Not Precedential

NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
___________
No. 10-1896
___________
JAMES S. STRINGER,
Appellant
v.
THE PITTSBURGH POLICE; OFFICER DAVID SISAK;
JOHN DOE POLICE OFFICERS
____________________________________
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Pennsylvania
(D.C. Civil Action No. 08-cv-01051)
District Judge: Honorable Gary L. Lancaster
____________________________________
Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)
January 26, 2010
Before: BARRY, JORDAN and GARTH, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: January 27, 2011)
___________
OPINION
___________
PER CURIAM
James S. Stringer appeals pro se from the District Courts order entering summary
judgment in favor of the defendants. For the following reasons, we will affirm.
I.
In November 2006, Pittsburgh police officer David Sisak stopped Stringers car
after running his license plate and learning that it was registered to a different vehicle.
Sisak questioned Stringer and ultimately arrested him for displaying a counterfeit license
plate in violation of 75 Pa. C.S. 7122(3). Stringer spent 12 days in jail, some part of
which resulted from a subsequently discovered detainer. He later produced paperwork
demonstrating that he had properly transferred the license plate from an older car to the
one he was driving, and the charge against him was dismissed.
Stringer then filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against Officer Sisak, the
Pittsburgh police department, and John Doe police officers. Stringer (who is AfricanAmerican) alleged wrongful arrest in violation of the Fourth Amendment, racial profiling
in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, and wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution
under Pennsylvania law. Stringer filed his complaint through counsel, but counsel later
withdrew and Stringer proceeded pro se. The defendants filed a motion for summary
judgment on Stringers federal claims, which Stringer opposed. Stringer also filed a
motion to amend his complaint to add the City of Pittsburgh and several of its employees
as defendants.
By order entered February 25, 2010, the District Court: (1) entered summary
judgment in favor of Officer Sisak and the City (which it construed Stringer to have
named by naming the police department) on Stringers federal claims; (2) exercised
supplemental jurisdiction over Stringers state-law claims and sua sponte entered
summary judgment in favor of the defendants on those claims as well; and (3) denied
Stringers motion for leave to amend. Stringer appeals.1
II.
The District Court concluded that Stringer had not submitted any evidence in
support of his claims. Stringers Fourth Amendment claim required him to prove that
Officer Sisak arrested him without probable cause. See Berg v. County of Allegheny,
219 F.3d 261, 268-69 (3d Cir. 2000). An absence of probable cause is one element of the
state-law torts of false arrest and malicious prosecution as well. See Renk v. City of
Pittsburgh, 641 A.2d 289, 293 (Pa. 1994) (false arrest); Lippay v. Christos, 996 F.2d
1490, 1502 (3d Cir. 1993) (malicious prosecution under Pennsylvania law). Finally,
Stringers Fourteenth Amendment claim required him to prove that defendants actions
(1) had a discriminatory effect and (2) were motivated by a discriminatory purpose.
Bradley v. United States, 299 F.3d 197, 205 (3d Cir. 2002).2
The District Court had jurisdiction over Stringers federal claims pursuant to
28 U.S.C. 1331 and his state-law claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1367. We have
jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1291. We exercise plenary review over the entry
of summary judgment. See Sheridan v. NGK Metals Corp., 609 F.3d 239, 250 n.12
(3d Cir. 2010). Summary judgment is proper if the pleadings, the discovery and
disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no dispute as to any
material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id.
(quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)). A plaintiff faced with a properly supported summary
judgment motion cannot avert summary judgment by resting on the allegations in his
pleadings, but rather must present evidence from which a jury could find in his favor.
Id. Stringer has not challenged on appeal the District Courts denial of his motion for
leave to amend, its exercise of supplemental jurisdiction over his state-law claims, or
its consideration of summary judgment on those claims sua sponte. Nevertheless, we
perceive no reversible error in those rulings.
2
Stringer had to prove additional elements to hold the City of Pittsburgh liable for
3
The District Court entered summary judgment on these claims because it

concluded that Stringer had presented no evidence raising a triable issue of fact. We
agree that Stringer presented no evidence in support of his Fourteenth Amendment claim,
and he does not argue otherwise on appeal. The only substantive question is whether he
presented evidence sufficient to raise an inference that Officer Sisak arrested him without
probable cause. In support of defendants summary judgment motion, Officer Sisak
submitted an affidavit stating, inter alia, that he arrested Stringer after discovering the
discrepancy with the license plate because Stringer was unable to produce a temporary
registration authorizing its transfer to the vehicle he was driving. Stringer argues that he
in fact showed Officer Sisak the temporary registration and that the parties dispute on
this point creates a genuine issue for trial.
We will assume without deciding that Stringers contention that he showed Officer
Sisak a proper temporary registration would have raised a triable issue of fact if he had
supported it with evidence at the summary judgment stage. Stringer, however, cited no
such evidence in the District Court and cites none on appeal. Stringer took no discovery.
He also did not submit an affidavit setting forth his own version of events, as even pro se
prisoners are expected to do. See Giles v. Kearney, 571 F.3d 318, 326 (3d Cir. 2008).
Stringers responses to defendants interrogatories are of record because the defendants
submitted them, but, as they argue, Stringer admitted in those responses that I will
any violation by Officer Sisak, see Berg, 219 F.3d at 275-76, but Stringer has raised
no issue of municipal liability on appeal and we agree with the District Court that he
was not entitled to proceed with his claims against Officer Sisak in any event.
4
accept that [Officer Sisak] had the legal authority to arrest me as he did[.] (Dist. Ct.
Docket No. 25-2 at 11 6.) Stringer did not argue in the District Court that his
interrogatory responses otherwise support his claim and has not so argued on appeal.
Instead, the only item of evidence that Stringer cites in support of this argument is a copy
of the temporary registration itself. The registration itself, however, is not probative of
whether Stringer showed it to Officer Sisak at the time of his arrest. Stringer also argues
that he specifically disputed Officer Sisaks account in his own statement of facts. That
is true, but Stringers statement is not evidence. Doeblers Pa. Hybrids, Inc. v.
Doebler, 442 F.3d 812, 820 n.8 (3d Cir. 2006).
Stringers only remaining argument on appeal is that the District Court improperly
held his summary judgment response to the same standard as a response by a trained
litigant. In entering summary judgment, the District Court deemed defendants statement
of facts undisputed because Stringer, in his own statement, did not admit or deny
defendants averments on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis or cite evidence of record in
support of his own averments as he was required to do by both court order (Dist. Ct.
Docket No. 20) and local rule (W.D. Pa. R. 56.(c)(1)). We find no reversible error in this
regard. Although the District Court initially stated that it would deem defendants
statement of facts undisputed for these reasons, it nevertheless went on to carefully
review[] the entire record for evidence, in deference to plaintiffs pro se status. (Dist.
Ct. Docket No. 40 at 16.) The District Court evidently located no evidence calling
Officer Sisaks account into question, and Stringer has cited none on appeal.
We sympathize with Stringer for having experienced what were serious and no
doubt troubling events. Because he did not come forward with evidence in support of his
claims, however, we have no basis to disturb the District Courts entry of summary
judgment. Accordilly, we will affirm.

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UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

The District Court entered summary judgment on these claims because it

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