Williams v. Wright
| Decision Date | 10 August 1976 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 74-614. |
| Parties | Paul WILLIAMS, Plaintiff, v. Michael WRIGHT, James Hunt, Richard Horn, David Richardson, Jack Wong, Kernen Bagley, Ray Hume, Everette Langford, Charles Hill, Howard Mayhew, Robert Trummer, Neil Gearhart, Ron Still, Robert Steele, Donald McNamara, Dan Brown, Stanley Kerner, John Brown, and J. Bard Purcell, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Oregon |
Alan K. Brickley, Peterson, Susak & Peterson, P. C., Portland, Or., for plaintiff.
Sidney I. Lezak, U. S. Atty., Charles H. Turner, Asst. U. S. Atty., D.Or., Portland, Or., for defendants Wright, Hunt, Horn, Richardson, Wong, Bagley, Hume and Langford.
William R. Canessa, Asst. Atty. Gen., Salem, Or., Hershiser, Mitchell & Warren, Portland, Or., for defendants Hill, Mayhew, Trummer, Gearheart, Still, Steele, and McNamara.
Ronald E. Bailey, Thomas A. Gordon, Bullivant, Wright, Leedy, Johnson, Pendergrass & Hoffman, Portland, Or., for defendants Brown, Kerner, Brown, and Purcell.
Plaintiff was arrested in Portland, Oregon, on August 13, 1972, while consummating a sale of drugs to an informant.1 Two witnesses to the arrest thought they saw plaintiff swallow something.2 Narcotics agents suspected that plaintiff had attempted to dispose of incriminating drugs. During his subsequent confinement in the city jail and in Rocky Butte Jail, plaintiff was placed in restraints to prevent interference with stool examinations conducted by the agents in the hope of retrieving evidence. The restraints were terminated only when physical tests to which plaintiff voluntarily submitted showed an absence of narcotics in his body.
In this civil rights action plaintiff seeks compensatory and punitive damages from eight federal employees,3 seven members of the Portland Police Department,4 and four Multnomah County employees5 as a result of the conditions of his confinement in these jails. Plaintiff bases his claim for relief on 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985 and on the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. More specifically, plaintiff complains that he was shackled and deprived of food and water while at the city jail and was shackled, deprived of food and water, denied personal hygiene, and not allowed to contact his attorney while at Rocky Butte Jail.
On May 23, 1975, the federal defendants filed a motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. The motion was denied without opinion by order of January 14, 1976. Subsequently the federal defendants filed a motion for reconsideration on the grounds previously asserted and, in addition, on the ground that the matter merited oral argument. After hearing oral argument, considering additional authorities submitted by the parties, and thoroughly rereading all briefs and documents in the record, I have concluded that some of the grounds asserted are meritorious and that a fuller discussion of the reasons for my decision is warranted.
The arguments advanced by the federal defendants are discussed in the order listed below:
1. The court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over plaintiff's claim that the federal defendants violated 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985 because these statutes do not apply to federal officials.
2. Summary judgment in favor of defendants Horn, Bagley, and Hume is appropriate because there is no evidence linking them to the conditions of plaintiff's confinement.
3. Absolute quasi-judicial immunity requires that the claim against defendant Wong be dismissed.
4. All federal defendants are entitled to dismissal or summary judgment based on the principle of qualified official immunity.
The established and disputed facts are set forth first by way of background.
Plaintiff and several other persons were arrested in the parking lot of the Airtel Motel at 8:35 p. m. on August 13, 1972. Law enforcement officials participating in the surveillance and arrests were defendants Hill, Trummer, Mayhew, and Gearheart and Officer David Petry7 of the Portland Police Department's Narcotics Detail and defendants Richardson, Wright, Hunt, and Horn of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Hill, who effected plaintiff's arrest on a state firearms charge, was assisted by Trummer, Richardson, and Horn in stopping one vehicle and arresting its occupants. Wright, Hunt, and Gearheart, working together, apprehended suspects in other vehicles. Mayhew and Petry aided in the arrests.
