Frey v. Maloney

Page 141

476 F.Supp.2d 141

Justin F., Douglas FREY, Plaintiffs, v. Phillip MALONEY, et al., Defendants.

No. 3:04CV1149 (MRK).

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

March 7, 2007.

Arthur L. Ledford, Law Office of Arthur L. Ledford, LLC, Hamden, CT, Douglas Andrew Frey, Seymour, CT, for Plaintiffs.

Christopher G. Arciero, Jennifer L. Booker, John H. Hanks, Jr., Robert E. Young, Noble, Spector, Young & O'Connor, Hartford, CT, for Defendants.

RULING AND ORDER

KRAVITZ, District Judge.

In this action, Plaintiffs Douglas Frey and Justin F. sue the Town of Milford and Milford Police Sgt. Phillip Maloney under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968, and Connecticut state law. See Complaint [doc. # 1]. Plaintiffs claim that Sgt. Maloney violated their constitutional, statutory, and common law rights when he allegedly elicited false statements from other minors in order to obtain a warrant for the arrest of Justin, also then a minor, on charges of criminal attempt at sexual assault of a minor. In particular, Plaintiffs assert claims of false arrest, malicious prosecution, and racketeering, as well as claims that Sgt. Maloney violated Justin's constitutional rights, including his rights under the Fifth Amendment. Currently pending before the Court is Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment [doc. # 95].

The Court has no doubt that Justin's arrest and prosecution were a source of great emotional distress for Douglas Frey and his son Justin, that they remain extremely upset by the handling of the incident that led to Justin's arrest, and that they genuinely and in good faith believe, perhaps even rightly, that the other minors' allegations against Justin were false and unfounded. Nothing in this decision is intended to demean their pain in any way. However, this civil action is not the forum in which to determine the truth regarding what Justin did or did not do with the other minors. The proper venue for vindication of that sort was the juvenile court, where Plaintiffs, for undoubtedly good and sufficient reasons, decided to enter into a plea arrangement. Thus, the central issue in this case is not whether the other minors told the truth about Justin, but rather whether Sgt. Maloney unlawfully misstated their assertions in his application to the state court for an arrest warrant or knew that the minors' assertions were false at the time he applied for the arrest warrant. For the reasons that follow, the Court concludes that Sgt. Maloney did not do so. As a consequence, the Court GRANTS Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment on Plaintiffs' § 1983 claims and RICO claims. Having disposed of the only federal claims in this case, the Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiffs' state law claims, which the Court DISMISSES without prejudice to renewal in state court.

I.

This case arises from the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of Justin for the alleged criminal attempt at sexual assault of a minor victim, whom the Court will refer to as "K." The warrant Sgt. Maloney obtained for Justin's arrest on that charge was also supported by allegations from two other minors, whom the Court will refer to as "O" and "N." As is required on a motion for summary judgment, the Court relates the facts in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs. This brief factual recitation draws principally from uncontested statements in the Defendants' 56(a) Statement [doc. # 96-2]. Further facts will be recited, as needed, in later sections.

On May 7, 2003, Milford police received a report of suspicious activity and sexual contact involving children. Milford Police Officer Kakalow responded to this report. Officer Kakalow met the complainant, K's mother, who gave an initial written and sworn statement declaring that Justin (age 14) had touched her daughter K (age 11) in a sexual way and attempted to unhook her bra while she, N (male, age 10), and O (male, age 8) had been playing at Justin's house two days before. See 56(a) Statement [doc. # 96-2] para. 5. While at the complainant's house, O told Officer Kakalow that Justin exposed himself and asked O to engage in a specific sexual act that need not be repeated here. Id. para 6. Also at that time, N told Officer Kakalow that Justin "beat him up and left bruises on his back." Id. para. 7. Officer Kakalow suspended any further questioning of O and N until their parents had been notified of the allegations. Stephen Stefan, Justin's neighbor, confirmed in a sworn statement to Officer Kakalow that on the afternoon following the alleged incident, the three minor victims had made the same allegations against Justin, and that he had told them to tell K's mother about Justin's conduct.

Initially, K's mother did not wish to press charges against Justin, but merely wanted him to get help and wanted to make certain that Justin's father, Douglas Frey, was made aware of the situation. After being notified of the incident, O's parents also indicated they did not want to pursue charges against Justin, but they did ask that the incident be made a matter of record. Officer Kakalow attempted unsuccessfully to speak with Plaintiffs at their home, and left a note asking Mr. Frey to contact him at the Milford Police Department.

