Forest v. Pawtucket Police Dept., No. C.A. 02-164-L.
| Decision Date | 22 October 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. C.A. 02-164-L. |
| Citation | 290 F.Supp.2d 215 |
| Parties | Richard J. FOREST; Nancy Forest; and Elizabeth Forest, Plaintiffs, v. PAWTUCKET POLICE DEPARTMENT; City of Pawtucket, by and through its Treasurer, Ronald Wunschel; John Clarkson, in his individual and Official Capacity; Scott M. Feeley, in his individual and Official Capacity; George L. Kelly, III, in his individual and Official Capacity; William Magill, in his individual and Official Capacity; Dennis Smith, in his individual and Official Capacity; John Doe I<SMALL><SUP>1</SUP></SMALL>, in his individual and Official Capacity; Jeffrey T. Montella, alias; Gail Montella, alias, individually and as Parent and/or Legal Guardian of Jeffrey T. Montella, alias; Charles T. Montella, individually and as Parent and/or Legal Guardian of Jeffrey T. Montella, alias, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island |
Jeffrey D. Sowa, Carrara, LaPlante, Dayian & Sowa, LLP, Providence, RI, for plaintiffs.
Marc DeSisto, DeSisto Law, Providence, RI, for defendants.
Charles Montella, Providence, RI, Pro Se.
Plaintiffs, Richard, Nancy and Elizabeth Forest, present this Court with a multi-count complaint against two sets of defendants. The first set of defendants includes the Pawtucket Police Department, the City of Pawtucket, John Clarkson, Scott M. Feeley, George L. Kelly, III, William Magill, and Dennis Smith ("the Pawtucket Defendants"). The second set of defendants includes Jeffrey T. Montella, Gail Montella, and Charles Montella, ("the Montella Defendants"). Plaintiffs claim that this Court has jurisdiction based on their assertion of a federal question and diversity of citizenship.
Plaintiffs' Complaint contains eleven counts. In Count I, Plaintiff2, Richard Forest, ("Forest") alleges that the Pawtucket Defendants violated the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution by arresting him without probable cause. Count II alleges that the Pawtucket Defendants violated the Fifth Amendment by engaging in arbitrary and capricious conduct, decision-making, and policy. In Count III, Forest makes a state law claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. While the Complaint is unclear as to whether this Count relates to the Pawtucket or Montella Defendants, this Court assumes that the Complaint refers to the Pawtucket Defendants. Count IV alleges negligence by the Pawtucket Defendants. Count V includes a claim for malicious prosecution against the Pawtucket Defendants. In Count VI, Plaintiffs Nancy and Elizabeth Forest allege that the Pawtucket Defendants' conduct caused them to suffer a loss of consortium. Count VII3 presents a claim for punitive damages against all Defendants. Counts VIII through XI present state law claims for negligence, defamation, abuse of process, and interference with contract relations respectively against the Montella Defendants.
Forest's main thrust is against the Pawtucket Defendants utilizing 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He argues that the Pawtucket Defendants violated his rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution by arresting him without probable cause. This matter is before the Court on the Pawtucket Defendants' motion for summary judgment. They contend that they did not violate Forest's constitutional rights because they arrested Forest pursuant to an arrest warrant based on probable cause. Alternatively, the Pawtucket Defendants argue that there is no liability on their part because of the doctrine of qualified immunity.
This Court is persuaded by both of these arguments. The Pawtucket Defendants did not violate Forest's rights under the Fourth or Fifth Amendments because they conducted an adequate investigation and secured an arrest warrant based on probable cause. In addition, the doctrine of qualified immunity shields them from suit on Forest's § 1983 claims. Therefore, this Court grants the Pawtucket Defendants' motion for summary judgment on all counts against them (Counts I-VII). The Court expresses no opinion on the viability of the state law claims asserted against the Montella Defendants because they did not file a motion for summary judgment.
In considering a motion for summary judgment, the Court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. See Springfield Terminal Ry. Co. v. Canadian Pac. Ltd., 133 F.3d 103, 106 (1st Cir.1997). Therefore, this writer presents the following factual recitation with the above rule in mind.
Forest is a Massachusetts resident who works for the Pawtucket School Department. He is a full-time special education teacher at Tolman High School and has held this position for approximately thirty years. He teaches a "Life Skills" class for children with special needs.
