Joann Davis v. United States
2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 6348
| 9th Cir. | 2017Background
- Joann Davis (74) possessed two lucite paperweights—one containing a rice-grain-sized lunar fragment—received by her late husband while he worked on NASA contracts. Davis sought help from NASA to find a buyer due to financial hardship.
- A NASA Office of Inspector General confidential source posed as a broker (“Jeff”) and conducted recorded calls with Davis; based on those calls Special Agent Norman Conley obtained a search warrant for the moon-rock paperweight.
- At a Denny’s sting, officers seized the moon-rock paperweight; Davis and her husband Paul Cilley (≈70) were escorted to the restaurant parking lot after being patted down and were unarmed.
- Davis, who said she twice requested to use a restroom, urinated in her clothing during the escort; Conley knew she was elderly and wearing urine-soaked pants when he questioned her.
- Conley detained and questioned Davis in the parking lot for up to two hours while she stood visibly in wet clothing; the lunar fragment had already been seized and officers had no immediate safety or evidence-preservation reasons to continue detention.
- Davis sued under Bivens for wrongful detention (Fourth Amendment); the district court denied Conley qualified immunity summary judgment, and Conley appealed.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether detention incident to a warrant became unreasonably prolonged/degrading | Davis: two-hour standing detention in public, urine-soaked clothing, elderly — detention was unreasonably prolonged and degrading | Conley: detention was search-related, Davis was named in warrant, consented to questioning, and safety/evidence concerns justified duration | Court: Viewing facts favorably to Davis, detention was unreasonably prolonged and degrading; genuine factual disputes preclude qualified immunity on summary judgment |
| Whether Summers-authorized detention applies despite special circumstances | Davis: Summers does not authorize prolonged/degrading detention of elderly in these circumstances | Conley: Summers permits detention incident to search; Foxworth distinguishable | Court: Summers authority is limited; special circumstances (elderly, wet clothing, search complete) make the detention unreasonable |
| Whether officer had specific facts negating reasonableness (knowledge at time) | Davis: Conley knew she was elderly, unarmed, financially distressed, intended to sell legally, and was visibly soiled | Conley: Prior statements about firearms and suspicion of illegality justified caution | Court: Conley knew they had been searched, paperweight seized, and Davis’s phone statements suggested lawful possession; those facts undermine claimed justification |
| Whether qualified immunity shields Conley | Davis: right was clearly established in similar contexts (e.g., Foxworth) | Conley: law not clearly established in similar factual context; Foxworth more egregious | Court: Right to be free from prolonged, degrading search-related detention was clearly established enough to deny qualified immunity on summary judgment |
Key Cases Cited
- Michigan v. Summers, 452 U.S. 692 (warrant-search occupants may be detained but authority is limited)
- Muehler v. Mena, 544 U.S. 93 (search-related detention can become unlawful if prolonged)
- Foxworth v. City of San Rafael, 31 F.3d 873 (9th Cir. 1994) (two-hour, degrading detention of disabled person unreasonable)
- Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (establishes private right of action against federal officers for constitutional violations)
- Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223 (qualified immunity two-step: constitutional violation and clearly established law)
- White v. Pauly, 137 S. Ct. 548 (qualified immunity limits: consider facts known to officer)
- Kingsley v. Hendrickson, 135 S. Ct. 2466 (standards for assessing reasonableness in detention contexts)