Lead Opinion
GIBBONS, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which KEITH and GUY, JJ., joined. KEITH, J. (pp. 624-26), delivered a separate concurring opinion.
OPINION
Plaintiffs-appellants Johnny Robertson, Nolan Lovett, Arrico Spires, Charles Matthews, Marlon Brooks, and Tyron Brown appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment to defendants-appellees Lee Lucas, Robert Cross, Thomas Verhi-ley, Jamaal Ansari, Chuck Metcalf, Matt Mayer, and Larry Faith, and the district court’s dismissal of appellants’ claims against Richland County and the City of Cleveland. Appellants argue that the district court erred in holding that the individual appellees were shielded by qualified immunity on their 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Bivens claims; that judicial estoppel barred appellants’ false arrest claims; that because the individual appellees had not committed constitutional violations, appellants could not prevail on their Monell claims; and that appellants were not entitled to additional discovery. For the reasons stated below, we affirm.
I.
A.
This is yet another case in a series of civil rights cases arising out of a corrupted investigation into the Mansfield, Ohio, drug trade (the “Mansfield Investigation” or “Operation Turnaround”). As part of the investigation, the Richland County Sheriffs Office (“RCSO”) used a confidential informant it had used once before named Jerrell Bray. Bray’s primary task was to make controlled buys of illegal drugs from individuals in Richland County suspected of being involved in illegal drug activity.
In August or September 2005, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) joined the Mansfield Investigation at the request of RCSO. Bray was registered as a DEA informant by Special Agents Robert Cross and Lee Lucas. Pri- or to DEA’s involvement, Bray made numerous buys for RCSO. Bray’s first buy as a DEA informant occurred on September 6, 2005.
Throughout the investigation, Bray was controlled principally by Detective Chuck Metcalf, Sergeant Matthew Mayer, and Captain Larry Faith of RCSO. Jamaal An-sari was a police officer with the City of
All targets of the Mansfield controlled buys were selected either by Bray or RCSO. The controlled buys resulted in numerous arrests and indictments. Robertson, Lovett, Spires, Matthews, Brooks, and Brown were among those indicted.
Lucas was the case agent who testified before the grand jury concerning Robertson, Lovett, Spires, Matthews, Brooks, and Brown. He testified about the corroborative measures generally used to substantiate Bray’s information and to supervise Bray’s controlled purchases. These included:
• criminal history checks on each suspect;
• driver’s license checks on each suspect;
• searches of Bray’s person and vehicle prior to a controlled purchase to confirm that he did not have drugs or money;
• tape-recorded phone calls to the suspects to set up buys;
• copies of serial numbers of the buy money so that if a suspect was arrested, officers could confirm that Bray used money supplied by law enforcement to make the controlled purchase;
• audio surveillance via a transmitter;
• visual surveillance of the purchases, which included watching Bray enter and exit the buy location and watching the drug transaction take place if visible;
• meeting Bray after the buy at a predetermined location to recover the drugs and recording device;
• re-searching Bray and his vehicle to make sure he did not steal drugs or money; and
• in certain cases, undercover participation by Lucas or Ansari in the drug transaction.
Lucas also testified about specific controlled purchases Bray made from appellants. On the basis of this information, a federal grand jury returned an indictment and later a superseding indictment against appellants. On November 9, 2005, pursuant to the initial indictment, a judge issued warrants for appellants’ arrests.
B.
Corruption pervaded the Mansfield Investigation. Following the completion of the investigation, Bray, while in jail for an unrelated homicide, disclosed that he had abused his position as an informant. The evidence in this case strongly indicates that, as to some arrestees, law enforcement knew of, and even participated in, Bray’s misdeeds. Appellants produced copious evidence of wrongdoing throughout the wider investigation. We need not detail all the evidence in this case to emphasize that law enforcement conducted itself inappropriately. Nevertheless, we provide some context for appellants’ claims.
Appellants produced evidence indicating that Bray, while working as a confidential informant, framed innocent individuals, stole money and drugs from law enforcement, and dealt his own drugs on the side. Appellants also produced evidence that officers altered evidence to corroborate Bray and that certain appellees lied to prosecutors on Bray’s behalf.
