Lee v. Stone

1

MATTHEW LEE, a resident of Ada County, Plaintiff, v. KAYSE STONE, an individual, TERRY LAKEY, an individual, ADA COUNTY, an Idaho county, CITY OF BOISE, an Idaho municipality, and ZANE STONE, an individual, Defendants.

No. 1:20-cv-00186-BLW

United States District Court, D. Idaho

May 3, 2024

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

B Lynn Winmill U.S. District Court Judge

INTRODUCTION

Before the Court is Defendants Kayse and Zane Stone's Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 93). For the reasons explained below the Court will grant the motion as to plaintiff's false-arrest claim and deny the motion as to the defamation claim.

FACTS

On April 19, 2018, Deputy Terry Lakey of the Ada County Sherriff's Office arrested Plaintiff Matthew Lee for misdemeanor second-degree stalking. The alleged victims were Kayse and Zane Stone and their 12-year-old daughter. At the time, Kayse was an officer with the Boise Police Department. The county prosecutor eventually dismissed the charges against Lee, and Lee then brought this action against the Stones, the City of Boise, Deputy Lakey, and Ada County. Earlier, this Court dismissed all of Lee's claims except for his third and fifth claims. The third claim, which is brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleges that Kayse Stone violated Lee's Fourth Amendment rights, based on an underlying allegation that he was wrongfully arrested. The fifth claim alleges that Zane Stone defamed Lee.

A. The Stones' Report to Law Enforcement

Before arresting Lee, Deputy Lakey collected factual statements from the Stones. See Lakey Aff., Dkt. 49-2, ¶ 4, Exs. A and B thereto. Within these statements, the Stones conveyed the following information:

Beginning in April 2017, Kayse and Zane noticed that a black passenger vehicle began parking outside their home on multiple occasions. They also observed that the same car parked in front of their young daughter's school bus stop several times. Mr. Stone said the car windows had a “limousine tint,” and both Stones noted that the license plates were completely or partially covered, such that they were unable to read them. Kayse said the person driving the car would typically sit there for 15 to 30 minutes before driving off. As she put it, “He would usually wait to drive off until he saw one of us in the window or at the front door.”

Ex. A to Lakey Aff., Dkt. 49-2, at 5.

Both Kayse and Zane indicated that in early April 2017, the person driving this vehicle came onto their property and he seemed to be trying to figure out the electronic codes on the garage and front doors. When they confronted him, he said he was selling extermination products, but they did not observe him approaching any of their neighbors' homes. Kayse also provided a description of the person. She described him as a “white male adult in his late 30's, approximately 6' to 6'6”, 170-190 lbs and ... bald/clean shaven.” Ex. A to Lakey Aff, Dkt. 49-2.

Kayse indicated that they stopped seeing this person around September 2017, and they thought the problem had resolved. But they began seeing the same vehicle in front of their home again beginning in early April 2018. They were initially unable to get a plate number, but that changed on April 16, 2018. On that evening, Zane noticed the same black Honda Accord had once again pulled up outside his home. He was sitting in the living room, and when got up to take a picture, the car drove off. This time, however, Zane got into his truck and followed the car. He said that as he rounded a corner, he noticed the driver had pulled over and was outside the vehicle, “adjusting the bike rack on the rear of his vehicle to make sure it was covering the plate.” Id. Zane said that upon seeing this person, he immediately recognized him as the man he had seen at his home in the past. He described the driver as being around 6'2”, weighing less than 200 pounds, and with a shaved or bald head. Zane followed the vehicle and was eventually able to get the plate number by reading “the very top” of the numbers. Id.

Once he had the license plate number, Zane reported it to the Eagle Police Department and then decided to return home rather than continue following the vehicle. Once he got home, he went over to his neighbor's home to discuss the incident. He says while he was doing that, he saw the same car drive past his home yet again.

