Blackshear v. City of Miami BeachBlackshear v. City of Miami Beach
ORDER
THIS CAUSE сomes before the Court upon Defendant Miami Beach’s Motion to Dismiss Count II of the Corrected Amended Complaint [D.E. 15] and Defendant Peter Wyatt’s Motion to Dismiss the Corrected Amended Complaint [D.E. 17].
THE COURT has considered the Motions and the pertinent portions of the record, and is otherwise fully advised in the premises.
I. BACKGROUND
On December 2, 2008, Edward Black-shear (“Blackshear” or “Plaintiff’) was driving near Busway and SW 238th Street in unincorporated .Miami-Dade County
After the two spoke, Wyatt arrested Blackshear for a violation of
Plaintiffs Corrected Amended Complaint alleges two federal claims for civil rights violations committed by Wyatt — unlawful search and seizure (Count I) and malicious prosecution (Count IV) — and a state law claim for malicious prosecution (Count III). Additionally, Plaintiff alleges thаt Miami Beach is liable for false arrest based on Wyatt’s actions (Count II).
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
A. LEGAL STANDARD
A complaint must contain a short, plain statement demonstrating an entitlement to relief, and it must give the defendant “fair notice of what the plaintiffs claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.”
Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd.,
When considering a 12(b)(6) motion, a court must accept the well-pleaded factual allegations in the complaint as true and construe them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Watts
v. Fla. Int’l Univ.,
B. QUALIFIED IMMUNITY STANDARD
“[Qualified immunity offers complete protection for government officials sued in their individual capacities as long as their conduct violates no clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have
To receive the benefit of qualified immunity, “the public official must first prove that he was acting within the scoрe of his discretionary authority when the allegedly wrongful acts occurred.”
Id.
at 1194. Discretionary authority includes the job-related powers and responsibilities that the public official has in the general fulfillment of his official duties.
O’Rourke v. Hayes,
III. DISCUSSION
A. COUNT I-SECTION 1983 ILLEGAL SEARCH & SEIZURE (WYATT)
i. Failure to State a Claim
Officer Wyatt argues that Count I of the Corrected Amended Cоmplaint should be dismissed because Plaintiff has not alleged an underlying Fourth Amendment constitutional violation. Further, Defendant argues that Plaintiff has failed to specifically identify the actions and conduct of Wyatt that led to the deprivation of his constitutional rights. As a result, Defendant argues that Plaintiff has failed to meet the heightened pleading standard to specifically permit a qualified immunity analysis at the pleading stage. However, because the heightened standard for civil rights cases is no longer used, the Court must simply determine whether Blackshear has alleged sufficient facts to meet the Twombly-Iqbal “plausibility” standard. 1
In Count I, Plaintiff seeks to recover for the alleged illegal search and seizure by Wyatt pursuant to
Blackshear alleges in his Corrected Amended Complaint that on December 2, 2008:
• “Defendant Peter Wyatt was, at all times relevant hereto, a police officer employed by the City” [D.E. 12, ¶ 3].
• “Wyatt acted towards Plaintiff under color of statutes, ordinances, customsand usage of the State of Florida ...” [D.E. 12, ¶ 7].
• “Wyatt was assisting a funеral procession for a police officer utilizing his motorcycle owned by the City and acting in his capacity as a police officer of the City with full permission of the City to perform those actions” [D.E. 12, ¶ 12].
• ‘Wyatt encountered the Plaintiff and directed him to not move his vehicle” [D.E. 12, ¶ 13].
• “At no time during or after Plaintiff conversed with Wyatt did Plaintiff indicate in any way that he was going to move his vehicle” [D.E. 12, ¶ 18].
• “Despite Plaintiff not entering or touching his vehicle and the vehicle not moving, Wyatt arrested Plaintiff for a violation of § 316.072(3), Florida Statutes, for failure to obey a lawful order of a police officer” [D.E. 12, ¶ 19].
• “No legal ground or basis including probable cause existed for Plaintiffs arrest for any charge including a violation of § 316.072(3), Florida Statutes” [D.E. 12, ¶ 20].
• “In addition to arresting Plaintiff, Wyatt, without consent by Plaintiff, conducted a search of Plaintiff and his clothing” [D.E. 12,126].
Thus, the Complaint alleges that Wyatt, acting under the color of law, arrested Blackshear without probable cause and then searched his person. The Fourth Amendment provides “the right of the people to be secure in their persons ... against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation.... ”
ii. Probable Cause
Officer Wyatt also argues that Count I should be dismissed because based on the Complaint, the Arrest Affidavit [D.E. 17-1], and the Notice of Claim [D.E. 17-2], probable cause existed to arrest Plaintiff. 2 Additionally, Defendant argues that even if there was not actual probable cause, there was at least arguable probable cause to arrest Plaintiff, entitling Wyatt to qualified immunity.
“If an officer has probable cause to believe that an individual has committed even a very minor criminal offense in his presence, he may, without violating the Fourth Amendment, arrest the offender.”
