Washington v. Simpson

• Decision Date: 26 November 1986
• Docket Number: No. 85-2471,85-2471
• Citation: 806 F.2d 192
• Parties: Wardell WASHINGTON, Appellant, v. Walter SIMPSON, Chief of Police; and Phillip White; John Ball, and John Fink, Officers, Little Rock Police Department, Little Rock, Arkansas; The City of Little Rock; The Little Rock Police Department, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 192

806 F.2d 192

Wardell WASHINGTON, Appellant, v. Walter SIMPSON, Chief of Police; and Phillip White; John Ball, and John Fink, Officers, Little Rock Police Department, Little Rock, Arkansas; The City of Little Rock The Little Rock Police Department, Appellees.

No. 85-2471.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Sept. 11, 1986.

Decided Nov. 26, 1986.

Horace A. Walker, Little Rock, Ark., for appellant.

Victra L. Fewell, Little Rock, Ark., for appellees.

Before ROSS, Circuit Judge, FLOYD R. GIBSON, Senior Circuit Judge, and WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

ROSS, Circuit Judge.

Wardell Washington appeals from the district court's ¹ ruling entered in favor of defendants, Little Rock Police Officers John Fink, John Ball and Phillip White. ² Washington brought this action under 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1981 and 1983 (1982), and also under a corresponding pendent state tort law alleging his fourth and fourteenth amendment rights were violated as a result of an unlawful arrest and unlawful entry into his place of residence. The district court issued a ruling from the bench in favor of the defendants holding that none of appellant's constitutional rights had been violated. We affirm the district court's decision.

I.

Appellee Officer John Fink of the Little Rock Police Department's Warrants Division testified that on September 16, 1981 he was notified by Pam Ball of the Arkansas Parole Department that Sharon Inmon had an outstanding parole violation. Officer Fink already had two Little Rock warrants for Inmon and had confirmation that the Benton Police Department had an active burglary warrant for her. Ms. Ball advised Officer Fink that she had information that Inmon was residing at 1802 Summit, Little Rock, with appellant Wardell Washington.

Officer Fink, along with Officers Ball and White, went to 1802 Summit to serve the three warrants on Inmon. Officer Fink testified he knocked on the front door, loudly identified himself as a police officer, and finding the door slightly ajar, forcefully swung it open to be sure no one was hiding behind it. Officers Fink and White then entered the residence and found Wardell Washington lying on a bed in a back bedroom. Officer Fink asked Washington, "Where's Sharon?" at which appellant responded, "Sharon who?". Officer Fink testified that at this time he observed the lower half of the body of a white female, later identified as Sharon Inmon, protruding from under the bed. Officer Fink testified that he then showed Inmon the two warrants for her arrest, advised her of the third warrant and took her into custody. Officers Fink and White testified that Washington followed them to the front porch, speaking to them in a loud, abusive manner, whereupon Washington was arrested for hindering the apprehension of a fugitive.

The testimony of appellant Washington is in marked contrast to that of the appellee officers. Washington testified that Officers Fink and White, without knocking or otherwise making their presence known, forcefully kicked open the front door to his residence, damaging the lock and door facing. Washington testified that contrary to Officer Fink's testimony, Inmon was not attempting to conceal herself beneath Washington's bed, but instead was sitting at the foot of the bed when the officer entered the room. Washington testified that he followed the officers to the front porch, inquiring as to the damage to his door, to which Officer White responded that Washington had better "shut up" or he would be charged with harboring a fugitive. Washington further testified that Officers White, Ball and Fink addressed him with abusive language and racial slurs.

Washington was arrested and subsequently charged with hindering the apprehension of a fugitive. The hindering charge was later nolle prossed as Washington's federal parole had already been revoked for abuse of illicit drugs while on parole, associating with known felons, and violating the law by hindering the apprehension of a fugitive.

Washington subsequently filed suit against Little Rock Police Officers Fink, Ball and White alleging violations of 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1981 and 1983 stemming from his unlawful arrest and the unlawful entry into his place of residence. Washington now appeals the district court's ruling in favor of appellees, challenging the court's finding that Washington's arrest was in good faith and supported by probable cause, that his arrest was not racially motivated and that the entry into his place of residence was authorized by an arrest warrant for Sharon Inmon, a resident therein. We do not believe these factual findings are clearly erroneous and therefore affirm the district court's decision.

