Nicholson v. Lenczewski

356 F.Supp.2d 157

Allan C. NICHOLSON, Sr. v. Eva B. LENCZEWSKI Joseph Doherty Richard A. Damiani Alan D. McWhiter Michael Slavin Waterbury Police Department City of Waterbury

No. 3:04CV1033JBA.

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

February 16, 2005.

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Allan C. Nicholson, Sr., Somers, CT, pro se.

RULING AND ORDER

ARTERTON, District Judge.

The plaintiff, Alan C. Nicholson, Sr. ("Nicholson"), an inmate confined at the Osborn Correctional Institution in Somers, Connecticut, brings this civil rights action pro se and in forma pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915. He names as defendants Senior Assistant State's Attorney Eva B. Lenczewski; Connecticut Superior Court Judges Joseph Doherty and Richard A. Damiani; Public Defender Alan D. McWhiter; Waterbury, Connecticut, police officer Michael Slavin; the Waterbury Police Department; and the City of Waterbury. Nicholson seeks damages as well as declaratory and injunctive relief for violation of federal and state constitutional rights and state law.

For the reasons that follow, all claims for injunctive relief and the requests for declaratory relief against defendants Lenczewski, Doherty and Damiani, as well as all claims against defendant McWhiter and the Waterbury Police Department are dismissed as failing to state claims upon which relief may be granted; all claims for damages against defendants Lenczewski, Doherty and Damiani are dismissed as barred by absolute prosecutorial and judicial immunity; all claims regarding excessive force and illegal search against defendants Slavin and City of Waterbury are dismissed as time-barred and the claim against defendant Slavin for providing false statements to the prosecution in his state criminal trial is dismissed without prejudice. The court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over any state law claims.

I. Standard of Review

Whenever a prisoner files an action seeking redress from a governmental entity or an officer of employee of a governmental entity, the court must review the complaint to ensure that the case goes forward only if it contains cognizable claims. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The court must dismiss the complaint, or any part thereof, if it is frivolous, malicious or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted or if it seeks monetary relief from a defendant immune from such relief. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). This screening requirement applies both where the inmate has paid the filing fee and where he is proceeding in forma pauperis.¹ See Carr v. Dvorin, 171 F.3d 115 (2d Cir.1999) (per curiam) (holding that screening requirement applied to inmate who paid filing fee to commence action).

In order to state a claim for relief under section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act, the plaintiff must satisfy a two-part test. First, the plaintiff must allege facts demonstrating that the defendant acted under color of state law. Second, he must allege facts demonstrating that he has been deprived of a constitutionally or federally protected right. See Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922, 930, 102 S.Ct. 2744, 73 L.Ed.2d 482 (1982); Washington v. James, 782 F.2d 1134, 1138 (2d Cir.1986).

II. Factual Allegations

On February 17, 1999, defendant Slavin, a Waterbury police officer, grabbed Nicholson and "forcefully slammed" him against the police car. When Nicholson questioned these actions, defendant Slavin again slammed Nicholson against the car. Nicholson was handcuffed and placed in the police car while defendant Slavin examined Nicholson's personal effects. When Nicholson was transferred from the police car to a police transport vehicle he began shouting. Defendant Slavin entered the transport vehicle and punched Nicholson several times. Defendant Slavin then returned Nicholson to the police car and drove him to the Waterbury Police Department. In the lockup area of the police department, defendant Slavin punched and kicked Nicholson several times for looking him in the eye. Nicholson was charged with robbery in the first degree and held on bond.

On February 18, 1999, Nicholson was arraigned on the robbery charge. On March 12, 1999, Nicholson met with defendant McWhiter, the public defender. Defendant McWhiter told Nicholson that things did not "look good" for him. When Nicholson asked McWhiter to file motions, defendant McWhiter told him that it was not the appropriate time. Defendant McWhiter reported that the prosecutor, defendant Lenczewski, had offered a plea agreement of thirty years. Nicholson stated that he was innocent and rejected the offer. On March 26, 1999, Nicholson again met with defendant McWhiter. Nicholson rejected a plea agreement of thirty-five years and told defendant McWhiter to begin preparing his defense.

