White v. Moulder

• Decision Date: 14 July 1994
• Docket Number: No. 93-1307,93-1307
• Citation: 30 F.3d 80
• Parties: Ronald WHITE; Jodi White, Appellants, v. William MOULDER, in his official capacity as Chief of Police of the City of Des Moines; Ronald Foster, individually and in his official capacity as Police Officer of the City of Des Moines, IA; David Noel, individually and in his official capacity as Police Officer of the City of Des Moines, IA; Polk County, IA; City of Des Moines, IA; James Ramey, individually and in his official capacity as an Assistant Polk County Attorney, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 80

30 F.3d 80

Ronald WHITE; Jodi White, Appellants, v. William MOULDER, in his official capacity as Chief of Police of the City of Des Moines; Ronald Foster, individually and in his official capacity as Police Officer of the City of Des Moines, IA; David Noel, individually and in his official capacity as Police Officer of the City of Des Moines, IA; Polk County, IA; City of Des Moines, IA James Ramey, individually and in his official capacity as an Assistant Polk County Attorney, Appellees.

No. 93-1307.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Oct. 13, 1993.

Decided July 14, 1994.

Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing

En Banc Denied Aug. 1994.

Alfredo Parrish, Des Moines, IA, argued for appellant.

Mark Godwin, Des Moines, IA, appeared for James Ramey and Polk County and argued.

Bruce Bergman, Des Moines, IA, appeared for other appellees and on the brief.

Before FAGG, Circuit Judge, HEANEY, Senior Circuit Judge, and MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, Circuit Judge.

FAGG, Circuit Judge.

Des Moines police officer Ronald White supervised a search in which police officers seized ten $100 bills and a winning $50 lottery ticket from suspects accused of drug charges. Police officers photographed the seized currency and lottery ticket at the scene of the search. When the prosecution offered the seized evidence at the suspects' state court trial, the lottery ticket was missing and the exhibit envelope contained nine $100 bills, a $50 bill, two $20 bills, and a $10 bill. Believing someone had tampered with the evidence, the trial judge asked Ronald Foster and David Noel, Des Moines police officers who had been present at the search, to count the currency and prepare an inventory by denomination and serial number. Because the trial judge allowed the suspects to plead guilty to lesser charges, the trial ended and the exhibit envelope containing the currency was returned to the police department along with the officers' inventory.

During an investigation into the missing evidence, a police identification technician found Foster and Noel's inventory mistakenly listed the $50 bill twice and neglected to list the smaller bills. An identification sergeant notified Foster, who put the information in his field notes and also told Noel and Polk County Attorney James Ramey about the mistakes. Ramey told Foster he did not need the information from Foster's field notes at that time. A police investigator also learned that Officer White's spouse, Jodi White, cashed the missing lottery ticket the day after the search. About a month later, Ramey filed a state charge against Officer White for theft of the missing $100 bill and lottery ticket. The police department then dismissed Officer White from employment.

Before Officer White's trial on the theft charge, his attorney filed a motion to produce exculpatory evidence, but Ramey produced no evidence. At Officer White's trial, Ramey represented to the judge that the serial numbers on the currency in the exhibit envelope at the suspects' trial matched the serial numbers on the currency inventory prepared by Foster and Noel. After Ramey's representation proved untrue, Foster testified about telling Ramey of the mistakes in the inventory. Finding Ramey "knowingly, willfully, intentionally and deliberately suppressed exculpatory evidence," the trial judge struck the testimony about the currency seized in the search and instructed the jury to disregard all evidence about the currency. The jury acquitted Officer White. Officer White was later ordered reinstated on the police force with back pay.

Officer White brought this action under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 against Des Moines Chief of Police William Moulder and the City of Des Moines, claiming his dismissal from the police force violated his right to due process. Officer White made additional Sec. 1983 claims against Foster, Noel, Ramey, and Polk County, claiming violations of his right to a fair trial. Officer White and Jodi White also made state law claims against Moulder, the City of Des Moines, Foster, Noel, Ramey, and Polk County, for intentional infliction of emotional distress. The district court granted summary judgment denying all the Whites' claims. The Whites appeal and we affirm.

Our review is limited to issues specifically raised and argued in the Whites' brief. See United States v. Simmons, 964 F.2d 763, 777 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 632, 121 L.Ed.2d 563 (1992). We thus do not address Officer White's claims against Moulder and the City of Des Moines, which the Whites did not brief. As for the issues raised in the Whites' brief, we may affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment on any ground supported by record. See Cochenour v. Cochenour, 888 F.2d 1244, 1246 (8th Cir.1989).

On appeal, Officer White rests his Sec. 1983 claims on his assertion that he was denied his constitutionally protected right to a fair trial when Foster, Noel, and Ramey failed to disclose the evidence of mistakes in the currency inventory to Officer White or his attorney before Officer White's state court trial started. Our review of Officer White's Sec. 1983 claims necessarily begins with the threshold question of whether Officer White has been deprived of a constitutional right. See Baker v. McCollan, 443 U.S. 137, 140, 99 S.Ct. 2689, 2692, 61 L.Ed.2d 433 (1979). After considering Officer White's trial as a whole, we conclude Officer White has failed to show a constitutional violation because his trial was not fundamentally unfair. See Christman v. Hanrahan, 500 F.2d 65, 67-68 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 1050, 95 S.Ct. 626, 42 L.Ed.2d 644 (1974). Because the mistakes in preparing the currency inventory were discovered during Officer White's trial, Officer White's complaint is essentially about the timing of discovery of evidence Officer White considers favorable to his defense. See id. at 68. The delayed disclosure did not prejudice Officer White's defense, however, because the trial court effectively prevented unfair jury influence by striking all the evidence about the seized currency and directing the jury to disregard the evidence, and because Officer White was acquitted on theft of the $100 bill and the lottery ticket. Although the...