Zoellner v. City of Arcata, Case No. 18-cv-04471-EMC

588 F.Supp.3d 979

Kyle Christopher ZOELLNER, Plaintiff,

v.CITY OF ARCATA, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 18-cv-04471-EMC

United States District Court, N.D. California.

Signed March 1, 2022

Elizabeth Azadeh Zareh, Zareh and Associates, Ali R. Yousefi, Law Offices of Ali Yousefi, P.C., San Francisco, CA, for Plaintiff.

Dale L. Allen, Jr., Patrick Daniel Moriarty, Maria Nozzolino, Kevin Patrick Allen, John Braden Robinson, Allen, Glaessner, Hazelwood & Werth LLP, San Francisco, CA, for Defendant City of Arcata.

Patrick Daniel Moriarty, Maria Nozzolino, John Braden Robinson, Allen, Glaessner, Hazelwood and Werth, LLP, San Francisco, CA, for Defendants Tom Chapman, Karen Diemer, Sofia Pereira, Todd Dokweiler, Eric Losey, Devin Nilsen, Krystle Arminio, Jacob McKenzie.

John Braden Robinson, Maria Nozzolino, Patrick Daniel Moriarty, Allen, Glaessner, Hazelwood & Werth, LLP, San Francisco, CA, for Defendants Brian Ahearn, Richard Ehle.

Margaret Mary Fleming, DA Humboldt County, Eureka, CA, for Defendant DA Maggie Fleming.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Docket No. 208

EDWARD M. CHEN, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Kyle C. Zoellner has filed a civil rights action against the City of Arcata and several employees of the City Police Department (including Chief Thomas Chapman, Det. Sgt. Todd Dokweiler, Sgt. Eric Losey, Officer Devin Nilsen, Officer Krystle Arminio, and Officer Jacob McKenzie). Mr. Zoellner was arrested by the City police on April 15, 2017, for the murder of Josiah Lawson. He was charged with the crime on April 19, 2017. On May 5, 2017, following a preliminary hearing, the state court dismissed the charges against Mr. Zoellner for lack of probable cause. Mr. Zoellner has asserted causes of action under both federal and state law, including but not limited to unlawful arrest and malicious prosecution. Currently pending before the Court is Defendants’ motion for summary judgment.

Having considered the parties’ briefs and accompanying submissions, as well as the oral argument of counsel, the Court hereby GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Defendants’ motion.

I. FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Timeline of Events

The evidence submitted by the parties in conjunction with the motion for summary judgment reflects as follows.

4/15/2017. Mr. Lawson was killed at a party in the City early in the morning, around 3:00 a.m. He was stabbed. The first officer to arrive at the scene was Officer Nilsen. Soon thereafter, Officer McKenzie and Officer Arminio arrived at the scene. Officer Arminio served as the watch commander at the scene.

Defendants have provided a copy of the MAV (mobile audio video) recording from Officer Nilsen's car. See also Nilsen Decl. ¶ 4 (explaining that he had an audio recorder on his lapel that worked in conjunction with the in-car recording system). The recording shows only the interior of the car but still has value because of the audio. It lasts about two hours. Defendants’ expert, Brian Medeiros, prepared a report which provides an "index" to the main events on the recording. See Medeiros Decl., Ex. A (Rpt. at 12 et seq. ).

As indicated by the recording, within minutes after arriving at the scene, Officer Nilsen put Mr. Zoellner in handcuffs and in the back of his police car. This was also about the time that Officer McKenzie and Officer Arminio arrived at the scene. See McKenzie Decl. ¶ 4 ("Upon arrival, I saw Nilsen with a handcuffed Plaintiff Kyle Zoellner standing outside Nilsen's patrol car."); Arminio Decl. ¶ 4 ("Upon arrival, I saw Nilsen walking a handcuffed Plaintiff Kyle Zoellner to his patrol car.").

After Mr. Zoellner was put in the police car, he stayed there for close to two hours before he was taken to the hospital for injuries he had sustained during one or two fights involving Mr. Lawson. During the time Mr. Zoellner was waiting in the police car, the police did some additional investigation, although Mr. Zoellner contends that the investigation was not adequate. At one point during the wait (about an hour and twenty minutes into the recording), Officer Nilsen spoke to someone on the phone. During this conversation, Officer Nilsen noted that he could not remember whether a witness, Mr. Wright, said he saw Mr. Zoellner stab Mr. Lawson or simply made an assumption that Mr. Zoellner had stabbed Mr. Lawson. It is not clear to whom Officer Nilsen was speaking. According to Mr. Zoellner, Officer Nilsen was speaking to Officer Arminio and/or Det. Sgt. Dokweiler.

After Mr. Zoellner was taken to the hospital and medically cleared, he was taken to the Police Department where Det. Sgt. Dokweiler interviewed him. See Dokweiler Decl. ¶ 7. Det Sgt. Dokwiler had been assigned to lead the investigation of the homicide. See Dokweiler Decl. ¶ 3.

Officer Nilsen prepared a police report related to the events that same day. See Zareh Decl., Exs. 3, 6 (police report). In his report, Officer Nilsen noted, inter alia , as follows.

• Officer Nilsen was dispatched to the residence where the party was being held "in regards to a subject stabbed after a fight." Zareh Decl., Ex. 3 (Rpt. at 19).