On the following day, Sgt. Maloney, a member of Milford Police Department's Youth Bureau, took over the investigation of the allegations regarding Justin. He contacted the New Haven Juvenile Court Prosecutor Cathleen Edwards to apprise her of the incident and to advise her that no one interviewed wished to press charges against Justin. Sgt. Maloney also informed her that he would be contacting the Connecticut Department of Children and Families ("DCF"), in accordance with applicable Connecticut law. Ms. Edwards told Sgt. Maloney that, if the events alleged did occur, she wanted Justin to receive counseling; it was Ms. Edwards' position that, if Justin did receive counseling, she would not pursue a prosecution of the alleged incident. See 56(a) Statement [doc. # 96-2] para. 12.

Sgt. Maloney contacted K's mother on May 9, 2003, and she confirmed once again that she did not wish to file any charges. On May 15, 2003, Sgt. Maloney received a phone call from Lori Read, a case worker that DCF had assigned to the investigation. She informed Sgt. Maloney that she would attempt to contact Mr. Frey. Ms. Read then sent two letters to Mr. Frey in an attempt to initiate that inquiry. On May 21, 2003, Ms. Read informed Sgt. Maloney that Mr. Frey would not allow her to interview Justin, and she described Mr. Frey as being uncooperative.

Sgt. Maloney claims that he then contacted Mr. Frey and informed him that if he and Justin cooperated with DCF and followed DCF's suggestions for counseling, the authorities would not pursue an arrest of Justin. Mr. Frey disputes Sgt. Maloney's claim. Mr. Frey asserts that during their conversation, he advised Sgt. Maloney that there was no credible evidence against Justin. Mr. Frey also alleges that Sgt. Maloney insisted that Justin be tested and threatened to "make things worse" for Justin if he did not submit to an interview with DCF and psychological testing. See Plaintiff's Local Rule 56(a) Statement [doe. # 109] para. 17; Memorandum in Support [doe. # 96] Ex. C at 92-93. Mr. Frey did not ask Sgt. Maloney what he meant by the phrase "make things worse." Sgt. Maloney allegedly then threatened that if Mr. Frey did not accede to his demands, Sgt. Maloney would tell the state court that Mr. Frey had been uncooperative. See Pls.' Local Rule 56(a) Statement [doe. # 109] Ex. 1 para. 10 (Affidavit of Douglas Frey).

On June 10, 2003, Ms. Read contacted Sgt. Maloney to inform him that Mr. Frey was not cooperating to DCF's satisfaction. Sgt. Maloney then left Mr. Frey a telephone message, which Mr. Frey recorded, stating the following: (1) that the investigation would continue; (2) that Sgt. Maloney wanted to know whether Mr. Frey would allow him to interview Justin; (3) that Sgt. Maloney would interview other individuals; and (4) that Sgt. Maloney would inform Mr. Frey if a warrant issued for Justin's arrest. See 56(a) Statement [doe. # 96-2] para. 19. On June 14, Milford Police Detective Ricci met with and obtained a written statement from N, whose parents had brought him to the station, and on June 15, Detective Riordan met with 0 and his father. Sgt. Maloney asserts that 0 told Det. Riordan about the substance of O's earlier accusations, and that O's father then prevented Det. Riordan from interviewing 0 further. Id. para. 21. Mr. Frey disputes the content of Det. Riordan's conversation with 0 on the basis of statements that O's father allegedly later made to Mr. Frey.

On June 16, 2003, Sgt. Maloney obtained a written statement from K. While K's original allegations against Justin were that he pulled up her shirt and tried to unhook her bra, the written statement Sgt. Maloney obtained on June 16 contained more serious allegations against Justin. Besides alleging earlier incidents when Justin behaved in a sexual manner toward her, including the incident in which Justin supposedly exposed himself to 0, K also asserted that on the day of the incident in question, Justin had beaten up N, and after burying N in pillows, directed K to lay down on a mattress in Justin's living room with her eyes closed. K asserted that Justin then "started touching [her], and during the touching [of her] on all the private parts, he then took out his thing, started humping [her], and touching [her] at the same time." Mem. in Supp. [doe. # 96] Ex. G. K said that she then opened her eyes and started screaming, that N began to get up from the pillows, but that Justin told N to remain where he was. K claimed that she began screaming for N to get up, that he did so, and that Justin quickly righted his clothing and began again to beat N. K claimed that she attempted to escape the situation, but...