505 F.Supp. 911 (E.D.Pa. 1981), Civ. A. 80-3178, Arment v. Commonwealth Nat. Bank

• Citation: 505 F.Supp. 911
• Party Name: Arment v. Commonwealth Nat. Bank
• Case Date: January 14, 1981
• Court: United States District Courts, 3rd Circuit, U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Page 911

505 F.Supp. 911 (E.D.Pa. 1981)

Richard L. ARMENT

v.

COMMONWEALTH NATIONAL BANK and Robert A. Longo.

Civ. A. No. 80-3178.

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

Jan. 14, 1981

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William A. Atlee, Jr., Lancaster, Pa., for plaintiff.

Michael D. Carr, West Chester, Pa., for Commonwealth Nat. Bank.

Glenn C. Equi, Philadelphia, Pa., for Longo.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

TROUTMAN, District Judge.

The Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. s 1983, provides that:

(e)very person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.

To recover under this statute, plaintiff must show that defendant was a "person", Monell v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), who acted "under color of law", Carey v. Piphus, 435 U.S. 247, 98 S.Ct. 1042, 55 L.Ed. 252 (1978), Robertson v. Wegmann, 436 U.S. 584, 98 S.Ct. 1991, 56 L.Ed.2d 554 (1978) ,

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to deprive plaintiff of rights, privileges or immunities guaranteed by the Constitution and laws. Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 96 S.Ct. 984, 47 L.Ed.2d 128 (1976), Hagans v. Lavine, 415 U.S. 528, 94 S.Ct. 1372, 39 L.Ed.2d 577 (1974). See generally Flagg Brothers, Inc. v. Brooks, 436 U.S. 149, 98 S.Ct. 1729, 56 L.Ed.2d 185 (1978), Russell v. Bodner, 489 F.2d 280 (3d Cir. 1973), Basista v. Weir, 340 F.2d 74 (3d Cir. 1965). "Under color of law" may be equated with the "state action" requirement of the Fourteenth Amendment. Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970), United States v. Price, 383 U.S. 787, 86 S.Ct. 1152, 16 L.Ed.2d 267 (1966). Concert of action between a private person and one acting under color of law exposes the private person to liability even if the state official presents a valid defense or enjoys complete immunity. Dennis v. Sparks, --- U.S. ----, 101 S.Ct. 183, 66 L.Ed.2d 185, 4001 (1980), Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co., supra. See also Phillips v. Trello, 502 F.2d 1000 (3d Cir. 1974) and Jennings v. Shuman, 567 F.2d 1213 (3d Cir. 1977).

In the case at bar plaintiff alleges that defendant Commonwealth National Bank and its attorney defendant Longo agreed to institute criminal proceedings against plaintiff in order to collect a debt due from plaintiff to the Bank. Defendants, acting "pursuant to the agreement", supposedly induced and persuaded a Lancaster County district justice and a law enforcement officer to prosecute plaintiff and to file the necessary papers. ¹ Plaintiff complains that the criminal proceeding comprised

a mere pretext to provide color for the arrest and punishment of plaintiff for exercising his best judgment in refusing to make any further payments on a car which he did not want, and to coerce plaintiff in performance of a civil obligation by means of wrongful use of the State Criminal Law. ²

Defendants, now moving to dismiss, argue that they did not act "under color of law". As an attorney and officer of the court, defendant Longo was not ipso facto a state official within the meaning of s 1983, Steward v. Meeker, 459 F.2d 669 (3d Cir. 1972), Peake v. County of Philadelphia, 280 F.Supp. 853 (E.D.Pa.1968), and his use of process against another person did not convert his conduct into "state action". Henderson v. Fisher, 631 F.2d 1115 (3d Cir. 1980), Gibbs v. Titelman, 502 F.2d 1107 (3d Cir. 1974), Brown v. Joseph, 463 F.2d 1046 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 412 U.S. 950, 93 S.Ct. 3015, 37 L.Ed.2d 1003 (1972). However, within the present context his status as an attorney does not affect the determination of whether state action exists. Similarly, whether the Bank's operations meet the criteria pursuant to which state action may be imputed to private entities need not be resolved. See Magill v. Avonworth Baseball Corp., 516 F.2d 1328 (3d Cir. 1975). ³ In fact, characterization of the "personalities" of the Bank and Longo for purposes of s 1983 becomes irrelevant, for the alleged participation of the district justice and the police officer in the scheme undoubtedly

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involves state action. Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co., supra, Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1, 68 S.Ct. 836, 92 L.Ed. 1161 (1948), United States v. Classic, 313 U.S. 326, 61 S.Ct. 1031, 85 L.Ed. 1368 (1941), ⁴ and irrespective of any defense which either of them may assert, Dennis v. Sparks, supra, Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547, 87 S.Ct. 1213, 18 L.Ed.2d 288 (1967) ⁵, their contribution to the scheme colored defendants with "state action". ⁶ In Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. at 152, 90 S.Ct. at 1605, the court stated that plaintiff

will have made out a violation of (his) Fourteenth Amendment rights and will be entitled to relief under s 1983 if (he) can prove that a (bank) employee, in the course of employment, and a ... policeman somehow reached an understanding to deny plaintiff his right to liberty.

True, the complaint did not use the word "conspiracy", but plaintiff clearly accused defendants of formulating and executing a plan or scheme designed to effect his illegal incarceration. This joint venture did not lose the attributes of a conspiracy simply because plaintiff chose alternative ways to express this conduct. Young v. Collins, 574 F.2d 1147 (4th Cir. 1978). In the amended complaint plaintiff repeatedly referred to the agreement among defendants and the district justice and policeman. ⁷

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Agreement to commit an unlawful act lies at the heart of conspiracy. Ammlung v. City of Chester, 494 F.2d 811 (3d Cir. 1974), United Aircraft Corp. v. Boreen, 413 F.2d 694 (3d Cir. 1969). Courts, construing complaints liberally, McKnight v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, 583 F.2d 1229 (3d Cir. 1978), Franklin Life Insurance Co. v. Bieniek, 312 F.2d 365 (3d Cir. 1962), and in their entirety, Banco Continental v. Curtiss National Bank of Miami Springs, 406 F.2d 510 (5th Cir. 1969), indulge all reasonable inferences which may be drawn therefrom. Braden v. University of Pittsburgh, 552 F.2d 948 (3d Cir. 1977). Assuming for present purposes the truth of plaintiff's allegation that defendants acted in tandem with the district justice and policeman to deprive plaintiff of his liberty, Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975), Walker Process Equipment, Inc. v. Food Machinery & Chemical Corp., 382 U.S. 172, 86 S.Ct. 347, 15 L.Ed.2d 247 (1965), defendants cannot claim immunity from...