Angulo v. Nassau Cnty.

• Decision Date: 06 March 2015
• Docket Number: No. 10–CV–1500 JFBGRB.,10–CV–1500 JFBGRB.
• Citation: 89 F.Supp.3d 541
• Parties: Oscar ANGULO, Plaintiff, v. NASSAU COUNTY, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

89 F.Supp.3d 541

Oscar ANGULO, Plaintiff

v.NASSAU COUNTY, et al., Defendants.

No. 10–CV–1500 JFBGRB.

United States District Court, E.D. New York.

Signed March 6, 2015.

Oscar A. Angulo, Hempstead, NY, pro se.

Pablo A. Fernandez, Liora M. Ben–Sorek, Nassau County District Attorney's Office, Mineola, NY, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

JOSEPH F. BIANCO, District Judge.

Pro se plaintiff Oscar Angulo (“Angulo” or “plaintiff”) brings this action against defendants Nassau County (“the County”), Michael J. Sposato (“Sposato”), and numerous mail room employees and corrections officers at the Nassau County Correctional Center (“NCCC”) (collectively, “defendants”), alleging violations of his constitutional rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff claims that defendants violated his First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights through the destruction of various legal documents and his legal mail, which allegedly deprived him of, inter alia, his rights to counsel and a trial by jury. Defendants move for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 on the grounds that plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a), and on the merits. For the following reasons, the Court grants the motion in its entirety.

I. Background

A. Factual Background

Plaintiff claims his rights were violated in two distinct ways: (1) the destruction of legal documents by officers at NCCC (see Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) ¶¶ 16–57); and (2) the destruction of incoming legal mail (see id. ¶¶ 59–73).

The Court takes the following facts from defendants' Rule 56.1 Statement of Facts, and the parties' affidavits, depositions, exhibits. Where the Rule 56.1 Statement contains specific citations to the record as support, the Court cites to the Rule 56.1 Statement, rather than the underlying citation to the record. Unless otherwise noted, where the Rule 56.1 statement is cited, that fact is undisputed or plaintiff has not pointed to any contradictory evidence in the record.¹ The Court construes the facts in the light most favorable to plaintiff, the nonmoving party. See Capobianco v. City of New York, 422 F.3d 47, 50 (2d Cir.2005).

1. Destruction of Mail

Plaintiff was an inmate at NCCC from January 29 to November 9, 2009, when he was transferred to Downstate Correctional Facility (“DCF”). (Def. 56.1 ¶¶ 1, 41–42.) Before his incarceration, plaintiff hired the firm Cassisi & Cassisi to represent him in an action against the Long Island Railroad (“LIRR”). (Id. ¶ 43; see Opp'n, at Background ¶¶ III–IV.) During his incarceration at NCCC, plaintiff never received any legal correspondence from his counsel in the matter against the LIRR. (SAC ¶ 15.) He also never attempted to contact the firm until he was transferred to DCF. (Def. 56.1 ¶¶ 53–54.)

While at DCF, plaintiff contacted the firm to inquire about the case against the LIRR. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 54.) Frank Cassisi responded in a letter in December 2009 that he had withdrawn as plaintiff's attorney. (Id. ¶ 55.) Mr. Cassisi also forwarded three unopened pieces of mail that were returned to his office from DCF, as well as copies of previous letters that were sent to plaintiff's home and to NCCC. (December 9, 2009 Letter, Opp'n Ex. A.) The March 5, 2009 letter from an attorney at the firm informed plaintiff that the firm was “unable to undertake representation of [the] case”; informed plaintiff that the firm had filed a Notice of Claim on his behalf; and advised him that a Summons and Complaint must be filed within one year and ninety days from the date of the accident, which occurred on September 17, 2008. (March 5, 2009 Letter, Opp'n Ex. A.) Plaintiff claims that defendants “willfully and maliciously” confiscated and destroyed the letters, thus causing the LIRR case to be dismissed. (Opp'n, at Background ¶¶ XI, XIII.)

2. Destruction of Legal Documents Left in Law Library

In his Second Amended Complaint, plaintiff alleges that, on or about August 12, 2009, he inadvertently left his legal documents, relating to his criminal case, in NCCC's law library. (SAC ¶¶ 23–30.) Plaintiff further alleges that he subsequently saw Officer Carmine Pulgrano holding the legal documents in the Control Room, and that Pulgrano proceeded to intentionally rip and shred the documents, while other correction staff employees watched.² (Id. at ¶¶ 33–38.)

