Diop v. City of N.Y.

50 F.Supp.3d 411

Hamath DIOP, Plaintiff

v.The CITY OF NEW YORK, Police Officer Dana Martillo, Police Officer Troy A. Blake, and Police Officer John Does 1 and 2, Defendants.

No. 1:13–cv–825–GHW.

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

Signed Aug. 21, 2014.

David Thomas Roche, David T. Roche, Esq., New York, NY, for Plaintiff.

Anthony Matthew Disenso, Daniel Louis Passeser, New York City Law Department, New York, NY, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

GREGORY H. WOODS, United States District Judge:

Defendants the City of New York (the “City”) and New York City Police Department Officers Dana Martillo and Troy Blake¹ move for summary judgment on plaintiff Hamath Diop's claims for false arrest and malicious prosecution under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law, and for municipal liability under § 1983. It is undisputed that Mr. Diop was the victim of a harrowing ordeal. He was threatened at knife-point by three men not known to him. He was forced to drive his car dangerously to help the men flee from a robbery that they had just committed. He was robbed. Yet after the three robbers fled from his car and Mr. Diop shouted to a police officer for help, Mr. Diop was arrested and prosecuted for traffic violations and possession of the stolen property left behind in his car by the robbers who had victimized him. The Court fully recognizes that Mr. Diop suffered through a chain of misfortune. At the same time, the law appropriately provides qualified immunity for police officers, protecting them from personal liability for the decisions that they make in situations such as this—difficult, fast-moving, on-the-job decisions about which officers of reasonable competence could disagree. The Court holds that, while the defendants have not established that Mr. Diop's arrest and prosecution were supported by probable cause, the individual defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. The Court further holds that Mr. Diop cannot establish a municipal liability claim against the City. Accordingly, the defendants' summary judgment motion is granted and Mr. Diop's claims are dismissed.

I. Background²

On November 7, 2011, at approximately 4:00 p.m., Lea Geyser was robbed by three African American males in the Clinton–Washington Avenues G-train Metro Station in Brooklyn, New York. Dkt. No. 12, Declaration of Daniel Passeser Submitted in Support of Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (“Passeser Decl.”), Ex. A (Joint Stipulation of Undisputed Facts) (“Joint Stip.”) ¶¶ 1–3. The perpetrators forcibly took the victim's phone and a purse that contained her credit cards. Id. ¶ 5. Diop, an African male, did not commit the robbery. Id. ¶¶ 2, 4. Officer Martillo witnessed the robbery, but was too far away to identify any of the perpetrators and lost sight of them when they exited the subway station. Id. ¶ 12; Passeser Decl., Ex. C (Affidavit of Dana Martillo) (“Martillo Aff.”) ¶ 4.

At the time that the robbery took place, Diop was working as an unlicensed taxi driver and was sitting in the driver's seat of a vehicle outside of the subway station looking for passengers. Joint Stip. ¶ 8. The three perpetrators of the robbery fled to Diop's vehicle, opened the rear door, and entered the back seat. Id. ¶ 9. One of the perpetrators held a knife to Diop's neck and ordered him to drive, while another stole Diop's phone and money from a compartment between the seats. Id. ¶ 10; Dkt. No. 18, Declaration of David T. Roche in Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (“Roche Decl.”), Ex. A (Affidavit of Hamath Diop) (“Diop Aff.”) ¶ 7. Diop complied with the order and drove away from the scene. Joint Stip. ¶ 11. Diop subsequently drove through a red light, striking another vehicle in the process, and continued to drive, all the while acting on the demands of the perpetrators. Id. ¶¶ 15–16.

Around the same time, Officer Blake was driving north on Clinton Avenue in his marked police vehicle when he heard a screech and crash indicative of a car accident near the intersection of Lafayette and Clinton Avenues. Passeser Decl., Ex. B (Affidavit of Troy Blake) (“Blake Aff.”) ¶ 4. Officer Blake drove to that intersection and observed a damaged vehicle. Id. ¶ 5. Bystanders pointed Officer Blake in the direction of Diop's vehicle, which Officer Blake pursued. Id. ¶¶ 6–7.

