Hernandez v. City of New York

• Decision Date: 08 November 2012
• Citation: 953 N.Y.S.2d 199,100 A.D.3d 433,2012 N.Y. Slip Op. 07414
• Parties: Felix HERNANDEZ, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. The CITY OF NEW YORK, Defendant–Respondent, The New York City Police Department, et al., Defendants.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

100 A.D.3d 433

953 N.Y.S.2d 199

2012 N.Y. Slip Op. 07414

Felix HERNANDEZ, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v. The CITY OF NEW YORK, Defendant–Respondent,The New York City Police Department, et al., Defendants.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, New York.

Nov. 8, 2012.

Neal Forman, Brooklyn, for appellant.

Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York (Angela R. Cruz of counsel), for respondent.

MAZZARELLI, J.P., FRIEDMAN, CATTERSON, RENWICK, FREEDMAN, JJ.

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Geoffrey D. Wright, J.), entered on or about June 14, 2011, which, insofar as appealed from as limited by the briefs, granted the motion of defendant City of New York to vacate an order of the same court (Karen S. Smith, J.), entered on or about August 12, 2010, inter alia, directing the City to produce retired Police Officer Angel Pagan for further deposition, and denied plaintiff's cross motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability on his claims for false arrest and under 42 USC § 1983, and to strike the City's answer and to preclude the City from using the deposition testimony of Pagan, unanimously modified, on the law, to the extent of granting, upon a search of the record, summary judgment dismissing the claims as against the City for false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and under 42 USC § 1983, and otherwise affirmed, without costs.

A plaintiff alleging a claim for false arrest or false imprisonment must show that the defendant intended to confine the plaintiff, that the plaintiff was conscious of the confinement and did not consent to it, and that the confinement was not otherwise privileged ( see Martinez v. City of Schenectady, 97 N.Y.2d 78, 85, 735 N.Y.S.2d 868, 761 N.E.2d 560 [2001];Marrero v. City of New York, 33 A.D.3d 556, 824 N.Y.S.2d 228 [1st Dept.2006] ). “The elements of an action for malicious prosecution are (1) the initiation of a proceeding, (2) its termination favorably to plaintiff, (3) lack of probable cause, and (4) malice” ( Colon v. City of New York, 60 N.Y.2d 78, 82, 468 N.Y.S.2d 453, 455 N.E.2d 1248 [1983] ). The existence of probable cause to arrest is a complete defense to such claims ( see Marrero at 557, 824 N.Y.S.2d 228;Brown v. City of New York, 289 A.D.2d 95, 735 N.Y.S.2d 21 [1st Dept.2001] ).

The motion court properly denied plaintiff's cross motion for summary judgment. Our search of the record ( see Merritt Hill Vineyards v. Windy Hgts. Vineyard, 61 N.Y.2d 106, 110–111, 472 N.Y.S.2d 592, 460 N.E.2d 1077 [1984] ), requires dismissal of the claims against the City for false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and under 42 USC § 1983. Although plaintiff was arrested in his home without a warrant, the grand jury's vote to indict plaintiff prior to the arrest and the subsequent indictment raised a presumption of probable cause, even though the indictment was subsequently dismissed ( see Lawson v. City of New York, 83 A.D.3d 609, 922 N.Y.S.2d 54 [1st Dept.2011],lv. dismissed19 N.Y.3d 952, 950 N.Y.S.2d 99, 973 N.E.2d 197 [2012];Arzeno v. Mack, 39 A.D.3d 341, 833 N.Y.S.2d 480 [1st Dept.2007] ).

The record contains further evidence of probable cause: During an extensive investigation, plaintiff was identified as one of more than 20 participants in a heroin trafficking operation based on, among other things, surveillance and wiretapping of a man using an apparent alias, who repeatedly conversed and met with other suspects in connection with selling heroin; a driver's license recovered from this man stating plaintiff's name and address; and plaintiff's presence at that address and physical resemblance to the suspect. Although plaintiff maintained that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated by the warrantless arrest in his home absent of exigent circumstances, such an alleged constitutional violation does not negate the existence of probable cause ( see People v. Jones, 2 N.Y.3d 235, 243, 778 N.Y.S.2d 133, 810 N.E.2d 415 [2004] ).

Dismissal of the malicious prosecution claim is further warranted since there is no triable issue as to whether the prosecution was motivated by actual malice ( see Nardelli v....