Munz v. ParrMunz v. Parr
Thomas A. Munz is again before us, appealing the district court‘s unfavorable disposition of his civil rights suit brought under
We first consider Munz‘s arguments regarding the constitutionality of the search of his apartment. There seems to be little question that the search was, most charitably, a vigorous one. We set forth the facts in some detail in our earlier opinion, 758 F.2d at 1256, and the Iowa Court of Appeals also described some details of the search in denying Munz‘s request for post-conviction relief. Munz v. State, 382 N.W.2d 693, 699-702 (Iowa Ct.App.1985). The district court relied on the state court decision in ruling that Munz had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issues related to the constitutionality of the search. See id., 382 N.W.2d at 698-99 (upholding validity of search warrant for Munz‘s apartment). Therefore, the court determined that collateral estoppel barred Munz from challenging the constitutionality of the search. Munz v. Parr, No. 84-61, slip op. at 4-6 (N.D. Iowa July 10, 1991).
Munz argues that the issue in this case involves a civil rights claim for invasion of privacy based on the Fourth Amendment, and not a criminal defendant‘s Fourth Amendment rights, so collateral estoppel does not apply. To the contrary, the Supreme Court has made clear that collateral estoppel applies to section 1983 actions involving alleged Fourth Amendment violations. Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 92, 96-104, 101 S.Ct. 411, 413-414, 415-420, 66 L.Ed.2d 308 (1980). Munz also claims that the district court narrowly interpreted our earlier decisions. Such is not the case. The district court simply stated the correct rule of law, found in Lane v. Peterson, 899 F.2d 737 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 74, 112 L.Ed.2d 48 (1990), and applied it to the case. Lane held that “a party may rely on collateral estoppel even though he or she is not bound by the prior judgment if the party against whom it is used had a full and fair opportunity and incentive to litigate the issue in the prior action.” Id. at 741 (citing Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore, 439 U.S. 322, 332, 99 S.Ct. 645, 652, 58 L.Ed.2d 552 (1979)). The district court also properly determined that it was entitled to give preclusive effect to the Iowa court judgment. See
With respect to the excessive force claim, this court remanded the issue for further consideration should Munz identify the officer he had described only as “John Doe.” Munz, 758 F.2d at 1257. The district court observed that Munz‘s original complaint had alleged that four named defendants, Parr, Chapman, Washburn, and Hagist, “together with John Doe,” went to Munz‘s apartment, and that Doe had inflicted excruciating pain upon Munz. The district court pointed out that for several years, Munz alleged that an unknown officer, and not Chapman, had assaulted him. Slip op. at 8-9. Munz‘s new version of facts naming Chapman as the assaulting officer therefore seemed “implausible,” since Munz had no explanation for his change in story. Id. at 11. Thus, the district court concluded that Munz had failed to carry his burden to avoid summary judgment. Id. at 11-12. The district court‘s reasoning in this respect is without error. Munz‘s change of position as to the identity of the officer who used excessive force is also contrary to the one that he took before this court in the earlier appeal. See Munz, 758 F.2d at 1257.
The district court also concluded that Munz alleged no additional facts that would give rise to an inference of a meeting of the minds or a conspiracy.2 Slip op. at 12-13. Our review of Munz‘s amended complaint convinces us that the district court did not err in reaching this conclusion.
Finally, Munz argues that the district court erred in failing to overrule the appellees’ motions to quash subpoenas filed for the purpose of taking discovery depositions. The district court denied these motions as moot, and did not err in so ruling. The legal deficiencies of Munz‘s complaint mooted any discovery requests that went to the issues raised in the complaint.
We affirm the judgment of the district court.