Full opinion text
ORDER RE: SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTIONS RHOADES, District Judge. INTRODUCTION The tragic facts of this case arise out of the murder of young Stephanie Crowe in her home on the evening of January 20, 1998, and the ensuing investigation. Stephanie’s murder was investigated by members of the Escondido Police Department, including defendants Mark Wrisley, Ralph Claytor, Barry Sweeney, and Phil Anderson (collectively, “defendants”), who bring the present motions for summary judgment. The investigation of Stephanie’s death initially led to the arrest and indictment of Stephanie’s brother, Michael Crowe, and his two friends, Joshua Tread-way and Aaron Houser (collectively, “the boys”), all juveniles at the time. Prior to the boys’ trial, evidence was discovered which resulted in the District Attorney dropping the charges against the boys without prejudice. The boys and their families then brought this civil action for damages for violation of their federal constitutional rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 as well as for violation of state law. This court previously entered summary judgment on many of plaintiffs’ claims. See Crowe v. County of San Diego, 303 F.Supp.2d 1050 (S.D.Cal.2004). Subsequent to the entry of that order, Richard Tuite was convicted of Stephanie’s murder. This court is now confronted with a second round of motions for summary judgment filed by defendants Wrisley, Claytor, Sweeney and Anderson as to claims brought by Michael, his sister, Shannon, his parents, Cheryl and Stephen Crowe, and his grandmother, Judith Kennedy (collectively, “plaintiffs”). FACTUAL BACKGROUND To provide context to this order, the court provides a brief account of the relevant facts. A more thorough presentation of the relevant factual background can be found in Crowe, 303 F.Supp.2d at 1058-1062. On the night of January 20, 1998, the police received phone calls that Tuite, a transient, was bothering people in the vicinity of the Crowe residence. Tuite appeared drunk or high. One witness heard Tuite yell “I’m going to kill you you fucking bitch.” Another witness saw Tuite spinning around in circles. Between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. that night, Tuite entered one house after the occupant, Dannette Mogelinski, mistaking his knock for that of a neighbor, invited him in. Tuite repeatedly asked for Tracy. Mogelinski said she did not know Tracy. Tuite left but then opened the door and again asked for Tracy. Mogelinski again said she did not know Tracy, and Tuite left. Around 9:28 p.m., Gary West, a neighbor of the Crowes, called police to report a transient who had knocked on his door and said he was looking for a girl. Escondido police officer Scott Walters, not a defendant in this action, was dispatched to the area. While investigating this call, Officer Walters drove up to the Crowe house. As he drove up, the door next to the garage door closed. . He couldn’t see who closed it. Officer Walters left the Crowe house and indicated in his log that- the transient was “gone on arrival.” Stephanie was found dead by Judith Kennedy around 6:30 a.m. on January 21, 1998. An autopsy determined that Stephanie was stabbed numerous times with a knife with a 5-6 inch blade. Police questioned all of the members of the Crowe household on January 21, 1998. Michael was questioned several times. On January 22, 1998, Escondido Police Detectives Lanigan and Naranjo, not defendants in this case, went to the Tread-way residence to speak with Joshua. The detectives saw a knife in plain view on top of a couch in the living room. Michael was arrested for Stephanie’s murder on January 23,1998. On January 26, 1998 Detective Han obtained a search warrant for the Treadway residence. Probable cause for the warrant was predicated upon the fact that Michael had been arrested for the murder, Michael had stated that Joshua was his best friend, Michael had called Joshua from the police station on the morning of the murder, and a knife meeting the description of the murder weapon had been seen at the Tread-way residence. On January 27, 1998, prior to the execution of the search warrant for the Tread-way residence, Aaron’s mother alerted police to the fact that a knife with a 4-5 inch blade which belonged to her son was missing from his collection. Based on this information, Detective Han sought and obtained a warrant to search the Houser residence. Defendants also questioned Aaron that same day. The warrants for the Treadway and Houser residences were executed on the evening of January 27, 1998. While the warrant for the Treadway residence was being executed, Joshua was being questioned by police. During his questioning, the search of-the Treadway residence revealed two knives under his bed. One had a 5)t inch blade, and the other had a 6 inch blade. Joshua was then arrested for stealing Aaron’s knife. After being read his Miranda rights, Joshua admitted taking the knife from Aaron, but denied any involvement in Stephanie’s death. However, over the course of further questioning, Joshua changed his story. He told defendants that he had gotten the knife from Aaron and that Aaron had told him it was the knife used to kill Stephanie. Joshua was allowed to go home after the questioning. Joshua was questioned again on February 10, 1998. This time, Joshua gave what appeared to be a detailed account of the events leading up to the murder and stated that he had acted as a lookout while Aaron and Michael committed the murder. Joshua’s confession, which was ruled voluntary by the state court trial judge, suggested that Michael killed Stephanie because he did not like her. At some point during the questioning, Joshua was arrested for Stephanie’s murder. On the morning of February 11, 1998, defendant Claytor obtained search warrants for Aaron’s residence and school locker. Those warrants were executed on the morning of February 11 by defendants Sweeney and Anderson. Aaron was arrested on February 11, 1998, and questioned for a second time. Aaron did not admit involvement in Stephanie’s murder. However, during this questioning, Aaron explained how he would kill Stephanie if he was going to kill her. In late May 1998, the grand jury issued indictments against the boys. Prior to the boys’ trial, drops of Stephanie’s blood were found on Tuite’s sweatshirt. The charges against the boys were dismissed without prejudice, and this action followed. ANALYSIS 1. The General Law of Qualified Immunity Because the resolution of the current motions hinges in large part on the proper application of the doctrine of qualified immunity, the court begins by setting forth the relevant law regarding the general application of that doctrine. Qualified immunity is immunity from suit, not simply immunity from liability. Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 526, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). Thus, it must be determined at the earliest possible stage of the litigation. Hunter v. Bryant, 502 U.S. 224, 227, 112 S.Ct. 534, 116 L.Ed.2d 589 (1991) (per curiam). The requirement that qualified immunity be determined at the earliest possible stage of the litigation “calls upon courts, not juries, to settle the ultimate questions of qualified immunity.” Johnson v. County of Los Angeles, 340 F.3d 787, 791 (9th Cir.2003); see also Lindsey v. Shalmy, 29 F.3d 1382, 1384 (9th Cir.1994) (“The question of immunity is not to be ‘routinely place[d] ... in the hands of the jury.’ ”) (quoting Hunter, 502 U.S. at 227, 112 S.Ct. 534). Otherwise, qualified immunity would rarely be decided until after trial, which defeats the purpose of having qualified immunity from suit. Whether a defendant is entitled to qualified immunity is a two-part inquiry. The first step is to ask: “Taken in the light most favorable to the party asserting the injury, do the facts alleged show the officer’s conduct violated a constitutional right?” Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001). In Saucier, the Supreme Court disapproved of the Ninth Circuit’s former practice of denying summary judgment “any time a material issue of fact remains” because such a practice “could undermine the goal of qualified immunity to ‘avoid excessive disruption of government and permit the resolution of many insubstantial claims on summary judgment.’ ” Saucier, 533 U.S. at 202, 121 S.Ct. 2151 (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982)). As the First Circuit noted in Riverdale Mills Corp. v. Pimpare, 392 F.3d 55, 61-62 (1st Cir.2004), given that Saucier involved a motion for summary judgment, the Court in Saucier created an ambiguity regarding a plaintiffs evidentiary burden when qualified immunity is raised in the summary judgment context by stating that courts must “determine whether, on the facts alleged, a constitutional violation could be found .... ” Saucier, 533 U.S. at 207, 121 S.Ct. 2151. However, like the First Circuit, this court concludes that the Supreme Court in Saucier did not intend by its choice of language to nullify Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c) and (e) and overrule its well-established precedent interpreting Rule 56 as requiring a plaintiff to come forward with sufficient evidence in the form of depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions on file and affidavits from which a factfinder at trial could rule in the plaintiffs favor. See First Nat. Bank of Ariz. v. Cities Serv. Co., 391 U.S. 253, 289, 88 S.Ct. 1575, 20 L.Ed.2d 569 (1968) (“What Rule 56(e) does make clear is that a party cannot rest on the allegations contained in his complaint in opposition to a properly supported summary judgment motion made against him.”); see also Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (“[Tjhere is no issue for trial unless there is sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party.”) (emphasis added); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) (“In our view, the plain language of Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.”). First, other portions of Saucier are written in such a way as to suggest that the Court did not intend to dispense with the requirements of Rule 56 in the context of a qualified immunity analysis brought at the summary judgment stage. For example, the Court states that “if a violation could be made out on a favorable view of the parties’ submissions, the next, sequential step is to ask whether the right was clearly established.” Saucier, 533 U.S. at 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151 (emphasis added); see also Saucier, 533 U.S. at 211, 121 S.Ct. 2151 (“I agree that Katz’s submissions were too slim to put officer Saucier to the burden of trial.”) (Ginsburg, J., concurring in the judgment). Second, it is difficult to conclude that the Supreme Court, if it intended to overrule its earlier and well-established precedent regarding a plaintiffs summary judgment burden, would do so tacitly in a case where the issue was never raised. Finally, as the First Circuit explained, “[subsequent Supreme Court cases have clarified, implicitly if not explicitly, that courts assessing the first prong at summary judgment should look beyond the complaint to the broader summary judgment record.” Riverdale Mills Corp., 392 F.3d at 62 (citing Groh v. Ramirez, 540 U.S. 551, _, 124 S.Ct. 1284, 1293, 157 L.Ed.2d 1068 (2004) and Hope v. Pelzer, 536 U.S. 730, 734 n. 1, 122 S.Ct. 2508, 153 L.Ed.2d 666 (2002)). For example, in Groh, the Supreme Court, in determining whether the defendants had violated the plaintiffs rights in the context of a motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds, explained that “‘[t]he evidence of the nonmovant is to be believed, and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in [her] favor.’ ” Groh, 540 U.S. at 562, 124 S.Ct. 1284 (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505) (emphasis added). For these reasons, this court will construe the facts here in the light most favorable to plaintiffs only to the extent that the facts alleged by plaintiffs are supported by evidence of record as required by Rule 56(c) and (e) and Supreme Court case law interpreting these summary judgment rules. If, construing the evidentiary record in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, a court concludes that the plaintiffs rights were violated, then the court must proceed to the second step of the qualified immunity analysis, pursuant to which the officer is entitled to qualified immunity if the law was not “clearly established,” i.e., if it would not have been clear to a reasonable officer that his conduct was unlawful under the circumstances. Saucier, 533 U.S. at 202, 121 S.Ct. 2151. “Whether the law was clearly established is a pure question of law for the court to decide.” Carnell v. Grimm, 74 F.3d 977, 978 (9th Cir.1996). The clearly-established inquiry, “it is vital to note, must be undertaken in light of the specific context of the case, not as a broad general proposition....” Saucier, 533 U.S. at 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151 (emphasis added). Thus, “[t]he relevant, dispositive inquiry” is “whether it would be clear to a reasonable officer that his conduct was unlawful in the situation he confronted.” Id. at 202, 121 S.Ct. 2151. “If the law did not put the officer on notice that his conduct would be clearly unlawful, summary judgment based on qualified immunity is appropriate.” Id. It is important to note that courts of appeal have been tempted to meld the two prongs of the qualified immunity test, particularly in the Fourth Amendment context. The argument is that it is inappropriate to give qualified immunity to officials who have violated the Fourth Amendment by unreasonably searching or seizing because qualified immunity is intended to protect reasonable official action. In other words, the argument is that “[i]t is not possible ... to say that one ‘reasonably’ acted unreasonably.” Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 643, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987). However, such an argument has been squarely rejected by the Supreme Court. See id.; Saucier, 533 U.S. at 203-04, 121 S.Ct. 2151. Most recently, in Brosseau v. Haugen, _ U.S. _, 125 S.Ct. 596, 160 L.Ed.2d 583 (2004) (per curiam), the Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit’s opinion denying qualified immunity to an officer who shot a fleeing suspect in the back. The Court criticized the Ninth Circuit for finding that the law was clearly established based on the very general test of Graham v. Connor that “use of force is contrary to the Fourth Amendment if it is excessive under objective standards of reasonableness.” Brosseau, _ U.S. at _, 125 S.Ct. at 599. The Court explained that although such a general test may “in an obvious case” clearly establish that an officer’s conduct was unlawful, such a general standard is not sufficient to clearly establish the law where the case is not one involving run-of-the-mill facts. Id. The Court went on to consider the “handful of cases relevant to the ‘situation [Brosseau] confronted’: whether to shoot a disturbed felon, set on avoiding capture through vehicular flight, when persons in the immediate area are at risk from that flight.” Id. at _, 125 S.Ct. at 600. The Court concluded that the “cases taken together undoubtedly show that this area is one in which the result depends very much on the facts of each ease.” Id. Noting that none of the cases squarely governed but did suggest that Brosseau’s actions “fell in the ‘hazy border between excessive and acceptable force,’ ” the Court concluded that these cases did not “clearly establish” that Brosseau’s act of shooting the plaintiff in the back violated the Fourth Amendment. Brosseau, _ U.S. at _, 125 S.Ct. at 600 (quoting Saucier, 533 U.S. at 206, 121 S.Ct. 2151). Keeping in mind this analytical framework, the court now turns to the claims that are the subject of defendants’ motions. II. First Claim for Relief — Violation of the Fourth Amendment Michael’s Arrest Michael contends that defendants violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free of unreasonable seizures by arresting him without probable cause. See Beck v. Ohio, 379 U.S. 89, 90-91, 85 S.Ct. 223, 13 L.Ed.2d 142 (1964) (holding that the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, prohibits arrests without probable cause); McKenzie v. Lamb, 738 F.2d 1005, 1007 (9th Cir.1984) (explaining that arrests without probable cause give rise to a § 1983 damages action). Defendants seek summary judgment on the merits as well as on qualified immunity grounds. A. An Issue for the Court As set forth in section I, supra, in determining whether defendants are entitled to qualified immunity, the court must necessarily address the merits of Michael’s claim. See Brosseau, _ U.S. at _, 125 S.Ct. at 598 (“When confronted with a claim of qualified immunity, a court must ask first the following question: ‘Taken in the light most favorable to the party asserting the injury, do the facts alleged show the officer’s conduct violated a constitutional right?’ ”) (quoting Saucier, 533 U.S. at 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151). Thus, although the question of whether there was probable cause to arrest is generally an issue for the jury in the context of a § 1983 action, see McKenzie, 738 F.2d at 1008, where, as here, a defendant seeks summary judgment based on the doctrine of qualified immunity, the existence of probable cause is necessarily an issue for the court. See Saucier, 533 U.S. at 207, 121 S.Ct. 2151 (instructing “district courts and courts of appeals to concentrate at the outset on the definition of the constitutional right and to determine whether ... a constitutional violation could be found”). Again, this is because qualified immunity is immunity from suit, not simply immunity from liability, see Mitchell, 472 U.S. at 526, 105 S.Ct. 2806, and therefore it must be determined at the earliest possible stage of the litigation. Hunter, 502 U.S. at 227, 112 S.Ct. 534. Thus,, the initial issue this court must ask and answer in order to determine whether defendants are entitled to summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds with respect to Michael’s Fourth Amendment claim is whether, considering all of the evidence presented on summary judgment in the light most favorable to Michael, there was probable cause for his arrest. B. Standard for Determining Probable Cause A warrantless arrest must be supported by probable cause. See United States v. Bueno-Vargas, 383 F.3d 1104, 1107 (9th Cir.2004). “The long-prevailing standard of probable cause protects ‘citizens from rash and unreasonable interferences with privacy and from unfounded charges of crime,’ while giving ‘fair leeway for enforcing law in the community’s protection.’ ” Maryland v. Pringle, 540 U.S. 366, 370, 124 S.Ct. 795, 157 L.Ed.2d 769 (2003) (quoting Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160, 176, 69 S.Ct. 1302, 93 L.Ed. 1879 (1949)). For purposes of the Fourth Amendment, “[pjrobable cause exists when, under the totality of the eircum-stances known to the arresting officers, a prudent person would have concluded that there was á fair probability that [the suspect] had committed a crime.” Peng v. Mei Chin Penghu, 335 F.3d 970, 976 (9th Cir.2003) (quoting United States v. Buckner, 179 F.3d 834, 837 (9th Cir.1999) (citations and quotations omitted)). In other words, “[arresting officers have probable cause to make warrantless arrests if, at the moment of arrest, facts and circumstances within their knowledge and of which they have reasonably trustworthy information are sufficient to warrant a prudent man in believing that the arrested person had committed or was committing an offense.” United States v. Hillison, 733 F.2d 692, 697 (9th Cir.1984) (emphasis added). Michael contends that in determining whether his warrantless arrest is supported by probable cause, the court is confined to considering the facts set forth in the declaration of probable cause that was filed with the state court in support of Michael’s arrest as required by California law. It is well-established that “[t]he validity of a search warrant depends upon the sufficiency of what is found within the four corners of the underlying affidavit.” United States v. Taylor, 716 F.2d 701, 705 (9th Cir.1983) (emphasis added); see also United States v. Rubio, 727 F.2d 786, 795 (9th Cir.1983); United States v. Martinez, 588 F.2d 1227, 1234 (9th Cir.1978); United States v. Anderson, 453 F.2d 174, 177 (9th Cir.1971). Moreover, in United States v. Castillo, 866 F.2d 1071 (9th Cir.1988), the Ninth Circuit applied the “four corners” rule where a defendant challenged a magistrate judge’s determination that there was probable cause to issue an arrest warrant. However, the parties have failed to cite, and the court’s own research has failed to reveal, a case holding that for purposes of determining whether a war-rantless arrest violated the Fourth Amendment, a court is confined to considering the facts in a declaration of probable cause. None of the cases Michael cites for this proposition—People v. Privett, 55 Cal.2d 698, 12 Cal.Rptr. 874, 361 P.2d 602 (1961), People v. Talley, 65 Cal.2d 830, 56 Cal.Rptr. 492, 423 P.2d 564 (1967) or Beck v. Ohio, 379 U.S. 89, 85 S.Ct. 223, 13 L.Ed.2d 142 (1964)—so hold. To the contrary, these cases are authority for the proposition that “[w]hen the constitutional validity of an arrest is challenged, it is the function of a court to determine whether the facts available to the officers at the moment of the arrest would ‘warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that an offense has been committed.” Beck, 379 U.S. at 96, 85 S.Ct. 223 (quoting Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 162, 45 S.Ct. 280, 69 L.Ed. 543 (1925)) (emphasis added); see also Privett, 55 Cal.2d at 701, 12 Cal.Rptr. 874, 361 P.2d 602 (“The question of probable cause to justify the arrest of Edwards and the search of the premises incident thereto must be tested upon the facts which the record shows were known to the officers at the time the arrest was made.”); Talley, 65 Cal.2d at 835, 56 Cal.Rptr. 492, 423 P.2d 564 (“The question of probable cause to justify an arrest without a warrant must be tested by the facts which the record shows were known to the officers at