Jeffreys v. Rossi
| Decision Date | 18 July 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 99 Civ.4059 SAS.,99 Civ.4059 SAS. |
| Citation | 275 F.Supp.2d 463 |
| Parties | Percy JEFFREYS, Plaintiff, v. P.O. ROSSI and P.O. Montanez, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
J. Andrew Kent, Elise S. Zealand, New York City, for Plaintiff.
David A. Schwartz, Brett H. Klein, Assistant Corporation Counsel, Office of Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, New York City, for Defendants.
Percy Jeffreys, an inmate presently incarcerated at Wyoming Correctional Facility, brings this Section 1983 action against New York City police officers Emanuel Rossi and David Montanez. Jeffreys alleges that the officers violated his Fourth Amendment rights by using excessive force during his arrest on February 10, 1998, at Public School 40 ("P.S.40") in the Bronx.
Jeffreys now seeks to amend the Complaint for the third time to add as defendants an additional four police officers who were present at the time of his arrest — P.O. Jorge Gonzalez, P.O. Matthew Martell,1 P.O. Angelo Tessitore, and Sergeant Tenel Bedford. Defendants have cross-moved to dismiss the action and, in the alternative, for summary judgment. Defendants have also moved under Rule 11 for sanctions against plaintiff and plaintiff's counsel for proceeding with the Second and Third Amended Complaints. Plaintiff has cross-moved for sanctions against defendants for bringing a baseless Rule 11 motion.2
For the reasons stated below, defendants' motion for summary judgment is granted. Plaintiff's motion to amend the Complaint is denied, as are the motion for sanctions against the attorneys.
In February 1998, the 40th Precinct Burglary Unit ("the Unit")3 identified Jeffreys an illiterate, homeless man who was addicted to crack cocaine, as a suspect in a series of public school burglaries. See 12/17/02 Deposition of Emmanuel Rossi ("Rossi Dep.") at 47, 49; 12/18/02 Deposition of Jorge Gonzalez ("Gonzalez Dep.") at 77-80. On the night of February 9-10, 1998, the Unit met to discuss Jeffreys and the burglaries. See Rossi Dep. at 48; Gonzalez Dep. at 80-81. A "Wanted" poster containing a photograph of Jeffreys was distributed. See "Wanted Poster", Ex. S to 2/18/03 Affidavit of J. Andrew Kent, counsel for plaintiff ("Kent Aff."). Several officers were sent to stake-out an apartment where it was believed Jeffreys might be found. See Gonzalez Dep. at 82-83; Bedford Dep. at 239-41. Officers Gonzalez and Rossi were posted inside P.S. 40, a school the Unit believed Jeffreys might attempt to burglarize. See Rossi Dep. at 47; Gonzalez Dep. at 81-82.
As predicted, Jeffreys broke into P.S. 40 in the early morning hours of February 10, 1998. He made his way up to the third floor by means of an inside stairway. See 1/3/03 Deposition of Percy Jeffreys ("Jeffreys Dep.") at 220. He entered classroom 312 by breaking the window on the class-room door and reaching inside to turn the locked door knob. See id. at 234; 2/10/03 Affidavit of Percy Jeffreys ("Jeffreys Aff.") ¶ 3.
At approximately 2:15 a.m., Officers Gonzalez and Rossi spotted an intruder in or near the school courtyard. See 2/10/98 Entry in Memo Book of Officer Rossi ("Rossi Memo Book"), Ex. G to Kent Aff., at 000006. The officers called for back-up and waited until Sgt. Bedford and Officers Martell, Tessitore and Montanez joined them. See Rossi Dep. at 114, 117. The six-man team then proceeded to the third floor of the school, the location from which noises had been heard. See Rossi Dep. at 124-26.
Jeffreys alleges that, while inside class-room 312, he heard a noise. See Jeffreys Aff. ¶ 4. Afraid there may have been police officers inside or outside the building, he opened a window to look out at the street and then hid under a desk. See id.; Jeffreys Dep. at 17-19. A person entered the classroom, stood over him at the desk, shined a flashlight in his eyes, and identified himself as a police officer. See Jeffreys Aff. ¶¶ 5-6; Jeffreys Dep. at 46-49. In response, Jeffreys turned around and raised his hands, expecting to be handcuffed and arrested. See Jeffreys Aff. ¶ 8; Jeffreys Dep. at 57, 62. Instead, the officer struck Jeffreys many times, including several blows to the head with a flashlight. See Jeffreys Dep. at 60, 67-68. Jeffreys fought back, but a blow from the officer caused Jeffreys to lose his breath and fall down. Id. at 69-70.
