Donovan v. Briggs

Citation250 F.Supp.2d 242
Decision Date26 February 2003
Docket NumberNo. 01-CV-6207L.,01-CV-6207L.
PartiesSamuel R. DONOVAN, Plaintiff, v. Cara M. BRIGGS, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Western District of New York

Jeffrey Wicks, Jeffrey Wicks, PLLC, Rochester, NY, for Plaintiff.

Charles S. Turner, Monroe County Attorney's Office, Timothy M. Lexvold, Rochester, NY, for Defendants.

DECISION AND ORDER

LARIMER, District Judge.

This case involves an action by a father who was arrested and charged with the rape of his teenage daughter based on what turned out to be a fabricated complaint by the daughter. Plaintiff sued the sheriffs deputy who arrested him and the Assistant District Attorney who authorized the arrest. Based on the clear vision afforded by hindsight, some might suggest that a different approach might have avoided charging plaintiff with this most serious crime. This Court, however, must not view this case from hindsight but from the vantage point of the defendants as the facts were known to them at the time. Using this as the standard, I believe that defendants are entitled to judgment in their favor and, therefore, plaintiffs complaint must be dismissed.

Plaintiff, Samuel R. Donovan, commenced this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on April 26, 2001, asserting various claims arising out of his arrest in July 2000 and subsequent prosecution for rape, incest and endangering the welfare of a child. All of the charges against plaintiff were dismissed in April 2001.

Defendants are Cara M. Briggs ("Briggs") and Steven M. Peglow ("Peglow"), who at all relevant times were a Monroe County Assistant District Attorney and a Monroe County Sheriffs Deputy, respectively. Plaintiff asserts claims against Briggs for false arrest and false imprisonment, and against Peglow for false arrest, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution. Both sides have moved for summary judgment under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On July 11, 2000, defendant Peglow was working in the Impact Unit of the Monroe County Sheriffs Department. The Impact Unit handled cases with victims under age sixteen. Transcript, Deposition of Steven Peglow ("PDT"), Plaintiffs Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket # 29), Ex. G, at 7. On that date, Peglow was informed that a case had come in concerning plaintiffs then-sixteen-year-old daughter Monica Donovan ("Monica"), who had reported being raped by her father on the night of July 9 at plaintiffs home, where Monica had been living.

Shortly after being apprised of the nature of Monica's allegations, Peglow contacted Monica's mother, Veronique Cheney, who was plaintiffs ex-wife. From Cheney, Peglow learned that Monica had come to Cheney's home on July 10, and that she had not returned to plaintiffs home where she had been living. Peglow made an appointment to meet with Monica later that day at the Impact Unit offices.

Peglow did meet with Monica on July 11. She told him that "somewhere around ... midnight [on the night of July 9] that her father had come into her room and had forced himself on her sexually, penetrated her, and then had left." PDT at 30. In response to Peglow's questions, Monica told him that she had told her father "no," but that he had used one of his hands to hold her hands down above her head as she was lying on the bed, and that he put his other hand over her mouth so that she could not cry out. PDT at 31. She stated that her father had penetrated her, but she did not believe that he had ejaculated. PDT at 34-35.

Monica told Peglow that when he was finished, her father left the room. She then got dressed and left the house, leaving a note with the word "rapist" on her pillow. She told Peglow that she had slept in a park that night, and that the next day, she called the New York State Child Abuse Hotline from a pay phone to report that she had been raped. She said that she then went to her mother's house.

During their conversation, Peglow asked Monica if she used drugs. Peglow testified at his deposition that Monica stated that she had used drugs previously, but that she had not used any "for so many weeks or a month or something." PDT at 27. Although Monica testified at her deposition that she had "probably" used marijuana on July 9 or 10, see Transcript, Deposition of Monica Donovan ("MDT"), Plaintiffs Cross-Motion, Ex. K, at 16, Peglow stated that there was nothing about Monica's appearance or behavior that led him to believe that she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. PDT at 28.