Nicholson appeared in court on June 15, 2000. Nicholson submitted a self-styled motion to dismiss all charges for violation of his right to a speedy trial. Defendant Doherty, a Connecticut Superior Court Judge, denied the motion and ordered the trial to begin the following day on the charges of first degree robbery and persistent dangerous felony offender. The combination subjected Nicholson to a possible life sentence, deemed to be sixty years in Connecticut.

Nicholson was not afforded a probable cause hearing before trial. The hearing was required under the Connecticut Constitution and state law. The six-member jury began hearing evidence on June 27, 2000, and commenced deliberation on June 29, 2000. The following day, the jury returned a guilty verdict.

On July 19, 2000, defendant Damiani, the Pretrial and Administrative Judge in the judicial district of Fairfield, determined that, because Nicholson faced a possible life sentence, he should have had a probable cause hearing. Thus, defendant Damiani ordered that the charging document be amended and Nicholson re-enter his plea. Some of the information in the revised charging document was incorrect.

Defendant Doherty then sentenced Nicholson to a term of imprisonment of twenty-five years. On August 27, 2002, the Connecticut Appellate Court reversed the conviction on the ground that evidence was insufficient to support the verdict and vacated the sentence.²

III. Discussion

Nicholson asserts the following claims for relief: (1) defendant Slavin used excessive force in violation of his rights under the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article first of the Connecticut Constitution and also committed assault and battery in violation of state law, conducted an illegal search and seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article first of the Connecticut Constitution and denied Nicholson due process and a fair trial in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Articles first and seventeenth of the Connecticut Constitution by submitting a false police report and providing that report to the prosecutor; (2) defendant McWhiter violated Nicholson's right to due process under the U.S. and Connecticut Constitutions and state law by attempting to persuade Nicholson to accept the plea offers in breach of his fiduciary duty, permitting Nicholson to be brought to trial on charges supported by insufficient evidence and permitting him to be put to plea and tried without being afforded a probable cause hearing; (3) defendant Lenczewski violated Nicholson's right to due process and a fair trial under the U.S. and Connecticut Constitutions by charging him with robbery when cause was lacking, prosecuting him without first holding the required probable cause hearing and presenting false evidence to the jury; (4) defendant Doherty violated Nicholson's rights under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article first of the Connecticut Constitution by conducting the trial in the absence of subject matter jurisdiction; (5) defendants Doherty and Damiani denied him due process in violation of the U.S. and Connecticut Constitutions by requiring him to enter a plea and go to trial without first conducting the mandatory probable cause hearing and where there was a lack of cause for the trial; (6) defendant Damiani denied Nicholson equal protection and due process in violation of the U.S. and Connecticut Constitutions and state law when he ordered the information to be amended after trial; (7) defendants City of Waterbury and Waterbury Police Department falsely imprisoned Nicholson in violation of his rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and Article first of the Connecticut Constitution.

For relief he seeks damages, declaratory relief in the form of a finding that each of the defendants has violated his identified federal and state rights and an injunction requiring that the ruling of the Connecticut Appellate Court be included in his record and that the robbery conviction be erased from his records and his sentence be vacated.

A. Claims for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief

Nicholson seeks injunctive relief in the form of an order implementing the Connecticut Appellate Court decision vacating his robbery conviction.³ The court did not vacate Nicholson's conviction. Instead it reversed the conviction for robbery in the first degree and ordered that judgment of conviction enter on and Nicholson be resentenced for the lesser included offense of robbery in the third degree and as a persistent serious felony offender. See Nicholson, 71 Conn.App. at 600, 803 A.2d 391. That has happened. See State v. Nicholson, 83 Conn.App. 439, 440, 850 A.2d 1089, 1090 (2004) (reviewing Nicholson's appeal of the implementation of the remand order). Thus, Nicholson already has received the requested relief.

Nicholson also seeks injunctive relief in the form of an order that defendants Lenczewski, Doherty and Damiani not impair his ability to prosecute this case. Because Nicholson seeks a permanent, not preliminary, injunction, any injunctive relief will not be awarded until the conclusion of this case. At...