Carthew v. County Of Suffolk

• Decision Date: 06 May 2010
• Docket Number: No. 07-CV-4209(JFB)(ETB).,07-CV-4209(JFB)(ETB).
• Citation: 709 F.Supp.2d 188
• Parties: Christopher R. CARTHEW, Plaintiff,v.COUNTY OF SUFFOLK, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

709 F.Supp.2d 188

Christopher R. CARTHEW, Plaintiff,v.COUNTY OF SUFFOLK, et al., Defendants.

No. 07-CV-4209(JFB)(ETB).

United States District Court E.D. New York.

May 6, 2010.

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Steven R. Haffner, Gordon & Haffner, LLP, Bayside, NY, for Plaintiff.

Christine Malafi, Suffolk County Department of Law, by Richard T. Dunne, Hauppauge, NY, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

JOSEPH F. BIANCO, District Judge:

Plaintiff Christopher Carthew brings this case against defendants Suffolk County, the Suffolk County Police Department, Commissioner Richard Dormer, Police Officer Nicholas Vezzi, and John and Jane Doe (“defendants”). The case stems from plaintiff's July 10, 2006 arrest by the Suffolk County Police for allegedly violating an order of protection. Plaintiff alleges the police lacked probable cause to arrest him and brings claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for false arrest, malicious prosecution, failure to train, and violation of his due process rights and under New York state law for false arrest, malicious prosecution, and negligent infliction of emotional injury.

This lawsuit focuses upon the arrest and prosecution of plaintiff for the events on July 10, 2006, when his wife claimed that he violated an order of protection against him by showing up at her job at a commercial building in Bohemia, New York. Plaintiff had also called the police and claimed that the building was his place of business, not that of his wife.

On July 27, 2009, defendants moved for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. For the reasons that follow, defendants' motion is granted on the § 1983 claims. The Court concludes that, based upon the undisputed facts, there was probable cause to arrest plaintiff as a matter of law. Specifically, even under plaintiff's version of the events, it is undisputed that, before arresting plaintiff, defendant Vezzi had learned (1) plaintiff was under court order to “stay away” from his wife; (2) plaintiff knew he was subject to this order; (3) plaintiff, when he arrived at the building, knew his wife was present in the building (and, in fact, called 911 and told the dispatcher that “she's in there”); and (4) despite his wife's presence in the building, plaintiff decided to enter the building prior to the arrival of the police. It is also uncontroverted that, when the police arrived, plaintiff told Officer Vezzi that, although he worked there, the business was in his wife's name. Those undisputed facts were sufficient to establish probable cause to arrest and prosecute for violation of the order of protection, even with the existence of a dispute at the scene over whether it was plaintiff's place of employment or that of his wife, or both.

In any event, even assuming arguendo that there was not probable cause to arrest and prosecute, Officer Vezzi is entitled to qualified immunity because, even under plaintiff's version of the information available to the police on that date and drawing all reasonable inferences in plaintiff's favor, officers of reasonable competence could disagree over whether there was probable cause to arrest. Although plaintiff would like to second guess the officer's decision to arrest, a reasonable police officer thrust into this potentially volatile situation even under the factual circumstances as described by plaintiff-regarding a dispute between a husband and wife as to whether an order of protection had been violated when the husband entered a building knowing that the wife was inside-could reasonably conclude that probable cause existed for the arrest and prosecution of plaintiff for violation of the order of protection. Given the circumstances, Officer Vezzi was not required to act as judge or jury to resolve this dispute regarding whether the building was the place of employment of the plaintiff and/or his wife before arresting plaintiff for violation of the order of protection. Moreover, because there is no underlying constitutional violation because of the existence of probable cause, the Monell claim against Suffolk County also cannot survive summary judgment.

Given that the federal claims do not survive summary judgment, the Court, in its discretion, declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims contained in the complaint.

I. Background

A. Factual Background

The following facts are taken from the parties' depositions, declarations, exhibits, and respective Local Rule 56.1 statements of facts.¹ Upon consideration of a motion for summary judgment, the Court construes the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. See Capobianco v. City of New York, 422 F.3d 47, 50 n. 1 (2d Cir.2005). Thus, with regard to defendants' motion for summary judgment, the Court shall construe the facts in favor of plaintiff.