the time the arrest was made.”). Although Privett and Talley refer to the need to consider the facts “which the record shows were known to the officers,” neither case mentions a declaration of probable cause, and nothing in either case suggests that “the record” in that case consisted of a declaration of probable cause. Moreover, the court has been unable to find a single case in which the Ninth Circuit has confined its probable cause analysis to the four corners of a probable cause declaration when evaluating the constitutionality of a warrantless arrest. Rather, the Ninth Circuit has consistently evaluated the legality of warrantless arrests by considering all of the facts known to the officers at the time of the arrest. See United States v. Martin, 509 F.2d 1211, 1213 (9th Cir.1975) (explaining that in determining whether a warrantless arrest is supported by probable cause, a court “must consider all the facts known to the officers and consider all the reasonable inferences that could be drawn by them before the arrest”) (emphasis added); United States v. Bernard, 623 F.2d 551, 559 (9th Cir.1980) (citing Martin); Hillison, 733 F.2d at 697 (“Arresting officers have probable cause to make warrantless arrests if, at the moment of arrest, facts and circumstances within their knowledge and of which' they have reasonably trustworthy information are sufficient to warrant a prudent man in believing that the arrested person had committed or was committing an offense.”). The conclusion that a probable cause determination is not confined to the four corners of the declaration of probable cause is further supported by the fact that the Ninth Circuit has specifically considered such factors as the officer’s experience and expertise and the knowledge and testimony of other officers at the scene in determining whether a warrantless arrest is supported by probable cause. See Hillison, 733 F.2d at 697 (explaining that in considering whether there was probable cause to make a war-rantless arrest, “the court properly could take into account the experience and expertise of Drug Enforcement Administration agents observing” the defendant’s activity); United States v. Del Vizo, 918 F.2d 821, 826 (9th Cir.1990) (explaining that in evaluating probable cause for a warrant-less arrest, “[w]hen there has been communication among agents, probable cause can rest upon the investigating, .agents’ ‘collective knowledge’ ”) (quoting Bernard, 623 F.2d at 560-61); see also United States v. Valencia, 24 F.3d 1106, 1108 (9th Cir.1994) (quoting Del Vizo). Thus, the probable cause analysis here will not be confined to the facts set forth in the declaration for probable cause that was executed in support of Michael’s arrest. C. No Fourth Amendment Violation The court concludes that defendants had probable cause to arrest Michael, and therefore did not violate the Fourth Amendment by arresting him, given all of the information in defendants’ possession at the time of the arrest (including information regarding the time of Stephanie’s death and the position and state of Stephanie’s body, Michael’s statements regarding seeing Stephanie’s door closed at 4:30 a.m., and the state of the windows and doors) and considering all of the reasonable inferences that could be drawn from those facts. See Martin, 509 F.2d at 1213 (explaining that in determining whether a warrantless arrest is supported by probable cause, a court “must consider all the facts known to the officers and consider all the reasonable inferences that could be drawn by them before the arrest”) (emphasis added). Although in determining the facts in defendants’ possession the court construes the evidence in the light most favorable to Michael, in determining the reasonable inferences that could be drawn from those facts, the court need not accept only the inferences posited by Michael because the court must consider “all the reasonable inferences” that could be drawn from the facts. See id. As the First Circuit has explained, “the availability of alternative inferences does not prevent a finding of probable cause so long as the inference upon which the officer relies is reasonable.” Cox v. Hainey, 391 F.3d 25, 32 (1st Cir.2004); cf. United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266, 277, 122 S.Ct. 744, 151 L.Ed.2d 740 (2002) (“A determination that reasonable suspicion exists, however, need not rule out the possibility of innocent conduct.”). 1. Information Defendants Had Regarding Time of Death As Michael admits in his opposition, Stephanie was stabbed to death between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m., and defendants had this information at the time of his arrest. See Plaintiff Michael Crowe’s Points and Authorities in Opposition to Defendants Ralph Claytor, Mark Wrisley, Barry Sweeney, Phil Anderson, and City of Escondido’s Motion for Summary Judgment, or in the Alternative, Partial Summary Judgment of the Claims Asserted by Michael Crowe (“Michael’s Opposition”) at 19:4-17. 2. Information Defendants Had Regarding Stephanie’s Body A review of the crime scene photographs reveals that Stephanie was wearing jeans and a shirt at the time of her death. Cheryl stated during her videotaped interview that it was “weird” that Stephanie was found in her clothes because, although she sometimes fell asleep in her clothes, she usually slept in a big T-shirt and sweats. Transcript of Videotaped Examination of Cheryl Ann[sic] Crowe, January 21, 1998, at 35:1-14. A reasonable officer could have surmised from this statement that it was possible that Stephanie was awake at the time her killer entered her room. Given the fact that no one in the house heard Stephanie scream or heard the Crowe family dog bark, a reasonable officer could have suspected that the murderer was not a stranger to Stephanie. Defendants arrived at the crime scene after the emergency medical technicians, John Peters and Steve Mandich. Peters and Mandich have testified that when they arrived Stephanie’s body was in the position depicted in the actual crime scene photographs. See Deposition of John Peters at 48:6-9 and Deposition of Steve Mandich at 28:8-29:5 (Exhibits B and C, Defendants’ NOL re: Michael’s Claims filed April 26, 2004). A review of the crime scene photographs reveals that Stephanie’s body was in the doorway of her bedroom with the door opening into the bedroom. See Exhibit I, attached to Defendants’ Reply to Michael Crowe’s Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment, or in the Alternative, Partial Summary Judgment. It is undisputed that, unlike Michael’s bedroom door, Stephanie’s bedroom was not directly off of the main hallway, but, rather, an alcove connected Stephanie’s bedroom to the main hallway. Deposition of Stephen Crowe at 85:28-86:17 (Exhibit 13, Michael’s Exhibits). It cannot be disputed that if one were to draw a line to represent the bedroom door in a closed position, Stephanie’s head in the crime scene photographs would be on the alcove side of that line while the remainder of her body would be on the bedroom side of that line. It also cannot be disputed that if Stephanie died in this position, with her head in the alcove, the door was open when she died because it would be physically impossible for the door to be closed with her in that position. The position of Stephanie’s body is important to the probable cause analysis because, as will be discussed in section II. C.3, infra, Michael made statements to the police