Whittier v. Kobayashi

[PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________ FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
No. 08-12998 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
Aug. 31, 2009
________________________
THOMAS K. KAHN
CLERK
D. C. Docket No. 07-60476 CV-WPD

MARLENE WHITTIER,
as Personal Representative of the Estate
of Anthony Diotaiuto deceased and individually,
ANDREW DIOTAIUTO,

Plaintiffs-Appellees,

versus

DANIEL KOBAYASHI, individually,

Defendant-Appellant.

________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
_________________________

(August 31, 2009)

Before EDMONDSON, BLACK and SILER,* Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

*
Honorable Eugene E. Siler, Jr., United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit, sitting
by designation.
 Daniel Kobayashi, an officer with the City of Sunrise, Florida, Police

Department, appeals the district court’s order denying in part his motion for

summary judgment. Kobayashi was a member of a Special Weapons and Tactics

(SWAT) team that conducted a raid on Plaintiff-Appellee Marlene Whittier’s

home, which she shared with her son, Anthony Diotaiuto. During the raid,

Diotaiuto was shot and killed. Whittier brought a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action, both

individually and as personal representative for Diotaiuto’s estate, against several

members of the SWAT team alleging, inter alia, Kobayashi violated her son’s

Fourth Amendment rights when he entered her home without first knocking and

announcing the SWAT team’s presence. After extensive discovery, Kobayashi

moved for summary judgment, arguing he was entitled to qualified immunity and

no genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether a knock and announce

occurred. The district court denied his motion as to Whittier’s knock-and-

announce claim. Because Kobayashi is entitled to qualified immunity, we now

reverse.

I. FACTS

In July 2005, one of Anthony Diotaiuto’s neighbors informed the City of

Sunrise Police Department (Sunrise police) that Diotaiuto was selling large

quantities of cannabis and cocaine from his residence. Based upon this

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information, law enforcement began an investigation of Diotaiuto’s drug activity,

which included surveillance of the Whittier/Diotaiuto residence and a “controlled

buy” of marijuana by a confidential informant. In addition to evidence that

Diotaiuto was selling illegal narcotics in his home, the investigation also revealed

Diotaiuto carried a handgun on his person at all times and kept a loaded shotgun in

his bedroom closet.

On August 3, 2005, a state circuit judge signed a warrant for the Sunrise

police to search the Whittier/Diotaiuto home. Based upon Diotaiuto’s drug

activity and possession of firearms, the Sunrise police classified the warrant as

“high risk,” which the Sunrise police define as “involving acts of violence or

potential acts of violence.” The Sunrise police use a SWAT team in the service of

all “high risk” warrants, and thus a SWAT team was assembled to serve the

warrant on the Whittier/Diotaiuto residence.

In preparation for the service of the warrant, the Sunrise police made a

SWAT operational plan. This plan indicated Diotaiuto sold illegal narcotics from

his home, had a criminal history, and possessed two firearms—a semi-automatic

handgun carried on his person and a shotgun kept in his bedroom closet. The plan

also called for an eight-man SWAT team to execute the warrant; Kobayashi was

designated as the team leader and was responsible for knocking and announcing

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the presence of the SWAT team prior to entry. The members of the SWAT team

received and reviewed the information in the operational plan during a briefing

that was held in the early morning hours of August 5, 2005.

Following the briefing, at just after 6:00 a.m. on that same day, the SWAT

team arrived at the Whittier/Diotaiuto residence to execute the warrant. According

to the testimony of the officers, Kobayashi approached the door, knocked loudly

several times, and announced the presence of the Sunrise police and the search

warrant. Fourteen police officers present at the scene testified they heard a knock

and announce. Only a single officer did not hear a knock and announce. Despite

the fact that nearly every officer present heard a loud and forceful knock and

announce, not a single neighbor heard a knock or an announcement of the police

presence. At least three neighbors testified they were listening and would have

been able to hear such an announcement if it had occurred.

Next, Kobayashi signaled for the breach team to open the front door. After

the door was pried open, the SWAT team entered the home and encountered

Diotaiuto, whom Kobayashi instructed to “get on the ground.” Diotaiuto did not

comply with the order and instead ran to his bedroom. Two SWAT team officers

followed in pursuant, kicked open the bedroom door, and followed Diotaiuto

inside. According to the testimony of the officers, Diotaiuto entered his closet,

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racked a gun, and pointed it at the officers. Both officers were yelling at Diotaiuto

to put the gun down. They then opened fire, and Diotaiuto fell back into the

closet. From a seated position in the closet, Diotaiuto began to raise his gun again.

Both officers yelled at Diotaiuto to drop the gun; their commands, however, were

disregarded. The officers fired again, and Diotaiuto was killed.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

This Court reviews “de novo a district court’s disposition of a summary

judgment motion based on qualified immunity, applying the same legal standards

as the district court.” Durruthy v. Pastor, 351 F.3d 1080, 1084 (11th Cir. 2003).

