Vann v. City of New York
| Decision Date | 19 December 1995 |
| Docket Number | D,No. 220,220 |
| Parties | Walter VANN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The CITY OF NEW YORK and The New York City Police Department, Defendants-Appellees, New York City Police Officer Raul Morrison, Defendant. ocket 95-7155. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Jonathan C. Moore, New York City, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Linda H. Young, New York City (Paul A. Crotty, Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, Pamela Seider Dolgow, David Lock, New York City, on the brief), for Defendants-Appellees.
Before: KEARSE, WALKER, and CALABRESI, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff Walter Vann appeals from so much of a final judgment entered in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Loretta A. Preska, Judge, as dismissed his complaint under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 (1988) against defendants-appellees City of New York (the "City") and the New York City Police Department (the "Department") (collectively "appellees" or the "municipal defendants"), seeking redress for the use of excessive force by a City police officer who had a history of abusive conduct. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the municipal defendants on the ground that their system for supervising policemen foreclosed as a matter of law any finding of deliberate indifference to the public's due process rights. On appeal, Vann contends that summary judgment was improper because there were genuine issues to be tried as to whether appellees' system evidenced deliberate indifference to the need to monitor policemen who had a known history of abusive conduct and were returned to active duty. We agree and vacate the judgment and remand for trial.
The events giving rise to this litigation occurred on February 1, 1988, and are not at issue on this appeal. Vann, employed as a bus driver, was driving a bus in Brooklyn, New York, on his regular route. Defendant Raul Morrison was an off-duty City policeman driving his own automobile. As Morrison attempted to execute a U-turn, his car collided with Vann's bus. Morrison, who was not in uniform, got out of his car, identified himself as a police officer, drew his service revolver, and told Vann, "I should shoot you Vann brought the present action against Morrison, the City, and the Police Department. He alleged principally (a) that the use of excessive force violated his right to due process, and (b) that in light of Morrison's history of abusive conduct, the Department's failure to monitor Morrison constituted deliberate indifference to the public's due process rights.
nigger and make sure you never drive a bus." Morrison proceeded to hit Vann in the head and face several times, threw him against a wall and against the bus several times, and handcuffed him. Morrison placed Vann under arrest and took him to the police station, where the precinct commander voided the arrest. As a result of Morrison's use of force, Vann was treated at a hospital for injuries to the head, face, and body. The injuries forced Vann to miss work for some seven weeks
Pretrial discovery made available numerous details as to Morrison's history as a police officer. Viewed in the light most favorable to Vann, the record showed that Morrison had been the subject of numerous complaints, lodged by both colleagues and civilians; that he had been disciplined several times, psychologically evaluated, and placed on restricted duty; and that he had been returned to active duty, following which he was involved in several additional incidents before assaulting Vann.
Morrison became a police officer in January 1982. Soon thereafter the Department began receiving complaints about his conduct toward the public. They included the following:
(1) July 16, 1982: a complaint alleged that Morrison, brandishing his gun, approached a group of teenagers and stated that when he found out who had broken his car window they were going to "fall." This complaint was conciliated.
(2) August 20, 1982: a complaint alleged that Morrison, while off-duty, unjustly arrested, pushed, and kicked the complainant's brother. This complaint was withdrawn.
(3) October 22, 1982: a complaint alleged that after a driver honked his horn, Morrison called the driver a "fucking Puerto Rican" and dragged him out of the car. This complaint was conciliated.
(4) January 11, 1983: a complaint alleged that Morrison went to a residence and damaged the door. After investigation, this complaint was sustained, and Morrison was subjected to command discipline.
(5) April 6, 1983: a complaint alleged that Morrison, wearing civilian clothes, grabbed an individual and pulled him from his car, calling him an idiot. This complaint was conciliated.
(6) August 2, 1983: a complaint alleged that, while attempting to get an individual to leave a beach area, Morrison cursed at him, broke his eyeglasses, and destroyed other personal property. This complaint was conciliated.
