Brewster v. Nassau County, 03-CV-3110 (DRH)(ETB).
| Decision Date | 13 December 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-CV-3110 (DRH)(ETB).,03-CV-3110 (DRH)(ETB). |
| Citation | 349 F.Supp.2d 540 |
| Parties | Hewlett BREWSTER, Plaintiff, v. NASSAU COUNTY, Nassau County Police Department, 2nd Precinct; Nassau County Correctional Facility; Nassau County Legal Aid Society; Nassau County Sheriff's Department; and Nassau County District Attorney Office, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
Hewlett Brewster, New Hampton, NY, Plaintiff Pro se.
Lorna B. Goodman, Nassau County Attorney by Michael J. Langer, Esq., and Bethany Bresnaider O'Neill, Mineola, NY, for Nassau County Defendants.
Garbarini & Scher, P.C. by Gregg D. Weinstock, Esq., New York City, for Defendant Legal Aid Society.
Title 42 U.S.C. § 1983 provides in relevant part: "Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State ... subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States ... 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 ..."
Plaintiff Hewlett Brewster has brought a claim under Section 1983 against a variety of Nassau County entities and employees (collectively, "the Nassau County Defendants") and the Nassau County Legal Aid Society ("Legal Aid"). Both have moved to dismiss Brewster's complaint. For the reasons discussed herein, their motions are GRANTED, and Plaintiff's complaint is DISMISSED in its entirety as to all Defendants.
According to Brewster's original and amended complaints and the exhibits attached to them, he was arrested by Nassau County police on February 7, 2003 for third-degree burglary. Brewster is alleged to have entered and removed property from a business by breaking a glass window, in the course of which, he cut himself and left traces of blood at the premises. Brewster was later arrested in Suffolk County for possessing stolen property, at which point a Nassau County detective interviewed Plaintiff and managed to obtain a sample of his blood, allegedly without his consent. The felony complaint against Brewster states that "DNA material from the burglary crime scene was found to be consistent with the DNA from the [Defendant]."
According to Brewster, he unknowingly purchased the stolen property, and did not consent to have a blood sample taken. Brewster further claims that the police mistook a red shirt he was wearing at the time of his interrogation as a sign of gang membership, which contributed to the police decision to arrest him, and "put his life in danger" by "put[ting] me in dispute" with other gang members. Following Brewster's arrest, Nassau County Corrections officers allegedly sexually harassed him, and "spread false accusations of stealing, homosexuality, and rape to intrap [sic] Claimant into giving a confession under duress." These misdeeds, alleges Brewster, "almost got Claimant raped, beaten, and killed," and have caused him "sleep and eating disorders, depression and nightmares."
Attorneys from the Nassau County Legal Aid Society were apparently designated as Brewster's defense counsel. According to Brewster, Legal Aid sent three successive attorneys to meet with him, all of whom failed to request a reduction in bail, conduct a felony exam or a hearing, or otherwise dispose of the criminal charges. Brewster states that Legal Aid "knowingly disposed my rights to a felony exam, in hope that my unwanted incarceration would be forgotten and my existence lost in the system." He also alleges that the Legal Aid attorneys collaborated or conspired with the Nassau County District Attorney's Office. In sum, says Brewster, he "ha[s] not been criminally indicted and [has] been incarcerated for almost 6 months without an effective attorney," resulting in a "waiver of his constitutional rights to a fair and impartial hearing and possible trial."
Brewster brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Nassau County Police Second Precinct, the Nassau County Correctional Facility, the Nassau County Sheriff's Department, the Nassau County District Attorney, and Legal Aid, for "violation of constitutional and civil rights laws." He specifically claims "municipal liability + deliberate indifference," "respondeat superior liability + deliberate indifference," "malicious prosecution and abuse of process," conspiracy, and "sexual abuse + intrapment." Brewster seeks many millions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages.1
In considering a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), a district court must limit itself to the facts stated in the complaint, documents attached to the complaint as exhibits, and documents incorporated by reference in the complaint. Hayden v. County of Nassau, 180 F.3d 42, 54 (2d Cir.1999). The court must accept the factual allegations contained in the complaint as true, and view the pleadings in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, drawing all reasonable inferences in his favor. Sheppard v. Beerman, 18 F.3d 147, 150 (2d Cir.1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 816, 115 S.Ct. 73, 130 L.Ed.2d 28 (1994). Dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) is appropriate only if it appears beyond doubt that a plaintiff can prove no set of facts entitling him to relief in support of his claim. Zerilli-Edelglass v. New York City Transit Auth., 333 F.3d 74, 79 (2d Cir.2003).
