Belton v. Wydra

• Decision Date: 17 May 2019
• Docket Number: CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:17cv2006(KAD)
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
• Parties: DARYL BELTON, Plaintiff, v. LIEUTENANT TIMOTHY WYDRA, ET AL., Defendants.

DARYL BELTON, Plaintiff, v. LIEUTENANT TIMOTHY WYDRA, ET AL., Defendants.

CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:17cv2006(KAD)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT

May 17, 2019

INITIAL REVIEW ORDER

Preliminary Statement

The plaintiff Daryl Belton ("Belton"), currently incarcerated at Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Institution, filed a complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in which he brings claims arising out of the October 14, 2016 search of his residence, seizure of items of property from his residence and his arrest and prosecution by members of the Hamden Police Department, a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), officers in the West Haven Police Department and an Officer in the New Haven Police Department. Because Belton has named a special agent of the FBI as a defendant, the court liberally construes the complaint as also having been filed pursuant to Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971). For the reasons set forth below, the complaint is dismissed in part.

Included in the caption on page one of the complaint are the following defendants: Lieutenant Timothy Wydra ("Wydra"), Sergeant John Sullivan ("Sullivan"), DC Bo Kicak ("Kicak"), Detective Jomo Crawford ("Crawford"), Sergeant Eric Goclowski ("Goclowski"), Detective Raymond Quinn ("Quinn"), Officer Kevin Hall ("Hall"), Task Force Officer Mastropetre (Mastropetre"), Officer Eric Hallstrom ("Hallstrom"), Officer Michael Mellon ("Mellon"), Officer Mark Sheppard, ("Sheppard") Lieutenant Gabriel Lupo ("Lupo"), Officer Matthew Baruto ("Baruto"), Officer Robert Mansfield ("Mansfield"), Officer Enrique Rivera-Rodriguez ("Rivera-Rodriguez"), Task Force Officer Mark Vere ("Vere"), the Hamden Police Department, FBI Safe Streets Task Force Member and Hamden Police Officer Dennis Ryan ("Ryan") and FBI Special Agent Anthony Duback ("Duback"). In his description of defendants on pages five and six of the complaint, Belton also lists Task Force Officer Mark DiaMico ("DiaMico"), the FBI, Hamden Police Department's Special Weapons and Tactics ("SWAT") Unit, Hamden Police Department's Emergency Services Unit and Hamden Police Department's Street Interdiction Unit. Although these four defendants are not listed in the caption of the complaint as required by Rule 10(a), Fed. R. Civ. P., the court will consider the allegations against them.

Standard of Review

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b), the court must review prisoner civil complaints against governmental actors and "dismiss ... any portion of [a] complaint [that] is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted," or that "seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief." Id. Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires that a complaint contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2).

Although detailed allegations are not required, "a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face. A claim has facial plausibility when a plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). A complaint thatincludes only "'labels and conclusions,' 'a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action' or 'naked assertion[s]' devoid of 'further factual enhancement,'" does not meet the facial plausibility standard. Id. (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 557 (2007)). Although courts still have an obligation to interpret "a pro se complaint liberally," the complaint must include sufficient factual allegations to meet the standard of facial plausibility. See Harris v. Mills, 572 F.3d 66, 72 (2d Cir. 2009) (citations omitted).

Allegations

The following allegations are set forth in the complaint and its exhibits. See Compl., ECF No. 1, Exs. A-B & 2-3, ECF Nos. 1-1 to 1-4. On October 13, 2016, Duback and Ryan submitted an affidavit in support of an application for a warrant to search and seize firearms, ammunition, firearm related evidence, a piece of mail to show proof of residence and narcotics located at 28 Dix Street, first floor, in Hamden, Connecticut, to a judge in the Connecticut Superior Court for the Judicial District of New Haven. See Ex. 3 at 2-9, ECF No. 1-4. Superior Court Judge Anthony Avallone signed the search warrant later that day. See id. at 8.

On October 14, 2016, at approximately 5:50 a.m., Wydra knocked down the door to Belton's residence, located at 28 Dix Street in Hamden, Connecticut, with a battering ram. See Compl. at 9 ¶¶ 1, 3; at 15 ¶ 2. Wydra and other defendants then entered Belton's residence dressed in tactical gear and with shields and guns drawn. See id. at 9 ¶ 4. Once inside the residence, the defendants screamed and threatened Belton, searched and seized items of his property and arrested Belton. See id. ¶¶ 2, 4. Quinn entered Belton's home with his gun and a shield "ready for war, screaming & threatening" Belton. See id. at 18.

