Smiddy v. Varney
| Decision Date | 25 February 1987 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 83-6507,85-5687 and 85-6007,s. 83-6507 |
| Citation | 803 F.2d 1469 |
| Parties | Gary D. SMIDDY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Dudley D. VARNEY, Sidney Nuckles, Raymond Inglin, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Michael Lightfoot, Carla Woehrle, Talcott, Vandevelle & Woehrle, Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee.
Richard M. Helgeson, Asst. City Atty., Los Angeles, Cal., for defendants-appellants.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Before GOODWIN and NELSON, Circuit Judges, and SCHWARZER, District Judge *.
This case is before us for the second time. 1 In this appeal we must decide whether the district court correctly resolved the remanded question: whether the police officers were liable for damages incurred after the prosecutor filed the criminal complaint against Smiddy. We must also consider the award of attorneys' fees.
Gary Smiddy brought this action in 1976 under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 against the City and County of Los Angeles and certain employees of the Los Angeles Police Department. He sought damages caused by his arrest without a warrant or probable cause in violation of his constitutional rights. Officers Varney and Nuckles arrested him for murder on November 15, 1973. He was identified to them as the last person seen with the deceased. Four days later, a deputy district attorney filed a criminal complaint charging Smiddy with the murder of the victim.
After a preliminary hearing before a municipal court, Smiddy was bound over to the superior court. He was incarcerated approximately 30 days from the time of his arrest until December 15, when he was released on bond. On January 23, 1974, a judge of the superior court dismissed the murder charge, finding it unsupported by probable cause.
Following a seven-week trial, a civil jury found that the officers had no probable cause for Smiddy's arrest and assessed his damages at $250,000. The verdict and judgment assessed all damages as caused by the arrest. The verdict also supports an inference that the jury found that Varney and Nuckles were not entitled to a defense of good faith belief that probable cause existed. Smiddy I, 665 F.2d at 266.
Because the trial court had failed to consider the legal effect of the district attorney's filing of the murder complaint on Smiddy's continuing loss of liberty, Smiddy I reversed the judgment. The award of damages was vacated for retrial pursuant to Smiddy I. We also remanded the award of attorneys' fees for reconsideration after proper review of the damages in light of this court's opinion.
Smiddy I held that there is a rebuttable presumption that a prosecutor exercises independent judgment regarding the existence of probable cause in filing a complaint. The presumption can be overcome, for example, by evidence that the officers knowingly submitted false information or pressured the prosecutor to act contrary to her independent judgment. Smiddy I at 266-267. Unless overcome, however, the presumption insulates the arresting officers from liability for harm suffered after the prosecutor initiated formal prosecution. Smiddy I at 267. The error of the original verdict was that it made the officers liable for damages attributable to the entire period in custody without ever considering the effect of the complaint and bind over.
On remand, the district court concluded that, despite the failure of the jury to consider the question, the record showed that the prosecutor's filing of the complaint was a "normal, foreseeable, and direct consequence" of the officers' negligent conduct. This assumption might have had some validity had it been made by the jury on proper instructions. The court apparently thought, however, that this conclusion was compelled by the jury's failure to exonerate the officers from all liability by rejecting the good faith defense. The court concluded also that the prosecutor could not be said to have exercised independent judgment as to the existence of probable cause because the record of the first trial was silent on the point. The court took no new testimony on the matter and ruled for Smiddy on cross-motions for summary judgment.
We review the grant of summary judgment de novo to determine whether there are any genuine issues of material fact and whether the district court correctly applied the substantive law. Deukmejian v. United States Postal Service, 734 F.2d 460, 462 (9th Cir.1984). We must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. R.F.D. Publications, Inc. v. Oregonian Publishing Co., 749 F.2d 1327, 1328 (9th Cir.1984). But on this record there remain no disputed facts.
In the absence of record evidence contradicting the testimony in the deposition of the deputy district attorney, and in the absence of evidence that the officers were motivated by personal animus against Smiddy, the trial court should have ruled for the defense on the basis of the standard burden of proof, and the law of the case.
The burden was upon Smiddy to prove facts that would overcome the presumption mentioned in Smiddy I that the district attorney acted according to law. The presumption is a common device to direct the order of proof. See Cal.Evid.Code Sec. 664 (West 1982). If Smiddy had contrary evidence, e.g., that the district attorney was subjected to unreasonable pressure by the police officers, or that the officers knowingly withheld relevant information with the intent to harm Smiddy, or that the officers knowingly supplied false information, Smiddy had the burden to produce it. In the absence of evidence to rebut the presumption, the presumption was sufficient to require summary judgment for the defendants upon the specific point covered by the remand. The court should then have taken the appropriate steps with or without a jury, to reassess damages and attorneys' fees.
The ruling in Smiddy I is the law of the case, to the extent that it has not been modified or overturned by a supervening Supreme Court decision. Moore v. Jas. H. Mathews & Co., 682 F.2d 830, 833-34 (9th Cir.1982); lB J.M. Moore, J.D. Lucas, T.S. Currier, Moore's Federal Practice and Procedures p 0.404 at 4238 (2d ed. 1984).
Both parties urge us to consider the recent decision in Malley v. Briggs, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 1092, 89 L.Ed.2d 271 (1986). We see no inconsistency between that case and Smiddy I. Both cases apply qualified immunity to the conduct of the arresting officer. The Malley Court, moreover, did not have before it the issue addressed in Smiddy I concerning the immunizing effect of a prosecutor's decision to file a criminal complaint.
The district court's task, on remand, was to conduct those additional proceedings or inquiries which the appellate court's order...
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