Bray used the controlled buys to steal money and drugs. Appellees were aware of this fact yet continued to use Bray as an informant. On one occasion, Verhiley and Ansari caught Bray stealing money given to him for a drug buy. On another occasion, Bray accepted a Buick Cutlass (a car) in lieu of some of the money that was supposed to be paid as part of the drug deal. In effect, Bray was shorting the government the value of the car. Bray, however, was caught on appellees’ recording discussing the “Cutty.” When Bray was questioned about the conversation, he claimed it was а comment about a “Caddy” (Cadillac) that he had been interested in purchasing, but Lucas stepped in on Bray’s behalf and asserted that “Cutty” was another term for drugs.
Efforts to corroborate Bray’s information were stymied by Bray, and law enforcement disregarded accepted protocol. For example, the first step in a controlled buy was typically a controlled phone call to the target. Appellants produced evidence indicating that Bray dialed identical telephone numbers for unrelated suspects and lied about which suspects he was calling and that the official reports did not accurately reflect the phone conversations Bray had. Bray at times turned off his wireless transmitter during buys. Metcalf also admitted that “the manner in which the Webb deal was conducted violated DEA procedures” and “was not the way that a standard deal should go.”
Almost none of appellants’ evidence, however, relates to their own controlled buys, or their subsequent arrests and prosecutiоns. Only Lovett and Robertson even suggested any impropriety in drug buys involving appellants. At Lucas’s criminal trial, discussed at greater length below, Bray testified that he supplied Lo-vett with the drugs that Lovett allegedly sold to Bray in order to frame Lovett for the sale. Robertson testified that Bray set him up in a manner similar to Lovett. This story was confirmed by Bray at Lucas’s trial. Lucas claims that he was not aware of either set-up. And Bray testified that no law enforcement officials, including Lucas, were involved in or aware of his deceptions.
C.
As a result of Bray’s admissions, the investigation fell apart. On December 20, 2007, Bray pled guilty to two counts of perjury and five counts of deprivation of civil rights. Bray admitted to falsely identifying several targets as having participated in drug transactions and to perjuring himself at trial by deliberately misidentifying people. Bray’s plea, however, did not implicate any of the appellants in this case.
In May 2009, Metcalf was charged with a criminal civil rights violation for his actions and testimony related to Dwayne Nabors. Metcalf pled guilty to presenting false evidence against Nabors at trial and admitted that he falsely identified Nabors as a participant in a drug deal. Metcalfs plea did not directly implicate appellants in this case.
Lucas was indicted for obstruction of justice, making false statements, perjury,
D.
Based on Bray’s guilty plea, the federаl government reviewed the evidence in the Mansfield arrests. The government determined that “Bray was an essential witness to the charges for which they were either convicted or pled guilty.” The government further concluded that “Bray’s illegal conduct was so pervasive and his credibility so tainted by his guilty plea” that appellants and the other Mansfield Investigation defendants were entitled to withdraw their guilty pleas. The government recommended the dismissal of all criminal charges against appellants, notwithstanding its acknowledgment that many of the appellants “made voluntary statements to law enforcement admitting their roles in the distribution of crack cocaine in the greater Mansfield area.” The withdrawal of appellants’ guilty pleas and the dismissal of the charges against them gave rise to the instant suit.
E.
There are six appellants in this case: Johnny Roberston, Nolan Lovett, Arrico Spires, Charles Matthews, Marlon Brooks, and Tyron Brown.
Appellants filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on May 20, 2008. They alleged Fourth Amendment violations of false arrest, malicious prosecution, and fabrication of evidence under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 against the state officers, and parallel claims under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics,
Following appellees’ motions for summary judgment, the district court granted in part appellants’ requests for additional discovery, limiting further discovery to the issuе of qualified immunity. The district court allowed appellants to depose appel-lees Verhiley, Cross, Mayer, Faith, and Metcalf, as well as two non-defendant law enforcement officers.
The district court then granted the individual appellees’ motions for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity. Finding no underlying constitutional violations, the district court granted Rich-land County’s and the City of Cleveland’s motions to dismiss appellants’ Monell claims. The district court also granted the government’s motion to dismiss all claims against the United States.
