Sumpter v. Ahlbrecht
| Decision Date | 26 January 2012 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 10-cv-00580-WYD-MJW |
| Parties | SEAN SUMPTER; KYLE SUMPTER; GEORGE SUMPTER; and KATHIE SUMPTER; Plaintiffs, v. NATHAN AHLBRECHT, individually and in his capacity as an Investigator and Employee of the Elbert County Sheriff's Office; WILLIAM FRANGIS, individually and in his capacity as an Employee of the Elbert County Sheriff's Office; ROBERT PETERSON, individually and in his capacity as an Employee of the Elbert County Sheriff's Office; DOUG DIXON, individually and in his capacity as an Employee of the Elbert County Sheriff's Office; SHAYNE HEAP, individually and in his capacity as an Employee of the Elbert County Sheriff's Office; MICHELLE NAIL, individually and in her capacity as an Employee of the Elbert County Sheriff's Office; ELBERT COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE; and ELBERT COUNTY; Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Colorado |
ORDER
THIS MATTER is before the Court on the following motions: (1) Defendants Frangis, Peterson, Dixon, Heap, Mattive1 , Elbert County Sheriff's Office and Elbert County'sMotion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 70), filed August 8, 2011 and (2) Defendant Nathan Albrecht's [sic] Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 68), filed August 8, 2011. Plaintiffs' Responses to the motions (ECF Nos. 88 and 89) were filed on August 31, 2011, and Defendants filed their Replies (ECF Nos. 92 and 93) on September 19, 2011. After carefully considering the pleadings, I find that both motions for summary judgment should be granted in part and denied in part.
On August 11, 2008, C.D., a sixteen-year-old minor, reported that she had been sexually assaulted by Sean Sumpter ("Sean"), age 17, and Kyle Sumpter ("Kyle"), age 15, at her residence in Elbert County, Colorado. At Memorial Central Hospital, C.D. was examined by a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner to collect physical evidence. The hospital notified the Elbert County Sheriff's Office ("Sheriff's Office"), and Investigator Nathan Ahlbrecht responded. While at the hospital, Investigator Ahlbrecht met with C.D. and interviewed C.D.'s boyfriend, C.D.'s boyfriend's mother, and C.D.'s grandmother.
The following day, C.D. gave a videotaped interview with Investigator Ahlbrecht and his superior, Lt. Michelle Nail. C.D. stated that both Sean and Kyle had subjected her to sexual penetration against her will at approximately 5:30 p.m. on August 11, 2008 and that Sean threatened to "kick her ass" if she told anyone about the assault. (Aff. of Probable Cause, Ex. B at 2, ECF No. 72-2.)
Based on C.D.'s statement that she had received various calls from the Sumpter residence, Investigator Ahlbrecht and Lt. Nail had C.D. make a pretext phone call toSean on August 14, 2008. The Officers were informed that Sean was unavailable because he was at football practice until 6:00 p.m. Later that evening, Investigator Ahlbrecht called George Sumpter ("Mr. Sumpter"), Sean and Kyle's father, told him that there were allegations against his sons, and asked him to bring them in for an interview. Mr. Sumpter refused to do so without knowing the nature of the allegations, but Investigator Ahlbrecht said he would disclose that information only when the teens came to give an interview. The conversation ended and Mr. Sumpter did not take Sean and Kyle to the Sheriff's Office. The following morning, August 15, 2008, Mr. Sumpter called Ahlbrecht and stated that he would bring in his sons for the requested interview without any contingencies.2 Investigator Ahlbrecht told Mr. Sumpter that doing so was not necessary because the Sheriff's Office had moved on to "bigger and better things." (Aff. of George Sumpter, Ex. 1 ¶ 5, ECF No. 78-1.)
Also on August 15, 2008, Investigator Ahlbrecht gave the district attorney's office an affidavit of probable cause to arrest Sean and Kyle on charges of sexual assault, first degree burglary, second degree criminal trespassing, false imprisonment, and assault in the third degree. That same day, the Elbert County District Court issued arrest warrants for Sean and Kyle.
Prior to the events in question, the Sheriff's Office had two previous encounters with the Sumpter family. In 2007, Mrs. Sumpter called 9-1-1 because Mr. Sumpter threatened to commit suicide, and she informed Sheriff's Office deputies that there were several guns in the house. In January 2008, Mrs. Sumpter called the police for helpwith Sean because she was afraid that he might hurt Kyle and because he punched a hole in the wall, pushed her into a wall, and said he could kill her.3 These events led to Sean's arrest for criminal mischief and harassment. In a letter to the sentencing judge regarding the January 2008 event,4 Mrs. Sumpter explained that she was writing because "if Sean heard me saying these things he wouldn't rest until he hunted me down and killed me," and she concluded that the judge "would be signing our death sentence" if Sean were sent home. (Ex. C at 1, 3, ECF No. 72-3.) Plaintiffs argue that there is no evidence that Lt. Nail actually saw the letter or court documents relating to the January 2008 incident.
