Jackson v. Nassau Cnty.

• Decision Date: 28 July 2021
• Docket Number: 18-CV-3007(JS)(AKT)
• Parties: Joseph JACKSON, Plaintiff, v. NASSAU COUNTY; the Incorporated Village of Freeport; Detective Robert Dempsey; Detective Gary Abbondandelo; Detective John M. Holland; Detective Michael Herts; Detective Martin Alger; Police Officer Robert Melendez; Detective Walter Swenson; Detective Anthony Kosier; Detective Sergeant Dan Severin; Dora Mullen, as Administrator of the Estate of Jerl Mullen; Jane Doe, as Administrator of the Estate of Arthur Zimmer; and John and Jane Doe 1 through 20, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

552 F.Supp.3d 350

Joseph JACKSON, Plaintiff,

v.NASSAU COUNTY; the Incorporated Village of Freeport; Detective Robert Dempsey; Detective Gary Abbondandelo; Detective John M. Holland; Detective Michael Herts; Detective Martin Alger; Police Officer Robert Melendez; Detective Walter Swenson; Detective Anthony Kosier; Detective Sergeant Dan Severin; Dora Mullen, as Administrator of the Estate of Jerl Mullen; Jane Doe, as Administrator of the Estate of Arthur Zimmer; and John and Jane Doe 1 through 20, Defendants.

18-CV-3007(JS)(AKT)

United States District Court, E.D. New York.

Signed July 28, 2021

For Plaintiff: Gabriel Paul Harvis, Esq., Baree N. Fett, Esq., Elefterakis Elefterakis & Panek, 80 Pine Street, 38th floor, New York, New York 10005.

For Nassau County Defendants: Peter A. Meisels, Esq., Janine A. Mastellone, Esq., John Martin Flannery, Esq., Lalit Kumar Loomba, Esq., Allison Michelle Holubis, Esq., Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, 1133 Westchester Avenue, White Plains, New York 10604.

For Village of Freeport Defendants: Keith Michael Corbett, Esq., Stephanie L. Tanzi, Esq., Harris Beach PLLC, 100 Wall Street, 23rd Floor, New York, New York 10005.

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

Joanna Seybert, U.S.D.J.

Plaintiff Joseph Jackson ("Plaintiff") seeks damages from the County of Nassau (the "County"), nine County detectives, the Incorporated Village of Freeport (the "Village"), one Village police officer, and one Village detective (collectively, "Defendants") for his alleged wrongful conviction and imprisonment for murder. In 2018, after more than twenty years in prison, the Nassau County Conviction Integrity Unit ("CIU") filed a motion to vacate Plaintiff's sentence, which motion the Nassau County Supreme Court granted. Plaintiff subsequently filed this action, alleging (1) nine federal causes of action, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (" Section 1983"), for malicious prosecution, denial of a fair trial, Brady violations, coercion, supervisory liability, Monell liability, conspiracy, failure to intervene, and prolonged pre-trial detention against various individual Defendants; and (2) three state law causes of action for malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, and intentional and/or negligent infliction of emotional distress against the County and Village.

Before this Court are the County Defendants’ partial motion to dismiss (County Defs. Mot., ECF No. 288; County Defs. Br., ECF No. 290; County Defs. Reply, ECF No. 308), and the Village Defendants’ motion to dismiss Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint (Village Defs. Mot., ECF No. 291; Village Defs. Br., ECF No. 293; Village Defs. Reply, ECF No. 306). Plaintiff filed an opposition to both motions. (Pl. Opp. to Village Defs., ECF No. 300; Pl. Opp. to County Defs., ECF No. 301.) For the reasons that follow, the County Defendants’ motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part; and the Villages Defendants’ motion is GRANTED.

BACKGROUND

I. Factual History ¹

A. The Parties

At all relevant times, Plaintiff has been a resident of Nassau County, New York. (Second Amended Complaint ("SAC"), ECF No. 278, ¶ 12.) In addition to the County, Plaintiff names as defendants the following individuals who served as detectives at the County during the relevant period: Robert Dempsey ("Dempsey"); Gary Abbondandelo ("Abbondandelo"); John M. Holland ("Holland"); Michael Herts ("Herts"); Martin Alger ("Alger"); Walter Swenson ("Swenson"); Anthony Kosier ("Kosier"); Dan Severin ("Severin"), and Jerl Mullen ("Mullen"). (Id. ¶ 16.) Defendants Dempsey, Abbondandelo, Holland, Herts, Alger, Swenson, Kosier, and Severin are sued in their individual capacity, while Mullen, who is deceased, is being sued through the administrator of his estate, Dora Mullen (the "Mullen Estate"). (Id. ) The Court collectively refers to these individuals as the "Individual County Defendants," and together with the County, the "County Defendants."