II.
A.
We review a district court’s grant of summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity de novo. Dixon v. Univ. of Toledo,
B.
Appellants asserted numerous claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Bivens,
The district court found, and it is undisputed, that appellees acted under color of law. The issue, then, is whether appellants were deprived of constitutionally or federally protected rights.
C.
The district court awarded the individual appellees summary judgment on the ground that each was entitled to qualified immunity. The doctrine of qualified im
There are two general steps to a qualified immunity analysis. The court must determine whether “the facts alleged show the officer’s conduct violated a constitutional right” and whether that right was “clearly established.” Saucier v. Katz,
It is axiomatic that both to establish a prima facie case for liability and to overcome a qualified immunity defense, a plaintiff must demonstrate that his or her own rights were violated. For example, to prevail on their false arrest claims, appellants were required to prove that the officers lacked probable cause to arrest them. Likewise, “[g]overnment officials, including police officers, are immune from civil liability unless, in the course of performing their discretionary functions, they violate the plaintiffs clearly established constitutional rights.” Jones v. Byrnes,
Appellants adduced substantial evidence of general government wrongdoing. But as discussed below, appellants’ claims fail at step one because appellants failed to produce evidence that their own rights were violated.
1.
Lucas is the сentral figure in this case. Lucas’s testimony before the grand jury was integral to the commencement of criminal proceedings against appellants. The grand jury issued an indictment on the basis of his testimony, which led to arrest warrants and eventually appellants’ arrests. Appellants’ claims against the remaining individual appellees assert either that the appellees influenced Lucas’s testimony or that they knew Lucas testified falsely. Therefore, we begin our analysis with Lucas.
a.
Appellants’ primary claims against Lucas are for malicious prosecution and
To succeed on a Fourth Amendment malicious prosecution claim under § 1983 or Bivens, a plaintiff must prove the following: (1) a criminal prosecution was initiated against the plaintiff and the defendant made, influenced, or participated in the decision to prosecute; (2) there was no probable cause for the criminal prosecution; (3) as a consequence of the legal proceeding, the plaintiff suffered a deprivation of liberty apart from the initial seizure; and (4) the criminal proceeding was resolved in the plaintiffs favor. Id. at 308-09. The basis of appellants’ claim is that Lucas caused their prosecutions and their detentions unlawfully to continue by fabricating and withholding evidence, “the absence of either or both of which would have dissolved probable cause.” Gregory,
In an unpublished opinion arising from the Mansfield Investigаtion, we reiterated: “As a general rule, the finding of an indictment, fair upon its face, by a properly constituted grand jury, conclusively determines the existence of probable cause. However, an exception applies where the indictment was obtained wrongfully by defendant police officers who knowingly presented false testimony to the grand jury.” Mott v. Mayer,
Lucas testified to a host of corroborative procedures used in controlled buys throughout the wider Mansfield Investigation. He testified generally that in “[ejach one of these buys” these corroborative procedures were used. Thus, his testimony permits an inference that these corroborative measures were used as to each appellant. Because Lucas’s testimony permitted an inference that appropriate corroborative procedures were used during thе drug buys involving each appellant, appellants bore the burden of producing evidence that this was not the case; otherwise, Lucas’s testimony was not false as to each appellant.
The crux of appellants’ argument is that Lucas’s testimony to the grand jury contained knowing falsehoods because he did not tell the grand jury that information
Lucas also testified that each appellant participated in an illegal drug transaction. Appellants produced some evidence that Lucas’s testimony about the controlled buys involving Lovett and Robertson was false. Bray testified at Lucas’s criminal trial that he supplied Lovett with the drugs that Lovett sold to Bray on that occasion. Appellants produced no evidence, however, that Lucas either knew this to be the case or was reckless as to that fact when he testified before the grand jury. Thus, even if Lucas did testify to a falsity regarding the Lovett controlled buy, appellants have not produced evidence demonstrating that Lucas did so knowingly or recklessly.
