Mejia v. City of New York
| Decision Date | 05 October 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV. A. 96-CV-3007(DGT).,CIV. A. 96-CV-3007(DGT). |
| Citation | 119 F.Supp.2d 232 |
| Parties | Luis MEJIA and Aura Dina Mejia, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF NEW YORK, Airborne Freight Corporation, Brenda Tipton, Daniel McNicholas, and John Skinner, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
Leon Friedman, New York City, for plaintiffs.
Richard M. Sand, Garden City, NY, for Airborne Freight Corp., defendant.
Loretta E. Lynch, U.S. Atty., Brooklyn, NY, for Brenda Tipton, defendant.
Michael D. Hess, Corp. Counsel of City of New York, New York City (Isaac Klepfish, Georgia Pestana, of counsel), for City of New York, Daniel McNichols, John Skinner, defendants.
CORRECTED OPINION
Plaintiffs Luis and Aura Mejia (the "Mejias") bring this § 1983 / Bivens action against the City of New York (the "City"), Airborne Freight Corporation ("Airborne"), U.S. Customs Service Special Agent Brenda Tipton ("S/A Tipton"), and Sergeant Daniel McNicholas ("Sergeant McNicholas") and Detective John Skinner ("Detective Skinner") of the New York City Police Department ("NYPD") (the latter two individuals collectively referred to as the "police defendants"), alleging false arrest, false imprisonment, use of excessive force, and malicious prosecution, all in relation to the controlled pickup of a shipment of cocaine. The Mejias also assert pendent state law claims for false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and intentional infliction of emotional distress against various defendants. Each of the defendants now moves for summary judgment on the basis of probable cause, qualified immunity, and/or various procedural grounds.
(1)
The initial events precipitating this case are not in dispute. On November 18, 1993, U.S. Customs Service ("Customs") agents in Miami intercepted a package from Bogota, Columbia, in which 1 pound and 1 3/8 ounces of cocaine had been hidden. The package contained three books of textile samples, inside the covers of which plastic bags containing cocaine had been concealed. The package had been delivered to Miami by International Bonded Courier ("IBC"), a Columbian express courier, for transfer to Airborne, the connecting domestic courier. The airbill identified the sender as "GABRIEL JARAMILLO LARA, CRA 38 No. 8-06, SANTA FE DE BOGOTA, COLUMBIA, TELEPHONE NUMBER 2686824." The airbill designated the recipient as "COMPLETE DIAGNOSTIC, BEST SPORTS CAR SERVICE, 188-06 HILLEIDE [sic] AVE., HOLLIS, N.Y. 11423, U.S.A.," and gave the recipient's telephone number as "(718) 740-2121," but did not list an individual addressee. Complete Diagnostic was an auto repair garage owned and operated by plaintiff Luis Mejia.
Miami Customs officials notified the New York Customs office of their discovery and forwarded the package to S/A Tipton, who then worked out of the New York office. Because the package contained less than one kilogram of cocaine, the matter fell outside federal prosecution guidelines. At the direction of the New York office's supervisor, Special Agent Joseph Gloria, S/A Tipton contacted Sergeant Nicholas on November 18, 1993, about the possibility of the NYPD conducting a controlled delivery of the package.
On November 19, 1993, S/A Tipton contacted Bezmen, who was Airborne's regional security manager, and asked him to arrange to place an entry in Airborne's computer system to reflect a delay due to misrouting in order not to arouse the suspicion of the unknown recipient. Bezmen agreed to the request and offered to cooperate in any subsequent controlled delivery of the package.
On that same date, Customs Special Agent John Raffa ("S/A Raffa") visited Complete Diagnostic. While there, S/A Raffa picked up a business card for the garage, which included the name "Luis" and the telephone number (718) 740-2121.
On November 22, 1993, S/A Tipton and Sergeant McNicholas discussed tentative plans for Customs to sign over the package to the NYPD for a controlled delivery on the following day. Later on the 22nd, plans for a controlled delivery were abandoned when Sergeant McNicholas reported that he had gone to the auto garage and had seen many workers, a heavy workload, and no individual designated to take delivery. Under these circumstances, Sergeant McNicholas stated that he could not in good conscience proceed with the controlled delivery since there would be no way of knowing whether the person who happened to sign for the package was the intended recipient.
