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Wolfe v. Anne Arundel County4/8/2003
The issue in this case is whether Anne Arundel County must provide liability insurance coverage to a former county police officer, pursuant to the self-insurance provisions of the Anne Arundel County Code, the regulations thereunder, and the applicable collective bargaining agreement. The Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County and the Court of Special Appeals held that the former police officer's conduct was not covered by the County's self-insurance program. We agree and shall affirm the judgments below.
I.
On November 15, 1990, at approximately 2:00 a.m., Anne Arundel County police officer Michael D. Ziegler was on traffic patrol in the Pasadena area of Anne Arundel County when he effected a traffic stop of Erin Jones Wolfe, then known as Erin Kathleen Jones. Ziegler suspected Wolfe of driving while intoxicated, but, rather than arresting her, he asked her to sit in the passenger seat of his patrol car and indicated that he would drive her home. Ziegler informed the police dispatcher by radio that he was "out of service" and was going home to check on a faulty furnace. Instead of driving Wolfe directly home, Ziegler drove her to a remote location in the parking lot of a church in Anne Arundel County where, according to Wolfe, he raped her. He then drove her home, where she called 911 to report the rape. As a result of the incident, Ziegler was criminally charged with second degree rape and lesser offenses. He was ultimately convicted of *23 misconduct in office, for which he received a one-year suspended sentence and five years probation. He agreed to, and did, resign from the police force.
Subsequently, Wolfe brought an action in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County against Ziegler, certain police officials, and Anne Arundel County. She claimed a violation of her civil rights and sought relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. She also claimed damages based on various asserted causes of action under Maryland law. The defendants removed the suit to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. Wolfe's claim against Ziegler was severed from her claims against the police officials and Anne Arundel County. As to the action against Ziegler, a jury returned a $1.15 million verdict in favor of Jones and against Ziegler, awarding her both compensatory and punitive damages. The verdict was based on § 1983 and common law battery.
After the entry of judgment on the jury's verdict against Ziegler, the United **54 States District Court granted summary judgment in favor of the police officials and Anne Arundel County on the § 1983 claims against those defendants, holding that, as a matter of law, the plaintiff failed to establish a § 1983 cause of action against them. The federal court then declined to exercise pendent jurisdiction over Wolfe's state law battery and negligence claims against the police officials and Anne Arundel County, and, on this basis, granted summary judgment in favor of the officials and the County. Finally, with regard to Wolfe's claim for indemnification against the County because of the judgment against Ziegler, the United States District Court "concluded that this claim of indemnification is premature." Jones v. Ziegler, 894 F.Supp. 880, 897 (D.Md.1995). The District Court's judgment was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Jones v. Wellham, 104 F.3d 620 (4th Cir.1997).
After the judgment against Ziegler in the federal case, Ziegler filed, with the Anne Arundel County Self-Insurance Fund Committee, a claim for indemnification. Ziegler's claim was denied by the Committee, and Ziegler appealed to the *24 Anne Arundel County Board of Appeals. The Board of Appeals conducted a de novo hearing and thereafter denied the claim on the ground that Ziegler's tortious and cri
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