II.

Washington first argues the district court erred in finding that Washington's arrest on the charge of hindering the apprehension of a fugitive was made in good faith and supported by probable cause. Construing appellant's complaint liberally, appellant alleged both a fourth amendment violation actionable under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, as well as a pendent state tort claim of false arrest.

We will initally consider the state law claim which is governed solely by Arkansas state law. Under Arkansas law, once a plaintiff demonstrates that he has been detained against his will, the burden shifts to the defendant to show the detention was by authority of law. McIntosh v. Arkansas Republican Party--Frank White Election Committee, 766 F.2d 337, 341 (8th Cir.1985). The Supreme Court of Arkansas has held that "where the arrest is without a warrant, if the imprisonment is proved or admitted, the burden of justification is on the defendant." Pettijohn v. Smith, 255 Ark. 780, 783, 502 S.W.2d 618, 621 (1973). The test for lawful arrest under both Arkansas and federal constitutional law is similarly grounded on the existence of good faith and probable cause. Under Arkansas law, a police officer "may arrest a person without a warrant if the officer has reasonable cause to believe that such person has committed (iii) any violation of law in the officer's presence." ARK.STAT.ANN. Vol. 4A, Rules of Crim.Proc., Rule 4.1(a)(iii) (Repl.1977). The Arkansas Supreme Court has stated that "reasonable cause" is synonymous with "probable cause," Gaylor v. State, 284 Ark. 215, 217, 681 S.W.2d 348, 349 (1984) and has held that probable cause exists where "the facts and circumstances within the arresting officer's knowledge, and of which he had reasonably trustworthy information, are sufficient in themselves to warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that an offense has been or is being committed by the person to be arrested." Id. The issue is not whether there is sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction, but rather whether there is sufficient evidence for the police officers to believe, in good faith, that they had probable cause to make the arrest.

In the case before us, it is undisputed that Washington's arrest constituted an involuntary detention. Having thus conceded the burden of proof then shifts to the defendant officers to prove lawful justification for the arrest. In order to sustain this burden, the officers testified that Washington was arrested for hindering the apprehension of a fugitive based on the evidence that Sharon Inmon was a wanted person, that she was hiding under appellant's bed with his knowledge, and that appellant responded "Sharon who?" when asked where Sharon was. The officers testified that they interpreted this evidence as an obvious attempt to mislead them or to volunteer false information in order to prevent the apprehension of Inmon.

The trial court properly allocated the burden of proving justification for the arrest to the appellee officers. Notwithstanding appellant's contention to the contrary, the trial court credited the testimony of the arresting officers and found that Inmon was attempting to conceal herself under appellant's bed. Relying on ARK.STAT.ANN. Sec. 41-2805(1)(a) (Supp.1985), which prohibits a person from "harbor[ing] or conceal[ing]" a person sought by police, and Sec. 41-2805(1)(f) (Supp.1985) which prohibits a person from "volunteer[ing] false information to a law enforcement officer" in order to aid a fugitive, the district court concluded that Inmon's attempt to conceal herself in appellant's room, with his knowledge, coupled with appellant's assertion of ignorance regarding Inmon's whereabouts, constituted reasonable belief by the officers that Washington was attempting to hinder the apprehension of Sharon Inmon in violation of Arkansas law.

The district court's finding is primarily grounded on a factual determination of credibility of witnesses, and as such this court must afford great deference to these findings. Our standard of review is narrowly circumscribed by Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which mandates that in cases tried to the court, findings of fact shall not be set aside unless clearly erroneous. When findings are based on determinations regarding the credibility of witnesses, Rule 52 demands even greater deference to the trial court's findings, and in fact, unless contradicted by extrinsic evidence or internally inconsistent, such findings can virtually never be clear error. Anderson v. City of Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 1513, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985); Wilson v. Lambert, 789 F.2d 656, 658 (8th Cir.1986). Under this rigorous standard we are unable to hold that the district court's findings were clearly erroneous.

Appellant also sets forth a section 1983 claim, contending his arrest, having not been based on probable cause, violated his fourth and fourteenth amendment rights. The district court incorrectly reviewed appellant's false arrest claim as presenting only a pendent state tort claim and therefore failed to make a specific finding on the section 1983 issue. Appellant cites McIntosh v. Arkansas Republican Party, supra, wherein this court remanded the section 1983 false arrest claim for the...