(2)
At this point in the story, plaintiffs' and defendants' accounts of the events diverge widely. First, the defendants'. At some point in the day on November 29, 1993, S/A Tipton spoke to Bezmen, who had previously left a message for her. Bezmen told her that he had noticed an entry on Airborne's computer that indicated someone named "Luis" had called on November 22, 1993, asked about the package, and left the phone number (718) 740-2121—the number for Complete Diagnostic.1 S/A Tipton and Sergeant McNicholas then conferred to make arrangements for a controlled pickup at Airborne's facility the next day, November 30, 1993.
At S/A Tipton's request, Gennarelli, an Airborne cartage supervisor, called the contact number and asked for "Luis Mejia."2 A person answered and said: "This is Luis." Gennarelli told "Luis" that his package was available for pickup at Airborne's Inwood station, which is located near JFK. Gennarelli further advised "Luis" that he should come to pick up the package after noon the next day, November 30, 1993. Gennarelli does not recount having to give "Luis" any reasons as to why he was required to pick up the package at the Airborne office as opposed to it being delivered to Complete Diagnostic; Gennarelli states that "Luis" simply agreed without asking any questions. According to Gennarelli, the call lasted approximately two minutes. After the call, Gennarelli advised S/A Tipton that "Luis" said he would come to Airborne's facility the next day to pick up the package.
On November 30, 1993, S/A Tipton brought the package to the Airborne's Inwood station and signed it over to Detective Skinner. According to S/A Tipton, she had no further role in the controlled delivery, though she remained at the facility until Mr. Mejia arrived.
Detective Skinner placed the intercepted package in an Airborne box, sealed it, and gave it to Gennarelli. The police then waited for Mr. Mejia's arrival out of sight in prearranged positions.
Later that day, Mr. Mejia set off for the Airborne office along with his wife. Along the way, he got lost and had to call for directions. Gennarelli answered, or was given, the call and provided Mr. Mejia with additional directions. Shortly thereafter, Luis Mejia entered Airborne's facility and walked up to Gennarelli who was dressed in an Airborne uniform. Mr. Mejia signed for the package, accepted delivery and walked out. According to Gennarelli, Mr. Mejia did not inspect the package while he was in the office or indicate in any way that the package was unexpected. According to Detective Skinner, who was watching from the reception area of the Airborne office, once back in the car, Mr. Mejia handed the package to his wife, who immediately opened it.
About ten minutes later, Sergeant McNicholas, Detective Skinner, and several other NYPD officers pulled Mr. Mejia's car over to the side of the road in order to effect the arrest. The police defendants deny displaying their weapons during the arrest. When Detective Skinner approached the car, he observed that Mrs. Mejia had the three portfolios on her lap. After removing her from the car, Detective Skinner examined the portfolios and discovered that one of them had been ripped open, and a white powdery substance was visible.3
In addition, Sergeant McNicholas states that, while at the arrest scene, Mr. Mejia spontaneously asked him: "What is this for, the drugs?"
For her part, S/A Tipton states that she did not actively participate in the arrest. However, while driving back to her office, she noticed activity on the side of the road and recognized the detectives.4 S/A Tipton then pulled over, got out of her car, and spoke to Sergeant McNicholas. S/A Tipton states that she had no contact with the Mejias during the arrest.
At some point during the arrest, Mrs. Mejia told Sergeant McNicholas that similar portfolios had been delivered to her and her husband's auto garage the previous day.5 With Mrs. Mejia's consent, Sergeant McNicholas, Detective Skinner, and one Detective Fox then went to the garage, entered the Mejias' office, and seized similar books whose front and back covers had been torn.
The books seized from the Mejias' office had been mailed in a package that bore the same address as the intercepted package, including the misspelling of Hillside Avenue ("Hilleide"). In addition, the package had almost the same return address ("Kr 38 no. 8-06, tel. 2686524, Santa Fe de Bogota, Colombia") as the intercepted package. On the package recovered from the office, the sender identified itself as "INDUNALTEX," the same name emblazoned on the cover of the books seized by Customs agents. No cocaine was detected in the portfolios recovered from the Mejias' office.
Detective Skinner states that later at the precinct house, in the course of taking pedigree information from Mr. Mejia, Mr. Mejia told him: "My wife doesn't know anything about this."
The police defendants deny making any disparaging remarks about Colombians during the arrest or threatening that Mrs. Mejia would lose her children if she went to jail.
(3)
The Mejias tell a very different story about the events leading up to their arrest and prosecution. In essence, the Mejias allege that they knew nothing about the package from Colombia and that...
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