Rykers v. Alford
| Decision Date | 25 November 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 86-3732,86-3732 |
| Citation | 832 F.2d 895 |
| Parties | Robert RYKERS, individually and on Behalf of his acknowledged, natural daughter, Tasha Rykers, and Jaro Rykers, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Susan ALFORD, a/k/a Christine Anderson Pollock, Slidell Police Department, Maurice E. Fuqua, Individually, and in His Capacity as a Slidell Police Officer, John Volz, Individually and as United States Attorney, Three Unknown Assistant United States Attorneys, and United States of America, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Henry Hoppe, III, Slidell, La., for Rykers, et al.
William F. Baity, Asst. U.S. Atty., John P. Volz, New Orleans, La., for John Volz, U.S. Atty. & Federal Def.
John F. Greene, New Orleans, La., for Susan Alford.
David J. Gorewitz, Jerald L. Album, New Orleans, La., for Slidell, Slidell Police/Det. Fuqua.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Before GOLDBERG, JOHNSON, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.
A father sued the mother of his child, a police officer, the United States, and several federal officials for damages connected with the father's arrest for allegedly kidnapping his child. The district court dismissed all the claims. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm.
Susan Alford met Robert Rykers in Australia in 1971 and allegedly became Rykers' common-law wife. In 1975, they had a daughter and named her Tasha Rykers. Robert Rykers allegedly was acknowledged as the child's father on the birth certificate. In 1977, Alford took her daughter and left Australia without informing Rykers of their destination. Rykers claims that he spent seven years sailing around the world in his yacht with his son Jaro, seeking Tasha. In 1984, Rykers learned that Alford and her daughter (now called Aimee Anderson) were living in Slidell, Louisiana, with Alford's husband, Barry Pollock. Apparently, no court had as yet issued a decree fixing Aimee's custody.
On May 24, 1984, Alford agreed to allow Aimee to visit Rykers for the weekend. That night Rykers and Jaro set sail for Florida with Aimee. Rykers left behind a letter for Alford saying that he was "taking Tasha for a sail and will give you a phone call in 2-3 weeks time." Record at 102. Alford contacted the Slidell Police, and Officer Maurice Fuqua swore out an affidavit based on Alford's statement. A Slidell city court judge issued an arrest warrant charging Rykers with simple kidnapping under La.Rev.Stat.Ann. Sec. 14:45 (West 1986). The Louisiana district attorney notified the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, who filed a complaint and obtained an arrest warrant against Rykers under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1073 (). On June 3, 1984, the FBI arrested Rykers in Key West, Florida. Rykers was extradited to Louisiana and charged with simple kidnapping in Louisiana state court. At a preliminary hearing, a state court judge found probable cause for the charge, but the federal and state charges were dismissed in July and August 1984.
In June 1985, Rykers, on behalf of himself, Jaro and Aimee, filed the instant suit in federal district court against Alford, Alford's attorney C. Michael Winters, Officer Fuqua, the Slidell Police Department, the City of Slidell, United States Attorney John Volz and three Assistant United States Attorneys, the United States, and three unknown FBI agents. The complaint included claims under section 1983 and Bivens, as well as pendent state law claims against Alford. The district court granted summary judgment for all the defendants. On appeal, Rykers has abandoned the claims that he brought in the names of Jaro and Tasha-Aimee, as well as his claims against the City of Slidell and Alford's attorney, Winters.
Rykers sued the United States for the federal agents' actions in arresting and holding him. The United States may be sued only within the exception to sovereign immunity provided by the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). 28 U.S.C. Secs. 1346, 2671-2680. The FTCA requires that a claimant first bring an administrative claim and allow the offending agency at least six months to act on the claim. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2675(a). In his brief, Rykers stated that he filed an administrative claim, but that the claim was "ignored." Appellant's Brief, at 11. The record shows that no proof of the filing of an administrative claim was presented to the district court, let alone proof that the claim was acted on or that six months had passed. The district court thus did not err in dismissing Rykers' suit against the United States.
Rykers contends that the information the federal prosecutors received from the Louisiana authorities made it obvious that the elements of parental kidnapping were not present. See State v. Elliott, 171 La. 306, 131 So. 28 (1930), more fully discussed below. As a result, when the federal prosecutors authorized a warrant for Rykers' arrest on charges of interstate flight to avoid prosecution, the prosecutors knowingly violated Rykers' right not to be arrested without probable cause.