During the search of the residence, Lupo, Vere and DiaMico observed Belton break a porch window and throw a firearm out the window. See Ex. 2 at 3, ECF No. 1-3. The gunlanded on the ground approximately twelve feet from the window. See id. The gun was loaded with six rounds of ammunition. See id. at 4. Mansfield found fourteen rounds of ammunition in a closet of one of the bedrooms of the residence. See id. at 4-5. Duback found several bundles of heroin on the ground outside of the residence directly below the broken window. See id. at 4.

Sheppard took Belton down to the ground at gun point. See Compl. at 10 ¶ 5. Rivera-Rodriguez restrained Belton by handcuffing him and transported him to the Hamden Police Department. See id. ¶ 9; Ex. 2 at 5, ECF No. 1-3. Vere seized evidence during the search of Belton's residence and photographed Belton, his girlfriend and his residence. See Compl. at 18. Vere later made those photographs available to the press and made them part of police files. See id.

After Belton arrived at the police station, an officer processed him. See Ex. 2 at 5, ECF No. 1-3. Belton was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a firearm, one count of possession of narcotics with intent to sell, one count of illegal manufacture, distribution, sale, prescription or administration by a non-drug-dependent person, and one count of interfering with a search warrant. See id. at 2. Lupo set Belton's bond at $100,000.00. See id. at 5. Three days later, at Belton's arraignment, a judge increased the amount of the bond to $200,000.00. See Compl. at 11 (¶ 12).

On August 3, 2017, in State v. Belton, Case No. CR16-0289351, Judge Alander granted Belton's motion to suppress the evidence seized during the search of Belton's residence. See id. at 11 ¶¶ 14-15; Ex. B at 2-9, ECF No. 1-2. Belton alleges that Judge Alander subsequently dismissed all charges against him with prejudice. See id. at 11 ¶ 14. State of Connecticut Department of Correction records reflect Belton is currently serving a sentence of four years and six months, imposed by a judge on September 6, 2017, pursuant to a plea of guilty to violating aprotective order on March 23, 2016.¹

Belton sues defendant Hamden Police Department in its official capacity and the other defendants in their individual and official capacities. See id. at 2-6. For relief, he seeks compensatory and punitive damages.² See id. at 10.

Discussion

Belton asserts that the defendants violated his rights under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, his rights under Article First, §§ 7, 8 and 9 of the Connecticut Constitution and his rights under Connecticut General Statutes §§ 54-33a and 54-33f. He also contends that defendants violated his rights to be free from false arrest, false imprisonment, unlawful restraint, malicious prosecution, wrongful incarceration, unjustified criminal prosecution, excessive force, excessive bond, unlawful entry, illegal search, illegal seizure and police misconduct, deprived him of due process, tampered with and fabricated evidence, prepared a "false affidavit of probable cause" and engaged in conduct that constitutedlibel, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. See Compl. at 12.³

Hamden Police Department and Units

Belton names the Hamden Police Department as well as its SWAT Unit, its Emergency Services Unit and its Street Interdiction Unit as defendants. A municipal police department is not an independent legal entity and is not subject to suit under section 1983. See Rose v. City of Waterbury, Civil Action No. 3:12cv291(VLB), 2013 WL 1187049, at *9 (D. Conn. Mar. 21, 2013) (noting that courts within Connecticut have determined that state statutes do not include "provision[s] establishing municipal departments, including police departments, as legal entities separate and apart from the municipality they serve, or providing that they have the capacity to sue or be sued . . . it is the municipality itself which possesses the capacity to sue and be sued") (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Furthermore, a police department is not a person amenable to suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See Nicholson v. Lenczewski, 356 F. Supp. 2d 157, 164 (D. Conn. 2005) (collecting cases). Thus, any claims against the Hamden Police Department, the Hamden Police SWAT Unit, Hamden Police Emergency Service Unit and Hamden Police Street Interdiction Unit are dismissed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1).

Official Capacity Claims - Municipal Defendants

Belton sues the municipal defendants in their individual and official capacities for monetary damages for violations of his federal Constitutional rights. In Monell v. Dep't of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 691 (1978), the...