Other police officers then entered the room and began attacking Jeffreys, who was lying on the floor. See id. 71-72, 81. The officers struck Jeffreys a number of times on his chest, back, arms and head. See id. at 78, 81-82. Jeffreys attempted to fight back by punching, kicking, and biting them. See id. at 90, 92-93.4 At some point during the beating, Jeffreys blacked out. See Jeffreys Aff. ¶ 11; Jeffreys Dep. at 84-85, 97. Then, one or more of the police officers must have pushed him out the window because Jeffreys did not jump or inadvertently fall. See Jeffreys Aff. ¶ 12; Jeffreys Dep. at 84-85, 97, 105, 122.
Jeffreys awoke on the pavement in front of the school. See Jeffreys Dep. at 105, 107-08. Although he was in excruciating pain, Jeffreys tried to escape from the officers. See id. at 110-17 (); Jeffreys Aff. ¶¶ 13-14 (same). He did not get very far before he was handcuffed at 3:03 a.m. by members of the Unit. See Rossi Dep. at 239; Montanez Dep. at 125-26, 172-73; Gonzalez Dep. at 53-54, 58-59.
Within a few minutes of Jeffreys' arrest, an Emergency Medical Services ("EMS") ambulance and other police officers arrived. See Rossi Dep. at 171, 173-74. Before their arrival, one officer roughly wrested Jeffreys' hiking boot from his broken leg, even though Jeffreys was screaming, "My leg, my leg." Jeffreys Aff. ¶¶ 14-15; Jeffreys Dep. at 135. Jeffreys was taken to Lincoln Hospital for treatment of his injuries. See Jeffreys Aff. ¶¶ 16-17. Officer Van Weddinger, a member of the Unit, rode in the ambulance and subsequently guarded Jeffreys at the hospital. See Bedford Dep. at 122-23, 218; Gonzalez Dep. at 151.
Soon after he arrived at Lincoln Hospital, Jeffreys was given a strong pain killer and a sedating anti-anxiety medicine. See Jeffreys Aff. ¶ 18; Lincoln Hospital Medical Records ("Hospital Records"), Ex. M to Kent Aff., at JEF 00105-07, 00110, 00113, 00115. Jeffreys was under police watch the entire time he was in the hospital, which greatly terrified him. See Jeffreys Aff. ¶¶ 19-22; Hospital Records at JEF 00018, 00024, 00036. Jeffreys does not remember discussing how he came to be injured with any medical staff or anyone else. See Jeffreys Aff. ¶¶ 21-22; Jeffreys Dep. 152-53.
While investigating P.S. 40, Officer Rossi heard noise coming from Room 312. See Rossi Dep. at 134. Rossi shined his flashlight from the hallway through the broken window and observed an individual, who turned out to be Jeffreys, standing in the classroom carrying school property. See id. at 134-35. Rossi shouted, "Police, don't move." See id. He attempted to reach inside the broken window to open the door but was unable to reach the doorknob without cutting himself on the shards of glass.5 See id. 138, 142-43. Jeffreys dropped the object he had in his hands and jumped out the window he had previously opened. See id. at 134-35, 140-41. Jeffreys fell to the ground, injuring his right leg. See id. at 161, 167. Upon seeing Jeffreys go out the window, Rossi shouted to his fellow officers, who were down the hallway, "He's going down the stairs!"6 See id. at 156-57. None of the officers on the scene entered Room 312 while Jeffreys was in the building. See Rossi Dec. ¶ 1; Montanez Dec. ¶ 1; Gonzalez Dec. ¶ 1; Bedford Dec. ¶ 1.
Rossi, together with Officers Montanez, Gonzalez, Tessitore, Martell, and Bedford, ran downstairs and onto the street. They found Jeffreys lying in the street, attempting to crawl away. Jeffreys had no weapon and was handcuffed without incident. EMS was called to the scene and Jeffreys was stabilized. See Rossi Dep. at 160-66.
