Quartararo v. Hoy

• Decision Date: 25 September 2000
• Docket Number: No. 93-CV-4059 (JS)(MDG).,93-CV-4059 (JS)(MDG).
• Citation: 113 F.Supp.2d 405
• Parties: Michael QUARTARARO, Plaintiff, v. Patrick HOY, Area Supervisor; Philip Deluca, and John Callender, Senior Parole Officers; Thomas A. Coughlin, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Correctional Services; James F. Recore, Director of Temporary Release Programs; Brian Fischer, Superintendent of Queensboro Correctional Facility; William Lester, Senior Counselor and Temporary Release Chairman; Rudolph F. Jeffries, Correction Counselor, as employees of the Department of Correctional Services, Defendants.<SMALL><SUP>1</SUP></SMALL>
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

113 F.Supp.2d 405

Michael QUARTARARO, Plaintiff, v. Patrick HOY, Area Supervisor; Philip Deluca, and John Callender, Senior Parole Officers; Thomas A. Coughlin, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Correctional Services; James F. Recore, Director of Temporary Release Programs; Brian Fischer, Superintendent of Queensboro Correctional Facility; William Lester, Senior Counselor and Temporary Release Chairman; Rudolph F. Jeffries, Correction Counselor, as employees of the Department of Correctional Services, Defendants.¹

No. 93-CV-4059 (JS)(MDG).

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

September 25, 2000.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Beth G. Schwartz, James A. Cohen, Lincoln Square Legal Services, Inc., Fordham University School of Law, New York City, for Plaintiff.

Rebecca Ann Durden, Assistant Attorney General, New York State Department of Law, New York City, for State DOCS and Parole Defendants.

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

SEYBERT, District Judge.

By Order dated June 25, 1999, the Court granted in part and denied in part the defendants' motion for summary judgment, and granted plaintiff Michael Quartararo's ("Quartararo" or "plaintiff") motion for summary judgment on his procedural due process claim. The Court further held that defendants Thomas A. Coughlin and James F. Recore were entitled to qualified immunity, and dismissed all claims against these two defendants, except those claims that seek declaratory or injunctive relief. The Court also dismissed all claims against defendant Enoc Esteves because no evidence had been presented of Esteves' personal involvement in the due process violation. The Court reserved decision on the objective reasonableness prong of the remaining defendants' claim to qualified immunity, but held that the law was clearly established at the time of the constitutional violations.

The defendants subsequently moved for reconsideration of the June 25, 1999 Order. Specifically, defendants contended that the Court misapprehended their Rule 56.1 Counter-Statement, and as a result, erroneously granted Quartararo's motion for summary judgment on the due process claim. See Quartararo v. Catterson, 73 F.Supp.2d 270, 272-73 (E.D.N.Y.1999) ("Quartararo II"). The Court rejected defendants' arguments and held, inter alia, that defendants had failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact regarding defendants' failure (1) to provide Quartararo with the constitutionally required statement of actual reasons for his removal from the Temporary Work Release Program ("TWRP") and (2) to provide Quartararo with the constitutionally required minimum of twenty-four hours notice of the Temporary Release Committee ("TRC") hearing, a proceeding that resulted in Quartararo's removal from the TWRP. See Kim v. Hurston, 182 F.3d 113, 117, 119-20 (2d Cir.1999). The Court reiterated its prior holding that Quartararo's due process rights had been violated by the defendants when he was summarily taken from the program. See Quartararo II, 73 F.Supp.2d at 273-76.

The Court also repeated what had been said at oral argument on the original motions regarding the qualified immunity defense. Id. at 276 n. 4. That is, the Court had held that the due process requirements mandated by the Constitution before an inmate could be removed from temporary work release had been clearly established since at least 1978. See id. at 273 (citing Kim, 182 F.3d at 117). However, the Court initially was of the view that the second prong of the qualified immunity analysis — whether the defendants' actions in removing Quartararo from the TWRP were objectively reasonable — was a question to be resolved at trial by a fact finder. Id. at 276 n. 4.

Consequently, the parties submitted their joint pre-trial order and a trial date was set for January 2000. However, as the trial date approached, both parties evaluated their positions and wrote the Court to express their shared view that qualified immunity, even under the circumstances of this case, was a matter of law for the Court to decide. See Letter from James A. Cohen, Esq., and Beth G. Schwartz, Esq., dated December 22, 1999 and Letter from Rebecca Ann Durden, Esq., dated January 4, 2000. The parties both argued that the Court should resolve the qualified immunity issue in their favor as a matter of law. Id. Additionally, both parties apparently waived their right to a jury trial on damages, as both parties submitted argument to the Court on possible remedies should the Court find that defendants were not protected by qualified immunity. See id.; see also Letter from Rebecca Ann Durden, Esq., dated January 20, 2000.

