Elaine Brittain v. William Hansen Rebecca Scott County of San Bernardino, and Brian Campbell, C0191

Opinion by Judge Wallace; Concurrence by Judge Silverman

Appellant Police Officer Brian Campbell takes this interlocutory appeal from the district court’s denial of his summary judgment motion based upon qualified immunity. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292 . We reverse.

I.

This appeal arises out of a child custody dispute between Elaine Brittain and William Hansen, the unmarried parents of Matthew Brittain (Matthew). Brittain and Hansen had previously litigated custody of Matthew in the San Bernardino Superior Court. The adjudication resulted in a custody order awarding Hansen sole legal custody of Matthew, who was thirteen years old at the time of the events in dispute. Although Hansen was the sole legal guardian, the superior court awarded visitation rights to Brittain.

The custody order included a visitation schedule which governed in the event that Brittain and Hansen were unable to agree on one of their own. Brittain and Hansen rarely agreed on a schedule. Two paragraphs of that order are central to this appeal:

On July 20, 2000, Hansen gave Brittain notice that he would be taking Matthew for vacation from August 21 to September 3, 2000. When Hansen…

concurring.

With all due respect, the majority makes this case much more complicated than it needs to be. We should reverse the denial of qualified immunity to Deputy Campbell because the undisputed facts show that he acted reasonably in interpreting the ambiguous court order and in defusing the domestic dispute to which he had been summoned. It is as simple as that.

I.

Deputy Campbell was called to the scene of a dispute between warring parents with a child caught in the cross-fire. In reliance on his interpretation of the custody decree, the father came to the mother’s house, with bags packed and loaded in the car, ready to pick up the youngster and commence a two-week vacation. In reliance on her interpretation of the decree, the mother refused to let the boy go. It was to this volatile situation that Deputy Campbell was called.

As this drama was playing out in the front yard of the mother’s house, Campbell had to decide in a hurry what to do to peaceably resolve the situation lest it escalate out of control, a scenario which is not unheard of in such matters. Both parties relied on the terms of the custody decree. Although the court order was not a model of clarity as to…

451 F.3d 982 Elaine BRITTAIN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. William HANSEN; Rebecca Scott; County of San Bernardino, Defendants, and Brian Campbell, # C0191, Defendant-Appellant. No. 03-57012. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted September 15, 2005. Filed June 22, 2006. COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Dennis E. Wagner, Deputy County Counsel, San Bernardino, CA, for defendant-appellant Brian Campbell. George G. Romain, Haney, Buchanan & Patterson, L.L.P., Los Angeles, CA, for plaintiff-appellee Elaine Brittain. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California; Virginia A. Phillips, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-01-00595-VAP. Before WALLACE, SILVERMAN, and CALLAHAN, Circuit Judges. Opinion by Judge Wallace; Concurrence by Judge Silverman WALLACE, Senior Circuit Judge. 1 Appellant Police Officer Brian Campbell takes this interlocutory appeal from the district court's denial of his summary judgment motion based upon qualified immunity. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292 . We reverse. I. 2 This appeal arises out of a child custody dispute between Elaine Brittain and William…