After leaving the scene of the accident, Diop turned his vehicle onto a one-way street going in the wrong direction, again acting on the demands of the perpetrators. Joint Stip. ¶ 17. Officer Blake observed Diop's vehicle turn onto a one-way street going in the wrong direction. Id. ¶ 20. Upon seeing Officer Blake's marked police vehicle, Diop pulled his vehicle alongside Officer Blake's vehicle, stopped his vehicle, and shouted “Help, they rob me!” Diop Aff. ¶ 9. The three perpetrators subsequently kicked open the rear doors of Diop's vehicle and fled the scene on foot. Id. Diop remained in his vehicle and shouted to Officer Blake, “Catch them, they rob me!” Id. Officer Blake handcuffed Diop and placed him under arrest for leaving the scene of an accident. Id. ¶ 10; Blake Aff. ¶ 9. Diop explained to Officer Blake that he had been robbed and ordered to drive at knife-point and asked Officer Blake to look at a cut on his neck that had been caused by the perpetrator's knife. Diop. Aff. ¶ 10. Officer Blake refused to look at Diop's neck and ordered him to “shut up.”³ Id.

Officer Blake then observed a purse in the back seat of Diop's vehicle and, upon searching it, discovered identification and credit cards belonging to Lea Geyser. Joint Stip. ¶¶ 22–23. At that point, Officer Blake suspected that the purse had been stolen and broadcasted over his police radio that he may have apprehended the perpetrator of a robbery. Id. ¶ 24. Multiple police officers, including Officer Martillo, responded to the scene. Id. ¶ 25. Officer Martillo was accompanied by Ms. Geyser, who positively identified the purse recovered from Diop's vehicle as the purse that was stolen from her. Id. ¶ 26. Diop told Officer Martillo that he was the victim of a robbery, not a perpetrator, and that one of the perpetrators had held a knife to his neck, causing a small cut, which he showed her. Id. ¶ 27. The parties dispute whether Ms. Geyser identified Diop as one of the perpetrators of the robbery at the scene of his arrest. Compare Martillo Aff. ¶ 11 (“Lea Geyser stated to me at the scene of the arrest that the person stopped, Hamath Diop, was one of the perpetrators of the robbery.”), with Diop Aff. ¶ 12 (“I was not identified by a civilian witness at the arrest location.”).⁴ One of the robbery perpetrators was later apprehended one block away. Pl. Rule 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 56.

In a November 8, 2011 criminal court complaint signed by Officer Martillo, Diop was charged with failure to obey a traffic control signal, in violation of N.Y. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1111(d)(1) ; leaving the scene of an accident without reporting, in violation of N.Y. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 600(1)(a) ; and possession of stolen property in the fourth and fifth degrees, in violation of N.Y. Penal Law §§ 165.45(2) and 165.40. Passeser Decl., Ex. D (Criminal Compl.). All charges against Diop were dismissed after the Grand Jury failed to return an indictment. Joint Stip. ¶ 33.

II. Procedural History

Diop commenced this action in February 2013, raising claims for false arrest/imprisonment and malicious prosecution under § 1983 and New York state law, and for municipal liability under § 1983. In June 2014, Defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing that Diop's arrest and prosecution were supported by probable cause, that Officers Blake and Martillo are entitled to qualified immunity, and that Diop fails to state a municipal liability claim.See Dkt. No. 15 (“Defendants' Mem.”). Defendants also moved to stay discovery, pending resolution of their qualified immunity defenses. In July 2014, the Court granted the latter motion and stayed discovery against Officers Martillo and Blake. See Dkt. No. 16.

In opposition to Defendants' summary judgment motion, Diop principally argues that the undisputed facts establish that Officers Blake and Martillo lacked even arguable probable cause to arrest and prosecute him, because it was readily apparent that he was the victim of a robbery rather than a perpetrator and that he had been compelled to commit various traffic crimes. See Dkt. No. 17 (“Plaintiff's Mem.”). As to his municipal liability claim, Diop asserts that “the police actions taken [in this case] could only have occurred if the [City's] supervision caused, permitted, condoned, and allowed the improper police practices to occur.” Id. at 13. Diop further asserts that, at the very least, he should have the opportunity to depose Officers Blake and Martillo and their “supervisors and fellow officers” in order to discover evidence relevant to his municipal liability claim. Id. at 15–16.

III. Analysis

A. Standard of Review

A party is entitled to summary judgment upon a showing “that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). A fact is “material” if its resolution “might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). In determining whether material facts are in dispute, all ambiguities are resolved and all inferences are drawn in favor of the non-moving party. See Kerzer v. Kingly Mfg., 156 F.3d 396, 400 (2d Cir.1998).

B. False Arrest

A § 1983 claim for false arrest is substantially the same as a false arrest claim under New York law. Weyant v. Okst, 101 F.3d 845, 852 (2d Cir.1996). To state a claim for false arrest under New York law, a plaintiff must show that: “(1) the defendant intended to confine [the plaintiff], (2) the plaintiff was conscious of the confinement, (3) the plaintiff did not consent to the confinement and (4) the confinement was not otherwise privileged.” Singer v....