As a result of the parties' agreement that objective reasonableness is a question of law, and their agreement that the Court should decide the damages issue (in the event damages or injunctive relief is warranted), the Court canceled the scheduled trial and took the issue under consideration as part of the parties' previously-filed cross-motions for summary judgment. Therefore, after seven years of litigation, the sole issue before the Court is whether the actions of the remaining defendants (except Coughlin and Recore) regarding plaintiffs removal from the TWRP were objectively reasonable. If the answer to this question is yes, then judgment must be entered for the defendants on the due process claim. If the answer is no, then the Court must decide the appropriate remedy for the constitutional violation and decide whether future proceedings are warranted to fix an amount of damages, if any.

Having taken the opportunity to review, once again, the circumstances surrounding plaintiffs abrupt removal from the TWRP in February 1992, the Court reiterates that the defendants violated plaintiff's due process rights. The Court holds that the defendants' actions on and around February 12, 1992 were not objectively reasonable. Therefore, the defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity. The defendants' motion for summary judgment on this ground is denied in its entirety, and plaintiff's cross-motion for summary judgment is granted in its entirety.

As discussed below, the Court also holds that the deprivation of Quartararo's liberty was directly caused by the constitutional violations. As a result of this determination, the Court shall order that plaintiff be reinstated to the TWRP, nunc pro tunc, with identical restrictions, rules, freedoms and conditions that were applicable to him prior to his removal from work release. Finally, the Court shall direct the parties to appear for a hearing on damages.

I. Background

The facts of this case have been amply set forth in the Court's prior Memoranda and Orders. See Quartararo v. Catterson, 917 F.Supp. 919, 926-29 (E.D.N.Y.1996) ("Quartararo I"); Quartararo II, 73 F.Supp.2d at 271 n. 2. Nevertheless, a recital of the parties' statement of stipulated facts, as set forth in the JPTO, will facilitate a discussion of the legal conclusions drawn from these undisputed facts. Aside from citation to cases, and except where otherwise noted, these facts have been taken exclusively from Schedule C of the JPTO, paragraphs one through sixty.

Plaintiff Michael Quartararo has been incarcerated within the New York State Department of Correctional Services ("DOCS") from 1981 until 1988, again from 1990 until December 1998, and again from November 1999 to the present. Quartararo was tried and convicted of the murder of John Pius in 1981 and was sentenced as a juvenile offender to an indeterminate term of imprisonment of nine years to life. Quartararo's first conviction was affirmed in state court, People v. Quartararo, 113 A.D.2d 845, 493 N.Y.S.2d 511 (2d Dep't), leave denied, 66 N.Y.2d 921, 498 N.Y.S.2d 1036, 489 N.E.2d 781 (1985). However, by decision dated February 9, 1988, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Korman, J., granted Quartararo's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, reversed his conviction, and ordered a new trial. See Quartararo v. Fogg, 679 F.Supp. 212 (E.D.N.Y.), aff'd without opinion, 849 F.2d 1467 (2d Cir. 1988). Judge Korman ordered Quartararo's release on bail pending a new trial.

Quartararo remained on bail from February 1988 through February 1990. During that time he had no conflicts with the law.

In 1990, Quartararo was retried and reconvicted on the original 1979 indictment, and on May 30, 1990 he again was sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment of nine years to life. The second conviction was appealed, but the appeal was denied. People v. Quartararo, 200 A.D.2d 160, 612 N.Y.S.2d 635 (2d Dep't), leave denied, 84 N.Y.2d 939, 621 N.Y.S.2d 536, 645 N.E.2d 1236 (1994). However, once again by decision of the United States District Court, Quartararo's petition for a writ of habeas corpus was granted. Quartararo v. Hanslmaier, 28 F.Supp.2d 749 (E.D.N.Y.1998). As a result of that decision, Quartararo was released on bail in late December 1998. Subsequently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the district court's decision. Quartararo v. Hanslmaier, 186 F.3d 91 (2d Cir.1999). Quartararo's bail then was revoked and he surrendered to DOCS in November 1999. Quartararo's petition for a writ of certiorari was denied by the Supreme Court. Quartararo v. Hanslmaier, ___ U.S. ___, 120 S.Ct. 1196, 145 L.Ed.2d 1100 (2000).

Turning back to the history of the present civil rights action, in 1991 the New York Correction Law and New York State regulations provided that inmates within two years of possible release who had not been convicted of escape or absconding were eligible for the DOCS Temporary Release Program. Quartararo's application for the program was subject to several levels of review before being approved. 7 NYCRR § 1900.4(b)-(n). In October 1991, plaintiff's application for temporary release was approved. Quartararo's Notice of Approval was dated October 21, 1991, and he began participating in the program in November 1991. Plaintiff...