Miles v. City Of Hartford

• Decision Date: 12 January 2010
• Docket Number: No. 3:08CV307 (MRK).,3:08CV307 (MRK).
• Citation: 719 F.Supp.2d 207
• Parties: Valerie E. MILES, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF HARTFORD, Cheryl Gogins, Robert Russell, Joseph Davis, James Bernier, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut

719 F.Supp.2d 207

Valerie E. MILES, Plaintiff,

v.CITY OF HARTFORD, Cheryl Gogins, Robert Russell, Joseph Davis, James Bernier, Defendants.

No. 3:08CV307 (MRK).

United States District Court,D. Connecticut.

Jan. 12, 2010.

Lynn M. Mahoney Law Offices of Leon M. Rosenblatt, Leon M. Rosenblatt, West Hartford, CT, for Plaintiff.

Lori A. Mizerak, Corporation Counsel's Office, Hartford, CT, for Defendants.

RULING AND ORDER

MARK R. KRAVITZ, District Judge.

On May 27, 2005, Plaintiff Valerie Miles, an employee of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF), was called to a residence in Hartford to remove four children from an apartment. As described in more detail below, this incident eventually led to the arrest of Ms. Miles on charges of fabricating evidence and tampering with a witness. The present lawsuit stems from that arrest. Specifically, Ms. Miles brings eight claims against Hartford Police Officers James Bernier, Cheryl Gogins, Robert Russell, and Joseph Davis, as well as the City of Hartford itself: abuse of process under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Count One) and Connecticut common law (Count Two), false arrest under § 1983 (Count Three) and Connecticut common law (Count Four), malicious prosecution under § 1983 (Count Five) and Connecticut common law (Count Six), false light under Connecticut common law (Count Seven), and intentional infliction of emotional distress under Connecticut common law (Count Eight). See Am. Compl. [doc. # 25].

Defendants moved for summary judgment on all of Ms. Miles' claims. See Defs.' Mot. for Summ. J. [doc. # 81]. The Court held an oral argument on this motion on December 14, 2009, during which Ms. Miles withdrew her claims against the City of Hartford as to Counts One through Six, as well as all claims against Lieutenant Bernier in his supervisory capacity and against all other individual Defendants in their official capacities. Therefore, the only remaining claims are against all individual Defendants in their personal capacities (all counts), and against the City of Hartford (Counts Seven and Eight). For the reasons that follow, Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment [doc. # 81] is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Specifically, the Court grants summary judgment to the City of Hartford on all remaining claims. The Court also grants summary judgment to the individual Defendants on all claims except intentional infliction of emotional distress; the Court denies summary judgment to the individual Defendants on that claim (Count Eight) only.

I.

The Court assumes the parties' familiarity with the facts of this case, and thus recites them here only briefly. As will become clear, many of the factual details are in dispute. On May 27, 2005, Ms. Miles was instructed by DCF to remove four children from a residence in Hartford. Three of the Defendants, Officers Gogins, Russell, and Davis, were also on the scene and took the children's mother and uncle into custody. ¹ Other relatives of the children were also present, including an aunt.

On May 30, 2005, Ms. Miles completed an affidavit to be used by DCF attorneys in Juvenile Court, in which she stated that she had observed Officers Gogins, Russell, and Davis search the mother and uncle before taking them into custody, and that during this search the Officers found three small plastic bags, one of which contained a small quantity of a white substance. A day or two later, Detective Gogins called Ms. Miles and explained that the reports of the Officers on the scene made no mention of any plastic bags, and that there were no plastic bags in evidence. According to Ms. Miles, Detective Gogins asked her to change her affidavit so as to avoid an Internal Affairs investigation. Ms. Miles refused, but offered to amend her affidavit to reflect that fact that she had not actually witnessed the bags being taken into evidence. A short time later, Ms. Miles did in fact make such a modification to her affidavit. Defendants' account of this discussion is somewhat different. They claim that Detective Gogins made the call because Ms. Miles had sent her a copy of the affidavit along with a note asking Detective Gogins to call her because she had information about drug use in the residence. ²