In addition to calling the Eagle Police Department, Zane also called Kayse. When Zane's call came in, Kayse was at work but getting ready to go home. Although she had dressed down, she was still on duty and in the police station, so she passed the license plate number along to dispatch. As such, she was able to find out that evening that the license plate was registered to a person named Matthew Lee. Ex. A to Lakey Aff., Dkt. 49-2, at 5. Kayse said that when she saw a picture of the registered owner of the black Honda Accord, she “had no doubt that was the man who had been lingering on my porch periodically for the past year.”^[1]Id. at 6. She also indicated that after she sent Lee's picture to her husband, he confirmed that “he was 100% sure it was the same guy he had confronted on multiple occasions.” Id. Finally, she indicated that on April 18, 2018 (the same day she provided her statement), she had been notified that Lee's vehicle was located at Boise Airport Chevron station. Id. She noted in her statement that she had started working as a relief officer at the Boise Airport beginning in April 2017. She indicated that that was “the only connection I could find between myself and my family and Matthew.” Id. at 6.

In his written statement, Zane concluded with this: “It is overwhelming[ly] clear to me that this man is stalking my family.” See Z. Stone Dec., Dkt. 106, Ex. 1 thereto. For her part, Kayse's statement indicated that their 12-year-old daughter “is terrified of this person because of his continued stalking behaviors. He continues to come onto our property after having been trespassed and had made attempts to enter our home.” Dkt. 49-2, Ex. A thereto, at 2.

B. Lee Dispute Parts of the Stones' Report But Does Not Dispute That Deputy Lakey Collected the Statements Before The Arrest

Lee does not dispute that he drove a Black Honda Accord during the relevant times or that he worked at the Boise Airport Chevron. Nor does he dispute that the license plate reported to the Eagle Police Department on the evening of April 16, 2018 was, in fact, his license plate number. He does not dispute that he matches the physical description the Stones reported to the officers (6'2”, weighing under 200 pounds, with a bald or clean-shaven head). Finally, he does not dispute that he was in the Stones' neighborhood from time to time-but he says this is because his then-girlfriend lived in that neighborhood. Beyond that, Lee disputes the factual narrative the Stones provided to Deputy Lakey. He says he has no idea who the Stones are, that he has never entered their property or attempted to do so, and that he did not park his car in front of the Stones' house or at their daughter's bus stop. It is, however, undisputed that Deputy Lakey had the Stones' factual statements in hand before he arrested Lee. Similarly, even assuming the Stones were not being truthful with Deputy Lakey, the undisputed facts (even viewed favorably to Lee) do not show that Deputy Lakey knew, or should have known, this to be so.

C. Deputy Lakey Investigates and Then Arrests Lee

On April 17, 2018-the day after Zane got a license plate number for Lee's vehicle-the matter was assigned to the Ada County Sheriff's Office “Anti-Crime Team in Our Neighborhood” (ACTION) force, under the direction of Deputy Terry Lakey, with Sergeant Patrick Schneider acting as supervisor. See Plaintiff's Statement of Facts, Dkt. 97-1, ¶ 5; Lee Dec. ¶ 4, Ex. 3 thereto. As part of his investigation, Deputy Lakey did at least the following before arresting Lee: (1) he interviewed Kayse, Lee, and Lee's mother; (2) he collected the written statements described above from Kayse and Zane; (3) he located Lee's car at a gas station near the Boise airport; and (4) he interviewed Lee's supervisor and co-worker.

Deputy Lakey kept Kayse apprised of some aspects of the investigation, and he collected information from her, as she was one of the alleged victims. But the evidence does not show that Kayse was involved in the investigation (which was being conducted by another agency, in any event) or that she was the one who decided to arrest Lee.^[2]Her deposition testimony clarifies this issue at different points. For example, when asked about her role in the investigation, Kayse provided the following answer:

A: I'm not quite sure how to answer that. I mean, of course, I wasn't officially investigating my own case because that's inappropriate and it wasn't my jurisdiction. But I was assisting in trying to provide information to the officers or deputies that were handling the case.

Q: Would it be fair to classify you as a victim of the alleged crime?

A. I guess so.

Q. Okay. And when you say “assisting,” were you assisting beyond providing information within your personal knowledge about what had happened?

A. No.

K. Stone Dep., Dkt. 93-2, at 44. And, in fact, Kayse was not present when Lee was arrested, and she did not make the decision to arrest him. Rather, Deputy Lakey made that decision.

D. Zane Stone Posts Information about Lee on NextDoor

A few days after Lee's arrest, Zane posted Lee's driver's license photo and mugshot on NextDoor, which is a social media site. The posting is in the record, and the salient points of that posting are described below, in connection with the Court's discussion of the defamation claim.

LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate where a party can show that, as to any claim or...