Cook v. Sheldon
Decision Date | 02 December 1994 |
Docket Number | No. 302,D,302 |
Citation | 41 F.3d 73 |
Parties | Mark COOK, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Roberta SHELDON and Nelson Saldana, New York State Troopers, Defendants-Appellants. ocket 94-7282. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Frederic L. Lieberman, Asst. Atty. Gen., New York City (G. Oliver Koppell, Atty. Gen. of the State of N.Y., Marcie S. Mintz, Asst. Atty. Gen., of counsel), for defendants-appellants.
James I. Meyerson, New York City, for plaintiff-appellee.
Before: VAN GRAAFEILAND, MINER and McLAUGHLIN, Circuit Judges.
Mark Cook brought a civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 against two New York State Troopers in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Louis L. Stanton, Judge ). The claims are based on false arrest, malicious prosecution, and malicious abuse of process. Cook alleges that the Troopers first arrested him and then charged him with a felony, both without probable cause. They did this, Cook maintains, because he had the temerity to advise his friend, who was being interrogated, to remain silent and to get a lawyer. The district court denied the Troopers' motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds, holding that the Troopers' motive to arrest and prosecute Cook was an issue of fact.
The Troopers appeal, contending that they were entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law because they had probable cause to arrest Cook for knowing possession of a car whose vehicle identification number ("VIN") had been removed. Accordingly, they argue, any issues about their motive to arrest Cook were irrelevant.
We conclude that the Troopers have not yet earned qualified immunity as a matter of law because, under the facts alleged by Cook, the Troopers may be held to have violated Cook's clearly established rights. We, therefore, affirm the denial of summary judgment.
Many of the facts are undisputed.
Mark Cook is a paralegal for a small New York City law firm. One Sunday evening in the autumn of 1992, Cook and some friends were driving back to Manhattan after spending the day at a game farm in the Catskill Mountains. Cook's friend, Frank Serrano, was driving a 1985 Dodge Aries, which Serrano had recently purchased at an auction. Also in the car were Serrano's wife and mother-in-law, as well as his infant son. Cook is an American citizen; Serrano and his family are citizens of Nicaragua. (Serrano and his family were originally co-plaintiffs in this action, but withdrew their complaint when they returned to Nicaragua.)
Serrano got off the New York State Thruway around Saugerties and stopped at a gas station. Upon resuming the journey, Serrano missed the southbound entrance to the Thruway. He pulled over to the road's shoulder and prepared to make a U-turn.
Defendant Roberta Sheldon, a New York State Trooper, noticed the Dodge swerve before pulling over. Her suspicions aroused, she parked her patrol car behind the Dodge and walked up to the driver's side of the car. She asked Serrano if he needed assistance. Serrano, who speaks limited English, told her he was trying to get back on the Thruway. Trooper Sheldon asked to see his driver's license and vehicle registration. Serrano could find neither. During this exchange, Cook served as translator when necessary.
Trooper Sheldon noticed that the Dodge bore California license plates. An on-site computer check revealed that the plates were registered to a Buick and had expired. She opened the two front doors of Serrano's car to find a VIN, which is usually etched on a plate affixed to the dashboard or to one of the front doors. She could not find one.
Trooper Sheldon asked Serrano about the Dodge. The parties dispute what happened next. According to Cook, Serrano replied that he owned it, and that he had bought it at an auction. According to Sheldon, Cook responded that Serrano borrowed the car from a friend in New York City.
Trooper Sheldon then explained that she would have to take all of them to the police station because the car did not have valid license plates or a VIN. Cook asked her to just let them go, but she refused, saying that the vehicle could be stolen, and, in any event, at least one felony (possession of a vehicle with no VIN) had been committed. So, with the assistance of two more patrol cars, Trooper Sheldon transported Cook and the Serrano family (three adults and a baby) to the Saugerties Police Station. Serrano's Dodge was towed to an impoundment lot.
At the police station, Trooper Sheldon met fellow Trooper Nelson Saldana, who spoke fluent Spanish. She briefed Trooper Saldana about the situation, and asked him to find out who owned the Dodge. Trooper Sheldon then arranged to have George Hass, a Department of Motor Vehicles inspector, comb the Dodge for a VIN.