On August 15, 2008, Investigator Ahlbrecht went to execute the arrest warrants at the Sumpter residence with the assistance of Sgt. Robert Peterson, Deputy Doug Dixon, and then-Sheriff Bill Frangis. Plaintiffs allege that other Officers were present as well, including Defendant Heap. Sean and Mrs. Sumpter were the only individuals home when the Officers arrived. With Sheriff Frangis at the back door, Investigator Ahlbrecht knocked at the front door and announced the Officers' presence. Sean heard the Officers announce themselves, whereas Mrs. Sumpter thought that the bump at the front door was her horse. Rather than answer the door, Sean went to the laundry room5 while Mrs. Sumpter went to the bathroom on the other side of the house. The Officers then went to the back door, knocked, and again announced their presence.
Neither Sean nor Mrs. Sumpter opened the back door, and after a few minutes the Officers entered the house. At least three of the Officers had their weapons drawn. The Officers called for Sean and Kyle to come out, but Sean remained in the laundry room until the Officers came around the corner and saw him.6 When Sean first emerged from behind the laundry room door, Investigator Ahlbrecht aimed his weapon at Sean. Defendants claim that Investigator Ahlbrecht immediately lowered his weapon when he saw that Sean was unarmed, and that no other officers pointed their weapons at Sean. Plaintiffs claim that various officers, including Investigator Ahlbrecht, Deputy Dixon, and Officer Heap, aimed their firearms at Sean when he emerged from the laundry room.
At this point, Sean did not offer any resistance to the arrest, though the parties dispute the manner in which Sean was handcuffed. Sean states in his deposition that the Officers "did a little move" to push him to the floor on his face, and then put a boot on his back while handcuffing him.7 (Ex. I at 82:4.) Defendants allege that Sean complied with an order to lie down and that Sgt. Peterson then handcuffed him with either a boot or a knee on his back. At this time, Mrs. Sumpter emerged from the bathroom and saw her son on the ground surrounded by the Officers. Plaintiffs claim that the Officers were yelling at Sean while he was handcuffed, attempting to elicitinformation from him, and that Investigator Ahlbrecht, Deputy Dixon, and Officer Heap aimed their firearms at him while he was on the ground.
Sean was subsequently transported to the Elbert County jail. On August 16, 2008, Kyle turned himself into the Sheriff's Office, where he was arrested without incident. Sean was incarcerated for twenty-five days, and Kyle was incarcerated for twenty-four days.
Shortly after Sean and Kyle were arrested, Mrs. Sumpter typed formed alibi statements stating in full:
(Ex. K, ECF No. 72-11.) Mrs. Sumpter appears to have added the handwritten note "This was Monday the first day of football camp" on many of the statements before they were signed. (Ex. K.) Several individuals signed the statements between August 19 and August 21, 2008, and some of the individuals modified the statement with handwritten explanations. Mrs. Sumpter alleges that she gave the alibi statements to the deputy district attorney on August 22, 2008, though it is unclear what the deputy did with the statements. Investigator Ahlbrecht and Lt. Nail claim that they did not receive the alibi statements from the deputy district attorney until months later.8
On August 20, 2008, Investigator Ahlbrecht submitted a second round of affidavits of probable cause. On August 29, 2008, Investigator Ahlbrecht, at the requestof the district attorney's office, prepared and signed an affidavit of probable cause for nontestimonial identification. After the court had granted the district attorney's motion for nontestimonial evidence, buccal swabs and saliva samples were taken from Sean and Kyle, and photographs of Sean's pubic area were taken.
At a preliminary hearing on November 20, 2008, C.D. testified that the alleged sexual assault occurred around 2:00 p.m., contradicting her prior statements that the assault had occurred at 5:30 p.m. Also at the hearing, Sean's football coach testified that Sean was at football practice from 5:00 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. on the date of the alleged assault. The district attorney assigned an investigator to follow up on C.D.'s allegations, and C.D. eventually admitted that she falsified her allegations against Sean and Kyle. The criminal cases against Sean and Kyle were dismissed on March 12, 2009.
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