Luthe v. City of Cape May

• Decision Date: 25 May 1999
• Docket Number: No. CIV. A. 97-5312.,CIV. A. 97-5312.
• Citation: 49 F.Supp.2d 380
• Parties: Shannon Kellie LUTHE, Plaintiff, v. THE CITY OF CAPE MAY, Sgt. William Alvarez, Ptl. Joseph Safaryn, and Andrew K. Boyt, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey

49 F.Supp.2d 380

Shannon Kellie LUTHE, Plaintiff, v. THE CITY OF CAPE MAY, Sgt. William Alvarez, Ptl. Joseph Safaryn, and Andrew K. Boyt, Defendants.

No. CIV. A. 97-5312.

United States District Court, D. New Jersey.

May 25, 1999.

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Charles W. Sandman, III, Cape May Court House, NJ, for Plaintiff, Shannon Kellie Luthe.

Susanna J. Morris, Budd, Larner, Gross, Rosenbaum, Greenberg & Sade, P.C., Cherry Hill, NJ, for Defendants, the City of Cape May, Sgt. William Alvarez, and Ptl. Joseph Safaryn.

Michael A. Sorensen, Cape May Court House, NJ, for Defendant, Andrew K. Boyt.

OPINION

ORLOFSKY, District Judge.

Defendants' motion for summary judgment presents two novel issues of law unresolved in this Circuit. First, I must determine the appropriate legal standard to be applied to a civil rights claim for malicious prosecution brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the wake of Albright v. Oliver, 510 U.S. 266, 114 S.Ct. 807, 127 L.Ed.2d 114 (1994), and two recent Third Circuit decisions construing Albright, namely, Torres v. McLaughlin, 163 F.3d 169 (3d Cir.1998), and Gallo v. City of Philadelphia, 161 F.3d 217 (3d Cir.1998). Second, I must next determine whether and in what circumstances a civil rights plaintiff may maintain a malicious prosecution action based on one groundless accusation, when probable cause existed for one or more other accusations made in the same criminal complaint.

On June 8, 1996, after a domestic dispute with a former boyfriend, Plaintiff, Shannon Kellie Luthe ("Luthe"), was arrested and charged with burglary, harassment, and criminal mischief. Luthe was acquitted on all these charges on September 20, 1996. On October 29, 1997, Luthe filed a civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983¹ against Defendants, the City of Cape May, Police Sergeant William Alvarez, Patrolman Joseph Safaryn, and Andrew K. Boyt, a private citizen, alleging claims for unlawful arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments as well as unspecified state law claims asserted solely against Defendant, Boyt. Defendants, the City of Cape May and Officers Alvarez and Safaryn, have moved for summary judgment on all claims alleged against them, contending that the arrest, imprisonment and prosecution at issue were supported by probable cause, that the doctrine of qualified immunity shields the police officer/defendants from liability, and that Luthe has failed to establish municipal liability under § 1983 against the City of Cape May. Defendant, Boyt, has not moved for summary judgment. This Court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343.²

For the reasons set forth below, I shall grant the motion of Officers Alvarez and Safaryn for summary judgment on Plaintiff's claims for unlawful arrest and false imprisonment because I conclude that there is no genuine issue of material fact as to whether Plaintiff's arrest and subsequent imprisonment were supported by probable cause. In addition, I shall grant the police officers' motion for summary judgment on Luthe's claim for malicious prosecution because, although Luthe can maintain her claim for malicious prosecution on the groundless felony charge of burglary when probable cause existed only as to the disorderly persons offenses of harassment and criminal mischief, the police officers are shielded from liability by the doctrine of qualified immunity. Finally, I shall grant the motion of the City of Cape May for summary judgment on Luthe's § 1983 claim because she has failed to demonstrate that her alleged constitutional injury was the result of a custom or policy of the municipality.

I. BACKGROUND

On October 29, 1997, Luthe filed a civil rights Complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against Defendants, the City of Cape May ("Cape May"), Sergeant William Alvarez of the Cape May Police Department ("Alvarez"), Patrolman Joseph Safaryn of the Cape May Police Department ("Safaryn," collectively, "Officer Defendants"), and Andrew K. Boyt ("Boyt"), a private citizen. See Complaint, ¶¶ 3-6 (filed Oct. 29, 1997) ("Compl."). On October 1, 1998, Defendants, Cape May, Alvarez and Safaryn, moved for summary judgment. See Notice of Motion (filed Oct. 1, 1998). Luthe has asserted the following three causes of action against Cape May and the Officer Defendants: (1) unlawful arrest, Counts I and II; (2) false imprisonment, Counts I and II; and (3) malicious prosecution, Count III. See Complaint, Counts I, II, and III.³