We resolve all issues of material fact in favor of the plaintiff, and then, under that

version of the facts, determine the legal question of whether the defendant is

entitled to qualified immunity. Id.

III. DISCUSSION

“Qualified immunity protects government officials performing discretionary

functions from suits in their individual capacities unless their conduct violates

‘clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person

would have known.’” Dalrymple v. Reno, 334 F.3d 991, 994 (11th Cir. 2003)

(quoting Hope v. Pelzer, 536 U.S. 730, 739, 122 S. Ct. 2508, 2515 (2002)). “[T]o

receive qualified immunity, an official must first establish that ‘he was acting

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within the scope of his discretionary authority when the allegedly wrongful acts

occurred.’” McCullough v. Antolini, 559 F.3d 1201, 1205 (11th Cir. 2009)

(quoting Lee v. Ferraro, 284 F.3d 1188, 1194 (11th Cir. 2002)).

“If the official was acting within the scope of his discretionary authority . . .

the burden shifts to the plaintiff to show that the official is not entitled to qualified

immunity.” Skop v. City of Atlanta, 485 F.3d 1130, 1136–37 (11th Cir. 2007).

“To overcome qualified immunity, the plaintiff must satisfy a two prong test; he

must show that: (1) the defendant violated a constitutional right, and (2) this right

was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation.” Holloman ex rel.

Holloman v. Harland, 370 F.3d 1252, 1264 (11th Cir. 2004). “The relevant,

dispositive inquiry in determining whether a right is clearly established is whether

it would be clear to a reasonable officer that his conduct was unlawful in the

situation he confronted.” Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 202, 121 S. Ct. 2152,

2156 (2001).

Whittier asserts Kobayashi entered her and her son’s residence without first

knocking and announcing the SWAT team’s presence in violation of the Fourth

Amendment. The Fourth Amendment protects “[t]he right of the people to be

secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches

and seizures.” U.S. Const. amend. IV. In Wilson v. Arkansas, 514 U.S. 927, 929,

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115 S. Ct. 1914, 1915 (1995), the Supreme Court held the Fourth Amendment

reasonableness inquiry incorporated the common law requirement that officers,

when executing a search warrant, must knock on a door and announce their

identity before attempting a forcible entry into a home. The Court, however,

recognized “[t]he Fourth Amendment’s flexible requirement of reasonableness

should not be read to mandate a rigid rule of announcement that ignores

countervailing law enforcement interests,” id. at 934, 115 S. Ct. at 1918, and noted

the knock-and-announce requirement could give way “under circumstances

presenting a threat of physical violence,” or “where police officers have reason to

believe that evidence would likely be destroyed if advance notice were given,” id.

at 936, 115 S. Ct. at 1919.

Following Wilson, some courts created a blanket exception to the knock-

and-announce requirement in felony drug cases, based in part on the

generalization that these cases often involve a threat of violence and destruction of

drugs. See Richards v. Wisconsin, 520 U.S. 385, 392, 117 S. Ct. 1416, 1420

(1997). In Richards v. Wisconsin, however, the Supreme Court rejected such a

categorical exception and instead adopted a case-by-case approach for determining

if law enforcement acted reasonably in entering a residence without first knocking

and announcing: “In order to justify a ‘no-knock’ entry, the police must have a

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reasonable suspicion that knocking and announcing their presence, under the

particular circumstances, would be dangerous or futile, or that it would inhibit the

effective investigation of the crime by, for example, allowing the destruction of

evidence.” Id. at 394, 117 S. Ct. at 1421. The Court acknowledged, however,

“[t]his showing is not high.” Id., 117 S. Ct. at 1422.

Both Wilson and Richards were criminal cases in which the defendants had

moved to suppress evidence based upon alleged Fourth Amendment violations. In

the context of qualified immunity, this Court has stated “the issue is not whether

reasonable suspicion existed in fact, but whether the officer had ‘arguable’

reasonable suspicion.” Jackson v. Sauls, 206 F.3d 1156, 1166 (11th Cir. 2000).

In other words, we analyze whether a reasonable officer could have had reasonable

suspicion that exigent circumstances, such as a threat of violence and/or

destruction of evidence, existed to justify the no-knock entry. See Brent v. Ashley,

247 F.3d 1294, 1303 (11th Cir. 2001) (discussing the arguable reasonable

suspicion standard within the context of strip searches). In undertaking the

arguable reasonable suspicion inquiry, this Court must examine the totality of the

circumstances to determine whether an officer had a “particularized and objective”

basis to support his suspicion. Id. at 1304. Whether the officer’s suspicion ends

up being mistaken is immaterial so long as it was reasonable. Id. at 1303.

