Sattler v. Johnson

• Decision Date: 17 October 1988
• Docket Number: No. 87-1632,87-1632
• Citation: 857 F.2d 224
• Parties: William SATTLER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Darrell JOHNSON, in his capacity as Sheriff of Nicholas County, West Virginia, and as an individual; Lloyd Dillon, in his capacity as a deputy sheriff of Nicholas County, West Virginia, and as an individual; Robert Bennett, in his capacity as a deputy sheriff of Nicholas County, West Virginia, and as an individual; Cheslie Coulter, in his capacity as a deputy sheriff of Nicholas County, West Virginia, and as an individual; Nicholas County Sheriff's Department, as a local governmental body of the State of West Virginia; Ralph Bailey, in his former capacity as a member of the West Virginia Department of Public Safety, a governmental agency of the State of West Virginia, and as an individual; Robert Adams, in his former capacity as a member of the West Virginia Department of Public Safety, a governmental agency of the State of West Virginia, and in his capacity as Sheriff of Nicholas County, West Virginia; William Fred Donahoe, in his official capacity as superintendent of the West Virginia Department of Public Safety; the County Commission of Nicholas County, a statutory corporation, Defendants-Appellees, and West Virginia Department of Public Safety, as governmental agency of the State of West Virginia; Shirley Cutlip, in his capacity as President of the County Commission of Nicholas County; Don Hartley, in his capacity as Commissioner of Nicholas County, West Virginia; Carroll T. Lay, in his capacity as Commissioner of Nicholas County, West Virginia, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 224

857 F.2d 224

William SATTLER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Darrell JOHNSON, in his capacity as Sheriff of Nicholas County, West Virginia, and as an individual; Lloyd Dillon in his capacity as a deputy sheriff of Nicholas County, West Virginia, and as an individual; Robert Bennett, in his capacity as a deputy sheriff of Nicholas County, West Virginia, and as an individual; Cheslie Coulter, in his capacity as a deputy sheriff of Nicholas County, West Virginia, and as an individual; Nicholas County Sheriff's Department, as a local governmental body of the State of West Virginia; Ralph Bailey, in his former capacity as a member of the West Virginia Department of Public Safety, a governmental agency of the State of West Virginia, and as an individual; Robert Adams, in his former capacity as a member of the West Virginia Department of Public Safety, a governmental agency of the State of West Virginia, and in his capacity as Sheriff of Nicholas County, West Virginia William Fred Donahoe, in his official capacity as superintendent of the West Virginia Department of Public Safety; the County Commission of Nicholas County, a statutory corporation, Defendants-Appellees and West Virginia Department of Public Safety, as governmental agency of the State of West Virginia; Shirley Cutlip, in his capacity as President of the County Commission of Nicholas County; Don Hartley, in his capacity as Commissioner of Nicholas County, West Virginia; Carroll T Lay, in his capacity as Commissioner of Nicholas County, West Virginia, Defendants.

No. 87-1632.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued June 9, 1988.

Decided Sept. 19, 1988.

Rehearing Denied Oct. 17, 1988.

Michael Cowan Farber, Sutton, W.Va., for plaintiff-appellant.

Robert Paul Martin, Charleston, W.Va., for defendants-appellees.

Before PHILLIPS, SPROUSE and ERVIN, Circuit Judges.

SPROUSE, Circuit Judge:

William Sattler appeals the district court's order dismissing his 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 complaint as barred by the applicable statute of limitations with respect to all but two defendants. ¹ The complaint charged that certain law enforcement officers had conspired to burn Sattler's tavern and that other defendants had failed to prosecute those responsible for the arson. There is no question that Sattler has been grossly victimized by some law enforcement officials in his West Virginia community. This appeal, however, does not involve judging those acts or the harm flowing from them. We consider only the correctness of the district court's dismissal of the defendants whom Sattler attempted to gather into his lawsuit by alleging a continuing conspiracy to prevent him from obtaining justice. We agree with the district court that the statute of limitations bars Sattler's complaint against all but two of the defendants and affirm its order granting their motions to dismiss.

On March 4, 1982, the "Rebel Shelter," a tavern owned by Sattler located in Nicholas County, West Virginia was destroyed by fire. No criminal charges were brought for some time, while state and federal criminal investigations continued. Sattler, believing that local law enforcement officials had been involved in the fire, attempted a private investigation in the hope of filing a civil action. He was denied information and otherwise frustrated in his attempts to discover evidence for his civil trial by county, state, and federal officials who contended they needed to protect the progress of the criminal investigation. ²

Sattler filed his initial complaint on February 27, 1984. The complaint alleged that Darrell Johnson, Nicholas County's sheriff, conspired with two of his deputies, Robert Bennett and Lloyd Dillon, to burn Sattler's tavern and to cover up their crimes. It further alleged that the cover-up denied Sattler his constitutional right to have Johnson, Bennett, and Lloyd prosecuted for the arson. The complaint also included a claim against the County Commission of Nicholas County and its three commissioners for failure to supervise and control its sheriff's department.

On October 10, 1985, state and federal indictments were returned against Johnson, Bennett, and Dillon for their involvement in the arson. The indictments also named an additional defendant, Ralph Bailey, a West Virginia State Policeman at the time of the arson, as a participant in the conspiracy. At a pretrial conference on September 2, 1986, Sattler agreed to have the district court dismiss his 1984 complaint without prejudice pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 41. Sattler obtained agreements from two of the defendants, Johnson and Dillon, to waive their rights to assert the statute of limitations in the event Sattler refiled the suit.

Two days after Sattler agreed to have his first complaint dismissed, he filed a second complaint. In his second complaint Sattler added several additional defendants: Cheslie Coulter, a former Nicholas County deputy sheriff; Ralph Bailey, a former officer of the West Virginia State Police; Robert Adams, another former West Virginia State Police officer; the West Virginia Department of Public Safety; and William Donahoe, Superintendent of the West Virginia Department of Public Safety. The second complaint contained allegations largely identical to those of the former complaint. The primary change was the addition of a claim against Adams and the Nicholas County Commissioners that they conspired to obstruct justice by covering up the arson and thereby deprived Sattler of his constitutional rights. Allegedly, this conspiracy continued up to the time the indictments were returned in October 1985.

The defendants moved to dismiss the complaint, claiming it was barred by West Virginia's two-year statute of limitations, W.Va.Code Sec. 55-2-12. Sattler contended his claims were not time-barred because they included a claim for obstruction of justice that was ongoing through October 1985. ³ He also argued that the defendants were estopped from raising the statute of limitations because their obstruction of justice had prevented him from obtaining sufficient information to form the basis of a complaint until the issuance of the indictments. The district...