Champagne v. Gintick, Civ. No. 3:94CV-29 (JAC).
| Decision Date | 08 August 1994 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 3:94CV-29 (JAC). |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut |
| Parties | Samantha CHAMPAGNE v. Steven GINTICK; H.N.S. Management Company, Inc.; the City of Hartford; Jessie Blardo, in his individual and official capacities; Deborah Nolan; and James Thomas, State's Attorney for the Hartford/New Britain Judicial District, in his official capacity. |
Jon L. Schoenhorn, Hartford, CT, for plaintiff.
Evans Jacobs, Jr., Hartford, CT, for defendants City of Hartford and Jessie Blardo.
Hugh F. Murray, III, Hartford, CT, for defendant H.N.S. Management.
Rita Margaret Shair, Wallingford, CT, for defendant James E. Thomas.
Nicholas W. Francis, Elmwood, CT, for defendants Steven Gintick and Deborah Nolan.
Gregory T. D'Auria, Hartford, CT, for intervenor, State of Conn.
RULING ON PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION
The question presented is whether the plaintiff, Samantha Champagne, a resident of Connecticut, will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction preventing the Hartford Police from enforcing Connecticut's "stalking" law, Conn.Gen.Stat. § 53a-181d,1 against her.
This is an action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988 against a public bus management company, one of its bus drivers (Steven Gintick), a police officer (Jessie Blardo), the City of Hartford, and the State's Attorney for the Hartford/New Britain District (James Thomas). The plaintiff alleges that she was deprived of her First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights and those guaranteed by Article IV, Section 2, of the Constitution as a result of her arrest pursuant to Conn.Gen.Stat. § 53a-181d. The plaintiff has also asserted a series of supplemental state law claims. Pending before the court is the plaintiff's Motion For Preliminary Injunction (filed January 10, 1994).2
The plaintiff met defendant Gintick approximately six years ago. After becoming acquainted, the plaintiff began accompanying Gintick on his afternoon bus routes on a virtually daily basis. Tr. 45, 399.
Gintick invited the plaintiff to move into his home in January 1993, after his wife left him. While she lived with defendant Gintick, the plaintiff looked after Gintick's children and performed a variety of household chores. Their relationship was an intimate one. Tr. 42, 45, 46, 175, 176. The court finds Gintick's protestations otherwise to lack credibility. Tr. 473-474.
Gintick requested that plaintiff leave his home in July 1993 and called the police to remove her. At that time, Gintick had begun a romantic relationship with defendant Deborah Nolan. Gintick's new relationship upset the plaintiff, and she concedes that she "hated" him for forcing her to move out. Tr. 47, 163, 164, 185, 444-447.
Shortly after she was forced out, the plaintiff began appearing at Gintick's stops on his bus routes at several locations several times a day. On some occasions she made threatening gestures toward Gintick. Tr. 445-447, 395-397, 401, 449-450.
The plaintiff's repeated appearances disturbed Gintick and led him on at least one occasion in mid-August to leave his bus and confront the plaintiff. On this occasion Gintick grabbed her wrist and told her to stay out of the downtown Hartford area. Tr. 48-51. Gintick told the plaintiff that he would have her arrested if she boarded his bus. Tr. 51.
The plaintiff testified that the reasons she is in downtown Hartford so often are to visit friends and to help out at a shoe store. Tr. 43-45. The court finds this testimony unpersuasive as an explanation for her repeated appearances at Gintick's bus stops, including ones outside the downtown Hartford area. Tr. 397-399, 400-401, 449-450.
The plaintiff contacted the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union because she feared she would be arrested if she boarded any Connecticut Transit Bus. The plaintiff subsequently boarded Gintick's bus and sat close behind him. Tr. 51-54. Gintick credibly testified that this action, together with the plaintiff's repeated appearances at his bus stops and her threatening gestures, made him fear for his safety. Tr. 400-405, 449-450.
In September 1993, Gintick changed his route in order to avoid the plaintiff. But prior to beginning the new route, the plaintiff approached Gintick in front of the Civic Center and informed him that she knew his new route and intended to "see him there." Tr. 415-416.
Gintick discussed plaintiff's pattern of appearances at his bus stops with Connecticut Transit officials and counsel, who advised him to file a complaint against the plaintiff with the Hartford Police Department. Tr. 500, 506-507.
Gintick filed a complaint with the Hartford Police on September 19 or 20, 1993, reporting the pattern of appearances since July and predicting to defendant Officer Blardo that the plaintiff would be at his bus stop at 2:55 p.m. on September 20, 1993. Nolan alleged that the plaintiff had been harassing and stalking her as well. Tr. 329, 341-342, 381, 417-419.
