarmine–Jefferson High School in Burbank, California. When the officers arrived at the school, the principal informed them that a student, Vincent Huff, was rumored to have written a letter threatening to "shoot up" the school. App. to Pet. for Cert. 2. The principal reported that many parents, after hearing the rumor, had decided to keep their children at home. Ibid . The principal expressed concern for the safety of her students and requested that the officers investigate the threat. Id., at 42, 54–55.

In the course of conducting interviews with the principal and two of Vincent's classmates, the officers learned that Vincent had been absent from school for two days and that he was frequently subjected to bullying. Id., at 2. The officers additionally learned that one of Vincent's classmates believed that Vincent was capable of carrying out the alleged threat. Id., at 44. The officers found Vincent's absences from school and his history of being subjected to bullying as cause for concern. The officers had received training on targeted school violence and were aware that these characteristics are common among perpetrators of school shootings. Id., at 56–58, 63.

The officers decided to continue the investigation by interviewing Vincent. When the officers arrived at Vincent's house, Officer Zepeda knocked on the door and announced several times that the officers were with the Burbank Police Department. No one answered the door or otherwise responded to Officer Zepeda's knocks. Sergeant Ryburn then called the home telephone. The officers could hear the phone ringing inside the house, but no one answered. Id., at 2.

Sergeant Ryburn next tried calling the cell phone of Vincent's mother, Mrs. Huff. When Mrs. Huff answered the phone, Sergeant Ryburn identified himself and inquired about her location. Mrs. Huff informed Sergeant Ryburn that she was inside the house. Sergeant Ryburn then inquired about Vincent's location, and Mrs. Huff informed him that Vincent was inside with her. Sergeant Ryburn told Mrs. Huff that he and the other officers were outside and requested to speak with her, but Mrs. Huff hung up the phone. Id., at 2–3.

One or two minutes later, Mrs. Huff and Vincent walked out of the house and stood on the front steps. Officer Zepeda advised Vincent that he and the other officers were there to discuss the threats. Vincent, apparently aware of the rumor that was circulating at his school, responded, "I can't believe you're here for that." Id., at 3. Sergeant Ryburn asked Mrs. Huff if they could continue the discussion inside the house, but she refused. Ibid. In Sergeant Ryburn's experience as a juvenile bureau sergeant, it was "extremely unusual" for a parent to decline an officer's request to interview a juvenile inside. Id., at 3, 73–74. Sergeant Ryburn also found it odd that Mrs. Huff never asked the officers the reason for their visit. Id., at 73–74.

After Mrs. Huff declined Sergeant Ryburn's request to continue the discussion inside, Sergeant Ryburn asked her if there were any guns in the house. Mrs. Huff responded by "immediately turn[ing] around and r[unning] into the house." Id., at 3. Sergeant Ryburn, who was "scared because [he] didn't know what was in that house" and had "seen too many officers killed," entered the house behind her. Id., at 75. Vincent entered the house behind Sergeant Ryburn, and Officer Zepeda entered after Vincent. Officer Zepeda was concerned about "officer safety" and did not want Sergeant Ryburn to enter the house alone. Id., at 3. The two remaining officers, who had been standing out of earshot while Sergeant Ryburn and Officer Zepeda talked to Vincent and Mrs. Huff, entered the house last, on the assumption that Mrs. Huff had given Sergeant Ryburn and Officer Zepeda permission to enter. Id., at 3–4.

Upon entering the house, the officers remained in the living room with Mrs. Huff and Vincent. Eventually, Vincent's father entered the room and challenged the officers' authority to be there. The officers remained inside the house for a total of 5 to 10 minutes. During that time, the officers talked to Mr. Huff and Vincent. They did not conduct any search of Mr. Huff, Mrs. Huff, or Vincent, or any of their property. The officers ultimately concluded that the rumor about Vincent was false, and they reported their conclusion to the school. Id., at 4.

The Huffs brought this action against the officers under Rev. Stat. § 1979, 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The complaint alleges that the officers violated the Huffs' Fourth Amendment rights by entering their home without a warrant. Following a 2–day bench trial, the District Court entered judgment in favor of the officers. The District Court resolved conflicting testimony regarding Mrs. Huff's response to Sergeant Ryburn's inquiry about guns by finding that Mrs. Huff "immediately turned around and ran into the house." App. to Pet. for Cert. 3. The District Court concluded that the officers were entitled to qualified immunity because Mrs. Huff's odd behavior, combined with the information the officers gathered at the school, could have led reasonable officers to believe "that there could be weapons inside the house, and that family members or the officers themselves were in danger." Id., at 6. The District Court noted that "[w]ithin a very short period of time, the officers were confronted with facts and circumstances giving rise to grave concern about the nature of the danger they were confronting." Id., at 6–7. With respect to this kind of "rapidly evolving incident," the District Court explained, courts should be especially reluctant "to fault the police for not obtaining a warrant." Id., at 7.

A divided panel of the Ninth Circuit affirmed the District Court as to the two officers who entered the house on the assumption that Mrs. Huff had consented, but reversed as to petitioners. The majority upheld the District Court's findings of fact, but disagreed with the District Court's conclusion that petitioners were entitled to qualified immunity. The majority acknowledged that police officers are allowed to enter a home without a warrant if they reasonably believe that immediate entry is necessary to protect themselves or others from serious harm, even if the officers lack probable cause to believe that a crime has been or is about to be committed. Id., at 24. But the majority determined that, in this case, "any belief that the officers or other family members were in serious, imminent harm would have been objectively unreasonable" given that "[Mrs. Huff] merely asserted her right to end her conversation with the officers and returned to her home." Id., at 25.

Judge Rawlinson dissented. She explained that "the discrete incident that precipitated the entry in this case was Mrs. Huff's response to the question regarding whether there were guns in the house." Id., at 31. She faulted the majority for "recit[ing] a sanitized account of this event" that differed markedly from the District Court's findings of fact, which the majority had conceded must be credited. Judge Rawlinson looked to "cases that specifically address the scenario where officer safety concerns prompted the entry" and concluded that, under the rationale articulated in those cases, "a police officer could have reasonably believed that he was justified in making a warrantless entry to ensure that no one inside the house had a gun after Mrs. Huff ran into the house without answering the question of whether anyone had a weapon." Id., at 31, 33, 37.

Judge Rawlinson's analysis of the qualified immunity issue was correct. No decision of this Court has found a Fourth Amendment violation on facts even roughly comparable to those present in this case. On the contrary, some of our opinions may be read as pointing in the opposition direction.

In Brigham City v. Stuart, 547 U.S. 398, 400, 126 S.Ct. 1943, 164 L.Ed.2d 650 (2006), we held that officers may enter a residence without a warrant when they have "an objectively reasonable basis for believing that an occupant is ... imminently threatened with [serious injury]." We explained that "‘[t]he need to protect or preserve life or avoid serious injury is justification for what would be otherwise illegal absent an exigency or emergency.’ " Id., at 403, 126 S.Ct. 1943 (quoting Mincey v. Arizona, 437 U.S. 385, 392, 98 S.Ct. 2408, 57 L.Ed.2d 290 (1978) ). In addition, in Georgia v. Randolph, 547 U.S. 103,...