Aleotti v. Baars, 94-0950.

896 F. Supp. 1

Ernesto ALEOTTI, Plaintiff, v. Patricia BAARS, et al., Defendants.

No. 94-0950.

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

July 20, 1995.

Ernesto Aleotti, pro se.

Steven D. Gordon, Michael Martinez, Holland & Knight, Washington, DC, for Patricia Baars.

Mark Justin Draycott, Asst. Corp. Counsel, Washington, DC, for John J. Hickey, William L. Hennessey and D.C. Metro. Police Dept.

Mark Nebeker, Asst. U.S. Atty., for Steven McCool and Christopher J. Trainor.

OPINION

FRIEDMAN, District Judge.

Plaintiff filed this case pro se and pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the defendants conspired to violate his rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States.¹ He seeks three million dollars in damages.

The District of Columbia defendants, the federal defendants and Patricia Baars each filed a motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment, and plaintiff has opposed these motions. The Court concludes that under applicable Supreme Court precedent the complaint must be dismissed against Ms. Baars, Sergeant Hickey, Captain Hennessey and Mr. McCool. In addition, because each of these defendants and Special Agent Trainor is entitled to either absolute or qualified immunity, each is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The Court also concludes that plaintiff has failed to state a claim for which relief may be granted against the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia ("MPDC").

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Ernesto Aleotti was arrested on May 3, 1991, by Sergeant John Hickey for puncturing the tires on an automobile owned by Patricia Baars, an individual with whom he had a personal relationship for some years. On December 11, 1992, Mr. Aleotti was convicted by a jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for violating D.C.Code § 22-403, malicious destruction of property. This conviction was affirmed by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Aleotti v. United States, No. 93-CO-553 (D.C., March 3, 1994). Plaintiff's petition for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court was denied on October 3, 1994. Aleotti v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 115 S.Ct. 70, 130 L.Ed.2d 25 (1994).

Most of Mr. Aleotti's allegations in this case concern the actions of the various defendants in arresting Mr. Aleotti and in securing his prosecution and conviction in Superior Court, which actions, plaintiff asserts, violated his due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. Specifically, plaintiff claims that defendant Patricia Baars conspired to entrap him, gave false information to the officers who investigated him and perjured herself and gave false evidence during his criminal trial. Complaint at ¶ 8. Plaintiff avers that defendant Sergeant John Hickey conspired to entrap him, falsely arrested him, failed to read him his rights, tampered with evidence and perjured himself during plaintiff's criminal trial. Id. at ¶ 9. Plaintiff further asserts that defendant Captain William Hennessey conspired to entrap him and that defendant Steven McCool maliciously prosecuted him. Id. at ¶¶ 11, 12. Plaintiff states in his opposition to defendants' motions that the claims are brought against defendants in their individual capacities only. Memo. In Support of Pl.'s Opp. to Defs.' Mot. For Summ. J. 9.

Mr. Aleotti's claims against Special Agent Christopher Trainor arise from actions separate from his conviction for malicious destruction of property. These claims concern the execution of a subsequent search warrant at plaintiff's residence in Maryland and the confiscation of plaintiff's firearms and ammunition. Mr. Aleotti alleges that Special Agent Trainor used erroneous information in an affidavit presented to a magistrate judge to obtain a search warrant for Mr. Aleotti's home. Complaint at ¶ 10. He avers that in obtaining the warrant and in executing it, Special Agent Trainor conspired with the other defendants to entrap and physically harm plaintiff. Id. Plaintiff asserts that the search itself was conducted as "a military style raid" that caused Mr. Aleotti to suffer emotional trauma. Id.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Mr. Aleotti's Arrest and Conviction for Malicious Destruction of Property.

1. Heck v. Humphrey Analysis

It is now established that in order to recover damages under section 1983 for harm caused by an allegedly unconstitutional conviction or imprisonment or for other actions that, if unlawful, would render a conviction or sentence invalid, a plaintiff must demonstrate that "the conviction or sentence has been reversed on direct appeal, expunged by executive order, declared invalid by a state tribunal authorized to make such determination, or called into question by a federal court's issuance of a writ of habeas corpus. A claim for damages bearing that relationship to a conviction or sentence that has not been invalidated is not cognizable under § 1983." Heck v. Humphrey, ___ U.S. ___, ___ _ ___, 114 S.Ct. 2364, 2372-73, 129 L.Ed.2d 383 (1994); see Williams v. Hill, 878 F.Supp. 269, 271-72 (D.D.C.1995). When a plaintiff such as Mr. Aleotti seeks damages, the Court

must consider whether a judgment in favor of the plaintiff would necessarily imply the invalidity of his conviction or sentence; if it would, the complaint must be dismissed unless the plaintiff can demonstrate that the conviction or sentence has already been invalidated. But if the district court determines that the plaintiff's action, even if successful, will not demonstrate the invalidity of any outstanding criminal judgment against the plaintiff, the action should be allowed to proceed, in the absence of some other bar to the suit.