• When he arrived, there were about 100 people in the driveway area, with about 15-20 people actively fighting or pushing each other in the driveway. As he exited the police car, a number of people fled. Officer Nilsen radioed for additional officers to assist with the crowd. See Zareh Decl., Ex. 3 (Rpt. at 19).

• Officer Nilsen walked into the area, and several people pointed to a person on a grassy area on the side of the driveway. "Numerous subjects stated that the male was the suspect in the stabbing. The male was later identified as Kyle Zoellner. Zoellner was being held up by several females. Zoellner appeared dazed." Zareh Decl., Ex. 3 (Rpt. at 19).¹

• Officer Nilsen saw that Mr. Zoellner "had a swollen right eye," that blood was emitting from below his eye and from his nose and mouth, and that his pants "were blood soaked around the knee areas of both pant legs." Zareh Decl., Ex. 3 (Rpt. at 19). Officer Nilsen put Mr. Zoellner in handcuffs behind his back and then placed him in the back of the police car while Officer Nilsen "began to look for witnesses." Zareh Decl., Ex. 3 (Rpt. at 19).

• Officer Nilsen interviewed several witnesses, including Mr. Wright (a member of the same fraternity as Mr. Lawson), Ms. Ortega (Mr. Zoellner's girlfriend), Ms. Wilkins (one of the women who attended the party with Mr. Zoellner's girlfriend), and Ms. McFarland (another woman who attended the party with Mr. Zoellner's girlfriend).²See Zareh Decl., Ex. 3 (Rpt. at 19); Zareh Decl., Ex. 6 (Rpt. at 21).

• Mr. Wright told Officer Nilsen that he walked by Mr. Zoellner and Mr. Lawson fighting and "observed that [Mr. Lawson] wasn't ‘stabbed.’ He then saw Lawson bleeding and ‘assumed’ that [Mr.] Zoellner had stabbed [Mr.] Lawson due to them fighting."³ Zareh Decl., Ex. 3 (Rpt. at 19). Mr. Wright confirmed that he did not actually observe any stabbing of Mr. Lawson; also, he did not see any knife. See Zareh Decl., Ex. 3 (Rpt. at 19). Officer Nilsen had to stop the interview with Mr. Wright because the crowd was "being aggressive." Zareh Decl., Ex. 3 (Rpt. at 19). When Officer Nilsen tried to find Mr. Wright later, he was not able to find Mr. Wright. See Zareh Decl., Ex. 3 (Rpt. at 19).

• Ms. Wilkins was "visibly upset." Zareh Decl., Ex. 3 (Rpt. at 19). Officer Nilsen was not able to obtain a statement from her but she "later stated that she spoke with another officer." Zareh Decl., Ex. 3 (Rpt. at 19).

• Ms. McFarland said she saw the stabbing but it happened so fast that she could not tell what exactly took place. She stated that one of the people involved in the altercation was "a black male adult with a red shirt with blue jeans." Zareh Decl., Ex. 6 (Rpt. at 21).

• Ms. Ortega stated that she did not see the stabbing but that Mr. Zoellner did not have a knife. See Zareh Decl., Ex. 6 (Rpt. at 21).

• During the interview of Ms. Ortega, several people stated that they saw "one of the subjects involved in the altercation in a white Kia Forte that was driving by the scene. [Officer Nilsen] had Officer K. Arminio attempt to locate the vehicle to no avail." Zareh Decl., Ex. 6 (Rpt. at 21).

• With Mr. Zoellner's consent, Officer Nilsen conducted a BAC test on Mr. Zoellner, using a breathalyzer. "The test resulted in 0.00 BAC." Zareh Decl., Ex. 6 (Rpt. at 21).

• Officer Nilsen took digital photos of Mr. Zoellner's injuries and his clothing. See Zareh Decl., Ex. 6 (Rpt. at 21).

• Officer Nilsen advised Mr. Zoellner that he was under arrest and then took Mr. Zoellner to the hospital for medical treatment. After he was medically cleared, Officer Nilsen took him to the Police Department, as directed by Det. Sgt. Dokweiler. See Zareh Decl., Ex. 6 (Rpt. at 21).

4/16/2017. The day after the homicide, Det. Sgt. Dokweiler prepared a probable cause statement which was "necessary to book [Mr.] Zoellner into county jail. The information [he] put in the statement came from speaking to Officers Arminio and Nilsen." Dokweiler Decl. ¶ 8. The statement is very short, simply noting as follows: "Officers responded to the report of a stabbing @ 1120 Spear Ave. Numerous witnesses had detained Zoellner and indicated he had stabbed the (v). The (v) was transported to MRCH [i.e. , the hospital] and pronounced dead. Zoellner admitted he was involved in a physical fight w/ the victim." Docket No. 201-8 (probable cause statement). A state court judge signed the statement of probable cause for an arrest without a warrant, and Mr. Zoellner stayed in custody based on the warrant that the judge signed until the DA charged him with murder on 4/19/2017. See Dokweiler Decl. ¶¶ 8, 11.

4/17/2017. The Police Department interviewed additional witnesses, including but not limited to Mr. Martinez who had been one of the attendees at the party. See Zareh Decl., Exs. 2, 5 (police report, dated 4/19/2017); Zareh Decl., Ex. 8 (charging summary). Det....