that he saw Stephanie’s door closed at 4:30 a.m., which would have been impossible had Stephanie been dead in the doorway of her bedroom by 11:00 p.m. Much of Michael’s brief is devoted to attempting to create a genuine issue of material fact regarding the location of Stephanie’s body when she died by demonstrating that a reasonable factfinder could find that the family members moved the body prior to the arrival of the EMTs. However, the relevant inquiry in a probable cause analysis is not whether Stephanie was actually moved prior to the EMT’s arrival but, rather, what information, if any, the police had at the time of Michael’s arrest that suggested that one or more of the family members moved the body prior to the EMT’s arrival and that, therefore, Stephanie did not die in the position that she was found by the EMTs. See Martin, 509 F.2d at 1213; Bernard, 623 F.2d at 559; Hillison, 733 F.2d at 697. a. What Cheryl and Stephen Told Defendants Prior To Michael’s Arrest A review of Cheryl’s videotaped questioning by police reveals that she did not tell defendants that she moved Stephanie’s body. Moreover, Cheryl drew a diagram of the crime scene for defendant Sweeney which a reasonable officer could interpret as showing Stephanie’s head in the alcove, consistent with the crime scene photographs. See Exhibit K, attached to Defendants’ Reply to Michael Crowe’s Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment, or in the Alternative, Partial Summary Judgment. A review of Stephen’s videotaped questioning by police reveals that Steven did not tell defendants that he moved Stephanie’s body or that she was found in her room with the door closed. In fact, Stephen denied moving the body, as illustrated by the following colloquy between Stephen and defendant Sweeney at the police station: Q. Think of this though, Steve. After you tried to use the phone, you tried to pick her up. Did you move her at all? A. No. I couldn’t move her. She was stiff. She was all stiff and I couldn’t move her .... Transcript of Videotaped Examination of Stephen Crowe, January 21, 1998, at 15:20-24. Stephen did not make any statements in his recorded interview about the position of the body vis-a-vis the doorway. Cheryl and Stephen now both state in their declarations filed in opposition to the motion for summary judgment: “Every time I was interviewed by the police I told them the true position of Stephanie’s body, which was inside the room.” See Omnibus Decl. of Stephen Crowe ¶3 (Exhibit 44), Plaintiff Michael Crowe’s List of Documents Presented in Opposition to [Defendants’] Motion for Summary Judgment or in the Alternative, Partial Summary Judgment of the Claims Asserted by Michael Crowe (“Michael’s Exhibits”); Omnibus Decl. of Cheryl Crowe ¶ 4 (Exhibit 45, Michael’s Exhibits). Moreover, Cheryl now states that she believes that she moved Stephanie, while Stephen states that he did move Stephanie. See Omnibus Decl. of Cheryl Crowe ¶ 24; Omnibus Decl. of Stephen Crowe ¶ 3. However, there is a videotape of Cheryl and Stephen being interviewed by the police officer defendants, and it cannot be disputed that during these tape recorded interviews not only did Cheryl and Stephen not make statements indicating that Stephanie’s entire body, including her head, was inside the room or that her body was moved but they made statements to the contrary. Moreover, Stephen testified at his civil deposition that when he found Stephanie her head was in the alcove and the remainder of her body was in her room. Specifically, Stephen testified: Q. When you got out into the hallway and you got to Stephanie, where was she? A. She was laying on the floor. There’s an alcove that goes back and it’s the depth of the closet. It’s about three feet. ■ Her head was lying — her body was inside her room and her head was right at the doorjamb. Q. If you drew a line at the position where the door would be if it was fully shut — if you drew that line across the doorjamb, was her head or any part of her body on the hallway side or the alcove side of that line? A. Yes, her head was. Q. How much of her head? A. Just from the neck up. Q. So if you drew that line across there, it would bisect her neck; is that correct? A. That’s correct. Deposition of Stephen Crowe at 85:28-86:17 (Exhibit 13, Michael’s Exhibits). Thus, Cheryl and Stephen’s statements regarding what they remember telling police more than six years ago, which are inconsistent with their recorded statements to police and with Stephen’s deposition testimony, are not sufficient to require this court to assume on this motion for summary judgment that defendants knew or should have known that the body was not initially in the position depicted in the crime scene photographs. See Burrell v. Star Nursery, Inc., 170 F.3d 951, 954 (9th Cir.1999) (refusing to reverse district court’s grant of summary judgment based on plaintiffs affidavit, which contained allegations that “appeared for the first time” in the affidavit and which contradicted her earlier deposition testimony); Kennedy v. Allied Mutual Ins. Co., 952 F.2d 262, 266 (9th Cir.1991) (“The general rule in the Ninth Circuit is that a party cannot create an issue of fact by an affidavit contradicting his prior deposition testimony.”). Moreover, even if Cheryl and Stephen were interviewed by police at another time, which it is not clear on this record that they were, the fact that they may have at that time told the police that Stephanie had been moved and was not in the position in which she was found by the EMTs does not establish that, for purposes of the probable cause analysis, defendants were required to assume that Stephanie died inside her bedroom with the door closed. Police officers are constantly required to sift through volumes of evidence and witness statements that are not always consistent, and the police must make judgment calls regarding which witness statements to believe and which not to believe. Given the statements of Cheryl and Stephen in their recorded interviews, it was not unreasonable for defendants to conclude, for purposes of determining whether there was probable cause to arrest Michael, that Stephanie died in her doorway with the door open. This is true even if Cheryl and Stephen made other, unrecorded statements to the contrary. b. What Kennedy Told Defendants Prior to Michael’s Arrest A review of Kennedy’s videotaped questioning by police reveals that Kennedy did not tell police that she moved the body. Although Michael contends that Kennedy told defendants prior to Michael’s arrest that when she found Stephanie, Stephanie was in her room and that the door was closed, this is a mischaracterization of her statements, as the following colloquy between defendant Wrisley and Kennedy illustrates: W: When you got up due to the alarm and you went out and you found Stephanie in the doorway I guess there— K: Uh-huh [yes] W. Did you go into her room at all? K: No, I just stepped inside and I saw her laying there and I thought this is — something’s wrong here.... Transcript of Videotaped Examination of Judith Ann Kennedy, January 21, 1998, at 22:14-18. Having reviewed this portion of the videotape, it is clear that Kennedy did not correct defendant Wrisley when he referred to Stephanie being “in the doorway” and that Kennedy answered “no” to the question of whether she went into Stephanie’s room. As noted, it is undisputed that, unlike Michael’s bedroom door, Stephanie’s bedroom was not directly off