Raheem Anderson v. Paul Perez

NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
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No. 15-3225
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RAHEEM ANDERSON,
Appellant
v.
PAUL PEREZ,
Philadelphia Police Detective
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On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
(E.D. Pa. No. 2-14-cv-06747)
District Judge: Honorable Mark A. Kearney
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Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a)
September 15, 2016
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Before: CHAGARES, GREENWAY, JR., and RESTREPO, Circuit Judges.
(Filed: January 26, 2017)
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OPINION*
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*
This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and, pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7,
does not constitute binding precedent.
RESTREPO, Circuit Judge.
Raheem Anderson appeals the District Court’s grant of summary judgment for
Philadelphia Police Detective Paul Perez in Anderson’s suit for false arrest, malicious
prosecution, false imprisonment, false light invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction
of emotional distress. Because Anderson does not present a genuine dispute of material
fact as to whether Perez’s affidavit supporting the warrant application established
probable cause, and because Perez did not recklessly disregard the truth or engage in
willful misconduct, we will affirm.
I
As we write for the benefit of the parties, we set out only the facts necessary for
the discussion that follows. Anderson was arrested on February 25, 2014 pursuant to a
warrant issued on June 21, 2013. That warrant was issued based on an affidavit sworn
out the same day by Perez. In the affidavit, to establish probable cause for robbery,
criminal conspiracy, simple assault, and theft, Perez cited the statement of a victim,
Arthur Barnes. Barnes implicated Anderson, definitively identified him, and presented
corroborating injuries. In between the issuance of the warrant and Anderson’s arrest
eight months later, police arrested an alleged co-conspirator, Jerome Lawrence, and
charged him with several of the same crimes, including criminal conspiracy and simple
assault. Lawrence pled guilty to simple assault on September 13, 2013.
After Anderson was arrested he was unable to make bail, which had been set at
$50,000. As a result, he was imprisoned for nearly four months until his case was
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dismissed for lack of prosecution on June 8, 2014.1 The case was subsequently re-filed,
and then dismissed for lack of evidence at a preliminary hearing because Barnes was
more equivocal at the preliminary hearing about Anderson’s involvement than he had
been in his initial statement to Perez. Anderson had not returned to jail in the meantime.
Anderson ultimately filed this Section 1983 suit on November 25, 2014. The District
Court granted summary judgment for Perez. This timely appeal followed.2
II
Three of Anderson’s Section 1983 claims—false arrest, malicious prosecution,
and false imprisonment—require a plaintiff to show that the underlying arrest warrant
was not supported by probable cause in order to survive summary judgment. See
Dowling v. City of Phila., 855 F.2d 136, 141 (3d Cir. 1988); see also Orsatti v. N.J. State
Police, 71 F.3d 480, 483 (3d Cir. 1995) (noting that false arrest claims vindicate the right
to be free from arrest except on probable cause); Estate of Smith v. Marasco, 318 F.3d
1It bears mentioning that “the circumstances of this case appear to exemplify what
can be described as a flaw in our system of justice—in particular, the inequity bail can
create in criminal proceedings.” Curry v. Yachera, 835 F.3d 373, 375 (3d Cir. 2016).
This case illustrates the second option available to the Curry plaintiff and many other
arrestees who cannot afford bail. One who maintains his or her innocence may, as in
Curry, take a plea deal rather than mount a meritorious defense, or may wait out
prolonged imprisonment—as here, four months—until charges are dismissed. Curry, 835
F.3d at 376-77.
2
The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Our standard of review is
plenary. EEOC v. Allstate Ins. Co., 778 F.3d 444, 448 (3d Cir. 2015). On review, we
apply the same summary judgment standard as the District Court. See Chavarriaga v.
N.J. Dep’t of Corrections, 806 F.3d 210, 218 (3d Cir. 2015). “The court shall grant
summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any
material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P.
56(a).
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497, 521 (3d Cir. 2003) (explaining that party must show an absence of probable cause to
win a claim for malicious prosecution); Groman v. Twp. of Manalapan, 47 F.3d 628, 636
(3d Cir. 1995) (stating that arrest based on probable cause cannot become the source of a
claim for false imprisonment). “[P]robable cause to arrest exists when the facts and
circumstances within the arresting officer’s knowledge are sufficient in themselves to
warrant a reasonable person to believe that an offense has been or is being committed by
the person to be arrested.” Orsatti, 71 F.3d at 483. Ordinarily, the existence of probable
cause is a factual issue for the jury. See Halsey v. Pfeiffer, 750 F.3d 273, 300 (3d Cir.
2014). However, a court may grant summary judgment if “no genuine issue of material
fact exists as to whether” there was probable cause. Sherwood v. Mulvihill, 113 F.3d 396,
401 (3d Cir. 1997).