While Sheldon was on the phone, Trooper Saldana took Serrano's wife into an interrogation room and asked her who owned the Dodge. Her response is the subject of disagreement: the Troopers claim that she said she was unsure whether her husband had borrowed the car or was going to purchase it; Cook maintains that she told Trooper Saldana that her husband had bought the car at an auction.
Trooper Saldana then brought Serrano into a room for questioning. Here again, the parties' versions differ. According to the Troopers, Serrano said he borrowed the car. According to Cook, he overheard Serrano reiterate to Trooper Saldana that he had bought the car at an auction.
During Serrano's questioning, Cook sat in the hallway right outside the interrogation room. When a police officer told Cook that they would all be arrested, Cook then called out to Serrano in Spanish, (Trooper Sheldon overheard Cook.) Trooper Saldana then brought Serrano out of the room, and took Cook himself inside.
Again, there is a controversy as to what happened next. According to the Troopers, Trooper Saldana asked Cook whether he knew who owned the Dodge. Cook said no, and demanded an attorney. Trooper Saldana then asked Cook why he was being uncooperative, to which Cook replied that he felt he had a right to an attorney.
By Cook's account, Trooper Saldana was not nearly so gracious. According to Cook, Trooper Saldana sneered, Cook tried to calm Trooper Saldana by saying that he was not trying to cause trouble, but wanted to advise Serrano about his rights because Serrano was unfamiliar with American law. Trooper Saldana then told him that everyone would be arraigned because of Cook's conduct, and that Cook would not be able to make bail.
After this unpleasantry, Trooper Saldana told Trooper Sheldon that Cook and the Serranos did not want to cooperate. The two Troopers made the crucial decision to put Cook and the three other adults under "formal arrest" for knowingly possessing a vehicle that had no VIN, a felony under New York law. The Troopers drove the occupants 15 miles to State Police barracks in the town of Hurley for processing.
Meanwhile, George Hass, the inspector from the Department of Motor Vehicles, had finally found some faded handwriting on the Dodge's windshield. Hass reconstructed the Dodge's VIN from this handwriting, traced the number, and learned that the Dodge was not stolen.
At the Hurley barracks, Cook, Serrano, Serrano's wife and Serrano's mother-in-law were placed in separate cells, advised of their rights, fingerprinted and photographed. At some point, according to Cook, Inspector Hass told Cook that he was now aware that the car was not stolen, and that "there would be no problem" if Cook had not opened his mouth about lawyers. Hass apparently never told Troopers Sheldon or Saldana that the car was not stolen.
Both Troopers Sheldon and Saldana assisted in processing Cook and the other three adults. According to Cook, Trooper Saldana showed him Serrano's signed acknowledgment that he had read and understood his rights, and said to Cook,
Troopers Sheldon and Saldana then took Cook and the Serrano family to the Hurley Town Court. The town justice arraigned the four adults on felony charges of knowing possession of a car with no VIN. He set bail for Cook and Frank Serrano at $5,000 each, and released Serrano's wife and mother-in-law on their own recognizance. Cook and Serrano remained in custody for nearly two days, at which time they made bail. Thereafter, the felony VIN charges were dropped against everyone, and Serrano was charged only with traffic misdemeanors.
Cook sued Troopers Sheldon and Saldana in the Southern District of New York under section 1983, alleging false arrest, malicious prosecution, and malicious abuse of process. He claimed that the Troopers arrested him without probable cause because they were outraged that he should counsel Serrano to keep silent and request a lawyer.
Troopers Sheldon and Saldana moved for summary judgment on the ground of qualified immunity. They argued that it was reasonable to arrest Cook based on the limited facts available to them at the time: (1) they did not know who owned the vehicle; (2) the car did not have a VIN; (3) Serrano did not have a driver's license or car registration; and (4) the occupants gave conflicting responses about who owned the car.
In a three-paragraph order, the district court denied the Troopers' motion, finding that material issues of fact existed regarding the reason for Cook's arrest. The court stated that "[i]f plaintiff was arrested in retaliation for the exercise of his First Amendment rights, the defense of qualified immunity is unavailable."
The Troopers now appeal.
Cook pleads three causes of action under section 1983: (1) false arrest; (2) malicious prosecutio...
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