Following his arrest, plaintiff was lodged for a short time in the city jail. No one will admit to having transported plaintiff or participated in the booking process. Defendants Hill and Trummer say they left plaintiff at the scene of the arrest in the custody of the federal agents (Answers of Defendants Hill and Trummer to Plaintiff's Interrogatory No. 2 (First Set)). The federal agents say plaintiff was transported by the Portland Police Department and booked by defendants Hill and Trummer (Answers of Defendants Richardson, Wright, Hunt, and Horn to Plaintiff's Interrogatory No. 4 (First Set); Affidavit of Defendant Wright, at 6; Affidavit of Defendant Richardson, at 4; Affidavit of Defendant Horn, at 3; Affidavit of Defendant Hunt, at 3). Defendant Hunt, however, admits that he did process personal history forms on plaintiff and another person at the Portland Police Bureau. He also advised plaintiff at that time that he was under arrest for violation of federal narcotics laws and informed him of his constitutional rights. (Affidavit of Defendant Hunt, at 3; Criminal Trial Tr. 352-355) Defendants Richardson and Wright also admit that they eventually proceeded to the Portland Police Bureau to confer with the informant and defendants Hill and Trummer, although they deny having any further contact with the plaintiff (Affidavit of Defendant Wright, at 6-7; Affidavit of Defendant Richardson, at 4). Defendant Richardson states that he contacted defendant Wong that same night to inform him of the arrests and the agents' suspicion that plaintiff had swallowed narcotics (Affidavit of Defendant Richardson, at 4-5).
Plaintiff states in his affidavit that he was handcuffed to his cell bars and isolated from other prisoners while at the city jail (Plaintiff's Affidavit, ¶¶ 5-6). Everyone disclaims any knowledge of or responsibility for this alleged treatment, except that defendant Horn says he learned of the handcuffing sometime between August 14 and August 20, 1972 (Answer of Defendant Horn to Plaintiff's Interrogatory No. 6(g) (First Set)).
After several hours in the city jail, plaintiff was taken by unidentified city police officers to Rocky Butte Jail, a facility operated by Multnomah County. He was booked at 2:00 a. m. on August 14, 1972, on state and federal charges. At 2:40 a. m. he was placed on the medical ward under restraints8 to prevent him from disposing of any narcotics which might be eliminated in his stools. Plaintiff remained at Rocky Butte Jail under restraints for the next four days, except when he was removed on the occasions described below.
At approximately 7:00 a. m. on the same morning, August 14, 1972, plaintiff was taken to the city jail by Multnomah County Sheriff's bus. After state charges against him had been dropped, defendants Bagley and Hume took custody of plaintiff at approximately 2:15 p. m. and transported him to the federal courthouse for an appearance before United States Magistrate George E. Juba. Upon filing of a complaint with Judge Juba, plaintiff was advised of his rights, bail was set, an order was entered appointing counsel, and an appearance with counsel was set for August 17, 1972, at 10:30 a. m. Plaintiff was then returned to Rocky Butte Jail at approximately 5:00 p. m. by defendants Bagley and Hume. Defendant Bagley signed an order remanding plaintiff to custody in the county facility.
Plaintiff was taken to the federal courthouse again by Deputy United States Marshals on August 15, 1972, to confer with his attorney. He departed from Rocky Butte Jail at 8:05 a. m. and returned at 1:05 p. m.
On August 17, 1972, plaintiff was taken from the jail at 8:15 a. m. for his scheduled court appearance with counsel. Judge Juba granted plaintiff's motion for a reduction in bail and set the date for his preliminary hearing. Upon representations from the government and plaintiff that they agreed to tests to determine the presence of foreign materials in plaintiff's body, Judge Juba ordered the United States Marshal to make appropriate arrangements. Plaintiff was returned to Rocky Butte Jail at 2:40 p. m Deputy United States Marshals transported plaintiff to Multnomah County Hospital at 6:45 a. m. on August 18, 1972. Tests performed at the hospital were negative for the presence of narcotics. Plaintiff was returned to Rocky Butte Jail at 10:05 a. m. and placed with the general prison population on "C" dormitory, free of restraints.
The only defendants (other than Bagley and Hume) to see plaintiff while in custody at Rocky Butte Jail were county defendant Dan Brown and federal defendants Richardson, Wright, and Hunt. Brown was supervisor of the evening shift at Rocky Butte Jail and had his first contact with plaintiff after coming on duty at 4:00 p. m. on August 14, 1972. Despite some unimportant differences in the parties' recollections, it appears that defendant Wright visited the medical ward alone on the evening of August 15, 1972, to inspect the feces collected and talked with plaintiff at that time. Defendants Richardson and Hunt saw plaintiff the next day when they visited the medical ward for the same purpose between 5:30 and 6:30 p. m.
Plaintiff states in his affidavit that he was shackled initially by one arm and one leg but was shackled by both arms and both legs from the time he returned from his first court appearance until he was transferred out of the medical ward. Plaintif...
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Peck v. United States
...of Griffin have held that §§ 1985(3) and 1986 apply to federal officers acting under color of federal law. See also: Williams v. Wright, 432 F.Supp. 732 (D.Ore.1976). There are courts that have, subsequent to Griffin, held that §§ 1985(3) and 1986 would not allow private suits for damages a......
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Gillespie v. Civiletti, 78-1447
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