As to the Robertson controlled purchase, appellants have similarly failed to produce evidence that Lucas knew or was reckless to 'the fact that Bray was setting up Robertson. Robertson now claims that he did not participate in the October 2005 transaction. But appellants have not produced evidence demonstrating that Lucas knowingly or recklessly testified to the fact that Robertson participated in the transaction. Lucas was the surveillance agent on the case and thus was not immediately present during the buy. Moreover, Lucas has stated that Ansari informed him that Ansari observed Robertson receive money for his participation in the transaction. The evidence indicates that Lucas, as the surveilling agent, believed that appropriate corroborative procedures were used and that Robertson participated in the transaction. Neither Robertson’s nor Bray’s testimony suggests that Lucas knew Robertson was being framed.
Lucas is entitled to qualified immunity on appellants’ malicious prosecution and unlawful detention claims because appellants produced no evidence that Lucas violated their constitutional rights.
Appellants also brought a false arrest claim against Lucas. The proper defendants in an action under § 1983 or Bivens are the law enforcement officers who were personally involved in the incident alleged to have resulted in a violation of the plaintiffs civil rights. See Gregory,
2.
a.
We turn now to the remaining individual appellees. Appellants brought false arrest claims against the remaining individual ap-pellees. As discussed below, to prevail, appellants were required to show that they relied on a warrant that they knew issued without probable cause. Thus, these claims in reality depend on their production of evidence that Lucas lied or was reckless in respect to them before the grand jury, as the warrant was issued on the basis of the grand jury’s finding of probable cause.
The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures and requires that arrest warrants be issued only upon a showing of probable cause. U.S. Const, amend. IV. To state a Fourth Amendment false arrest claim, a plaintiff must “prove that the arresting officer lacked probable cause to arrest the plaintiff. An arrest pursuant to a facially valid warrant is normally a complete defense to a federal constitutional claim for false arrest or false imprisonment made pursuant to § 1983.” Voyticky v. Vill. of Timberlake,
a recognized exception for situations where officers responsible for bringing about an unlawful arrest knew that the arrest warrant had issued without probable cause; this is particularly true of officers who knew that those who obtained the warrant had deceived the authorizing body. Under these circumstances, even a facially valid arrest warrant does not shield otherwise unreasonable conduct.
As probable cause was established on the basis of the grand jury indictment, appellants bore the burden of producing evidence demonstrating that the remaining individual appellees either knew or were reckless in not knowing that Lucas gave false 'testimony that tainted the finding of probable cause. Appellants failed to present any particularized evidence demonstrating that the individual appellees relied on an arrest warrant they knew had issued without probable cause. Nor did appellants produce evidence demonstrating that any individual appеllee influenced Lucas’s grand jury testimony, causing him to lie to or mislead the grand jury, thereby leading to appellants’ arrests. Therefore, the district court did not err in concluding that the remaining individual appellees were entitled to qualified immunity on this claim.
b.
Appellants also asserted malicious prosecution, unlawful detention, and fabrication of evidence claims against the remaining appellees. Appellants produced no evidence that the appellees influenced Lucas’s grand jury testimony, thereby causing appellants’ prosecutions and detentions. And because there was probable cause to arrest and detain appellants, they cannot prevail on their fabrication of evidence claim as they were not wrongfully seized. Appellees were therefore entitled to qualified immunity on these claims as well.
3.
Appellants assert that the district court erred in holding that their Brady claims were foreclosed by the Supreme Court’s holding in United States v. Ruiz,
This case, appellants assert, lies at the intersection of two different Brady doctrines: Brady v. Maryland,
In Ruiz, the Supreme Court held that “the Constitution does not require the Government to disclose material impeachment evidence prior to entering a plea agreement with a criminal defendant.”
The Brady v. United States line of doctrine holds that a guilty plea must be “a voluntary and intelligent choice among the alternative courses of action open to the defendant.” North Carolina v. Alford,
Appellants allege that the government made “dishonest disclosures tricking them into pleading guilty.” Prior to each appellant’s plea, they were informed that “[t]he attorney for the government has no knowledge of exculpatory evidence material to guilt or innocence of the defendant.” This, appellants contend, amounts to a material misrepresentation in violation of Brady v. Maryland and makes their pleas involuntary under Brady v. United States.