(7) August 29, 1983: a complaint alleged that Morrison drove up to a parked vehicle and told the woman inside to move her vehicle the "fuck away," calling her a "black bitch." The disposition of this complaint is not revealed in the record.
(8) November 5, 1983: a complaint alleged that Morrison called an individual a "Polack" and beat and choked him. This complaint was conciliated; Morrison was advised that his ethnic remark was improper, that his complaint record was excessive, and that further complaints would be fully investigated.
(9) November 21, 1983: a complaint alleged that Morrison threatened an individual with a nightstick, pushed him, and said that if he opened his mouth Morrison would "bust him across the face." This complaint was withdrawn.
In March 1984, in light of the numerous complaints, Morrison's then-precinct commander, Captain Anthony Lamattina, referred Morrison to the Department's Early Intervention Unit ("EIU"). One of EIU's functions was to encourage officers with personal problems to seek help before their problems affected their work performance.
EIU interviewed Morrison, who repeatedly expressed the view that he was not accorded the proper "respect." EIU concluded that Morrison had an "attitude" and that most of the civilian complaints against him stemmed from incidents that should not have occurred. Shortly after that interview, Morrison was the subject of yet another complaint. In the wake of the new complaint, whose details and resolution are not revealed in the record, Captain Lamattina referred Morrison to the Department's Psychological Services Unit ("PSU"). PSU, a unit of the Department's Health Services Division, was responsible for, inter alia, evaluating employees who were, or were suspected of, experiencing psychological problems; at the request of an officer's supervisor, PSU would evaluate the officer's psychological fitness for duty
On April 6, 1984, PSU psychologist Dr. Arthur Knour commenced an interview of Morrison but suspended it because he did not have the details of the civilian complaints against Morrison. The interview was not resumed until April 30. In the meantime, on April 27, Morrison referred himself to PSU, stating in an interview with Detective Richard Kleiner and PSU psychologist Dr. Eloise Archibald that he was depressed because of a recent break-up with his girlfriend. He also stated that, "when I get aggravated, I get easily ticked off, and then I get the civilian complaints." As a result, Morrison was officially relieved of his firearms and was placed on restricted duty pending psychological evaluation.
On April 30, 1984, Knour resumed his interview of Morrison. He found Morrison to be
a very rigid, defensive, somewhat passive-aggressive individual who had a great deal of difficulty adequately handling and expressing his feelings of anger and resentment and, as a result, his behavior could, on occasion, lead to the escalation of initially minor situations.
Morrison denied that he needed any individual therapy but agreed to "couples" counseling with his girlfriend.
Between May and July 13, 1984, Morrison, initially with his girlfriend and later individually, received counseling from Rozetta Wilmore-Schaeffer, M.S.W., a psychotherapist. In a July 13, 1984 interview with Knour, Morrison stated that he was no longer depressed and that he wanted to return to full duty. On July 20, 1984, Wilmore-Schaeffer reported that Morrison's depression had diminished and that there were "no indications that Mr. Morrison might misuse his gun or lose control of his anger and hurt someone in other ways."
Morrison was not at that time returned to full-duty status, however, because of problems in his performance on his restricted-duty assignment, which was in the Department's Health Services Division. On August 1, 1984, Knour was asked to interview Morrison again because Morrison had repeatedly been late returning to work from his meal break and was having difficulty getting along with his coworkers. These complaints led to the referral of Morrison to psychiatrist Dr. Abe Pinsky for an independent evaluation. Dr. Pinsky found no signs of psychiatric illness and recommended that Morrison be returned to full-duty status with firearms.
Knour nonetheless did not recommend a return to full-duty status because Morrison continued to have conflicts with his coworkers. During the summer of 1984, three of Morrison's supervisors at the Health Services Division informed Knour that Morrison was a source of problems, failing to do his share of the work and not getting along with others, uniformed or civilian. For example, Morrison was involved in at least one physical conflict with a police aide. Knour stated that Morrison repeatedly denied the facts presented with respect to his conflicts and confrontations and that he refused to accept any responsibility for...
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