On July 10, 2006, plaintiff called Suffolk County 911 while outside of a commercial building on Sycamore Avenue in Bohemia. He told the operator “my wife is in my office, she's locked all my doors, and I can't get into my office.” (Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 1; Defs.' Ex. A.) Three minutes later, Suffolk 911 received a call from Beth Carthew, plaintiff's wife, who was also at the building on Sycamore Avenue. She told the operator that “I have an Order of Protection against my husband and he just showed up to my job and he is pretty irate so I just walked out of the building.” (Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 2.)

Suffolk Police, including defendant Nicholas Vezzi, responded to the scene of the calls. ( Id. ¶¶ 3, 7.) Upon arriving, Officer Vezzi encountered Beth Carthew in the parking lot. Beth Carthew told Vezzi she had called 911, that she had an order of protection against her husband, and that her husband had come to her place of work. ( Id. ¶¶ 4-5; Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 5.) Furthermore, Beth Carthew provided Vezzi with a copy of the order of protection, which had been issued by Nassau County District Court on June 20, 2006, approximately three weeks earlier. (Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 6.) The order of protection required plaintiff to “stay away” from Beth Carthew “wherever she may be.” (Defs.' Ex. F.)

Officer Vezzi then entered the building and found plaintiff, who had gone inside at some point after calling 911.² Plaintiff told the officer that the building was his place of business and that his wife had an order of protection against him. (Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 9.) Plaintiff also said that he knew his wife was on the premises when he arrived and that the business was in his wife's name. ( Id. ¶ 10.) Officer Vezzi then returned to his patrol car to check on the validity of the order of protection and, according to plaintiff, to ask his supervisors whether plaintiff should be arrested. (Defs.' 56.1 ¶¶ 12-13; Pl's. 56.1 ¶ 12.) Beth Carthew also signed a Domestic Incident Report, a sworn statement regarding what she had alleged occurred. (Defs.' 56.1 ¶ 13.) After verifying the order of protection was valid, and obtaining the sworn statement from Beth Carthew, Officer Vezzi arrested plaintiff for violation of the Order of Protection. ( Id. ¶¶ 13, 15.) Plaintiff was charged with Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree based on the alleged violation of the protective order, although this charge was eventually dismissed. ( Id. ¶¶ 15, 17.)

B. Procedural History

On October 9, 2007, plaintiff brought this action, naming Suffolk County, the Suffolk County Police Department, Richard Dormer, John Doe, and Jane Doe as defendants. On July 8, 2009, upon defendants' consent, Police Officer Nicholas Vezzi was added to the caption of the case as a named defendant. ( See Docket 21.) Plaintiff alleges that, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, his arrest and prosecution violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. (Compl.¶¶ 26-32.) He also asserts claims under § 1983 that Suffolk County maintains an unconstitutional mandatory arrest policy and that the County has failed to adequately train its police officers to respond to situations involving orders of protection. ( See id. ¶¶ 33-42.) Finally, he brings state law claims for false arrest ( Id. ¶¶ 43-47), malicious prosecution ( Id. ¶¶ 48-50), and negligent infliction of emotional injury. ( Id. ¶¶ 51-54.)

Following discovery, defendants moved for summary judgment. The Court held oral argument on the motion on December 15, 2009. At oral argument, defendants requested that they be allowed to submit additional briefing on the issue of qualified immunity. The Court granted the request, and both parties made additional submissions dealing with qualified immunity. The matter is now fully submitted.

II. Standard of Review

The standards for summary judgment are well settled. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c), summary judgment is appropriate only if “the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Reiseck v. Universal Commc'ns of Miami, Inc., 591 F.3d 101, 104 (2d Cir.2010). The moving party bears the burden of showing that he or she is entitled to summary judgment. See Huminski v. Corsones, 396 F.3d 53, 69 (2d Cir.2005). 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); 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 facts showing that there is a genuine...