We need not reconcile these two lines of doctrine and answer the question whether misleading Brady disclosures at the plea bargaining stage violate either Brady v. Maryland or Brady v. United States. In this case, appellants were not tricked into pleading guilty. The prosecutor informed each appellant, “The attorney for the government has no knowledge of exculpatory evidence material to guilt or innocence of the defendant.” The prosecutor did not state that there was no Brady material, just that he did not know of any. There is no evidence that this statement was false, and thus, at least so far as the prosecutor was concerned, there was no false or misleading Brady disclosure.
Whatever rights appellants had to receive exculpatory evidence prior to entering their pleas was not clearly established. The Supreme Court recently stated that “the contours of a right are sufficiently clear [where] every reasonable official would have understood that what he is doing violates that right.” Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, — U.S.-,
Ruiz established that impeachment material need only be disclosed for trial. See United States v. Wells,
Nor does our own caselaw support appellants’ argument that they had a clearly established right to receive exculpatory Brady material prior to plea bаrgaining. We have held that “[i]n general, the principles announced in Brady do not apply to a tardy disclosure of exculpatory information, but to a complete failure to disclose. If previously undisclosed evidence is disclosed ... during trial, no Brady violation occurs unless the defendant has been prejudiced by the delay in disclosure.” United States v. Word,
Accordingly, we hold that appellees were under no clearly established obligation to disclose exculpatory Brady material to the
4.
Appellants assert that the district court erred in granting summary judgment to appellees on their conspiracy claims. A civil conspiracy claim under § 1983 or Bivens lies where there is “an agreement between two or more persons to injure another by unlawful action.” Revis v. Meldrum,
Plaintiffs are not required to prove an express agreement among all the conspirators, and “[e]ach conspirator need not have known all of the details of the illegal plan or all of the participants involved.” Hooks v. Hooks,
The district court granted summary judgment on two grounds: appellants failed to produce any specific evidence that the defendants shared a single plan and a common objective, and appellants failed to prove that any of their constitutional rights were violated. On appeal, appellants again fail to point to any specific evidence of a common plan or objective. The district court thеrefore did not err in granting summary judgment on appellants’ conspiracy claims.
III.
Switching to appellants’ claims against Richland County and the City of Cleveland, appellants argue that the district court erred in dismissing their Monell claims. Monell holds that municipalities may be held liable for the constitutional violations of their employees only where the municipality’s policy or custom led to the violation.
We affirm the district court and agree with its reasoning with respect to all claims against Richland County and the City of Cleveland except for the Brady claims. With respect to the Brady claims, we affirm the district court but on other grounds.
Appellants’ Monell claims are before this court on a motion to dismiss. Appellants’ amended complaint alleged:
Plaintiffs’ injuries were proximately caused by policies and practices on the part of Defendants Richland County and*623 the City of Cleveland to pursue wrongful convictions through profoundly flawed investigations and unlawful searches and seizures. In this way, these Defendants violated Plaintiffs’ rights by maintaining policies and practices that were the moving force driving the foregoing constitutional violations.
Appellants do not plead that appellees maintained a policy or custom of refusing to turn over exculpatory or impeachment evidence. Appellants’ nebulous assertions of wrongdoing in the form of “flawed investigations” and “unconstitutional searches and seizures” do not pertain to the alleged Brady violations; rather, appellants assert constitutional violations in the conduct leading up to but not including the disclosure of exculpatory evidence. Rule 8 requires that a plaintiffs pleadings “give the defendant fair notice of what the claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.” Bell Atlantic v. Twombly,
IV.