At some point during his investigation of this matter, Peglow received and looked over medical documents from Rochester General Hospital, where Monica had gone to be examined on July 10. Peglow contacted Tammy Germonto, a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner who had seen Monica, and who had signed the examination report. That report, under the heading "Objective Data," contained the following notations: "1 cm tear noted at Fossa navicularis 1

5 o'clock & 6 o'clock; cervix red; labia majora minora red; dried secretions noted." Plaintiffs Cross-Motion, Ex. H. A diagram of a female genital area indicated a tear near the vagina, and stated, "Redened [sic]" and "Bleed" at the vaginal opening. Id. The report also stated that Monica said that she had not had consensual sexual intercourse within the preceding seventy-two hours.

Peglow stated at his deposition that he "asked [Germonto] about the medical documents that [he] had; and basically what [he] was looking for from her was a time frame, if this could have been a longerstanding injury. And she gave [Peglow] the time frame in the report, which at that time fell with when Monica was alleging this incident to have occurred." PDT at 45.

During his conversation with Monica, Peglow had learned that she was scheduled to appear in Family Court the next day in connection with a petit larceny or similar charge that was pending against her as a result of an alleged shoplifting. He also learned that Monica's father often had attended her court appearances in the past.

Peglow went to Family Court on July 12. He saw Monica (without her father) prior to the proceeding and told her that he intended to talk with her father. At some point plaintiff appeared, with his attorney.2 Peglow asked if he could speak with plaintiff, and Peglow, plaintiff, and plaintiffs attorney went to a small conference room.

Peglow and plaintiff talked about Monica and the events of the previous few days. Although neither plaintiff nor Peglow was able at his deposition to recall their conversation in much detail, plaintiff testified that he told Peglow about "Monica's legal problems and drug problems," DDT at 56. Plaintiff also showed Peglow the "rapist" note that Monica had left on her bed, as well as a so-called "to-do list" that he had found in his home on July 6. This was a handwritten note, in what plaintiff recognized as Monica's handwriting, that stated:

Destroy "M" Files

cause dad's computer to crash

Frame dad for Abuse (sexual or physical?)3

Plaintiffs Cross-Motion, Ex. L.

Plaintiff testified that near the end of this conversation, Peglow told him that Monica had made some allegations about plaintiff, but that Peglow did not say exactly what sort of allegations they were. Plaintiff claimed that Peglow told him, "from what I hear I don't think you have anything to worry about." DDT at 58-59. At his deposition, Peglow did not specifically recall telling plaintiff not to worry, but he stated that as a matter of course, he would have said, "As long as you tell me the truth, you have nothing to worry about, everything will be okay," or words to that effect. PDT at 57. With plaintiff s permission, Peglow took the "to-do list" with him.4

Following this meeting, Peglow spoke to defendant Briggs. He testified that part of the reason that he wanted to speak to her about the case was the "to-do list," which he said "put some doubt [in his mind] maybe in what was going on ...." PDT at 61, 64. He gave her a synopsis of what he had learned so far about Monica's allegations. Briggs recommended to Peglow that he confront Monica with the "to-do list," and to ask her if she could explain it. PDT at 64; Transcript, Deposition of Cara M. Briggs ("BDT"), Plaintiffs Cross-Motion, Ex. F, at 33.

Peglow met with Monica again on July 18 at the Impact Unit offices. A Child Protective Services worker, Janet Ewing, was also present. Peglow testified that when shown the "to-do list," Monica "admitted that she had written the [`to-do list'], that she had written it weeks prior," at a time when "[s]he was upset with" her father. PDT at 66, 67. She acknowledged that her father had confronted her with the list when he found it, several days before the alleged rape. PDT at 67-68. She also began to cry, stating that she was afraid that because of the note, "she would not be believed" about the rape. PDT at 67.5

Peglow testified that in his view, the "to-do list" and Monica's reaction to it in some ways added credence to her allegation of rape. He stated that "[i]t didn't make sense" to him that Monica "would go through making up a story" that she had been raped, knowing that her father had the list in his possession, which he could use to discredit her allegations. Peglow stated that plaintiff might have "felt that he could basically rape [Monica] at that point and then say, `What do you mean? She's framing me. She said she was going to frame me,' and produce this note." PDT at 70. Knowing this, Peglow reasoned, Monica would have been less likely to make a false accusation of rape against her father.

According to Peglow, Monica also told him

how her father would watch her sunbathing when she was out on the back deck in her bikini; how he would sit in the kitchen and watch her; how when she would be sitting on the couch, he would come and sit right next to her when there were plenty of other places to sit. And those descriptions came across to us as what they call...

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