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 Within the context of warrantless searches, we have held the mere presence

of contraband, without more, does not give rise to exigent circumstances. United

States v. Tobin, 923 F.2d 1506, 1510 (11th Cir. 1991). At the same time, however,

we have also repeatedly noted the dangerous, and often violent, combination of

drugs and firearms, see, e.g., United States v. Hromada, 49 F.3d 685, 689 (11th

Cir. 1995) (“Guns and violence go hand-in-hand with illegal drug operations.”),

and several of our sister circuits have concluded this combination may give rise to

reasonable suspicion of danger and justify a no-knock entry, see United States v.

Stevens, 439 F.3d 983, 988–89 (8th Cir. 2006) (affirming a magistrate judge’s

conclusion that a no-knock search was justified based upon the presence of drugs

and a sawed-off shotgun in a common area of the house); United States v.

Washington, 340 F.3d 222, 227 (5th Cir. 2003) (stating information that “the

suspect was selling drugs and was typically armed. . . . exceeds the level this

circuit has found sufficient to establish a reasonable suspicion of danger”).

In this case, we conclude Kobayashi is entitled to qualified immunity

because a reasonable officer could have had reasonable suspicion that knocking

and announcing his presence would have been dangerous under the circumstances

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facing the SWAT team.1 Those circumstances included serving a search warrant

on the home of a suspected drug dealer (Diotaiuto), who had ready access to

firearms and occupied the premises when the SWAT team arrived to serve the

warrant. Indeed, based upon the information available to the SWAT team,

Diotaiuto (1) received and sold narcotics, including cocaine and marijuana, at his

residence; (2) had a criminal history; (3) carried a concealed semi-automatic

handgun on his person; and (4) possessed a shotgun that he kept in his bedroom.

This information, which was contained in the SWAT team’s operational plan and

received and reviewed by the members of the team, provided a “particularized and

objective” basis for a reasonable officer to suspect the situation had a potential for

violence and to believe exigent circumstances existed to justify a no-knock entry.2

1
We are aware that Kobayashi maintains he did actually knock and announce the SWAT
team’s presence and that fourteen officers have testified to that effect. Whether a knock and
announcement actually occurred, however, is irrelevant to our analysis of arguable reasonable
suspicion, and thus the outcome in this case is the same under both Kobayashi’s and Whittier’s
versions of the facts.
2
Our inquiry is whether Kobayashi had arguable reasonable suspicion that exigent
circumstances existed to justify a no-knock entry, and thus we specifically decline to address
whether exigent circumstances did indeed exist under the facts of this case. In a footnote of its
order, the district court concluded no exigent circumstances existed. On appeal, we do not
disturb this determination because the pertinent inquiry is not whether exigent circumstances
actually existed, but whether a reasonable officer, acting under the same circumstances and
possessing the same knowledge as Kobayashi, could have believed they did. See Jackson, 206
F.3d at 1165–66.

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 The fact that the operational plan called for a knock and announce prior to

entry does not alter our analysis. Even assuming the operational plan, which was

prepared prior to the service of the warrant, speaks for what Kobayashi actually

believed as he stood outside the Whittier/Diotaiuto residence, Kobayashi’s

subjective beliefs regarding the circumstances are irrelevant to the qualified

immunity inquiry. See Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 817–18, 102 S. Ct.

2727, 2737–38 (1982) (discarding the subjective component of the qualified

immunity inquiry and adopting the “objective reasonableness” standard); Jackson,

206 F.3d at 1165 (“[T]he standard for determining if an officer violated clearly

established law is an objective one and does not include inquiry into the officer’s

subjective intent or beliefs.”). Moreover, we have held an officer is entitled to

qualified immunity even when he reasonably, but mistakenly, believes reasonable

suspicion is present, see Brent, 247 F.3d at 1303; it makes little sense to not afford

the same protection to an officer who, sensitive to the rights citizens enjoy under

the Constitution, initially, but mistakenly, believes the situation involves a

constitutional protection, but later learns it does not.

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 IV. CONCLUSION

In sum, we conclude Kobayashi is entitled to qualified immunity on

Whittier’s knock-and-announce claim. Accordingly, we reverse the district court’s

order denying his motion for summary judgment as to this claim.3

REVERSED.

3
Because we conclude Kobayashi is entitled to summary judgment on the basis of
qualified immunity, we need not address the second issue he raises on appeal—that is, whether
he is entitled to summary judgment on the ground that no genuine issue of material fact existed
as to whether a knock and announce actually occurred. We note, however, we likely would not
have jurisdiction to consider this issue on an interlocutory appeal, as it is not a part of, or
inextricably intertwined with, the core qualified immunity issue. See Behrens v. Pelletier, 516
U.S. 299, 312–13, 116 S. Ct. 834, 842 (1996); Koch v. Rugg, 221 F.3d 1283, 1295–96 (11th Cir.
2000).

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