The City of Pawtucket Police Department employs Defendants, Scott M. Feeley, Dennis R. Smith, William Magill, and John Clarkson, who act as agents, servants, and employees of the City of Pawtucket as police officers. Forest sues each officer individually and in his official capacity. Defendant, George L. Kelly III was the Chief of the Pawtucket Police Department and acted in that capacity at the time of this incident. The City of Pawtucket is a municipal corporation within the State of Rhode Island and employs the aforementioned defendants.
On January 24, 2000, the date of the incident at issue, there were seven students enrolled in Forest's Life Skills class. One student, Defendant Jeffrey Montella ("Jeffrey"), is the complaining witness in this case. Cheryl Ann Lainhart, a teaching assistant assigned to Forest's class, was also present on this date.
Jeffrey was fifteen years old and a Rhode Island resident at the time of the alleged incident. On January 24, 2000, Jeffrey left Forest's classroom and went to the school principal's office. Jeffrey told Principal Rousselle, that Forest had touched him inappropriately during class. At Rousselle's request, Jeffrey provided a written statement detailing the incident.
At about 5:00 p.m. that evening, Jeffrey and his mother, Defendant Gail Montella, went to the Pawtucket Police Department and filed a formal complaint against Forest. The two spoke with Defendant, Officer Dennis R. Smith. Jeffrey gave Officer Smith a written statement saying that Forest grabbed and rubbed Jeffrey's penis during class. Jeffrey also stated that Forest had previously touched him by rubbing his shoulders and legs. Jeffrey's mother witnessed this statement.
Jeffrey's complaint was then referred to Detectives Scott M. Feeley and William Magill. They re-interviewed Jeffrey and his mother on January 24, 2000. During this interview, Jeffrey drew a diagram depicting himself seated facing the class at the time of the incident. Gail Montella also gave the detectives a written statement affirming that Jeffrey told her Forest inappropriately touched him during class and complained about Forest previously rubbing his shoulders. She also stated that Forest had given gifts to the family on a prior occasion.
Detectives Feeley and Magill also interviewed Principal Rousselle on January 24, 2000. Although he did not witness Forest touching Jeffrey, Rouselle confirmed that Jeffrey had made an oral complaint and given a written statement regarding the incident. The detectives attempted to contact Forest and left a message on his answering machine at about 8:30 that evening. The detectives reached Forest at about 9:10 p.m. and asked him to come to the police station. Forest declined because he was unable to reach his attorney. At about 10:00 p.m., and after speaking with his attorney, Forest called the detectives to say he would come to the station the next morning.
After receiving Jeffrey's complaint and verifying it with Jeffrey's mother and Principal Rousselle, Detective Feeley prepared an affidavit in support of an arrest warrant. Detective Feeley did not interview Forest, teaching assistant Lainhart, or the other students present at the time of the incident prior to preparing the arrest warrant application. Detective Feeley's affidavit asserted that Jeffrey stated that he was at Toleman High School when Forest asked him where he got his new fleece jacket. Jeffrey responded that his mom had bought it for him. The affidavit states that according to Jeffrey, Forest reached between Jeffrey's legs and grabbed Jeffrey's penis and then Forest slid his hand upward rubbing Jeffrey's penis until Forest's hand came off at which time Forest rubbed the fleece material between his fingers. Jeffrey immediately left the classroom and went to tell Principal Rouselle what had happened. The affidavit notes that Jeffrey made an identical complaint to his mother.
Detective Feeley also included the fact that Jeffrey had made previous complaints to his mother about Forest. Jeffrey had complained that Forest rubbed his shoulders on one occasion and Jeffrey's upper thigh on another. The affidavit also states that Mrs. Montella did not pursue these complaints because she thought Forest was just being nice to Jeffrey and that Forest had previously given the Montellas a large bag of Christmas gifts and a $50 gift certificate to Shaw's Supermarket despite the fact that Forest barely knew the family at the time.
Detective Feeley knew but did not include the following facts in his affidavit supporting the arrest warrant. Jeffrey is a special needs student and takes ritalin for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Prior to this incident, Jeffrey was not angry with Forest for any reason and stated he had no reason to hurt Forest because Forest had been good to his family. Officer Smith had also interviewed Jeffrey and found him credible. Based on Detective Feeley's affidavit, Bail Commissioner Ernest Pratt found probable cause to arrest and approved and signed...
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