None of the officers recall seeing anyone remove Jeffreys' boots that night. See Rossi Dec. ¶ 4; Montanez Dec. ¶ 4; Gonzalez Dec. ¶ 4; Bedford Dec. ¶ 4. Rossi believes that the EMS technicians removed Jeffreys shoes in order to examine his injured leg. See Rossi Dec. ¶ 4. Rossi asked a technician for one of Jeffreys' boots for purposes of shoe-print identification and was given one. See Rossi Dep. at 175-77, 179.
On February 12, 1998, Sergeant Rene Moran from the New York City Police Department Internal Affairs Bureau Group 21 ("IAB") interviewed Jeffreys. According to Sgt. Moran, Jeffreys told him that when he discovered police officers were in the hallway looking for him, "he attempted to flee out of the classroom window, lost his footing and fell to the concrete below, injuring his right leg." 2/12/98 Investigating Officer's Report ("Moran Rpt."), Ex. R to Schwartz Dec. Jeffreys further stated that the first time he saw any police officers was when he was on the ground outside the school. See id. Jeffreys did not mention any misconduct on the part of the officers involved. See id. At his deposition, however, Jeffreys could not recall a visit from Sgt. Moran. See Jeffreys Dep. at 238-39.7
The officers' radio transmissions from P.S. 40 on the night of Jeffreys' arrest were contemporaneously recorded in a "SPRINT Report." See SPRINT Report Job No. T950, Ex. C to Kent Aff., at 000036-37. According to Jeffreys, the SPRINT Report shows a period of more than twenty minutes during which the officers appear to have broadcasted an initial arrest, a chase, another arrest, a request for assistance, and then a final arrest.8 See Kent Aff. ¶ 11 (...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Blake v. Race
...undertake the suspension of disbelief necessary to credit the allegations made in his complaint. Id. at 555 (quoting Jeffreys v. Rossi, 275 F.Supp.2d 463, 475 (S.D.N.Y.2003)); see also Trans-Orient Marine Corp. v. Star Trading & Marine, Inc., 925 F.2d 566, 572 (2d Cir.1991) (holding that th......
-
Pittman v. General Nutrition Corp.
...summary judgment evidence. See, e.g., Christian Dior-New York, Inc. v. Koret, Inc., 792 F.2d 34, 38 (2d Cir.1986); Jeffreys v. Rossi, 275 F.Supp.2d 463, 476-77 (S.D.N.Y. 2003); Shabazz v. Pico, 994 F.Supp. 460, 470-71 (S.D.N.Y.1998); Schneider v. OG & C Corp., 684 F.Supp. 1269 ...
-
Crews ex rel. Crews v. Cnty. of Nassau
...undertake the suspension of disbelief necessary to credit the allegations made in his complaint.Id. at 505 (quoting Jeffreys v. Rossi, 275 F.Supp.2d 463, 475 (S.D.N.Y.2003)); see Trans–Orient Marine Corp. v. Star Trading & Marine, Inc., 925 F.2d 566, 572 (2d Cir.1991) (holding that the post......
-
Burroughs v. Petrone
...omitted). However, if an assault is "sudden and brief," there may not be a real opportunity to prevent it. See Jeffreys v. Rossi, 275 F.Supp.2d 463, 474 (S.D.N.Y.2003).1. Claims Against Murphy, Craft, S. Lewis, and Fosmire Burroughs claims that in March 2013, he "feared for his life," but t......
-
Motions
...In any event, some formal written notice must be served on the opposing party in order to start the 21-day clock. Jeffreys v. Rossi , 275 F.Supp. 2d 463, 480 (7th Dist. N.Y. 2003). The motion must conform to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and must be in a format style that is acceptab......
-
Table of Cases
...7-30 Jefferson Parish Hospital District #2 v. Hyde , 466 U.S. 2, 14, 80 L.Ed.2d 2, 104 S.Ct. 1551 (1984), Form 7-30 Jeffreys v. Rossi, 275 F.Supp. 2d 463, 480 (7th Dist. N.Y. 2003), §7:195 Jenkins v. Assoc. Transport, Inc. , 330 F.2d 706 (6th Cir. 1964), §9:35 Jersey Century Power & Light C......