Triolo v. Nassau Cnty.

• Decision Date: 21 January 2022
• Docket Number: August Term 2021,Docket No. 19-4107-cv
• Parties: Daniel TRIOLO, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. NASSAU COUNTY, Detective Richard C. Lee, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

24 F.4th 98

Daniel TRIOLO, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.NASSAU COUNTY, Detective Richard C. Lee, Defendants-Appellees.

Docket No. 19-4107-cv

August Term 2021

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued: August 18, 2021

Decided: January 21, 2022

Anish Patel, Law Student, and Jon Romberg (Mikayla R. Berliner, Christopher A. Dernbach, Kamille E. Perry, and Lauren E. Russo, Law Students, on the brief), Seton Hall University School of Law, Center for Social Justice, Newark, New Jersey, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Jackie L. Gross, Nassau County Attorney (Robert F. Van der Waag, Deputy County Attorney and Samuel Weinstein, Law Student Intern, on the brief), Mineola, New York, for Defendants-Appellees.

Before: Pooler, Chin, and Lohier, Circuit Judges.

Judge Lohier Concurs, in a separate opinion.

Chin, Circuit Judge:

On May 18, 2015, plaintiff-appellant Daniel Triolo ("Triolo") was arrested for an altercation involving members of his immediate family that occurred the day before. Defendant-appellee Richard C. Lee ("Lee"), a detective with the Nassau County Police Department, arrested Triolo without a warrant based on a domestic incident report signed by Triolo's brother and mother. Triolo spent one night in jail and the charges against him were eventually dismissed.

On April 27, 2016, Triolo sued Lee for false arrest under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and New York state law and defendant-appellee Nassau County (the "County"), Lee's employer, under a theory of respondeat superior . In December 2018, after a four-day trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Triolo, finding that Lee did not have probable cause to arrest Triolo and awarding compensatory and punitive damages.

The district court vacated the jury's verdict and dismissed the claims against both defendants on the ground that, although the evidence supported the jury's finding that Lee did not have actual probable cause, Lee was entitled to qualified immunity because he had arguable probable cause as a matter of law. The district court also dismissed the claims against the County based on Lee's immunity. This appeal followed.

We AFFIRM in part, REVERSE in part, and REMAND.

BACKGROUND

"Because this appeal follows a jury verdict, we view the facts in the light most favorable to the prevailing party." MacDermid Printing Solutions LLC v. Cortron Corp. , 833 F.3d 172, 178 n.1 (2d Cir. 2016) (reviewing denial of judgment as a matter of law). Here, while the parties disagree as to many of the facts, we view the facts in the light most favorable to Triolo. Id.

I. The Facts

A. The First Altercation

On May 15, 2015, Triolo's father passed away suddenly. Two days later, on May 17, 2015, around 2:10 p.m., Triolo arrived at his mother's house to check on her. He was accompanied by his wife, Debra. An altercation ensued between Triolo and his brother, Stephen, and their mother, Patricia.

The house smelled of marijuana. Triolo found Stephen inside and told him he should not be smoking marijuana in the house. In response, Stephen jumped up from his chair and started yelling and threatening Triolo. Both Triolo and Debra believed Stephen was under the influence of crack cocaine. Triolo yelled back at Stephen, but at no point did he grab, punch, or otherwise touch his brother. Nor did he yell at, threaten, grab, or push his mother.¹ Debra believed Patricia was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, possibly Xanax given to her by her other son, Michael.

Patricia called 911 at 2:14 p.m. The 911 call report stated: "Female now on the line states her two sons are fighting" and "mom wants older son arrested. He threatened her." J. App'x at 92. The report did not state that anyone was harmed.

Three police officers arrived at Patricia's house in response to the call. By then, Triolo had left. Both Stephen and Patricia gave sworn statements to the officers. According to the police report, however, neither had visible injuries.

Stephen's statement read:

My mother invited my brother, Daniel, Triolo, to the house to play with the dog. Daniel entered the house, screaming where is he? I'm going to kill him. Out of my way. My mother attempted to stop my brother Daniel from attacking me. Daniel grabbed my mother by her wrist and pushed her out of the way. Daniel then jumped on top of me while I was sitting on the chair watching TV and began to choke me with his both hands [sic ]. I lost ability [sic ] to breathe and saw stars. My brother Daniel again started to punch me by my face with his fist and spitting at me at the same time. I feel pain in my head area and pain on my left side body. I request an arrest. Daniel in the house stated to mother Patricia, I'm going to fucking kill you and I hate you fucking guts [sic ]. I'm going to kill your son. Patricia is in fear for her safety and requested an arrest as well.

