Stonecipher v. Valles
| Decision Date | 01 July 2014 |
| Docket Number | No. 13–2124.,13–2124. |
| Citation | 759 F.3d 1134 |
| Parties | Anthony STONECIPHER and Melissa Stonecipher, Plaintiffs–Appellants, v. Special Agents Carlos VALLES; John Estrada; David Tabullo; McCarthy; King; and Jorgensen, Defendants–Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Derek Garcia, Law Office of Derek V. Garcia, P.C., Albuquerque, NM, for Appellants.
Edward Himmelfarb, Appellate Staff (Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney General, Steven Yarbrough, United States Attorney, and Barbara L. Herwig, Appellate Staff, with him on the brief), United States Department of Justice, Civil Division, Washington, D.C., for Appellees.
Before KELLY, TYMKOVICH, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges.
Anthony and Melissa Stonecipher became targets of an investigation into their purchases and sales of firearms and explosives. During the investigation, federal officers discovered that Mr. Stonecipher had pleaded guilty in 2007 to a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence in Missouri. One of the officers, Carlos Valles, concluded Mr. Stonecipher had violated federal law, which makes it illegal for anyone convicted of even a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence to possess a firearm.
Acting on this knowledge, Valles obtained a search warrant for the Stoneciphers' home. Valles executed the search and arrested Mr. Stonecipher, who was subsequently charged with unlawful firearms possession.
It turns out, however, that Mr. Stonecipher had not been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence for purposes of federal law. Prosecutors soon learned that the Missouri conviction did not count because the sentence had been suspended and, under Missouri law, a suspended sentence in these circumstances does not amount to a conviction. With this knowledge, the government dismissed the criminal complaint.
The Stoneciphers filed a Bivens1 action against Valles and other law enforcement officers involved in the investigation, alleging violations of their Fourth and First Amendment rights in connection with the search of their home and Mr. Stonecipher's arrest and prosecution. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants on the grounds of qualified immunity. The Stoneciphers appealed the grant of summary judgment on their claims for unreasonable search and seizure, unlawful arrest, malicious prosecution, and violation of their First Amendment rights.
Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court. For purposes of qualified immunity, Valles had enough information to (1) conclude he had probable cause to search the Stoneciphers' home; and (2) arrest and file charges based on Mr. Stonecipher's possession of firearms and explosives. Further, there was no evidence that Mr. Stonecipher's arrest and prosecution were in retaliation for the exercise of his First Amendment rights.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) began an investigation into Melissa Stonecipher's purchase of handguns from a federally licensed firearms dealer in New Mexico. She purchased fourteen handguns over the course of ten months, including twelve on a single day. The ATF also received information that her husband, Anthony, was attempting to sell firearms from their house.
Special Agent Valles and his colleague, John Estrada, went undercover to the Stoneciphers' house and purchased a firearm and two explosives from Mr. Stonecipher. After testing, the ATF determined the sale of the explosives ran afoul of 18 U.S.C. § 842(a)(1), which prohibits sales of certain types of explosive materials without a federal license. Valles also confirmed that Mr. Stonecipher bought and sold firearms, gun parts, and ammunition online and that the Stoneciphers did not have federal firearms or explosives licenses.
Valles investigated Mr. Stonecipher's criminal history. During this investigation, Valles obtained a certified court document showing that Mr. Stonecipher pleaded guilty in Missouri to a misdemeanor charge of “Domestic Assault—Third Degree” on April 16, 2007. The document also showed the Missouri court imposed a suspended imposition of sentence, which required Mr. Stonecipher to serve one year of probation and that he was discharged from probation after serving the one-year term. In addition to the state court file, Valles obtained a report from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) that indicated Mr. Stonecipher had been denied the right to purchase a gun in 2007 because of a conviction for domestic assault. He also obtained a National Criminal Information Center (NCIC) report that noted Mr. Stonecipher's guilty plea to the Missouri domestic assault charge.
