Williams v. Divittoria, Civ. A. No. 90-0491.

• Court: United States District Courts. 5th Circuit. United States District Court (Eastern District of Louisiana)
• Writing for the Court: Scott G. Vincent, Cleveland, Barrios, Kingsdorf & Casteix, New Orleans, La., for defendants
• Citation: 760 F. Supp. 564
• Parties: Frances Marie WILLIAMS, a/k/a Francis Williams Smith v. Danny DIVITTORIA, et al.
• Decision Date: 21 March 1991
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 90-0491.

760 F. Supp. 564

Frances Marie WILLIAMS, a/k/a Francis Williams Smith
v.
Danny DIVITTORIA, et al.

Civ. A. No. 90-0491.

United States District Court, E.D. Louisiana.

March 21, 1991.

760 F. Supp. 565

Otha C. Nelson, Sr., Baton Rouge, La., for plaintiff.

Scott G. Vincent, Cleveland, Barrios, Kingsdorf & Casteix, New Orleans, La., for defendants.

ROBERT F. COLLINS, District Judge.

Defendants, J. Edward Layrisson, Sheriff of Tangipahoa Parish, and Danny Divittoria, Deputy Sheriff, Parish of Tangipahoa, move this Court, pursuant to Rule 56 or alternatively Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, for summary judgment dismissing the claims of plaintiff, Frances Marie Williams, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1982). For reasons stated below the motion is DENIED IN PART AND GRANTED IN PART.

FACTS

The following facts are undisputed for purposes of this motion:

(1) On June 15, 1989, Norma Jean Divittoria, bus driver for the Independence Middle School, telephoned local law enforcement authorities and lodged a complaint against Frances Williams, alleging Williams had interfered with her attempts to pick up school children and had made threats to her.

(2) Officer Tony Aguado of the Independence Police Department and Deputy Divittoria of the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office responded to the disturbance call, located Williams and arrested her.

(3) Williams was taken to the Tangipahoa Parish Jail and charged with public intimidation pursuant to LSA-R.S. 14:122(5). She spent no more than two hours in custody.

(4) On June 26, 1989, Deputy Divittoria submitted a warrant application to Judge Anzalone of the 21st Judicial District Court of Louisiana. Judge Anzalone issued the warrant.

760 F. Supp. 566

(5) On July 27, 1989, Williams filed a Motion for Preliminary Examination, wherein she sought a dismissal of the charges against her based on the alleged absence of probable cause. At the Preliminary Examination, Williams was represented by counsel. After the presentation of evidence and testimony, Judge Anzalone denied the relief sought, finding probable cause existed for the charges.

(6) On November 8, 1989, the date of Williams' trial, the charges were dismissed when the State's witnesses, who were not subpoenaed or notified, did not appear to testify.

(7) Sheriff Layrisson was not present at the scene of the incident which forms the basis of this litigation. Sheriff Layrisson did not participate in the arrest, incarceration and prosecution of Frances Williams, nor did he advise, assist, ratify or direct the Tangipahoa Parish District Attorney's Office concerning the prosecution of Frances Williams.

I.

Williams brings false arrest and malicious prosecution claims under § 1983, alleging that she was arrested in bad faith and without probable cause by Officer Divittoria. Liberally construed, the plaintiff's complaint has stated a prima facie case based upon the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable seizures. Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 555, 87 S.Ct. 1213, 1218, 18 L.Ed.2d 288 (1967); Landrigan v. City of Warwich, 628 F.2d 736, 743 (1st Cir.1980); Duriso v. K-Mart, 559 F.2d 1274, 1277 (5th Cir.1977).

Defendants, however, argue that Williams has failed to properly state a § 1983 claim because Judge Anzalone's finding of probable cause at the Preliminary Examination on July 27, 1989 precludes relitigation of that issue. Defendants cite Zanghi v. Inc. Village of Old Brookville, 752 F.2d 42 (2d Cir.1985), and Terrones v. Allen, 680 F.Supp. 1483 (D.Colo.1988), to support their argument.¹ Both these cases hold that a plaintiff claiming a § 1983 violation based upon lack of probable cause to arrest will be collaterally estopped from raising the issue of probable cause where an administrative agency, acting in a judicial capacity, has previously found probable cause to exist. Zanghi, 752 F.2d at 46; Terrones, 680 F.Supp. at 1487-88.

In determining whether to give preclusive effect to a state court's judgment, a federal court is obligated to apply the preclusion rule of the state in which the judgment was rendered. See 28 U.S.C. § 1738 (1982); Migra v. Warren City School Dist. Bd. of Educ., 465 U.S. 75, 81, 104 S.Ct. 892, 896, 79 L.Ed.2d 56 (1984); Gauthier v. Continental Diving Servs., Inc., 831 F.2d 559, 561 (5th Cir.1987). The question, then, turns on whether Louisiana courts would give preclusive effect to the Preliminary Examination. Louisiana courts, however, do not recognize "collateral estoppel." Welch v. Crown Zellerbach Corp., 359 So.2d 154 (La.1978) (collateral estoppel or issue of preclusion does not exist in Louisiana law). Therefore, defendants' reliance on Terrones and Zanghi, both of which bar § 1983 suits by collateral estoppel, is improper.

For cases filed before January 1, 1991, Louisiana law recognizes, however, a limited version of res judicata, to which the defendants'...