Tuesday, October 05, 1999
Wife, clerk can be sued over warrant
Arrest became a federal case
BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Marital discord between two lawyers has escalated into a federal case that threatens Hamilton County's practice of issuing arrest warrants to attorneys who request them.
Battling are Professor Christo Lassiter of Clifton, a specialist in criminal procedure at the University of Cincinnati law school, and Professor Sharlene Lassiter of Hyde Park, a specialist in commercial law at Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University.
Their differences became a civil-rights battle after Mrs. Lassiter, acting as her own lawyer, obtained a warrant for her husband's arrest two years ago over a child custody dispute.
He was acquitted and sued his wife and Clerk of Courts James Cissell, focusing on the county policy of issuing private-complaint misdemeanor warrants.
Mrs. Lassiter responded that she could not be sued because she was not a public official. Mr. Cissell said he could not be sued because because he had absolute judicial immunity.
Adopting a report and recommendation by Magistrate Judge Michael Merz, U.S. District Judge Susan J. Dlott rejected their arguments last week and said:
• When she obtained the warrant, Mrs. Lassiter involved herself too deeply in a state action to escape as a defendant.
• Mr. Cissell forfeited any claim to judicial immunity when he turned warrants into administrative acts by clerks.
• When warrants were is sued without independent determination of probable cause, they violated the Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable seizures.
The case began when Mrs. Lassiter sought a child custody warrant against Mr. Lassiter in November 1997.
Clerks issued the warrant without further inquiry because the request came on Mrs. Lassiter's letterhead stationery.
That longstanding practice allowed any lawyer to request and receive a warrant without going through a judge or magistrate.
Mr. Lassiter said it was his good fortune that a “very reasonable” Cincinnati police officer came to his home to arrest him. It took several hours, but the officer and the officer's superior agreed it was unnecessary to take him to jail.
Instead, he was cited to appear in court and when Mr. Lassiter went to trial, Municipal Judge Tim Black acquitted him.
Monday, Mr. Cissell said he modified the warrant policy since the Lassiter dispute and clerks now issue a warrant only if a supervisor finds the facts match up with the elements of crime alleged.
“That's not a lot of protection,” Mr. Lassiter's attorney, Paul M. Laufman, cautioned.
Mrs. Lassiter said she has “no choice” but to appeal Judge Dlott's decision. There is little helpful precedent in Ohio, Mrs. Lassiter said, but at least one state, Pennsylvania, al lows such warrants in domestic relations cases.
Mr. Cissell said it was too early to say whether he'd appeal Judge Dlott's refusal to dismiss him as a defendant.
In a similar child custody case last week, Judge Dlott again refused to dismiss Mr. Cissell as a defendant.
That suit, filed by attorney Robert Laufman for Robert Haas and Linda Linde, raised the same Fourth Amendment issue.
Mr. Cissell's co-defendants include Kenneth Peller, attorney for Ms. Linde's former husband, who obtained custody warrants against the couple in June 1996.
Sheriff's deputies arrested Ms. Linde and Mr. Haas and they sued after charges were dropped.
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