Murphy v. Lynn
| Decision Date | 05 May 1995 |
| Docket Number | D,No. 1475,1475 |
| Citation | 53 F.3d 547 |
| Parties | Ernesto MURPHY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. John LYNN, individually and as a Town of Clarkstown Police Officer; Daniel Weisberg, individually and as a Town of Clarkstown police officer; Town of Clarkstown; Town of Clarkstown Police Dept.; William Collins, Police Chief, Defendants-Appellees. ocket 94-2639. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
John Nicholas Iannuzzi, New York City (Iannuzzi and Iannuzzi, New York City), for plaintiff-appellant.
Joseph A. Maria, White Plains, NY (Joseph A. Maria, P.C., White Plains, NY), for defendants-appellees.
Before: ALTIMARI, JACOBS, and CALABRESI, Circuit Judges.
Ernesto Murphy appeals from the dismissal by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Charles L. Brieant, Judge) of his civil rights complaint against Clarkstown police officers and the Town of Clarkstown. On the eve of trial, the District Court ruled that Murphy's action was precluded by the statute of limitations. It is now clear that, though some of his causes of action were properly dismissed as time barred, not all of Murphy's claims were untimely. We therefore reverse and remand for further proceedings.
On November 13, 1989, while driving with his girlfriend, Murphy was stopped by Clarkstown Police Officer John Lynn. The encounter turned hostile after Murphy was issued a ticket. Lynn called for additional police assistance, and somehow the traffic stop escalated into a battle between Murphy and a group of Clarkstown police officers. In the end, Murphy was arrested on various criminal charges, including assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
After much delay, Murphy was indicted. The delay preceding his indictment prompted Murphy to seek a dismissal of the charges on speedy trial grounds. On December 12, 1990, a state trial court found merit in Murphy's contention that he had not been afforded the speedy trial guaranteed by New York Criminal Procedure Law Sec. 30.30, and dismissed all the charges against Murphy stemming from his encounter with Officer Lynn and the other Clarkstown police officers.
On November 10, 1993, Murphy filed a complaint against the Town of Clarkstown and the police officers involved in the November The parties proceeded with discovery and the case reached the brink of trial--a jury had been selected--before the District Court considered the statute of limitations issue raised in the defendants' amended answer. Since the applicable statute of limitations was three years and the encounter with the police that prompted Murphy's claims occurred nearly four years before his complaint was filed, the District Court held that his claims were time barred and dismissed the lawsuit.
1989 incident. The complaint made claims under Sec. 1983 and the First, Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments for deprivation of liberty without due process, unlawful arrest, excessive force, and malicious prosecution. Though the defendants did not initially raise the statute of limitations as a defense, their amended answer asserted that all of Murphy's claims were untimely.
Murphy filed papers seeking reconsideration. In these, he stressed that the crux of his action was the claim of malicious prosecution. He cited precedents indicating that malicious prosecution claims do not accrue until the dismissal of the underlying criminal charges and noted that the criminal charges against him were dismissed less than three years prior to the filing of his complaint. Murphy, therefore, asserted that his claim based in malicious prosecution was timely. Without giving any response to Murphy's reconsideration request, the District Court entered judgment dismissing Murphy's entire lawsuit.
It is clear from our precedents that the applicable statute of limitations for Sec. 1983 actions in New York is three years, see Eagleston v. Guido, 41 F.3d 865, 871 (2d Cir.1994), and that, for claims based in malicious prosecution, this period starts to run only when the underlying criminal...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Murphy v. Lynn
...of limitations. Murphy appealed, contesting only the dismissal of the § 1983 claims for malicious prosecution. In Murphy v. Lynn, 53 F.3d 547 (2d Cir.1995) ("Murphy I "), this Court reversed the dismissal of the malicious prosecution claims, noting that they had not accrued until the crimin......
-
Frooks v. Town of Cortlandt
... ... The statute of limitations for malicious prosecution is three years. See Murphy v. Lynn, 53 F.3d 547, 548 (2d Cir.1995), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 118 S.Ct. 1051, 140 L.Ed.2d 114 (1998); Crespo v. New York City Police ... ...
-
Davis v. U.S., 3:05 CV 1537(PCD).
...prosecution accrues when a criminal proceeding terminates in the plaintiffs favor); Singleton, 632 F.2d at 189 (same); Murphy v. Lynn, 53 F.3d 547, 548 (2d Cir.1995) (same). Using the date that the criminal proceedings are terminated in the plaintiffs favor as the date of accrual avoids the......
- Demartino v. New York