R.C. Price v. Murry Roark

The goings on in Shaw, Mississippi provide the fodder for this appeal. Murry Roark, a county law enforcement officer, arrested R.C. Price, Jr., a salvager of abandoned buildings, charging him with a license tag violation and arson of an abandoned building in Shaw. The tag violation, a sore spot because of Price's alleged history of tag violations, was admitted by Price; the arson charge was denied by Price and dropped. Price then sued Roark in state court for false arrest and malicious prosecution, claiming a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights. The case was removed to federal court where the district judge denied Roark's claim of qualified immunity from this suit. We reverse and hold that because the arrest itself was valid based on the license tag violation, the alleged Fourth Amendment false arrest claim resting only on the charge of arson fails. Because the malicious prosecution claim, which is based on the arson charge, depends on a Fourth Amendment violation, and because Price suffered no violation of his Fourth Amendment rights as a result of his arrest or otherwise, that claim also fails. Roark is therefore entitled to qualified immunity and to have the claims against him dismissed because Price has failed to show any evidence that would establish the violation of a constitutional right.

I.

On August 13, 1998, a fire destroyed three dilapidated buildings slated for demolition in the Town of Shaw, in Bolivar County, Mississippi. The owner of the buildings, R.C. Price, had recently purchased the buildings from the Town of Shaw as part of an oral contract to demolish them and remove the debris. Price was in the salvaging business, and intended to remove the bricks and lumber from the buildings. Based on conversations with Shaw's mayor and with the fire department, Price understood that he was permitted to burn the debris from the buildings after he demolished them, although he was not permitted to burn down the buildings.

A business located in the vicinity of the buildings alerted Murry Roark, an investigator for the Bolivar County Sheriff's office, that the buildings were on fire. After the local fire department extinguished the fire, Roark investigated the scene. He allegedly was informed that Price had a contract to demolish the buildings, that Shaw officials had not granted Price permission to burn debris, and that Price had been seen walking over to the area fire had begun and leaving shortly before the flames erupted.

After dumping materials from another demolition, Price arrived at the scene of the fire, in a truck without a vehicle tag. Price had previously received several tickets for maintaining or operating vehicles without vehicle tags. Roark arrested him for not having a vehicle tag. On the ride to the police station--a ride in which Price was not handcuffed and sat in the front seat of the squad car--Roark informed Price that he was going to charge him with arson, as well as not having vehicle tags.

At the police station, Price was handcuffed and locked up by a jailor. Price called his attorney, who advised him to post a cash bond. Price's bond was set at $1000 for the tag charge and $20,000 on the arson charge. After being informed of the price of the bond, Price rejected the services of a bondsman at the jail. Price was in jail for approximately four hours, until his wife gathered the money to post $ 2125 in cash for the bond.

Price was charged with both arson and operating a vehicle without vehicle tags, but the arson charges were dismissed without prosecution a few days later. After missing his court date on the no tag charge, Price was found guilty of owning a vehicle without a license tag and found to be in contempt of court, for which he was again arrested. Price subsequently paid a fine for the license tag ticket.

A few days after his initial arrest by Bolivar County, on the same day Price's bond on the arson charge was refunded by Bolivar County, Price was arrested by the Town of Shaw and charged with arson. This arrest was carried out, pursuant to a warrant and affidavit, by Shaw's Chief of Police, Don Brown. Price also filed a lawsuit against the Town of Shaw and Chief Brown pertaining to the second arrest, but the law suit has since settled.

Price filed this suit seeking damages for false arrest for both arrests on arson charges and for malicious prosecution under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Roark in Mississippi state court.(1) Roark removed the action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, based on federal question jurisdiction. After discovery, Roark moved for summary judgment on all claims, including his contention that he was entitled to qualified immunity for all of Price's claims arising under federal law. The district court denied the motion, finding that "the plaintiff ha[d] presented a genuine issue of material fact including, but not limited to, the existence of factual disputes concerning [Roark's] investigation of the incident giving rise to [Price's] arrest and whether the defendant had probable cause for said arrest." Roark appeals the district court's denial of qualified immunity on Price's federal claims. Price filed a motion to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, which was denied by a panel of this court on November 8, 2000.

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Court's opinion.

Because we hold that Roark is entitled to qualified immunity on Price's § 1983 claims of false arrest and malicious prosecution, we REVERSE the district court and REMAND this case for proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

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Reported by Kent Morlan