Wachtler v. County of Herkimer

• Decision Date: 09 September 1994
• Docket Number: D,No. 1328,1328
• Parties: Stephen J. WACHTLER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. COUNTY OF HERKIMER; Gary L. Greene, Trooper; Harry C. Schlesier, Trooper; Sgt. Panko; Cpl. House; Deputy Allan; Deputy Epps; Chuck's Towing & Collision Service; Charles Furner; James W. Smith, Town Justice for the Town of Winfield; Jacquelyn M. Asnoe, Assistant District Attorney for the County of Herkimer; John F. Skinner, Town Justice for the Town of Columbia and John Doe, 7 John Does and/or Mary Roes, in their private and/or in their official capacities, jointly and severally, Defendants-Appellees. ocket 93-9135.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Page 77

35 F.3d 77

Stephen J. WACHTLER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. COUNTY OF HERKIMER; Gary L. Greene, Trooper; Harry C Schlesier, Trooper; Sgt. Panko; Cpl. House; Deputy Allan Deputy Epps; Chuck's Towing & Collision Service; Charles Furner; James W. Smith, Town Justice for the Town of Winfield; Jacquelyn M. Asnoe, Assistant District Attorney for the County of Herkimer; John F. Skinner, Town Justice for the Town of Columbia and John Doe, 7 John Does and/or Mary Roes, in their private and/or in their official capacities, jointly and severally, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 1328, Docket 93-9135.

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.

Submitted April 29, 1994.

Decided Sept. 9, 1994.

Stephen J. Wachtler, pro se.

Carrie McLoughlin Noll, Amsterdam, NY (Horigan, Horigan, Pennock and Lombardo, P.C., of counsel), for defendants-appellees County of Herkimer, Asnoe, Panko, House, Allan and Epps.

Burt M. Carrig, Little Falls, NY (Blumberg & Carrig, of counsel), for defendant-appellee Skinner.

G. Oliver Koppell, Atty. Gen., of Albany, NY (Peter H. Schiff, Deputy Sol. Gen., Nancy A. Spiegel, Asst. Atty. Gen., Michael S. Buskus, Asst. Atty. Gen., of counsel), for defendants-appellees Greene and Schlesier.

John P. Sidd, Syracuse, NY (Devorsetz Stinziano Gilberti & Smith, P.C., of counsel), for defendants-appellees Furner and Chuck's Towing.

Before: WINTER, ALTIMARI, Circuit Judges, and BREYER, Associate Justice. ^*

WINTER, Circuit Judge:

Stephen J. Wachtler, pro se, appeals from Chief Judge McAvoy's order dismissing his amended complaint. The complaint asserted numerous federal claims against nineteen defendants, all arising out of an incident in which Wachtler was pulled over for speeding, refused to produce any identification, was subsequently arrested, strip-searched, and spent a night in jail. The district court dismissed or granted summary judgment for the defendants on each of Wachtler's claims. We affirm except as to the County of Herkimer. As to the County, we reverse on Wachtler's claim that he was illegally strip-searched.

BACKGROUND

Assuming Wachtler's factual allegations to be true, the following events gave rise to his claims. At around 11 p.m. on August 26, 1990, as he drove through the Town of Winfield, New York, he was pulled over for speeding by Gary L. Greene, a state police officer in a marked car. Wachtler asked Greene whether he was under arrest. When Greene responded that "technically" Wachtler was under arrest, Wachtler "immediately protected [him]self by invoking his rights," and refused to answer any further questions without the presence of an attorney. Wachtler did not produce a driver's license when asked. ¹ Greene then arrested Wachtler for obstructing governmental administration in violation of New York Penal Law Sec. 195.05.

After conducting a pat-down search and handcuffing Wachtler, Greene immediately took Wachtler before Judge John F. Skinner, the nearest available judge, in the adjacent Town of Columbia, New York. After learning the nature of the charge, Judge Skinner asked Wachtler to identify himself. When Wachtler again refused to identify himself, Judge Skinner set bail at $250 and warned Wachtler that he would be sent to the county jail if he did not post bail. Judge Skinner told Greene to have Wachtler's car towed, and Chuck's Towing removed the car.

Although Wachtler had close to $1000 in cash at the time, he refused to post bail and claimed indigency. After Wachtler completed an indigency form (and thereby identified himself), Greene copied Wachtler's name from the form onto the traffic ticket and handed him a copy of the ticket, which charged Wachtler with violating New York Vehicle & Traffic Law Sec. 1180(d) by driving at 47 m.p.h. in a 30 m.p.h. zone.

Upon Wachtler's arrival at the State Police Barracks, Trooper Harry C. Schlesier fingerprinted Wachtler. Wachtler was then taken to Herkimer County Jail where jailhouse officials Panko, House, Allan, and Epps took his photograph. Wachtler was strip-searched in a private location by one male guard. Wachtler was then placed in "solitary confinement" where he stayed until a friend arrived to post bail some fourteen hours later.

Upon his release, Wachtler retrieved his car from Chuck's Towing without incident. Wachtler was subsequently prosecuted for speeding, but the matter was dismissed on May 29, 1991 by Judge James W. Smith, Town Justice for the Town of Winfield, because of a violation of the Speedy Trial Act.

