Redmond v. Sanders, 858 F. Supp. 2d 809

Redmond was arrested June 24, 2009 after Detroit police stopped his gold Chevrolet Impala for excessively tinted windows; an inventory search of the Impala following the stop uncovered a loaded handgun; he was charged with felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon, and related offenses; a state preliminary examination on August 20, 2009 found probable cause to prosecute on weapons charges; the handgun was suppressed by a state circuit court ruling in October 2009 due to policy and procedure concerns; charges were dismissed following that ruling; Redmond filed this § 1983 action in July 2010 alleging Fourth Amendment and related claims against the three officers and the City of Detroit; Defendants moved for summary judgment arguing collateral estoppel and that the impoundment and inventory search were lawful or reasonable; the court granted in part and denied in part the motion.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Collateral estoppel effect on probable-cause finding	Redmond should Relitigate probable cause.	Probable-cause finding at preliminary examination precludes relitigation.	Collateral estoppel applied to the issue of whether the stop/probable cause existed, but not to inventory-search/impoundment issues.
Lawfulness of impoundment and inventory search	Inventory search was unlawful; impoundment lacked proper basis.	Impoundment and inventory search were reasonable under Fourth Amendment, supported by policy and practice.	Impoundment and inventory search were reasonable; search yielded probable cause for weapons charges.
Effect of policy directive on Fourth Amendment claims	Failure to offer road-side parking option violated policy and rights.	Policy guidelines are not required to render impoundment unconstitutional; reasonableness governs.	Failure to offer the roadside option, if any, did not render the impoundment unconstitutional under the circumstances.
Municipal liability under § 1983	City may be liable for officers' unconstitutional conduct.	No underlying constitutional violation by officers, so City not liable.	No § 1983 municipal liability because no underlying constitutional violation by officers.

Coogan v. City of Wixom, 820 F.2d 170 (6th Cir.1987) (collateral estoppel may be limited to issues actually litigated)
Darrah v. City of Oak Park, 255 F.3d 301 (6th Cir.2001) (identity of issues required for collateral estoppel in § 1983 Fourth Amendment claims)
Hinchman v. Moore, 312 F.3d 198 (6th Cir.2002) (Darrah-like exception not applied when issues identical to preliminary hearing)
Hernandez v. United States, 479 U.S. 367 (S. Ct.1987) (policy procedures for inventory searches not sine qua non; reasonableness standard governs)
Opperman v. United States, 428 U.S. 364 (S. Ct.1976) (inventory searches after lawful impoundment; standards matter but not sole determinant)
Collins v. Nagle, 892 F.2d 489 (6th Cir.1989) ( Fourth Amendment reasonableness standard governs impound decisions)
United States v. Tackett, 486 F.3d 230 (6th Cir.2007) (evidence of police practices may establish legitimacy of impound procedures)
United States v. Rodriguez-Morales, 929 F.2d 780 (1st Cir.1991) (reasonableness of impound decisions assessed under total circumstances)
Bertine v. United States, 479 U.S. 367 (S. Ct.1987) (inventory-search framework for post-impoundment)