Valles and Special Agent Joel Marquez sought legal advice from the United States Attorney as to whether Mr. Stonecipher's firearms possession and sale violated 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), which makes it a crime for anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence to possess a firearm. An Assistant United States Attorney, Ron Jennings, reviewed Mr. Stonecipher's file and concluded that he was prohibited from possessing firearms under the statute due to his previous domestic assault conviction.
Valles prepared an application and supporting affidavit for a search warrant for the Stoneciphers' house. Valles averred that Mr. Stonecipher was likely in violation of § 922(g)(9) because Mr. Stonecipher had been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence in Missouri in 2007. The application, however, did not mention that Mr. Stonecipher received a suspended imposition of sentence for the crime, which the documents disclosed. Valles also mentioned in his affidavit that the NICS report indicated Mr. Stonecipher was previously denied the right to purchase a firearm because of his conviction, but he omitted that the report also noted his denial status was overturned.
The application also averred the Stoneciphers were likely in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 842(a)(1), which prohibits unlicensed dealing in explosive materials, and that Mr. Stonecipher was likely in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d), which prohibits a person from possessing firearms not registered to him. Jennings approved the final version of the warrant application. Valles then submitted the application and supporting affidavit to a magistrate judge, who issued the search warrant.
Valles, along with other ATF agents and state and local law enforcement officers, executed the search warrant. Valles and Estrada arrived undercover at the Stoneciphers' home and asked Mr. Stonecipher to inspect a weapon in their car. The agents then arrested Mr. Stonecipher, placed him in a police car, and read him his Miranda rights. He refused to answer the officers' questions, asserted the officers were violating his Second Amendment rights, and maintained his innocence of any crime. Mrs. Stonecipher was patted down, handcuffed, led outside, and detained while agents searched the house. She was not arrested.
While the agents were conducting the search, Mr. Stonecipher asked for permission to retrieve documents from inside the house. One document was a letter to Mr. Stonecipher from his criminal defense attorney in Missouri. The letter, written shortly after Mr. Stonecipher pleaded guilty, noted that a guilty plea to domestic assault, assuming Mr. Stonecipher served his probation, would not count as a conviction on his record. Mr. Stonecipher read part of the letter aloud to Valles and other agents, and Valles read the letter himself. Because the statement conflicted with Jennings's legal advice, the agents continued the search.
The next day, Valles informed Jennings about the contents of the letter from Mr. Stonecipher's attorney, but Jennings advised Valles to proceed with the case. Valles prepared a criminal complaint and supporting affidavit, which Jennings approved, and Valles filed the criminal complaint in federal district court. Five days later, upon discovering that Mr. Stonecipher's previous domestic assault was not a qualifying conviction, the prosecuting United States Attorney filed a motion to have the complaint dismissed, which the magistrate judge granted.
The Stoneciphers brought a civil rights action against Valles and five other ATF agents involved in the search. The defendants moved to dismiss some claims on qualified immunity grounds. The court held that the defendants were entitled to qualified immunity because they reasonably concluded on the facts available that they had probable cause to search the house and arrest and file charges against Mr. Stonecipher.
The Stoneciphers contend the officers are not entitled to qualified immunity because the search, as well as Mr. Stonecipher's arrest and prosecution, were unsupported by probable cause, in violation of the Fourth Amendment. They also contend Mr. Stonecipher was arrested and prosecuted in retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights.2
We review grants of summary judgment based on qualified immunity de novo. Estate of B.I.C. v. Gillen, 710 F.3d 1168, 1172 (10th Cir.2013). At the summary judgment stage in a qualified immunity case, the court may not weigh evidence and must resolve genuine disputes of material fact in favor of the nonmoving party. Tolan v. Cotton, ––– U.S. ––––, 134 S.Ct. 1861, 1866, 188 L.Ed.2d 895 (2014). Summary judgment is appropriate only if “the movant shows that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a).
When a defendant raises qualified immunity as a defense, “a plaintiff must properly allege a deprivation of a constitutional right and must further show that the constitutional right was clearly established at the time of the violation.” Kaufman v. Higgs, 697 F.3d 1297, 1300 (10th Cir.2012). “[W]hether an official protected by qualified immunity may be held personally liable...
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