Additionally, this court must construe pro se complaints like Brewster's liberally, applying a more flexible standard to evaluate their sufficiency than the standard used to review complaints submitted by attorneys. Lerman v. Bd. of Elections in City of New York, 232 F.3d 135, 140 (2d Cir.2000). In order to justify the dismissal of a plaintiff's pro se complaint, it must be beyond doubt that he can prove no set of facts in support of his claim that would entitle him to relief. Id. And the above standards apply with particular strictness where, as here, the plaintiff files a pro se complaint alleging civil rights violations. Deravin v. Kerik, 335 F.3d 195, 200 (2d Cir.2003).
Nevertheless, a litigant's exercise of his right to self-representation does not exempt him from complying with the relevant rules of procedural and substantive law. Traguth v. Zuck, 710 F.2d 90, 95 (2d Cir.1983). Although a court must accept the facts alleged in the non-movant's complaint, "conclusory allegations of the legal status of the defendants' acts need not be accepted as true for the purposes of ruling on a motion to dismiss." In re Am. Exp. Co. Shareholder Litig., 39 F.3d 395, 400 n. 3 (2d Cir.1994). "[C]ourts do `not accept conclusory allegations on the legal effect of the events plaintiff has set out if these allegations do not reasonably follow from his description of what happened.'" First Nationwide Bank v. Gelt Funding Corp., 27 F.3d 763, 772 (2d Cir.1994) (quoting Kadar Corp. v. Milbury, 549 F.2d 230, 233 (1st Cir.1977)). And this rule applies even to a prisoner appearing pro se and presenting civil rights claims. See Nelson v. Michalko, 35 F.Supp.2d 289, 292-93 (W.D.N.Y.1999).
The only intelligible federal claim that Brewster alleges against Legal Aid is that it conspired with the Nassau County District Attorney, and perhaps other Nassau County Defendants, to violate Brewster's constitutional right to effective representation and a fair and speedy trial. Legal Aid argues that Brewster has no cognizable cause of action against it under Section 1983, because Brewster "has not alleged that his criminal conviction or sentence was reversed," or alternatively, because Legal Aid is not a state actor or acting under color of state law, and Brewster does not sufficiently allege that Legal Aid conspired with the state defendants.
Private actors generally cannot be liable under section 1983 unless their allegedly right-infringing conduct is fairly attributable to the State. See Omnipoint Communications Inc. v. Comi, 233 F.Supp.2d 388, 394 (N.D.N.Y.2002) (quoting Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922, 937, 102 S.Ct. 2744, 73 L.Ed.2d 482 (1982)). Even "[e]xtensive regulation and public funding, either alone or taken together, will not transform a private actor into a state actor; instead, the state must have exerted its coercive power over, or provided significant encouragement to, the defendant before the latter will be deemed a state actor." Leeds v. Meltz, 85 F.3d 51, 54 (2d Cir.1996).
In this spirit, the Supreme Court has held that an appointed counsel in a state criminal prosecution, though paid and indirectly supervised by the State, does not act "under color of state law" in the normal course of conducting a defense. Tower v. Glover, 467 U.S. 914, 920, 104 S.Ct. 2820, 81 L.Ed.2d 758 (1984). And the Second Circuit has stated that the Legal Aid Society in particular cannot be said to act under color of state law by virtue of the financial and other benefits that it receives from various governmental agencies, because there is insufficient governmental control, regulation, or interference in the manner in which the Society conducts its affairs. Lefcourt v. Legal Aid Soc., 445 F.2d 1150, 1155 (2d Cir.1971).
However, as Legal Aid's briefing implicitly acknowledges, an otherwise private person or entity, including an appointed defense counsel, can act "under color of state law" if he or it engages in a conspiracy with state officials to deprive a person of his federal rights. Tower v. Glover, 467 U.S. at 920, 104 S.Ct. 2820. Brewster does allege that Legal Aid conspired with the Nassau County defendants to harm him and his...
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