3. Grievance Procedure

The Inmate Handbook explains the rules, regulations, and procedures with which all inmates must comply, and it details NCCC's Grievance Procedure. (Def. 56.1 ¶¶ 57–58; see Inmate Handbook, Def. Ex. G.) Plaintiff does not claim that he never received any information about the grievance procedure at NCCC. As relevant here, according to the three-part grievance process, an inmate must file a “grievance within five (5) days of the date of the act or occurrence giving rise to the grievance.”

(Inmate Handbook, at 4.) The inmate must submit a grievance form, available in the Inmate Law Library or the housing officer's station, for review by a grievance coordinator. (Id. ) The grievance form must be placed into a grievance mailbox located in each housing area; grievance unit staff will then remove the form from the mailbox and issue a grievance receipt for each grievance. (Id. ) Within two business days after receiving the grievance coordinator's written determination, the grievant may appeal to the chief administrative officer or his designee. (Id. ) Within three business days of receiving the chief administrative officer's determination, the grievant may appeal any grievance denied by the facility administrator to the State Commission of Correction by indicating his desire to appeal. (Id. at 5.) The matter is then referred to the Commission's Citizens' Policy and Complaint Review Council (“CPCRC”). (Id. )

In this case, plaintiff did not file a grievance regarding the alleged destruction of legal documents by officers at NCCC in accordance with the Inmate Handbook. Instead, he wrote out a complaint on a piece of paper and sent it to defendant Sheriff Sposato. (Def. 56.1 ¶¶ 65–66; see Letter to Sposato, SAC Ex. A.) According to plaintiff, he did so because a supervisor, defendant Carthcat, said there were no grievance forms available in the unit. (Angulo Dep. at 36; see also SAC ¶ 4.) However, plaintiff has submitted no evidence to controvert defendants' evidence that, regardless of what the officer allegedly said, there are grievance forms available in other areas of the jail, such as the Inmate Law Library, and during Inmate Council meetings. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 59.) In any event, in his letter to Sposato, plaintiff complained that, after he forgot his legal work in the law library, defendant Pulgrano ripped and shredded those documents in front of plaintiff, and none of the supervisors or other officers who were present stopped him. (Letter to Sposato, at 1–2.) Subsequent to the filing of the grievance letter, plaintiff met with two investigators from Internal Affairs, who discussed a notarized drawing that precipitated a conflict between plaintiff and Pulgrano and the alleged destruction of documents.³ (Angulo Dep. at 36–37.) There is no evidence that plaintiff ever received a response or determination on the grievance. Plaintiff does not claim that he appealed the grievance. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 67.)

B. Procedural Background

Plaintiff commenced this action on March 31, 2010, and filed the SAC on August 8, 2011. Defendants answered on September 6, 2011. Defendants moved for summary judgment on December 16, 2013. After plaintiff failed to reply or otherwise apprise the Court of his status, the Court dismissed the complaint without prejudice pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) on March 28, 2014. Plaintiff moved to reopen the case by letter dated May 17, 2014. The Court granted the motion on June 12, 2014, and directed plaintiff to respond to the pending motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff submitted his opposition on June 25, 2014. Defendants replied on July 21, 2014. The matter is fully submitted.

II. Standard of Review

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(a), a court may grant a motion for summary judgment only if “the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a) ; Gonzalez v. City of Schenectady, 728 F.3d 149, 154 (2d Cir.2013). The moving party bears the burden of showing that he or she is entitled to summary judgment. Huminski v. Corsones, 396 F.3d 53, 69 (2d Cir.2005). “A party asserting that a fact cannot be or is genuinely disputed must support the assertion by: (A) citing to particular parts of materials in the record, including depositions, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations (including those made for purposes of the motion only), admissions, interrogatory answers, or other materials; or (B) showing that the materials cited do not establish the absence or presence of a genuine dispute, or that an adverse party cannot produce admissible evidence to support the fact.”Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(1). The court “is not to weigh the evidence but is instead required to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment, to draw all reasonable inferences in favor of that party, and to eschew credibility assessments.” Amnesty Am. v. Town of W. Hartford, 361 F.3d 113, 122 (2d Cir.2004) (quoting Weyant v. Okst, 101 F.3d 845, 854 (2d Cir.1996) ); see Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (summary judgment is unwarranted if “the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party”).

Once the moving party has met its burden, the opposing party “ ‘must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.... [T]he nonmoving party must come forward with specific...