In early June 2005, Lieutenant Bernier learned of the discrepancy and initiated an investigation. He interviewed the Officers who were on scene and the children's mother and uncle, all of whom denied that three plastic bags were found as reported by Ms. Miles. ³ Ms. Miles alleges that during this time, pressure was exerted on her by her supervisors at DCF to change her statement. As a result, she contacted the aunt who had been present in the apartment. Ms. Miles claims that the aunt agreed with her account, and that she agreed to put it in writing. In late June, Ms. Miles went to the aunt's residence and obtained the written statement, a copy of which was sent to Lieutenant Bernier. Ms. Miles declined Lieutenant Bernier's request to come to police headquarters to be interviewed. Lieutenant Bernier then interviewed the aunt, who told him that Ms. Miles pressured her into writing the letter and mentioning the presence of drugs in the apartment, but that in fact she was not aware that any drugs were found. Ms. Miles denies this account. She also alleges that the mother, uncle, and aunt were all pressured by Lieutenant Bernier to verify Defendants' account of what happened in the apartment.

On July 27, 2005, a Connecticut judge found probable cause for Ms. Miles' arrest and issued a warrant. The arrest warrant was based on an affidavit by Lieutenant Bernier, which was reviewed by a State's Attorney. The next day, Ms. Miles was arrested on charges of fabricating evidence and tampering with a witness. In November 2005, she was terminated from her employment at DCF. On January 13, 2006, the criminal charges against Ms. Miles were resolved by way of Accelerated Rehabilitation (AR). She was put on probation for one year and required to complete 50 hours of community service. Finally, Plaintiff was re-hired by DCF in May 2006 and she received partial back-pay.

II.

Summary judgment is appropriate only when “the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). “A dispute regarding a material fact is genuine if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party....” Williams v. Utica Coll. of Syracuse Univ., 453 F.3d 112, 116 (2d Cir.2006) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). “The substantive law governing the case will identify those facts that are material, and ‘[o]nly disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment.’ ” Bouboulis v. Transp. Workers Union of Am., 442 F.3d 55, 59 (2d Cir.2006) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)).

The moving party bears the burden of demonstrating that no genuine issue exists as to any material fact, see Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-25, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986), and the Court must resolve all ambiguities and draw all inferences in favor of the nonmoving party, see Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505; Holcomb v. Iona Coll., 521 F.3d 130, 137 (2d Cir.2008). If the moving party carries its burden, the party opposing summary judgment “may not rely merely on allegations or denials.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e)(2). Rather, the opposing party must “set out specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial.” Id. In short, the nonmoving party “must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). “If the evidence is merely colorable, or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (citations omitted).

III.

Underlying all of Ms. Miles' claims is the implication that the three Officers on the scene on May 27, 2005 lied about the existence of three plastic bags found during their search, and that Lieutenant Bernier helped them to cover it up by manipulating the evidence in the arrest warrant affidavit. While one may wonder at the Officers' possible motivation to lie when they supposedly discovered drugs on the mother and uncle, and then to engage in such an elaborate cover-up, given the disputed facts throughout this case, the question of whether Ms. Miles' allegations are true turns largely on the credibility of the parties and the witnesses, which is ordinarily the province of the jury. However, for the reasons discussed below, even accepting Ms. Miles' version of the facts, Defendants are still entitled to summary judgment on the abuse of process, false arrest, malicious prosecution, and false light claims.

IV.

The Court begins with Ms. Miles' abuse of process claims under state and federal law. Federal courts must look to state law for the elements of an abuse of process claim. See Cook v. Sheldon, 41 F.3d 73, 80 (2d Cir.1994). Therefore, the analysis of both claims is identical and they must survive or fall together. Defendants argue that Ms. Miles' abuse of process claims actually sound in malicious prosecution, and that she has not presented any evidence to support an abuse of process claim. See Defs.' Mem. of Law in Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J. [doc. # 81-2] (“Defs.' Mem.”) at 3-8. The Court agrees.

An action for abuse of process lies against any person using a legal process against another in an improper manner or to accomplish a purpose for which it was not designed.... Because the tort arises out of the accomplishment of a result that could not be achieved by the proper and successful use of process, the ...