Camm v. Stanley O. Faith

DAVID R. CAMM, Plaintiff, v. STANLEY O. FAITH, SEAN CLEMONS, SAM SARKISIAN, JAMES NIEMEYER,WILLIAM L. WALLS, ROBERT NEAL, JAMES BIDDLE, JAMES HICKERSON,MYRON WILKERSON, GARY GILBERT, KEITH HENDERSON, STEVE OWEN,ROBERT STITES, RODNEY ENGLERT, ENGLERT FORENSIC CONSULTANTS,LLC, UNKNOWN JOHN DOE AND JANE DOE OFFICERS,and UNKNOWN RICHARD AND ROBERTA ROE SUPERVISORS, Defendants.

Case No. 4:14-cv-00123-TWP-DML

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA NEW ALBANY DIVISION

January 29, 2018

ENTRY ON DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

This matter is before the Court on six Motions for Summary Judgment filed by the Defendants in this action. (Filing No. 148; Filing No. 150; Filing No. 152; Filing No. 154; Filing No. 157; Filing No. 160.) Following three jury trials for the murder of his wife and two children, which ultimately resulted in his acquittal and freedom, Plaintiff David R. Camm ("Camm") filed this action for malicious prosecution, due process violations, conspiracy to violate civil rights, a Monell claim, and state law claims against the prosecutors who filed the charges and some of the law enforcement officers and investigators who investigated the crime.

Defendants Sean Clemons ("Clemons"), Sam Sarkisian ("Sarkisian"), James Niemeyer ("Niemeyer"), William L. Walls ("Walls"), Robert Neal ("Neal"), and James Biddle ("Biddle") (collectively, the "First Investigators") are Indiana State Police officers and investigators. They assert that they are entitled to summary judgment because probable cause existed to charge Camm with murder and because they are immune from liability under the Indiana Tort Claims Act, Indiana Code § 34-13-3-1 et seq. ("ITCA"), and the qualified immunity doctrine. (Filing No. 149.) Defendant Gary Gilbert ("Gilbert"), the lead case officer for Camm's second trial, asserts that he is entitled to summary judgment because he is immune from liability based on qualified immunity and the ITCA and also because probable cause existed to charge Camm with murder a second time. (Filing No. 153.) Defendant Stanley O. Faith ("Faith") was the Floyd County, Indiana Prosecutor for Camm's first trial and Defendant Keith Henderson ("Henderson") was the Floyd County Prosecutor for Camm's second trial. Each respectively contend that they should be awarded summary judgment because their prosecutions of Camm were supported by probable cause, and they are entitled to absolute prosecutorial immunity and ITCA immunity for their actions as county prosecutors. (Filing No. 151; Filing No. 155.)

Defendant Rodney Englert ("Englert"), owner and operator of Englert Forensic Consultants, LLC ("Englert Forensic") (collectively, the "Englert Defendants") and Defendant Robert Stites ("Stites") are forensic consultants. They each move for summary judgment arguing that there is insufficient evidence to support any of Camm's federal or Indiana state law claims against them as private consultants and that they are immune from liability as investigators and witnesses. (Filing No. 158; Filing No. 161.)

Camm submitted a Consolidated Response in opposition to the Defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment (the "Response"). (Filing No. 184.) The State Defendants collectively filed a Consolidated Reply (Filing No. 206) and Stites and the Englert Defendants filed their individual Replies. (Filing No. 200 and Filing No. 199.) Thereafter, Camm filed a Surreply (Filing No. 207). For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS the Defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

As required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, the following facts are presented in the light most favorable to Camm as the non-moving party. See Zerante v. DeLuca, 555 F.3d 582, 584 (7th Cir. 2009); see also, Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986).

Camm became a Trooper for the Indiana State Police in 1989 and later retired as a Senior Trooper in the spring of 2000. (Filing No. 156-1 at 29-31.) On the evening of September 28, 2000, Camm left his home to play basketball at a nearby church. (Filing No. 156-1 at 223-28.) He arrived at the church gym between 6:50 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., and the basketball games began at approximately 7:15 p.m. (Filing No. 156-1 at 228.) A total of eleven basketball players, including Camm, played about five or six games with each game lasting approximately twenty minutes. (Filing No. 156-1 at 226-28.) Due to uneven numbers, Camm sat out for certain portions of the games. (Filing No. 156-1 at 226.) Camm and the other basketball players left the gym at approximately 9:22 p.m., and he returned home. (Filing No. 156-1 at 237.)