“The scope of discovery is within the sound discretion of the trial court, and a ruling by the trial court limiting or denying discovery will not be cause for reversal unless an abuse of discretion is shown.” S.S. v. E. Ky. Univ.,
Discovery is disfavored in this context, but “limited discovery may sometimes be necessary before the district court can resolve a motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity.” Crawford-El v. Britton,
Appellants assert that the district court erred when it permitted the appellants to depose certain appellees but limited the depositions to the qualified immunity issue. The district court, after briefing on the issue, authorized three-hour depositions of Verhiley, Cross, Mayer, Faith, Metcalf, and two non-defendant law enforcement officers. This was after appellees had vol
Plaintiffs already have in their possession abundant evidence concerning the Mansfield operation and their claims. This evidence includes over 4,000 pages of trial transcript and more than 22,000 pages of exhibits from Special Agent Lucas’ criminal trial, and testimony in the cases of United States v. Nabors ... and United States v. France. Plaintiffs possess the entire files of the: (1) United States Attorney’s office in Cleveland; (2) DEA; and (3) RCSO. All proffers of the Mansfield defendants have been provided to Plaintiffs, in addition to audio and video recordings of the Mansfield transactions, as well as transcripts of the recordings. Plaintiffs have the deposition of Defendant Ansari and answers to 20 interrogatories propounded with the permission of the Court in the companion case Westerfield v. Lucas.
The district court followed the Supreme Court’s dictates on discovery in qualified immunity cases precisely. The district court, in its discretion, limited discovery to issues that had a direct bearing “upon the qualified immunity defense, such as the actions that the officials] actually took.” Crawford-El,
y.
Because appellants failed to establish that their rights were violated, we affirm the district court’s judgment with respect to the individual appellees on all but appellants’ Brady claims. With respect to the Brady claims, we affirm because appellants did not have a clearly established right to receive allegedly exculpatory Brady material prior to entering their pleas. Being that appellants failed to establish constitutional violations, we affirm the district court’s judgment with respect to Richland County and the City of Cleveland except with respect to the district court’s dismissal of appellants’ Brady claims under Monell, which we affirm because appellants failed to allege adequately a policy or custom of withholding Brady material. Finally, we affirm the district court’s judgment with respect to additional discovery.
Notes
. Nolan Lovett's amended complaint added Danielle Carter, Lovett’s mother, as a plaintiff. The district court granted summary judgment against Carter and she does not appeal that ruling.
. Prior to appellants’ plea agreements, the government, in its response to appellants' requests for discovery, stated: “The attorney for the government has no knowledge of exculpatory evidence material to guilt or innocence of the defendant.”
. 28 U.S.C. § 2679(d)(1) (the Westfall Act) provides:
Upon certification by the Attorney General that the defendant employee was acting within the scope of his office or employment at the time of the incident out of which the claim arose, any civil action or proceeding commenced upon such claim in a United States district court shall be deemed an action against the United States under the provisions of this title and all references thereto, and the United States shall be substituted as the party defendant.
In this regard, the Westfall Act provides that the remedy against the United States set forth in the Federal Tort Claims Act is the exclusive remedy for any loss or injury resulting from the negligent or wrongful conduct of a federal employee acting within the scope of his or her federal employment. See Sullivan v. Shimp,
. We have, from time to time, elaborated a third step in the qualified immunity analysis: “whether the plaintiff has offered sufficient evidence ‘to indicate that what the official allegedly did was objectively unreasonable in light of the clearly established constitutional rights.' ” Feathers v. Aey,
. Appellants also assert a fabrication of evidence claim against Lucаs. A Fourth Amendment claim for fabrication of evidence lies where a defendant knowingly manufactures probable cause, thereby effecting a seizure. Spurlock v. Satterfield,
.Appellants claim, “None of the buy money was recovered during Operation Turnaround, so no money serial numbers were used to corroborate Bray's allegations.” Appellants point to no record evidence to support this contention. Moreover, in response to a grand juror's question as to whether law enforcement recovered the buy money, Lucas responded, "It depends.... A lot of times as soon as they get it, they turn around blowing it.” To the extent Lucas knowingly or recklessly testified to a falsity with respect to this fact, a reasonable grand jury considering the untainted рortion of Lucas’s testimony would still find that probable cause existed under the totality of the circumstances test. Cf. United States v. Campbell,
. It is immaterial whether Lovett or Robertson was in fact framed by Bray. To prevail on their claims, "[ajllegations of negligence or innocent mistake are insufficient. The deliberate falsity” relevant to this suit "is only that of [appellees], not of any nongovernmental informant.” Franks v. Delaware,
. The district court erred in its use of appellants’ admissions of guilt, including those at their plea hearings, to establish that there was
. Appellants’ attempts to challenge the finding of probable cause miss the point. Appellants argue, “Looking at what the defendant officers knew at the time of plaintiffs’ indictments and arrests, there is certainly a dispute of fact, foreclosing summary judgment, about whether the officers could have reasonably relied on Bray for probable cause.” This argument completely overlooks the point that appellants were arrested by warrants issued based on a grand jury indictment. For this reason, cases like United States v. Coffee,
. Because appellants have not established a constitutional violation, we decline to reach the judicial estoppel issue discussed by the district court. We note only that the probable cause inquiry requires consideration of an officer's knowledge at the time of arrest; thus, appellants' guilty pleas cannot establish the basis for probable cause.