J. App'x at 70-71. Patricia's statement read:

My son Daniel entered my house, started to scream at me. I'm going to fucking kill you, and I hate your fucking guts. I'm going to kill your son. I attempted to stop my son from hurting Stephen. Daniel grabbed me by my wrist and pushed me out of the way. My wrists are hurting. I'm in a lot of pain. I request an arrest. I'm in fear for my safety.

J. App'x at 72. The domestic incident report noted that there were "no visible injuries" and that no arrest was made because "no offense [was] committed." J. App'x at 169, 173-77.² It also noted, however, that Triolo engaged in "punching, pushing, strangulation, and ... choking." Id. at 174. After taking the statements and filling out the domestic incident report, the officers left the scene. At the precinct, a supervisor completed the domestic incident report and forwarded the case, including the domestic incident report and sworn statements, to Lee. When Lee received the case, he reviewed the domestic incident report and the sworn statements.³

B. The Second Altercation

Triolo's father's wake was held on May 18, 2015, at 2:00 p.m. Shortly after Triolo and Debra arrived at the wake, a second altercation began. While Triolo sat in the front row of the funeral home room, Stephen and Michael approached and physically attacked him. Triolo and Debra left the wake shortly after the altercation.

C. The Arrest

Triolo and Debra returned home around 3:00 p.m. Debra then called police officers at Nassau County's eighth precinct to report the assault on her husband at the funeral home. Three or four officers arrived at the house in response to her call.

While Debra was speaking with the responding officers, Lee and another officer arrived at the house in plainclothes and an unmarked vehicle. Lee approached the group, asked for Triolo, and immediately began to place him under arrest. Debra and Triolo were shocked, and Debra began to explain that Triolo was in fact the victim of an assault, not the aggressor. Lee responded that he was interested only in what happened the day before. Although Debra responded that she was with Triolo the day before and that he did not do anything, Lee rolled his eyes and appeared disinterested in what she had to say. He asked no questions. Lee handcuffed Triolo and walked him towards the unmarked car.

At Debra's urging, officers from the eighth precinct then asked Lee to exit the car to speak with her. He did. In response to Debra's questions, Lee said that he did not know what Triolo was being charged with and that Debra would have to call the precinct to find out. Debra again expressed shock and explained that she was in the process of reporting an assault on her husband when Lee arrived. According to Debra, Lee responded that he "would never take that report because that's retaliation and that's tit-for-tat" and that anything she had to say "doesn't matter." J. App'x 64. Debra again explained that she was present during the assault the day before and had taken pictures the next morning that showed that Triolo's dominant hand and other parts of his body had no marks on them -- proof that he had not assaulted anyone.⁴ Instead of asking follow up questions, Lee simply rolled his eyes again and walked away. The conversation lasted only a few minutes. Triolo was arrested around 3:40 p.m.⁵

D. The Release and Dismissal

Triolo was charged with: (1) criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation, in violation of New York Penal Law § 121.11, for choking Stephen; and (2) assault in the third degree under § 120.00, for grabbing his mother. He spent time in a precinct holding cell where he was handcuffed to a wall. He was then transported to Nassau University Medical Center to receive treatment for the shoulder injury he sustained during the altercation at the funeral home. After being held in a different location until the next morning, he was transported to criminal court and eventually released on bail. The criminal charges against Triolo were dismissed shortly thereafter.

II. The Proceedings Below

On April 27, 2016, Triolo commenced this action against Lee and the County seeking damages for false arrest under federal and New York state law. Trial began on December 3, 2018. Before the case was submitted to the jury, Lee and the County moved for judgment as a matter of law. The district court denied the motion.

On December 7, 2018, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Triolo on both the federal and state claims, finding that Lee did not have probable cause to arrest. The jury awarded Triolo "$150,000 in compensatory damages [against] the Defendants" and "$35,000 in punitive damages [against] Detective Lee." J. App'x at 180-81.

Lee and the County thereafter renewed their motion for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(b). On November 4, 2019, the district court denied the motion in part and granted it in part. The court upheld the jury's finding that there was no probable cause but dismissed the claims against both defendants based on qualified immunity. The court held that, although "Lee did not have actual probable cause as a matter of law to arrest [Triolo] for...