When Camm arrived home, he discovered his wife, Kimberly Camm ("Kimberly"), and his children, Jill Camm ("Jill") and Bradley Camm ("Bradley"), dead in their garage. (Filing No. 156-1 at 97-99.) Camm first saw Kimberly lying on the garage floor and ran to check on her. (Filing No. 156-1 at 98.) He knelt down beside Kimberly in a pool of blood to find that she was unresponsive. (Filing No. 156-1 at 98.) Camm then began to look for his children and saw Bradley in the back seat of their Ford Bronco in the garage. (Filing No. 156-1 at 98.) He reached into the vehicle to grab Bradley and found Jill sitting next to him. (Filing No. 156-1 at 98-99.) Camm pulled Bradley out of the vehicle, laid him on the garage floor, and began giving him CPR. (Filing No. 156-1 at 99.) After attempting to resuscitate Bradley without success, Camm called theIndiana State Police for help and ran to his grandfather's house nearby. (Filing No. 156-1 at 99-100.)

A. First Investigation

Several Indiana State Police officers and investigators arrived at the Camm's home to investigate the murders. Clemons and Neal were among the first investigators to arrive at the crime scene. (Filing No. 156-3 at 17-19; Filing No. 156-7 at 10-12.) Upon his arrival, Clemons assumed responsibility as the lead investigator and was later assigned as such by his Lieutenant, Jim Biddle. (Filing No. 156-3 at 28.) As the lead investigator, Clemons oversaw the murder investigation and was notified of all evidence being collected. (Filing No. 156-3 at 56.) Faith, the Floyd County Prosecutor at that time, also arrived to observe the crime scene and advise the police on the night of the murders. (Filing No. 156-3 at 42; Filing No. 156-8 at 19.) Faith directed Clemons to conduct certain interviews, follow up on bank and telephone records, and other general investigatory tactics. (Filing No. 156-3 at 44-45.) Faith also directed investigators from the prosecutor's office to instruct officers on what to collect and what to dust for prints and made final decisions such as who would be the supervising technician over the scene. (Filing No. 156-6 at 31-35.) At one point, officers were told to stop complaining and start collecting certain evidence "because Stan Faith said this." Id. However, Faith did not direct Clemons on any specific evidence that should be collected and did not demand control of the investigation from Clemons. (Filing No. 156-3 at 44-45.)

Sarkisian, a crime scene technician, and his supervisor, Niemeyer, also arrived at the scene shortly after Camm's call. (Filing No. 156-5 at 10, 13; Filing No. 156-6 at 13-14.) Sarkisian arrived at the crime scene between 9:45 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. on September 28, 2000, and Niemeyer arrived at the scene shortly thereafter. (Filing No. 156-5 at 13, 18.) While at the scene, Sarkisiantook directives only from Niemeyer. (Filing No. 156-5 at 25.) Sarkisian helped to process the crime scene by taping off the scene, taking photographs, documenting evidence, monitoring the area around the Camm home, and looking for signs of forced entry or evidence of a weapon. (Filing No. 156-5 at 16-20.) Sarkisian took photographs of a half bloody footprint inside the garage, but it was unclear whether the footprint was evidence from the murders or was made by the troopers investigating the scene. (Filing No. 156-5 at 26-27; Filing No. 156-6 at 82.) Sarkisian also found a gray sweatshirt underneath Bradley's body but did not thoroughly examine it at that time. (Filing No. 156-5 at 87-89.) Niemeyer videotaped the scene, including the outside of the garage door, the back of the Bronco, Bradley and Kimberly laying on the garage floor, a shell casing on the garage floor, and possibly the driver's side of the Bronco. (Filing No. 156-5 at 20; Filing No. 156-6 at 104.) Investigators from the prosecutor's office attempted to direct Niemeyer to collect evidence based on Faith's instructions, but Niemeyer took orders from his supervisor, Joe Vetter. (Filing No. 156-6 at 34-35.)

On the night of the murders, Clemons informed Camm that he was a suspect and, being that it was his family that was murdered, Camm was not surprised. (Filing No. 156-1 at 40-42.) Clemons interviewed Camm's aunt and neighbor, Mrs. Ter Vree, who reported hearing three short, crisp banging sounds around 9:00 p.m. that evening. (Filing No. 156-3 at 36-37.) Based on Mrs. Ter Vree's statement, Clemons believed that the murders took place after 9:00 p.m. (Filing No. 156-3 at 36.) Clemons was made aware of a sweatshirt found at the scene and a palm print found on Camm's Bronco but believed that neither provided sufficient evidence to produce an identification. (Filing No. 156-3 at 68-69, 128.) The sweatshirt also appeared to have writing on the collar that looked to say "Backbone" or "Rack One." (Filing No. 156-3 at 65-66.)

The next day, September 29, 2000, Faith told Clemons that he planned to bring in a crime scene reconstruction expert to evaluate the crime scene. Faith called Englert and asked him to come analyze the scene in New Albany as soon as possible. (Filing No. 156-3 at 101; Filing No. 156-8 at 30-31.) Englert informed Faith that he had a prior engagement and would not be able to come to the crime scene personally. (Filing No. 156-8 at 36.) However, Englert indicated that he would send his assistant, Stites, to the crime scene in his place, and...