of the main hallway, but, rather, an alcove connected Stephanie’s bedroom to the main hallway. Thus, it was entirely reasonable for defendant Wrisley to believe that Kennedy was referring to “stepping inside” the alcove and not Stephanie’s bedroom. In addition, it must be noted that because the relevant question here is what evidence defendants had in their possession regarding the position of Stephanie’s body at the time they arrested Michael for her murder, Michael’s assertion to the contrary notwithstanding, it is irrelevant what Kennedy stated about the position of the body at the proceeding (referred to as a “707 hearing”) which was held in order to determine whether Michael should be tried in adult rather than juvenile court, as that hearing occurred after his arrest. Finally, because the probable cause inquiry is whether the inferences defendants drew from the facts in their possession were reasonable, that plaintiffs’ expert, Victor Cestaro, has, based on blood smears, opined that Stephanie died inside her bedroom with the door closed does not mean that a reasonable officer could not have concluded based on all of the information in defendants’ possession that Stephanie died with her head in the alcove and door open as depicted in the crime scene photographs. See Cox, 391 F.3d at 32 (“[T]he availability of alternative inferences does not prevent a finding of probable cause so long as the inference upon which the officer relies is reasonable.”). In conclusion, given that (1) when defendants arrived on the scene Stephanie’s body was in the doorway, in that her head was in the alcove and the rest of her body was in the bedroom; (2) defendants had in their possession statements by the family that were consistent with Stephanie’s body being found in the doorway; (3) and it would be physically impossible for the door to be closed with Stephanie’s body in that position, a reasonable officer could have based his probable cause determination on the assumption that Stephanie died in the doorway of her bedroom with the door open. 3. Michael’s Story It is undisputed that in two different interviews Michael told defendants that he woke up at 4:30 a.m. and went to the kitchen to get some Tylenol because he had a headache. In both interviews, Michael stated that there was enough light that he could see that Stephanie’s door was shut. Specifically, during one questioning, Michael stated as follows: Q. What was the next thing that you remember? A. I woke up and I turned on the TV so I could see, and I think the clock said 4:30. Q. Did you turn the TV on to watch it or just turn it on to— A. Turned it on to see around the room. Q. Kind of using that for light? A. Yes. Q. Then what did you do? A. I had a horrible headache, so I got up out of bed, went to the kitchen. Q. Now, your bedroom door is open or closed? A. When I sleep? Q. No. When you woke up and you went on your way to the kitchen, was it opened or closed. A. I think I left it open. Q. When you went out, I know you got to into the hallway to get to the kitchen, correct? A. Yes. Q. How could you see where you were going? A. I think the light by what you call the front doors, the double doors, that light was on. I think there is an automatic switch on it. Q. How about the hallway light, is it on or off? A. I’m pretty sure it was off. Q. And obviously when you leave your room, your view is right across to Stephanie’s room. And is her room opened or closed? Closed. ^ And you see nothing unusual at all? <3“ Nothing unusual. ^ Did you go to the kitchen? Ó Yes. < How long were you in the kitchen? O Fifteen minutes. When I got back I left the TV on and I think it said 4:45. <1 So Stephanie’s door ivas shut? © Yes. And what about mom and dad’s door? ® I believe it was shut, too. !> And grandma and Shannon’s? ñ I believe everything was shut. l> If the only light is coming from like here, how could you tell if the doors were shut? © I believe I turned on my own light and my door was left open, so I could see the rest of the hallway. You turned on your bedroom light before you left the room? <0 Yes. So when you returned back to the room, the light was still on? ó And that kind of illuminated the hallway a little? Yes. JO ... When you got back to your room, you again didn’t notice anything? <o Didn’t notice anything. i> Nothing unusual? <© Nothing unusual. i> Q. When you got back to your room, what was the next thing you did? A. I dropped [sic] the milk, took the Tylenol in my room, set the box over there. Then I turned off my light and turned off the TV. Police Interview of Michael Crowe Taken at the Polinsky Center January 22, 1998, at 21:23-25:28 (Exhibit K, Defendants’ NOL re: Michael’s claims filed April 26, 2004) (emphasis added). Later that day, Michael again told the police that Stephanie’s door was closed: A. The next thing I remember after that I woke up with a bad headache. I turned on the TV so I could see in my room because it was dark. The clock on the TV, I think it said 4:30. So I got up and I opened the door, turned on the light, you know, went down to the kitchen to get some Tylenol for my headache. I took the Tylenol and drank the milk. I turned off my light, turned off the TV. I shut my door and went to sleep.... Q. Okay. Can you tell me about the lighting in the house? A. One light, I think, was left on. I turned on my light and I left my door open and I went to the kitchen, so I could see fairly- — I’m pretty sure. I was half asleep and I had a headache, so I think I turned on the kitchen light, as well .... A. I remember when I walked back all the doors being shut. Q. Okay. You remember them all being shut. Can you define that for me? A. All the doors in the hallway, all four, all five of them but the bathroom. Q. And you’re pretty sure about that? A. I’m pretty sure. Q. ... And the door to Stephanie’s room? A. Yeah, I think that was shut. Q. That was shut. You’re pretty confident about k: SO? A Yes. Q. And could you briefly describe the lighting in the hallway? A. I didn’t turn on the hallway light, I don’t think, but I did have my door open with my light on. So it was dim, but I could still see pretty well. Like I said 1 was still half asleep at the time. I kind of stumbled into the kitchen. Videotaped Interview of Michael Stephen Crowe, January 22,1998 at 7:27-10:17 (Exhibit U, Defendants’ NOL re: Michael’s claims filed April 26, 2004) (emphasis added). Given that the information in defendants’ possession suggested that Stephanie was dead by 4:30 a.m. and that she died in her doorway with the door open, Michael’s statements that Stephanie’s door was closed at 4:30 a.m. would have given a reasonable officer reason to believe that Michael was lying and was involved in Stephanie’s murder. Michael’s contention in his declaration that he initially stated to defendants in an unrecorded interview that he' did not know whether Stephanie’s door was closed when he went to the kitchen at 4:30 a.m. does not change the fact that, as detailed supra, Michael made later, unequivocal statements that there was sufficient light to see and that he was certain that Stephanie’s door was closed. Michael fails to cite any authority for the proposition that his later statements cannot be considered in determining whether there was probable cause to arrest him because these statements were made, in some instances, in response to leading questions. A reasonable officer could have relied on these later statements in making a probable cause determination. 