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GARY LEE MORRIS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. OLLIE BOYD, et al; RICHARD
PERCY; CHARLES SCHUMACHER; JAMES PIKE, Defendants-Appellees.
Case No. 01-1433
UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
39 Fed. Appx. 281; 2002 U.S.
App. Lexis 12859
June 26, 2002, Filed
NOTICE:
NOT RECOMMENDED FOR
FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION. SIXTH CIRCUIT RULE 28(g) LIMITS CITATION TO SPECIFIC
SITUATIONS. PLEASE SEE RULE 28(g) BEFORE CITING IN A PROCEEDING IN A COURT IN
THE SIXTH CIRCUIT. IF CITED, A COPY MUST BE SERVED ON OTHER PARTIES AND THE
COURT. THIS NOTICE IS TO BE PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED IF THIS DECISION IS
REPRODUCED.
ALICE M. BATCHELDER, Circuit
Judge. Pro se plaintiff, Gary Lee Morris, appeals the district court's grant of
the motion for summary judgment on his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging malicious
prosecution, false arrest, false imprisonment, and conspiracy filed by the
remaining defendants: Michigan State Police Detectives Richard Percy and
Charles Schumacher, and Michigan Department of Social Services Child Protective
Services Worker James Pike. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment
of the district court dismissing Morris's claims.
BACKGROUND
Gary Lee Morris and his
daughter, Melody Morris, were arrested and charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct
Second for allegedly allowing sexual activities to take place between Morris
and his thirteen-year-old granddaughter during a February 10, 1996, family visit to Mound Correctional Facility,
where Morris was incarcerated for a previous conviction of criminal sexual
conduct with another family member. Despite denials by Morris, his daughter,
and his granddaughter that any such conduct had occurred, prison officials
terminated the visit. Prison officials and detectives, including Michigan
Detective Richard Percy, investigated the matter, and after an investigative
hearing, Morris was found guilty of sexual misconduct and the prison
permanently restricted visitation by Morris's daughter and granddaughter.
As
part of the investigation, Detective Percy filed a Michigan State Police
Original Incident Report, which recorded information he received from prison
officials, noting that child protective services worker James Pike had already
been informed of the incident by prison officials and was trying to contact
Melody Morris to terminate her parental rights. Detective Percy also filed a
supplement to his original report, which included summaries of interviews he
conducted with prison officials. Pike removed Melody Morris's children from her
custody and placed them in foster care. There is no evidence indicating what
role, if any, Detective Charles Schumacher played, although Morris asserted in
his complaint that Schumacher was a lieutenant and an investigating officer at
the time, received a call from the deputy warden, and received false
information from a prison official.
Both Morris and his daughter
were acquitted by a jury in Wayne County Recorder's Court of the criminal
sexual conduct charges. Morris subsequently filed a suit against a total of
seventeen individuals, including Percy, Schumacher, and Pike. The action was
dismissed as to fourteen of the defendants, leaving the three defendants named
in this appeal. Morris's complaint alleged that Detective Percy failed to
investigate properly the charges against him and his daughter, that Percy
conspired with Pike to deprive Morris and his daughter of companionship by
removing his grandchildren from their home, and [*283]that Pike illegally
removed Morris's grandchildren from their home. Percy, Schumacher, and Pike
moved for summary judgment or to dismiss the case on the basis of a failure to
state a claim for relief pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6). A magistrate judge
recommended that the case be dismissed; the district court adopted the
recommendation, granting summary judgment to the defendants and dismissing
Morris's claims. Morris now appeals.
We
review a grant of summary judgment de novo.
Williams v. Mehra, 186 F.3d 685, 689 (6th Cir. 1999) (en banc). We view
the evidence, all facts, and any inferences that may be drawn from the facts in
the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574,
587, 89 L. Ed. 2d 538, 106 S. Ct. 1348 (1986). To withstand summary judgment,
the non-movant must show sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of
material fact. Klepper v. First Am.
Bank, 916 F.2d 337, 342 (6th Cir. 1990).
We
conclude, after a de novo review of the facts as Morris alleged them, that both
the magistrate judge and the district court applied the appropriate standard of
review. In fact, because Morris is a pro se plaintiff, the magistrate judge
construed his complaint even more liberally than is required by the summary
judgment standard. Morris's suit failed, not because the magistrate judge and
the district court used the incorrect standard of review, as Morris maintains,
but because Morris failed to allege any facts supporting his various theories of recovery.
First, Morris did not allege
facts establishing that Detective Schumacher took any action that violated his
rights--his complaint alleged only that Schumacher was a lieutenant and an
investigating officer at the time, that he received a call from the deputy
warden, and that he received false information from a prison official, not that
Schumacher was personally involved in the deprivation of Morris's rights, as
required in a § 1983 action. He now claims that Schumacher failed to
investigate or conspired with Detective Percy, an allegation he has not
supported by any evidence. Moreover, he has not shown that Schumacher
encouraged, acquiesced in, or directly participated in the alleged misconduct,
as is required for a showing of supervisor liability under § 1983. Bellamy v. Bradley, 729 F.2d 416, 421 (6th
Cir. 1984).
Second, Morris has failed to
establish a claim of malicious prosecution, false arrest, and false
imprisonment under Michigan law. To support these claims, he contends that no
probable cause existed to charge him with criminal sexual conduct. However, as
the magistrate judge recognized, the record clearly indicates that the issue of
probable cause was adjudicated in his preliminary hearing, and he was bound over
for trial. Because Morris is precluded from relitigating the issue of whether
probable cause existed, Stemler v. City of Florence, 126 F.3d 856, 871-72 (6th
Cir. 1997), his claim must fail.
Finally, Morris has neglected to plead his claim of conspiracy between
Percy and Pike with any degree of specificity, as is required. Gutierrez v. Lynch, 826 F.2d 1534, 1538 (6th
Cir. 1987). While Morris asserts that Percy and Pike proffered false and
misleading information leading to the charge of criminal sexual conduct and to
the removal of his granddaughter from the home, he has presented no evidence
that an agreement existed between Percy and Pike with regard to either of these
allegations. Moreover, he [*284] has not established that he was injured by an
unlawful act by either defendant.
Because we conclude that Morris has not alleged any facts supporting his
various theories of recovery, we need not consider whether any of the remaining
defendants are entitled to qualified or absolute immunity.
CONCLUSION
For
the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.