Walczyk v. Rio, 3:02CV1536(RNC).
| Decision Date | 29 September 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 3:02CV1536(RNC).,3:02CV1536(RNC). |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut |
| Parties | Thomas WALCZYK, et al., Plaintiffs, v. James RIO, et al., Defendants. |
Jon L. Schoenhorn, Law Offices of Jon L. Schoenhorn, Hartford, CT, for Plaintiffs.
Thomas R. Gerarde, David S. Monastersky, John J. Radshaw, III, Howd & Ludorf, Hartford, CT, for Defendants.
RULING AND ORDER
Thomas Walczyk, Elizabeth Walczyk, Maximina Walczyk and Michelle Walczyk bring this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging violations of their rights under the United States and Connecticut constitutions by six employees of the Farmington Police Department (FPD).1 Defendants have filed three motions for summary judgment covering all counts in the complaint, and plaintiffs have moved for summary judgment on some of their claims. For the reasons stated below, defendants' motions are granted in part and denied in part, and plaintiffs' motion is denied.
This action arises from a 1999 incident in which Farmington police arrested Thomas Walczyk, searched two houses belonging to members of the Walczyk family, and seized Thomas's huge firearms collection. The six defendants are sued in their individual capacities only.
The story begins with a dispute over the ownership of land. Plaintiff Elizabeth Walczyk has lived at 27 Tunxis Street in Farmington for a long time, formerly with her now-deceased husband Lucien. Their son, plaintiff Thomas Walczyk, now lives across the street at 28 Tunxis. Tunxis Street lies just south of Farmington Village, adjoining an area of open land. Some of the land near the Walczyks' houses is owned by Barberino Realty. During the Eighties and Nineties, Elizabeth and Lucien Walczyk tried to assert ownership of Barberino's land on the basis of adverse possession. Connecticut courts ruled against them and granted Barberino's cross-claim to quiet title. Nevertheless, Thomas Walczyk remained convinced that his family owned the land. He told FPD Captain James Rio that he had a common law right to the property, that he lost in court only because of perjury by a witness and improper conduct by a judge, and that if the police failed to take his side in his dispute with Barberino, he would "take matters into [his] own hands" and "do what [he] had to do to protect [his] property."
Meanwhile, Thomas had a series of brushes with the law, mostly involving his extensive collection of firearms. The collection includes about 90 firearms, including assault rifles, carbines, other rifles, pistols, and shotguns, along with 2600 rounds of ammunition. All of these are lawfully registered.
In 1988, Thomas was arrested for confronting some of Barberino's workers while carrying an M-16 loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition. After FPD officers intervened, Thomas apparently persisted in refusing to lower his weapon. He pleaded guilty to creating a public disturbance. In 1990, he was arrested for threatening after a dispute with a motorist. The motorist apparently followed Thomas home after Thomas cut him off on the road; Thomas went into his house and came out with a loaded AK-47. The charges were nolled. In 1992, he was arrested after a neighbor complained that Thomas had shot the neighbor's cat. He pleaded guilty to breach of peace. In 1996, he was almost charged with threatening after an altercation with his brother.
On August 30, 1999, Thomas Walczyk noticed that a gate he had built on Barberino's land had been torn down, and that a piece of logging equipment had been left there. He called the FPD to report a trespass. When Officer David Hebert arrived, he told Thomas that he could take no action against Barberino until Thomas could produce title to the land. Thomas replied that "the police aren't taking the necessary action to avoid a bloodbath," or words to that effect. Hebert was annoyed by the remark but did not feel threatened. Thomas says that he intended the remark in an abstract way, not as a threat that he would take any violent action.
After Hebert filed his report on the incident, some FPD personnel interpreted the "bloodbath" remark as a threat that Thomas would make use of his weaponry in his dispute with Barberino. The leading figure in the ensuing events seems to have been defendant Sergeant William Tyler. Tyler, along with defendants Corporal Angela Deschenes and Officer Shawn Brown, and perhaps with the help of defendant Captain James Rio, prepared a warrant affidavit, stating that Thomas had engaged in criminal threatening. The affidavit referred to Thomas's longstanding property dispute with Barbarino; recounted his statements to Rio and Hebert; and described the conduct underlying his prior arrests. A magistrate signed two warrants, one for Thomas's arrest and one to search both houses and seize the firearms.