Prosecutors enjoy absolute immunity for acts taken to initiate prosecution. Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 96 S.Ct. 984, 47 L.Ed.2d 128 (1976). Prosecutors may appeal to this immunity in the face of allegations of the knowing use of perjured testimony and the withholding of exculpatory information. Henzel v. Gerstein, 608 F.2d 654, 657 (5th Cir.1979). Absolute immunity shelters prosecutors even when they act "maliciously, wantonly or negligently." Morrison v. City of Baton Rouge, 761 F.2d 242, 248 (5th Cir.1985).
A prosecutor does not have absolute immunity for administrative or investigatory functions that are not an integral part of the judicial process. Imbler, 424 U.S. at 430, 96 S.Ct. at 995; Marrero v. City of Hialeah, 625 F.2d 499, 506-11 (5th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 913, 101 S.Ct. 1353, 67 L.Ed.2d 337 (1981). In the instant case, the federal prosecutors received information from Louisiana authorities alleging a violation of Louisiana criminal law; translated that information into the federal charge of interstate flight to avoid prosecution under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1073; and obtained a federal arrest warrant. A clearer case of initiating a prosecution can scarcely be imagined. The fact that charges against Rykers were later dropped has no bearing on the absolute immunity of the United States attorneys and their assistants. The district court did not err in dismissing the charges.
Rykers argues that the FBI agents who arrested him in Florida, like the United States Attorney, should have known that, as Aimee's father, he could not be guilty of kidnapping her. Federal law enforcement officers are absolutely immune from common-law suit for actions taken within their authority. Barr v. Mateo, 360 U.S. 564, 571-75, 79 S.Ct. 1335, 1339-42, 3 L.Ed.2d 1434 (1959). However, the officers may be liable under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971).
This Court has repeatedly held that a claim for false arrest or analogous torts is subject to dismissal for failure to state a claim when the arrest is made under a properly issued, facially valid warrant. Smith v. Gonzales, 670 F.2d 522, 526 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1005, 103 S.Ct. 361, 74 L.Ed.2d 397 (1982); Simon v. United States, 644 F.2d 490, 496 (5th Cir.1981). The district court found, and Rykers does not dispute, that the FBI agents acted on a facially valid warrant. Thus, the district court did not err in dismissing the claim against the agents.
Officer Fuqua is protected by qualified immunity for his official acts, so long as he "does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2738, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). Qualified immunity is an affirmative defense that must be established by the official. Harlow, 457 U.S. at 815, 102 S.Ct. at 2736. However, the Supreme Court has characterized the question of whether the law was clearly established at the time of an official's conduct as an appropriate question for summary judgment. Harlow, 457 U.S. at 818, 102 S.Ct. at 2738.
Rykers argues that Officer Fuqua violated the Constitution by submitting an affidavit to obtain an arrest warrant for kidnapping when Officer Fuqua knew that Rykers, as Aimee's father, could not kidnap her absent a custody decree. The Louisiana kidnapping statute defines parental kidnapping as:
(4) The intentional taking, enticing or decoying away and removing from the state, by any parent of his or her child, from the custody of any person to whom custody has been awarded by any court of competent jurisdiction of any state, without the consent of the legal custodian, with intent to defeat the jurisdiction of the said court over the custody of the child.
La.Rev.Stat.Ann. 14:45(A)(4). The Louisiana courts have interpreted this statute as barring prosecution of a father who took his child before a custody decree was handed down. State v. Elliott, 131 So. 28. Other states have similar doctrines. See generally Annotation, Kidnapping or related offense by taking or removing of child by or under authority of parent or one in loco parentis, 20 ALR 4th 823 (1983). Fuqua, as an officer charged with enforcing Louisiana law, can be presumed to know that law. Moreover, because Officer Fuqua's affidavit forms the first link of the paper chain leading to Rykers' arrest, Fuqua, unlike the other government defendants, cannot appeal to the facial validity of a previous document. Nor can Officer Fuqua appeal to the doctrine that an affiant who lays all the facts out before a neutral magistrate is insulated from liability by the magistrate's...
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