CA8: Officers had PC to arrest despite later investigation casting doubt and the criminal case getting dismissed

Officers had probable cause for plaintiff’s arrest for a sexual assault charge based on the totality of information, even though charges were later dismissed. Further later investigation cast doubt, but the officers weren’t reckless. Walz v. Randall, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 19244 (8th Cir. June 29, 2021):

Finally, the Walzes argue that Deputies Randall and Quandt violated the Fourth Amendment by arresting Tanner before properly investigating Haley’s claims, citing Kuehl v. Burtis, 173 F.3d 646 (8th Cir. 1999), in support of their position. Kuehl establishes that “law enforcement officers have a duty to conduct a reasonably thorough investigation prior to arresting a suspect, at least in the absence of exigent circumstances and so long as law enforcement would not be unduly hampered if the agents wait to obtain more facts before seeking to arrest.” Id. at 650 (cleaned up). In Kuehl itself, this court determined that a Fourth Amendment violation had occurred when the officers ignored a number of pieces of exculpatory evidence, interviewed the suspect for only twenty seconds before arresting her, and failed to interview an eyewitness at the scene of the alleged attack. See id. at 648-49, 651. But in a number of cases since, we have explained that Kuehl is applicable primarily in cases in which there is a clear “lack of investigation” prior to arrest, not in any case in which officers might have sought more sources of information before arresting a suspect. Clayborn, 734 F.3d at 809 (distinguishing Kuehl when officers made an arrest after obtaining physical evidence and interviewing witnesses, even though the witnesses’ stories were inconsistent with the suspect’s); see also, e.g., Gilmore v. City of Minneapolis, 837 F.3d 827, 833 (8th Cir. 2016) (finding Kuehl inapposite when the police arrested a suspect based on an eyewitness’ detailed statement); Ross v. City of Jackson, 897 F.3d 916, 922 (8th Cir. 2018) (applying Kuehl when officers arrested a suspect after seeing his Facebook post about guns, without any investigation into whether the post was a true threat and without giving the suspect any chance to explain himself).

In the Walzes’ view, as expressed by their attorney at oral argument, granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants means that, going forward, if somebody tells the police she was raped, “that’s enough—[they] don’t need to do any further investigation” before arresting the person she accused. But that is not what happened here. In the four days between learning of the allegation and arresting Tanner, Deputies Randall and Quandt spoke to Haley’s mother for over an hour; encouraged Haley to get a medical examination and reviewed the medical report, which included Haley’s statement describing the alleged rape; collected physical evidence; observed Haley’s CPC interview, which lasted more than an hour; compared Haley’s interview with her statement in the medical report; and interviewed Tanner himself. Thus, unlike in Kuehl, the deputies made an effort to investigate what happened and to collect statements from the two witnesses to the alleged crime before effectuating an arrest. Though Haley’s and Tanner’s stories of what happened could not be reconciled, “[w]hen an officer is faced with conflicting information that cannot be immediately resolved, he may have arguable probable cause to arrest a suspect” even without additional investigation. Gilmore, 837 F.3d at 833 (cleaned up) (quoting Borgman, 646 F.3d at 523).

Additionally, even though some of the information the deputies later obtained from other people supports Tanner’s version of events, this case is not one in which “minimal further investigation would have exonerated the suspect.” Kuehl, 173 F.3d at 650 (cleaned up). Indeed, the post-arrest interviews are themselves contradictory, with some supporting Haley’s account and some supporting Tanner’s (and one, from one of the boys present at Haley’s house, contradicting both). And as the district court put it: “[E]ven if the deputies had talked to additional witnesses prior to arresting Tanner, at the end of the day, only two people were in the bedroom where the alleged rape occurred: Tanner and [Haley].” Walz v. Randall, No. 1:18-cv-00067, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 221514, 2019 WL 7285555, at *11 (N.D. Iowa Dec. 27, 2019). Between the only two firsthand witnesses, the deputies credited Haley. We disagree that the deputies in this case failed to conduct “a reasonably thorough investigation” as required under Kuehl.