Atwater v. City of Lago Vista,
Plaintiff was arrested for violating
There simply is insufficient information on this record to conclude probable cause, or even arguable probable cause, existed for the initial arrest. While the Notice of Claim acknowledges an intent to move his vehicle, Plaintiff avers in the Corrected Amended Complaint that he did not indicate such intention. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that “[a]t no time during or after Plaintiff conversed with Wyatt did Plaintiff indicate in any way that he was going to move his vehicle” [D.E. 12, ¶ 18], nor “did Plaintiff struggle with Wyatt, refuse to obey Wyatt’s orders regarding handcuffing or prevent Wyatt from handcuffing him” [D.E. 12, ¶23]. An unexpressed intent alone cannot serve as the basis for probable cause because there would be no facts or circumstances sufficient to warrant a reasonable belief that the suspect was about to commit a crime. Therefore, on this record, arguable probable cause did not exist to arrest Plaintiff for a violation of
Additionally, Blackshear was charged with violating
Moreover, there simply is insufficient information on this record to conclude Officer Wyatt was acting within the scope of his discretionary authority. Generally, an officer of a municipality has no official power to arrest outside the officer’s municipality.
Porter v. State,
Nevertheless, regardless of whether Officer Wyatt was acting in his discretionary authority, the facts alleged, now taken as true, would support a claim for a violation of a clearly established constitutional right and therefore Defendant Wyatt is not entitled to qualified immunity. Based thereon, Defendant Wyatt’s Motion to Dismiss Count I of the Corrected Amended Complaint is DENIED.
B. COUNT III — COMMON LAW MALICIOUS PROSECUTION (WYATT)
In Count III of the Corrected Amended Complaint, Plaintiff seeks to recover from Defendant Wyatt for malicious prosecution. Under Florida law, the elements of a malicious prosecution claim are: “(1) an original judicial proceeding against the present plaintiff was commenced or continued; (2) the present defendant was the legal cause of the original proceeding; (3) the termination of the original proceeding constituted a bona fide termination of that proceeding in favor of the present plaintiff; (4) there was an absence of probable cause for the original proceeding; (5) there was malice on the part of the present defendant; and (6) the plaintiff suffered damages as a result of the original proceeding.”
Kingsland,
Defendant Wyatt makes several arguments for dismissal of the common law malicious prosecution claim. First, Defendant argues that the Plaintiff does not allege that Defendant was the legal cause of the оriginal proceeding. Generally, police officers are not the legal cause of an original proceeding where they are not involved in the decision to prosecute.
See Williams v. Miami-Dade Police Dep’t,
Second, Wyatt argues that Plaintiff fails to allege plausible facts to suggest probable cause was absent in the criminal proceeding. As already discussed, Plaintiff has alleged facts suggesting probable cause was absent from the initial arrest. Nothing in the record indicates this changed prior to the initiation of the criminal proceeding. Therefore, no probable cause existed to maintain the original proceeding against Blackshear either. Moreover, where the legitimacy of relevant evidence is disputed, such as the Arrest Affidavit here, the question of whether there is an absence of probable cause is inappropriate at this stage in the litigation. See id. at 947-48.
Finally, Defendant argues that Plaintiff cannot overcome the sovereign immunity provided to Wyatt under
No officer, employee, or agent of the state or any of its subdivisions shall be held personally liable in tort or named as a party defendant in any action for any injury or damage suffered as a result of any act, event, or omission of action in the scope of her or his employment or function, unless such officer, employee, or agent acted in bad faith or with malicious purpose or in a manner exhibiting wanton and willful disregard of human rights, safety, or property.
C. COUNT IV — SECTION 1983 MALICIOUS PROSECUTION (WYATT)
In Count IV of the Corrected Amended Complaint, Plaintiff seeks to recover from Defendant Wyatt for a
Plaintiff must allege that he was seized in relation to the commencement of the judicial proceeding. Id. at 1235. And “[i]n the case of a warrantless arrest, the judicial proceeding does not begin until the party is arraigned or indicted.” Id. Indeed, “[t]he plaintiffs arrest cannot serve as the predicate deprivation of liberty because it occurred prior to the time of arraignment, and was not one that arose from malicious prosecution as opposеd to false arrest.” Id. (internal citation and quotation marks omitted).
Plaintiff alleges that Wyatt delivered false police reports to the prosecutor. It is unclear from the Corrected Amended Complaint at what point Wyatt allegedly delivered false police reports to the prosecutor and exactly what false police reports were given. However, supplying false information in arrest affidavits violates the Fourth Amendment and can provide the bаsis for a
D. COUNT II-FALSE ARREST (MIAMI BEACH)
In Count II of the Corrected Amended Complaint, Plaintiff seeks recovery from Miami Beach for false arrest. Under Florida law, false arrest is “the unlawful restraint of a person against his will, the gist of which action is the unlawful detention of the plaintiff and the deprivation of his liberty.”
Rivers v. Dillards Dep’t Store, Inc.,
Miami Beach moves to dismiss Plaintiffs false arrest claim against it pursuant to
IV. CONCLUSION
Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Defendant Miami Beach’s Motion to Dismiss [D.E. 15] is DENIED. It is further
Notes
. A heightened pleading standard once was required in this circuit for
. The Arrest Affidavit and the Notice of Claim, both public records, may-be рroperly considered pursuant to
. Miami Beach submitted a Mutual Aid Agreement [D.E. 15-3] which it alleges gave