Blardo decided to be at Gintick's bus stop in downtown Hartford at 2:55 p.m. to determine whether the plaintiff was in fact stalking Gintick as he alleged. Blardo chose not to apply for an arrest warrant after hearing Gintick's complaint because previous applications in other stalking cases had been denied, and he believed it would be necessary to establish probable cause himself. Tr. 330-331, 345, 351. The plaintiff was, in fact, at Gintick's bus stop at 2:55 p.m. Tr. 331-333. Blardo identified himself as a Hartford Police Officer, informed the plaintiff of Gintick's complaint, and warned her to stop stalking Gintick. Tr. 332-334. At this time, Nolan emerged from a downtown office building to see what was happening. Upon seeing Nolan, the plaintiff became unruly and shouted obscenities at Blardo and Nolan. Blardo decided to arrest the plaintiff because he believed that she posed a threat to Nolan and Gintick, as well as to the general public. Tr. 335-337.
Charges against the plaintiff under Conn. Gen.Stat. § 53a-181d () were dismissed by the State on October 27, 1993. Tr. 101; Pl.Ex. 9.
Connecticut Transit officials held a meeting following allegations by the plaintiff that Gintick was leaving his bus and harassing her. It was decided that Alcides Ortiz, a Connecticut Transit official, would "monitor" Gintick. Tr. 277-278. During the course of his investigation, Ortiz never observed Gintick exit his bus or threaten the plaintiff. Ortiz witnessed the plaintiff at Gintick's bus stops several times per day, making gestures toward Gintick some five to ten times. Ortiz concluded that the plaintiff's allegations were false. Tr. 245, 247, 248, 270, 271-273, 281-86. Ortiz's testimony was generally persuasive.
Subsequent to her arrest, the plaintiff began to keep a written record of her daily activities in downtown Hartford in order to justify her presence there at various times during the day. Tr. 102-103; Affidavit of Plaintiff (executed January 6, 1994), ¶ 24.
The plaintiff continued to follow and take pictures of Gintick after her arrest, prompting Gintick on or about October 1, 1993, to obtain an ex parte restraining order from the Connecticut Superior Court prohibiting the plaintiff from threatening, assaulting, or attacking Gintick or Nolan. Tr. 404-406, 479, Pl.Ex. 7.
Gintick dropped his civil action about three weeks later, finding himself unable to help enforce the restraining order because of the need to drive his route in a timely manner. Tr. 100-101, 450-451.
On January 12, 1994, confronted again by the appearance of the plaintiff, Gintick exited his bus and allegedly threatened to "get" her. The plaintiff telephoned the Hartford Police for assistance and informed Officer Serge Khuzkhian that Gintick had threatened to kill her. Tr. 23, 110-113.
Officer Khuzkhian decided to speak with Gintick and told him to stay away from the plaintiff. Gintick told the officer that it was the plaintiff who was harassing him. The officer was unable to substantiate the plaintiff's claim. Tr. 26, 27, 30, 35, 39, 40.
The plaintiff testified that Gintick left his bus and threatened her life on several occasions. Tr. 116-118. The court finds this testimony unpersuasive.
The plaintiff continued to appear at Gintick's bus stops throughout the hearings before the court on the plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction. Tr. 452-454.
The plaintiff argues that a preliminary injunction barring the enforcement of Conn.Gen.Stat. § 53a-181d against her is necessary to prevent the loss of her constitutional rights to associate with others and to travel. It is well established that a court in this Circuit may grant a preliminary injunction only where the movant demonstrates irreparable injury and either (1) a likelihood of success on the merits or (2) sufficiently serious questions going to the merits to make them a fair ground for litigation together with the balance of hardships tipping decidedly in the movant's favor. Bridgeport Coalition v. City of Bridgeport, 28 F.3d 102 (2d Cir.1994). Under this standard, if the movant is unable to demonstrate irreparable injury, an injunction cannot issue.
In determining the existence of irreparable harm, our Court of Appeals has developed important principles. The threatened harm must be "actual and imminent" and "not remote or speculative." New York v. Nuclear Regulatory Comm'n, 550 F.2d 745, 755 (2d Cir.1977). It is especially important to adhere to these strict rules under the circumstances presented here. The plaintiff asks the court to prevent a local police department from enforcing a state penal statute that is designed to protect Connecticut citizens from acts that may be the prelude to physical violence.3 According to the Supreme Court, in this circumstance we should be reluctant to grant the plaintiff's request:
Recognition of the need for a proper balance between state and...
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