On September 7, 1999, the FPD undertook to lure Thomas from his house, fearing that if they tried to arrest him on Tunxis Street, they would find themselves in a standoff. Defendant Sergeant James Jepsen phoned Thomas and asked him to come to the station to discuss his trespass complaint. When Thomas got there, he was arrested and charged with threatening. The FPD, which has the power to set temporary bail under Connecticut law, set bail at $10,000.
After Thomas was arrested and detained, a team of officers, including Jepsen and defendant Det. Brian Killiany, entered 27 and 28 Tunxis Street with the search warrant. They found a number of weapons in both houses, some of them in places such as a space in the kitchen behind boxes of cereal. They confiscated the weapons and the ammunition. During the search, they forced Thomas's wife, plaintiff Maximina Walczyk, and 8-year-old daughter, plaintiff Michelle Walczyk, to wait outside.
Connecticut proceeded to charge Thomas Walczyk with ten offenses. He was convicted of disorderly conduct, reckless endangerment, and improper firearm storage, but acquitted on the threatening charge. The Appellate Court reversed his convictions in 2003, holding that the warrant affidavit failed to establish probable cause to believe that Thomas had committed a crime or that the firearms seized were connected to any criminal activity. State v. Walczyk, 76 Conn.App. 169, 818 A.2d 868 (2003). The FPD then returned the firearms collection to the Walczyks.
Thomas Walczyk seek money damages under § 1983 for (1) unlawful arrest, search and seizure (Fourth Amendment); (2) "class of one" discrimination (Equal Protection Clause); (3) violation of the right to bear arms (Second Amendment); and (4) excessive bail (Eighth Amendment). In addition, he brings a Binette alleging violations of his rights under Article first, sections 7, 9 and 15 of the Connecticut constitution. His mother Elizabeth, wife Maximina and daughter Michelle join him in seeking damages based on the allegedly unlawful search of the houses.
Defendants have filed three motions for summary judgment against Thomas's claims, Elizabeth's claims, and Maximina and Michelle's claims, respectively. The Walczyks, in turn, seek summary judgment on their claims for unlawful search of the houses, and Thomas's claims for unlawful arrest and excessive bail.
Summary judgment may be granted if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The court must review the record as a whole, credit all evidence favoring the nonmovant, give the nonmovant the benefit of all reasonable inferences, and disregard all evidence favoring the movant that a jury would not have to believe. Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000). Granting summary judgment in a proper case helps conserve judicial and litigant resources because, if there is no genuine issue of material fact, and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, a jury verdict in favor of the nonmovant could not be sustained.
Thomas Walczyk's § 1983 claims for unlawful arrest, search and seizure fall within the scope of the Fourth Amendment and are analyzed accordingly. Singer v. Fulton County Sheriff, 63 F.3d 110, 114-15 (2d Cir.1995).2 Because the challenged conduct took place pursuant to facially valid warrants, the Fourth Amendment right at issue is the right to be free from searches and seizures conducted pursuant to warrants that would not have been issued if the officers seeking them had disclosed to the magistrate information within their knowledge negating probable cause. Brown v. D'Amico, 35 F.3d 97, 99 (2d Cir.1994)(false arrest case); Golino v. City of New Haven, 950 F.2d 864, 870-71 (2d Cir.1991)(same). To prove that this right has been violated, the plaintiff must make the same showing required at a suppression hearing under Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 155-56, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978). See Smith v. Edwards, 175 F.3d 99, 105 (2d Cir.1999); Velardi v. Walsh, 40 F.3d 569, 573 (2d Cir.1994). Specifically, he must show that the defendants knowingly and deliberately, or with reckless disregard of the truth, made material misstatements or omissions in the warrant affidavit that were necessary to the finding of probable cause. Franks, 438 U.S. at 155-56, 98 S.Ct. 2674. To determine whether the plaintiff has a triable claim, the warrant affidavit is corrected (i.e., false statements are crossed out and omitted information is added). Cartier v. Lussier, 955 F.2d 841, 845 (2d Cir.1992). If the corrected affidavit still establishes probable cause, no Fourth Amendment violation has occurred. Smith, 175 F.3d at 105; Soares v. Connecticut, 8 F.3d 917, 920 (2d Cir.1993).
Thomas has made the necessary showing. It is undisputed that the defendants omitted to disclose information to...
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