4. The state of the windows and doors Finally, the state of the windows and doors is another factor upon which a reasonable officer could have relied in forming the belief that Michael was involved in Stephanie’s murder. a. The laundry room or “front” door Construing the facts in the light most favorable to Michael, at the time of Michael’s arrest, defendants knew that fellow officer Scott Walters saw the door to the Crowe house close at approximately 9:58 p.m. on the night of the murder. However, a reasonable officer could have concluded that an intruder was not entering through the laundry room door at that time. Although defendants knew that the members of the Crowe household denied that they were the ones who closed the door, Michael operates under the mistaken assumption that a police officer must believe everything a suspect says, and that when a suspect is arrested based on facts that are different than those relayed by the suspect, probable cause cannot exist. This is not, however, the standard. See Ahlers v. Schebil, 188 F.3d 365, 371 (6th Cir.1999) (“In fact, law enforcement ‘is under no obligation to give any credence to a suspect’s story [or alibi] nor should a plausible explanation in any sense require the officer to forego arrest pending further investigation if the facts as initially discovered provide probable cause.’ ”) (quoting Criss v. City of Kent, 867 F.2d 259, 263 (6th Cir.1988)); see also Taylor v. Paladines, 983 F.Supp. 750, 753 (N.D.Ill.1997) (concluding that police officer was entitled to qualified immunity where the officer arrested an innocent individual who provided an explanation for her actions prior to her arrest). If this were the standard, confronted with two conflicting sets of facts — with one set of facts being relayed by the suspect — the police would certainly hesitate to arrest a suspect unless they were sure that the evidence proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect was guilty. Otherwise, the police would risk the suspect not being convicted and then suing them. Again, “[t]he long-prevailing standard of probable cause protects ‘citizens from rash and unreasonable interferences with privacy and from unfounded charges of crime,’ while giving ‘fair leeway for enforcing law in the community’s protection.’ ” Pringle, 540 U.S. at 369, 124 S.Ct. 795 (quoting Brinegar, 338 U.S. at 176, 69 S.Ct. 1302). This probable cause standard recognizes that the police will not always arrest the right person and must be able to weigh evidence and make reasonable judgment calls about who is lying to them and who is not. That a police officer need not believe every piece of information a suspect conveys is particularly true when information gained from the suspect is inconsistent with other evidence. Here, it is undisputed that in an unrecorded interview prior to Michael’s arrest, Kennedy told defendant Sweeney that before going to bed at approximately 9:00 p.m. she checked the sliding glass door and the laundry room door to see if they were locked. See Exhibit 295. Michael concedes that Kennedy told Sweeney that the lock was “right.” See Michael’s Opposition at 25:4. Michael has presented evidence from which it could be concluded that given the way that lock on the laundry room door operates, Kennedy could have been indicating that the door was unlocked. However, the inquiry is what defendants could have reasonably believed based on Kennedy’s statement that the lock was “right.” See Reynolds v. County of San Diego, 84 F.3d 1162, 1170 (9th Cir.1996) (explaining that the fact that there might be ‘“another reasonable or more reasonable interpretation of events’ ” does not mean that a reasonable officer could not have believed that his conduct was justified), overruled on other grounds by Acri v. Varian Assocs. Inc., 114 F.3d 999 (9th Cir.1997) (quoting Hunter, 502 U.S. at 228, 112 S.Ct. 534). It was not unreasonable for defendants to interpret Kennedy’s statement as a statement that the door was locked when she checked it, because a reasonable officer could conclude that one would not check a door to see if it was locked but not lock it if it was found to be unlocked. Moreover, Stephen Crowe told defendants that the laundry room door, which the family referred to as the “front door,” was locked the morning that Stephanie was discovered murdered. Specifically, he stated: Q. And Cheryl’s mom usually goes and checks to make sure the doors are all locked also. In fact, the door to the laundry room was locked this morning also. The dead bolt was latched. So I tried to unlock (inaudible) door. I pulled on the door and it wouldn’t open because someone locked the dead bolt. That’s why I would assume Cheryl’s mom shut the front door before retiring. A. Okay. I know. You call that the laundry door? Q. Yeah. The far door (inaudible). Transcript of Videotaped Examination of Stephen Crowe at 9:18-27 (emphasis added). Thus, even though each of the family members denied being the one who opened and closed the door at approximately 9:58 p.m., given the evidence suggesting to defendants that Kennedy locked the door at approximately 9:00 p.m., it would not be unreasonable for defendants to conduct their investigation based on the assumption that it was possible that it was not an intruder who Officer Walters saw closing the laundry room or “front” door at 9:58 p.m. Michael points out that according to Sweeney’s notes from an unrecorded interview of Kennedy, Kennedy said that the family never used the deadbolt on that door. See Exhibit 295. However, given all of the other information in defendants’ possession regarding the state of the doors and windows and the state of the laundry room door in particular and given that Stephen appeared to assume that Kennedy was the one who deadbolted the door, this statement by Kennedy does not serve to negate the existence of probable cause to arrest Michael. b.Stephanie’s Window A reasonable officer could have concluded that the killer did not enter or exit through Stephanie’s bedroom window. Stephanie’s window, which was a metal slider, was not locked nor completely closed due to a phone cable leading from the outside which entered the room through the window in the bottom corner. However, a review of the crime scene photographs shows two flag-like objects hanging underneath the windows as decorations which appear undisturbed. A review of the photograph of this window also reveals that it is some distance from the ground and that, although someone could certainly enter the room through the window, the window would not provide easy ingress or egress. Michael notes that Stephanie’s friend, Amanda Reidy, told defendants that she was talking to Stephanie between 9:45 and 10:00 p.m. and .Stephanie stated that the cat had come in through her window. However, the fact that Stephanie’s window was open during her telephone conversation is not a fact that would compel the police to conclude that the killer came through the window because Stephanie could have closed the window after the conversation. c. The sliding doors off of the kitchen A reasonable officer could have concluded that the killer did not enter the house through either of the sliding glass doors off of the kitchen. One of the sliding glass doors was found to be closed and locked during the investigation. Although defendants found the other sliding door closed but unlocked, Stephen Crowe stated in his videotaped interview that he