Wachtler filed a complaint alleging deprivation of his First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, and naming as a defendant every person with any connection to these events. Wachtler seeks declaratory relief, as well as compensatory and punitive damages. Chief Judge McAvoy, in an opinion delivered from the bench, dismissed all of Wachtler's claims. Wachtler now appeals that ruling.

DISCUSSION

Wachtler, referencing papers submitted to the district court, apparently challenges every aspect of the district court's order. However, as explained by Chief Judge McAvoy in his oral ruling, most of Wachtler's

allegations either do not state a claim for relief or were properly dismissed on the defendants' motions for summary judgment based on qualified and absolute immunity. We affirm the district court's order for substantially the reasons stated by Chief Judge McAvoy as to all but three issues that merit further discussion.

1. False Arrest

Wachtler claims that the district court's grant of summary judgment to Officer Greene on the ground of qualified immunity was improper. An arresting officer is entitled to qualified immunity from a claim for unlawful arrest if "either (a) it was objectively reasonable for the officer to believe that probable cause existed, or (b) officers of reasonable competence could disagree on whether the probable cause test was met." Golino v. City of New Haven, 950 F.2d 864, 870 (2d Cir.1991) (citing Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 341, 106 S.Ct. 1092, 1096, 89 L.Ed.2d 271 (1986)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 3032, 120 L.Ed.2d 902 (1992). Greene is entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law so long as he shows that " 'no reasonable jury, looking at the evidence in the light most favorable to, and drawing all inferences most favorable to, the plaintiffs, could conclude that it was objectively unreasonable for the defendant[ ]' to believe that he was acting in a fashion that did not clearly violate an established federally protected right." Robison v. Via, 821 F.2d 913, 921 (2d Cir.1987) (quoting Halperin v. Kissinger, 807 F.2d 180, 189 (D.C.Cir.1986)).

Greene's belief that he had probable cause to arrest Wachtler was entirely reasonable. After having been lawfully pulled over, Wachtler failed to identify himself or to provide any pedigree information necessary for Greene to complete the speeding ticket. Faced with Wachtler's baseless invocation of his "rights," United States v. Adegbite, 846 F.2d 834, 838-39 (2d Cir.1988) (Fifth Amendment rights not implicated by questions concerning pedigree information); United States ex rel. Hines v. LaVallee, 521 F.2d 1109, 1112-13 (2d Cir.1975) (same), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 1090, 96 S.Ct. 884, 47 L.Ed.2d 101 (1976), Greene had no choice but to arrest Wachtler or irresponsibly let him depart without even a citation for the traffic violation. See People v. Ellis, 62 N.Y.2d 393, 396, 477 N.Y.S.2d 106, 107-08, 465 N.E.2d 826, 827-28 (1984) ("[o]nce it became evident that defendant could not be issued a [traffic] summons on the spot because of his inability to produce any identification, the officers were warranted in arresting him to remove him to the police station").

Greene's belief that he had probable cause to arrest Wachtler was well-grounded, although he relied upon the wrong statutory provision. Greene arrested Wachtler for obstructing governmental administration in violation of Section 195.05 of the New York Penal Law. Wachtler may be correct that under New York law he could not be successfully prosecuted for a violation of Section 195.05 absent a showing that he obstructed governmental administration through "physical interference." See People v. Case, 42 N.Y.2d 98, 101, 396 N.Y.S.2d 841, 843, 365 N.E.2d 872, 874 (1977). This, however, is a different question from whether it was objectively reasonable for Greene to believe that he had probable cause to arrest Wachtler.

Wachtler was legally obligated to show his driver's license to Officer Greene or else be treated as operating a vehicle without a license. N.Y. Vehicle and Traffic Law Sec. 507 (McKinney 1986). As the New York courts have repeatedly held,

[A driver's] failure, upon demand by the officer, to produce a driver's license, [is] presumptive evidence that he was not duly licensed (see, Vehicle and Traffic Law Sec. 507; People v. Griffin, 116 Misc.2d 751, 758, 456 N.Y.S.2d 334). Driving without a license is a traffic infraction which justifies a police officer's immediate arrest of the unlicensed operator.

People v. Abrams, 119 A.D.2d 682, 683, 501 N.Y.S.2d 110, 111-12 (2d Dep't 1986); see also People v. Copeland, 39 N.Y.2d 986, 986-87, 387 N.Y.S.2d 234, 355 N.E.2d 288 (1976). See also N.Y. Vehicle and Traffic Law Sec. 401 (McKinney 1986) (when asked for registration, "operator shall furnish to ... police officer any information necessary for the identification of such vehicle and its owner"). Therefore, even if Wachtler could not

be arrested for obstructing governmental administration, it was objectively reasonable for Greene to arrest Wachtler, and Greene is entitled to qualified immunity. Kaminsky v. Rosenblum, 929 F.2d 922, 925 (2d Cir.1991).

2. Strip-Search

As government officials performing discretionary functions, the individual defendants Panko, House, Allan and Epps, are entitled to plead qualified immunity as an affirmative defense. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 815, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2736, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). They are...