Heck v. Humphrey, ___ U.S. at ___ _ ___, 114 S.Ct. at 2372-73 (footnotes omitted).

Mr. Aleotti is unable to prove that his conviction has been reversed, expunged, declared invalid or called into question. Indeed, it has been affirmed by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and his petition for a writ of certiorari has been denied by the Supreme Court. Accordingly, the Court must determine if success on his claims in this Section 1983 action would "necessarily imply the invalidity" of the Superior Court criminal judgment against Mr. Aleotti. In this case, the answer is clear: Mr. Aleotti's claims of entrapment, false testimony, perjury and tampering with evidence, as well as those relating to his Miranda rights and false arrest, all must fail under section 1983 and the reasoning of Heck v. Humphrey because for him to succeed necessarily would invalidate his conviction that already has been affirmed on appeal.

Mr. Aleotti's entrapment claims and claims of conspiracy to entrap must be dismissed because success on these claims necessarily would invalidate plaintiff's criminal conviction. Success on his claims against Ms. Baars and Sergeant Hickey, alleging that they provided false information during the investigation and at trial, tampered with or withheld evidence and perjured themselves at trial, also would imply the invalidity of the criminal judgment and therefore must be dismissed. Similarly, success on plaintiff's claim that Sergeant Hickey falsely arrested him and failed to read him his rights would imply the invalidity of his conviction and therefore must be dismissed.² All of these claims are predicated on facts that existed and were known at the time of or prior to Mr. Aleotti's conviction and should have been pursued at trial or on appeal rather than in this civil action for damages, which may not be maintained absent invalidation of his conviction. Williams v. Hill, 878 F.Supp. at 272.

Even absent the Heck bar, plaintiff's malicious prosecution claim against Assistant United States Attorney Steven McCool would have to be dismissed because the prosecution of the action against Mr. Aleotti did not terminate in Mr. Aleotti's favor. Weisman v. Middleton, 390 A.2d 996 (D.C.1978); see Heck v. Humphrey, ___ U.S. at ___, 114 S.Ct. at 2371. Because the prosecution was successful and the conviction has not otherwise been invalidated, the prosecution cannot be malicious and plaintiff's claim must be dismissed.

Plaintiff's argument that Williams v. Hill and Heck v. Humphrey are inapplicable because each was brought by an incarcerated plaintiff is unavailing. The Supreme Court in Heck specifically stated that "the principle barring collateral attacks — a longstanding and deeply rooted feature of both the common law and our own jurisprudence — is not rendered inapplicable by the fortuity that a convicted criminal is no longer incarcerated." Heck v. Humphrey, ___ U.S. at ___ n. 10, 114 S.Ct. at 2374 n. 10. By the same token, this Court concludes that Heck also precludes a damages suit by a plaintiff like Mr. Aleotti who has not received a prison term for his conviction. See Wells v. Bonner, 45 F.3d 90, 92-93 (5th Cir.1995).³

2. Absolute and Qualified Immunity

Plaintiff may not maintain an action under section 1983 against Ms. Baars because he has not demonstrated or even raised a genuine issue of material fact as to whether she can fairly be said to be a state actor, i.e., that she was acting as an agent of the District of Columbia. See Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922, 937, 102 S.Ct. 2744, 2753-54, 73 L.Ed.2d 482 (1982). Although Ms. Baars was General Counsel to the District of Columbia City Council, plaintiff has presented no evidence that she acted in her official capacity in the events that led to plaintiff's arrest and conviction. All the evidence before the Court indicates that she acted as a private citizen in all relevant respects. In addition, Ms. Baars is absolutely immune from section 1983 liability for her testimony at Mr. Aleotti's trial. See Briscoe v. LaHue, 460 U.S. 325, 329, 103 S.Ct. 1108, 1112, 75 L.Ed.2d 96 (1983). For these additional reasons, judgment must be entered for Ms. Baars.

Sergeant Hickey and Captain Hennessey are shielded from liability by qualified immunity. The plaintiff has provided no direct...