. All references to Brady are references to Brady v. Maryland,
. We also deny appellants’ motion to remand for supplementation of the record on appeal. Appellants’ motion, stated at a high level of generality, argues that the district court’s grant of summary judgment was flawed because appellees subsequently produced a substantial number of documents allegedly relevant to the qualified immunity issue. To the extent appellants specify the content of the documents, they mention nothing that would assist them in identifying with particularity which defendants) violated the constitutional rights of individual plaintiffs.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring.
I write separately to highlight both the circumstances under which this case came before the Court and the significance of
As discussed by the majority, Operation Turnaround was a highly corrupt government investigation in which an informant, inter alia, maliciously falsely identified innocent people as participants in drug sales and stole controlled “buy money” from DEA agents. Several law enforcement officers, including the Defendants in this case, were charged and prosecuted for their complicity in the informant’s crimes. Some admitted perjuring themselves at the trials of accused individuals, falsely identifying them as participants in drug sales despite knowing those individuals to be innocent. Other Defendants were aware that the informant was stealing money and' purchasing drugs for himself during controlled buys and yet, continued to use his services. Indeed, the corruption was so widespread and pervasive that the investigation dissolved, and the government was forced to dismiss the charges against Plaintiffs.
Unfortunately, because of the dark cloud of corruption that has hung over this investigation, we cannot be absolutely confident in any of the fruits of this investigation. However, I join in the majority’s thorough and well-reasoned opinion because we can rule with sufficiеnt certainty that while Defendants violated the constitutional rights of others, they did not violate Plaintiffs’ rights.
The district court made much of the fact that Plaintiffs entered guilty pleas in the drug cases against them in its Opinion and Order of January 4, 2012, see l:08cvl253, R.137. Despite the extent of law enforcement’s egregious maleficence, the court contemptibly dismissed Plaintiffs’ arguments as “conclusory allegations that they were ‘framed,’ ” while referencing Plaintiffs’ now-vacated “admissions of guilt” more than thirty times in its opinion. R.137, PgID 11. The court even raised, sua sponte, the judicial estoppel doctrine against Plaintiffs, on the basis of Plaintiffs’ entries of guilty pleas, even though the court was aware of the illegitimacy of the investigation, concluding that Plaintiffs’ alleged attempts to “gain unfair advantage” and “cash in” were “too much to take”. R.137, PgID 35-38 (internal quotations omitted).
Where individuals are being framed by law enforcement officials, as occurred throughout Operation Turnaround, a guilty plea can become an accused individual’s only choice, and not the “voluntary and intеlligent choice among the alternative courses of action open to the defendant.” North Carolina v. Alford,
The pervasiveness of the corruption in this investigation highlights plea bargaining’s “innocence problem.”
In the context of the fallout of Operation Turnaround, then, the district court’s determination that Plaintiffs “receive[d] the benefit of their guilty pleas” and yet were trying to “have things both ways” is disturbing. R.137, PgID 38. Indeed, such attitudes contribute to the perils of plea bargaining; an accused person who senses hostility from the trial court may opt to plead guilty even if he or she is innocent, in order to avoid being sentenced at trial by that judge.
I concur in the majority opinion.
. Lucian E. Dervan and Vanessa A. Edkins, Ph.D, "The Innocent Defendant’s Dilemma: An Innovative Empirical Study of Plea Bargaining’s Innocence Problem,” 103 J.Crim. L. & Criminology 1, 17(2013).
. See Id. at 3-4 and 15-17.
. Id. at 13.
. Id. at 14.
.See Dervan and Edkins, supra note 1 at 15-17.