The facts here, viewed most favorably to Anderson, do not create a genuine
dispute as to whether probable cause existed when the warrant issued. The warrant
application and supporting affidavit contained statements from a victim, Barnes, who had
identified Anderson. Barnes’ statements implicating Anderson were corroborated by
Barnes’ physical injuries. This information, taken together, gave rise to probable cause
that Anderson had committed an offense.
If the face of a warrant contains probable cause, a Section 1983 plaintiff may still
prevail if the officer, in swearing out the affidavit, acted with reckless disregard for the
truth of matters that were material to the finding of probable cause. Goodwin v. Conway,
836 F.3d 321, 327 (3d Cir. 2016). In this context, reckless disregard may include making
false statements, or omitting material facts that a reasonable person would recognize as
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“the kind of thing the judge would wish to know” in considering the warrant application.
Wilson v. Russo, 212 F.3d 781, 787-88 (3d Cir. 2000); Goodwin, 836 F.3d at 327.
Here, there is no evidence in the record that Perez acted with reckless disregard for
the truth or omitted material facts when he swore out his affidavit, and Anderson has not
offered any. In support of his allegations that the affidavit of probable cause was false
even at the time it was sworn, Anderson emphasizes that charges against Lawrence were
dismissed between when the warrant issued and when Anderson was arrested. Events
that took place after Perez swore out the affidavit cannot speak to Perez’s knowledge or
truthfulness when he swore out the affidavit.
Anderson’s claims that require an absence of probable cause—false arrest,
malicious prosecution, and false imprisonment—fail.
III
Anderson’s false light invasion of privacy claim also fails in the absence of any
evidence of willful misconduct or reckless disregard for falsity on the part of Perez. In
Pennsylvania, liability for false light invasion of privacy accrues to a person “who
publishes material that is not true, is highly offensive to a reasonable person, and is
publicized with knowledge or in reckless disregard of its falsity.” Graboff v. Colleran
Firm, 744 F.3d 128, 136 (3d Cir. 2014) (internal quotation marks omitted). Mere
negligence is not enough to support a claim for false light invasion of privacy. Rush v.
Phila. Newspapers, Inc., 732 A.2d 648, 654 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1999).
Anderson has offered no evidence that Perez acted with reckless disregard for
falsity. To the extent that Anderson has premised his false light claim on the statements
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in the affidavit itself, any events that occurred after the affidavit was sworn do not speak
to Perez’s knowledge or reckless disregard at the time. At the point he applied for the
warrant, Perez believed the statements in the affidavit to be true and did not swear to
them with reckless disregard for whether they were false. Therefore, Anderson’s false
light claim fails.
IV
The absence of any evidence of willful misconduct defeats Anderson’s intentional
infliction of emotional distress (“IIED”) claim. In Pennsylvania, to prevail on a claim for
IIED, a defendant’s conduct must be “so outrageous in character, and so extreme in
degree, as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency, and to be regarded as atrocious,
and utterly intolerable in a civilized society.” Hoy v. Angelone, 720 A.2d 745, 754 (Pa.
1988). “[O]nly the most egregious conduct” is a sufficient basis for recovery on an
intentional infliction of emotional distress claim. Id.3 Anderson has offered no evidence
3
For examples of sufficiently outrageous conduct, see Papieves v. Lawrence, 263
A.2d 118, 120-21 (Pa. 1970) (finding that IIED may result from the intentional and
wanton mishandling of a decedent’s body); Banyas v. Lower Bucks Hosp., 437 A.2d
1236, 1239 (Pa. Super Ct. 1981) (stating that defendants who fabricated records to
implicate plaintiff in a homicide may be liable for IIED); Chuy v. Phila. Eagles Football
Club, 595 F.2d 1265, 1274-75 (3d Cir. 1979) (explaining that, if true, team physician
telling press that plaintiff suffered from fatal disease, despite knowing he did not, did
inflict IIED).
For examples of objectionable conduct that is nevertheless insufficient to make out
a claim for IIED, see Toney v. Chester Cty. Hosp., 961 A.2d 192, 202 (Pa. Super. Ct.
2008) (stating that doctors incorrectly telling mother her child would be born without
abnormalities, after negligently misreading an ultrasound, was not IIED); Buczek v. First
Nat. Bank of Mifflintown, 531 A.2d 1122, 1124-25 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1987) (finding that
self-dealing in violation of fiduciary obligation that led to sale falling through did not
inflict IIED); Daughen v. Fox, 539 A.2d 858, 864 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1988) (finding no IIED
where veterinarian swapped x-rays, causing death of dog).
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that Perez intentionally lied in his affidavit or otherwise sought his arrest despite knowing
there was no probable cause. Therefore, Anderson’s IIED claim fails, as well.
V
For the foregoing reasons, we will affirm the District Court’s grant of summary
judgment.
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