In addition to the Village, Plaintiff names as defendants Robert Melendez ("Melendez"), a Village police officer during the relevant period, and Arthur Zimmer ("Zimmer"), a Village detective during the relevant period. (Id. ¶ 15.) Defendant Melendez is being sued in his individual capacity, while Zimmer, who is deceased, is being sued through the unidentified administrator of his estate (the "Zimmer Estate"). (Id. ) The Court collectively refers to these individuals as the "Individual Village Defendants," and together with the Village, the "Village Defendants."²

B. The Murder of Steven Jason

This case arises from the murder of Steven Jason on March 20, 1994. The following allegations are taken from Plaintiff's SAC:

In the early hours of March 20, 1994, Glenn Montes ("Montes") was driving his friend Maurice Larrea ("Larrea"), then an off-duty New York Police Department ("NYPD") officer, home from a bachelor party they had attended that evening. (SAC ¶¶ 21, 23.) At approximately 2:00 a.m., while heading east on Sunrise Highway, Montes observed two black men chasing Steven Jason in a parking lot adjacent to a Blimpie's restaurant on the corner of Sunrise Highway and Guy Lombardo Avenue in Freeport, New York. (Id. ¶ 21.) As Montes would later tell Individual County Defendant Holland, Jason reached the curb of Sunrise Highway and dove to the ground, at which point Montes saw one of the men shoot him (the "Montes Statement"). (Id. ¶¶ 22, 42.)

Montes drove to a nearby payphone and Larrea stepped out to call 911. (Id. ¶ 25.) After the call, Larrea encountered an individual whom he believed to be the shooter running toward him on the sidewalk of Sunrise Highway. (Id. ¶ 27.) Larrea drew his firearm and ordered the suspected shooter to stop, calling out to Montes, "that's him, that's the guy." (Id. ¶¶ 28-29.) Montes later stated that he is "100% sure" that the man Larrea stopped was the shooter, whom he described as having a "dark brown face" with "close cut dark short hair" and standing approximately 5’9" to 5’10". (Id. ¶¶ 30, 32.)

The shooter dashed across Sunrise Highway and headed north, with Larrea and Montes, still in his car, in pursuit. (Id. ¶ 33.) As they pursued the shooter, Larrea encountered Individual Village Defendant Melendez, whom Larrea knew from growing up in Freeport. (Id. ¶ 34.) The trio canvassed the area but could not locate the shooter. (Id. ¶ 35.) Montes and Larrea returned to the crime scene before proceeding to the Village Police Station, where they remained until after 5:00 a.m. (Id. ¶ 36.)

At least four other individuals were in the vicinity of the shooting: Skwanitra Witherspoon ("Witherspoon"), Elisa Valdez ("Valdez") and her boyfriend, and Peddie Baldwin ("Baldwin"). First, Witherspoon was "in the vicinity of the shooting" and provided an account of the incident to Individual County Defendants Abbondandelo, Dempsey, and Mullen. (Id. ¶¶ 45-47.) She also identified Plaintiff as the shooter. (See id. ¶¶ 102, 134.) Plaintiff alleges that Abbondandelo, Dempsey, and Mullen "corrupted" the Witherspoon account "to suggest that Witherspoon had been the sole eyewitness" of the shooting. (Id. ¶¶ 45-47.) Second, Valdez reported to Individual County Defendant Swenson that "she and her boyfriend had heard shots fired and seen an automobile in pursuit of a male suspect heading Northbound" the night of the shooting (the "Valdez Statement"). (Id. ¶ 48.) Last, Baldwin provided a recorded statement to Village Defendant Zimmer (the "Zimmer-Baldwin Interview"). (Id. ¶ 50.) Plaintiff alleges Baldwin was a "potential eyewitness to the homicide" who provided "several leads that support [P]laintiff's innocence" and described the perpetrator as a 5’8" Puerto Rican. (Id. ¶ 51.)

C. The Investigation

As noted, Larrea "was acquainted with more than a half dozen of the Village officers who responded to the Steven Jason homicide." (Id. ¶ 37.) While at the station, Larrea apparently informed "multiple officers," including Individual Village Defendant Melendez and Individual County Defendants Severin and Herts, who took Larrea's statement that night (the "Larrea Statement"), that he was intoxicated that evening; in a call to his NYPD supervisors, however, Larrea stated that he was sober when he drew his weapon. (Id. ¶¶ 38, 40.) The effort to cover up Larrea's intoxication and subsequent misrepresentation to his NYPD supervisors is the driving force behind the SAC's allegations of wide-ranging police misconduct. Because "it would have been catastrophic for the budding law enforcement career of their friend, off-duty Officer Larrea, if the NYPD was [sic ] to learn that Larrea had drawn his firearm while intoxicated and then lied about it to commanding officers" (id. ¶ 41), Plaintiff claims that Defendants (1) concealed evidence that might have revealed Larrea's intoxication and (2) corrupted the statements of Witherspoon and Peddie Jenkins ("Jenkins"), Plaintiff's cousin, to facilitate the development of a theory of the crime that was at odds with the accounts provided by Montes, Larrea and Valdez.

Plaintiff alleges four categories of concealed evidence. First, Plaintiff alleges Individual County Defendants Herts and Severin "altered the official narrative of the crime to omit any reference to Montes, Larrea or the 911 call." (Id. ¶ 43.) In support of this allegation, Plaintiff points to the official "Morning Report," prepared by Severin, Herts, and other unidentified individuals the morning of the shooting, which made no mention of the Montes and Larrea Statements. (Id. ¶ 44.) Second, Plaintiff alleges Individual County Defendants Abbondandelo, Dempsey, and Mullen corrupted the account of Witherspoon "to suggest that Witherspoon had been the sole eyewitness and had identified plaintiff as the perpetrator." (Id. ¶ 45.) Third, Plaintiff alleges Individual County Defendant Swenson "concealed the existence of Ms. Valdez" and her boyfriend, whose account was consistent with the accounts provided by Montes and Larrea. (Id. ¶ 48-49.) Last, Plaintiff alleges the Zimmer-Baldwin Interview recording, dated June...