The material facts and circumstances of this case are relatively undisputed. On June 8, 1996, at approximately 1:55 a.m., Luthe, who had been involved in a ten year "on and off' relationship with Boyt, entered Boyt's home located in Cape May, New Jersey. See Compl., ¶ 7; see also Defendants' Brief in Support of Summary Judgment ("Def.Brief"), Exh. A (Police Report); Plaintiff's Brief in Opposition to Summary Judgment ("Pl.Brief"), Exh. A (Interrogatory Answers of Plaintiff), Exh. I (Luthe Dep. at 28). "When [] Luthe entered [Boyt's] house[,] ... she proceeded to Mr. Boyt's bedroom where she sat on the bed and began to talk to [him]." See Plaintiff's Rule 56.1 Statement ("Pl. R. 56.1") at 2. "At that moment, since the room was dark and [] Luthe did not before notice, [] Luthe realized that [] Boyt had another women [sic] in his bed." Id. The woman was Boyt's current girlfriend, Michelle Teaney. See Def. Brief, Exh. A. "[A]fter seeing Ms. Teaney[, Luthe] became upset." Id.; see also Def. Brief, Exh. I (Criminal Complaint/Warrant) (stating that "[Luthe] ... observed [Boyt's] girl friend [sic] in the bed and started to get upset").

Regarding the events of June 8, 1996, Boyt testified:

I was sleeping. [Luthe] came in. Sat on the bed. Woke me up. I realized what was going on and who it was, and at that time I guess she realized that Michelle [Teaney] was there with me and she turned on the light. I immediately asked her to leave. Told her she had to leave. She started getting — you know, abusing Michelle verbally, calling her names.... I'd continuously been telling [Luthe] to leave.... That's when I got up, threw on a pair of shorts, and walked her to the door.

See Def. Brief, Exh. D (Boyt Dep.) at 23. Luthe provided a substantially similar account of the events, stating:

I sat down on the side of [Boyt's] bed and touched his leg, and spoke his name. I heard a sleeping sound that did not sound like him, and got up and turned on the light. I was surprised to see Michelle in his bed.... I didn't know what to do. I called him a liar. [H]e got up, and came toward me. We both headed toward the door arguing.

See Pl. Brief, Exh. A.

Boyt escorted Luthe out of his home and onto the front porch. See Boyt Dep. at 27-28. According to Boyt's testimony, once on the front Porch, Luthe grabbed the door jam of the exterior porch door. See id. Boyt "grabbed her hands off the door and pushed her out[,] ... shut the door" and locked it. Id. at 28-29. Boyt further testified:

I walked back inside and that's when she began banging on the door. I mean she was banging.... [T]his was banging trying to get in, break-the-door-down banging.... She was banging on the door and I told her that we were calling the police and that she better leave and she continued to bang and she broke the glass. The glass fell in.... She pushed it out of the frame.

Id. at 30-32.

After the glass in the porch door was broken, Scott Nash, Boyt's roommate, who had been sleeping in the living room, called the police. See id.; see also Pl. R. 56.1 at 2. "Shortly thereafter, the police arrived and Officer Safaryn[, who was] the first officer on the scene[,] took a statement from [] Boyt." See Pl. R. 56.1 at 2. Sergeant Alvarez also arrived at the scene and took Boyt's statement. See Def. Brief, Exh. B (Alvarez Dep.) at 14-15.

Previously, on February 20, 1996, Alvarez had answered a call regarding a disturbance at Boyt's home involving Luthe. See Alvarez Dep. at 12; see also Def. Brief, Exh. F (Police Report, dated Feb 20, 1996). Alvarez testified:

From a prior incident back in February ... [Luthe's] MO was when she knew the police were being called that she would leave the scene ... and go to her house.

See Alvarez Dep. at 12. While Alvarez was responding to the June 8, 1996, call from Boyt's home, Alvarez called Officer Robert Sheehan and sent him to Luthe's home to await her arrival. See id.

In his statement to Safaryn and Alvarez, Boyt indicated that "[w]e need to teach [Luthe] that she can't continue to do this." See Boyt Dep. at 70. Safaryn advised Boyt that he could obtain a temporary restraining order ("TRO"). See id. at 63. Boyt agreed and went to the police station for this purpose. See id. While at the police station, Boyt filed a Domestic Violence Complaint against Luthe. See Def. Brief, Exh. G (Domestic Violence Complaint, dated June 8, 1996).

While Boyt was at the police station, Officer Sheehan "knocked on [Luthe's] door, and [she] let him in." See Pl. Brief, Exh. A. In responding to Defendants' interrogatories, Luthe testified:

[Officer Sheehan] asked me if I was at [Boyt's] house. I said yes. He said the cops were there and I had to come down to the police department. I asked him why. He said that [Boyt] was going down there to, [sic] and we were going to get this straightened out.

See id. (internal quotations omitted). Luthe accompanied Officer Sheehan to the police station. See id.

Based on Boyt's statement, Safaryn and Alvarez filed a criminal complaint against Luthe. See Def. Brief, Exh. I. Specifically, the Criminal Complaint charged Luthe with violations of: (1) N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:18-2(a)(1), burglary; (2) N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:33-4(a), harassment; and (3) N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:17-3(a)(1), criminal mischief.⁴ See Def. Brief, Exh. I. In addition to setting forth the charges in the Criminal Complaint, Safaryn and Alvarez also explained the grounds...