unlocked that sliding door on the morning of the murder. See Transcript of Videotaped Examination of Stephen Crowe at 8:17-9:16. d. The master bedroom sliding glass door Michael contends that the police should have concluded that killer was an intruder who either entered or exited through the sliding door in the master bedroom door because the door was unlocked and because, although the vertical blinds covering the door were closed, one of the blinds was hung up on the handle of the door and the screen on the door was partially opened, which was consistent with someone going through the door with the blinds closed. Therefore, Michael argues, defendants should have known that Michael was not the killer. Although the state of the door may have been consistent with someone passing through the door, the other evidence defendants had in their possession suggested that the killer did not pass through this door on the night of the murder. Although Cheryl stated that she was in her bedroom by 10:00 p.m., she also stated to police that she did not go to sleep until 11:00 p.m. — which, as Michael admits in his opposition, is the latest time at which Stephanie was alive. See Transcript of Videotaped Examination of Cheryl Ann[sic] Crowe at 14:4-6; Michael’s Opposition at 19:4-7. Given the fact that defendants had reason to believe that Stephanie was dead by the time that Cheryl went to sleep, the unlocked state of the door and the state of the vertical blinds did not negate the existence of probable cause to believe that Michael was involved in Stephanie’s murder. d. The garage door The door to the double-car garage was closed but not locked. Michael makes much of this fact; however, no reasonable officer could have concluded that it was possible for the killer to enter the house through the garage door because a review of crime scene photograph 4, which according to the date stamp was taken approximately a week after the murder, reveals that the garage door swings out, and photographs 3 and 5, which were taken the day Stephanie’s body was discovered as evidenced by the ambulance in the driveway, reveals that there were two vehicles parked in front of the door, which would have made it impossible for someone to open the garage door. See also Escondido Police Department Evidence Report, Exhibit F, Defendants’ NOL re: Crowe Family’s Claims filed April 26, 2004 (noting that two vehicles were parked in front of the garage door on the morning of the murder). e. The remaining doors and windows It is undisputed that the remaining doors and windows were locked. Michael notes that the double doors that most would refer to as the front doors to the house have the type of lockset that allows one to exit even though the door is locked to the outside. Therefore, an intruder could have left the house by means of these doors. However, as noted, a reasonable officer could have concluded from all of the evidence in defendants’ possession regarding the state of the windows and doors that an intruder did not enter the Crowe house on the night of the killing, and therefore the fact that an intruder could have escaped through the front door did not negate the existence of probable cause to believe that Michael was involved in Stephanie’s killing. 5. Why the information the police had regarding Tuite did not negate the existence of probable cause Michael spends numerous pages of his opposition setting forth facts and arguments regarding why Tuite, the transient who was ultimately convicted of Stephanie’s murder, was the real killer. Michael contends that it was Tuite that Officer Walters saw entering the Crowe house at approximately 9:58 p.m. and that after, killing Stephanie, Tuite exited either through the master bedroom sliding glass door or through the double front doors. Michael’s tack is unavailing, however. The issue here is not who killed Stephanie but, rather, whether reasonable, not perfect, police officers could have believed at the time of Michael’s arrest that Mir chael was involved in Stephanie’s murder. As will be demonstrated, even though defendants did have evidence in their possession placing Tuite in the vicinity of the Crowe house at the time of the murder, a reasonable officer possessing this evidence could have nonetheless concluded at the time of Michael’s arrest that Michael, not Tuite, was involved in Stephanie’s murder. Michael correctly notes that at the time of Michael’s arrest, defendants had eye witness accounts placing Tuite in the neighborhood of the Crowe house at the time of the murder. Those eye witness accounts described an individual who was loud, drunk or high, and agitated and who was knocking on doors looking for “Tracy.” See Crowe, 803 F.Supp.2d at 1075. However, as noted in section II.C.4, supra, a reasonable officer could have concluded from the information defendants had regarding the state of the windows and doors that Tuite’s only means of ingress was Stephanie’s window or the Crowe master bedroom sliding glass door. Specifically, given that a reasonable officer could have believed that the laundry room or “front” door was locked by Judith Kennedy at 9:00 p.m., and given that Stephen stated that this door was locked in the morning, a reasonable officer could have concluded that Tuite did not enter the Crowe house through that door at approximately 10:00 p.m. Given that the clothed state of Stephanie’s body suggested that she was awake when the killer entered her room and given that no one in the house heard Stephanie scream, a reasonable officer could have concluded that a loud and agitated individual such as Tuite did not enter Stephanie’s room through her window. Given that Stephanie was dead by 11:00 p.m. and given that Cheryl Crowe told defendants .that she did not go to sleep until 11:00 p.m., see Transcript of Videotaped Examination of Cheryl Ann[sic] Crowe at 14:4-6, a reasonable officer could have concluded that a loud and agitated individual such as Tuite did not enter or exit the Crowe house through the master bedroom sliding door on the night of the murder. That a reasonable officer could have discounted the theory that Tuite was the killer is. not altered by the fact that.both Cheryl and Michael reported hearing banging at some point in the night. Cheryl was not sure what time she heard the banging, and by her own account she thought at the time that she was dreaming. Transcript of Videotaped Examination of Cheryl Ann[sic] Crowe at 16:15-17:12. Similarly, when asked what time he heard the banging, Michael was unable to pinpoint a time, stating simply that he thought it was before midnight. See Police Interview of Michael Crowe Taken at the Polinsky Center January 22, 1998, at 19:12-21:14 (Exhibit K, Defendants’ NOL re: Michael’s claims filed April 26, 2004). However, importantly, Cheryl reported that she heard the banging after she went to sleep, and defendants had reason to believe that Stephanie was dead by the time that Cheryl went to sleep. See section II.C. 1, supra. Because a reasonable officer could have concluded from Cheryl and Michael’s statements that the banging occurred after Stephanie’s death, and because both Cheryl and Michael indicated that'they thought that the banging came from the laundry room door, which as explained in Section II.C.4.a, supra, a reasonable officer could have believed was locked, a reasonable officer could have discounted the fact of the banging in determining there was probable cause to arrest Michael. Micha