D'Agastino v. City of Miami

220 So. 3d 410, 42 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 682, 2017 WL 2687694, 2017 Fla. LEXIS 1364
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedJune 22, 2017
DocketNo. SC16-645
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 220 So. 3d 410 (D'Agastino v. City of Miami) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
D'Agastino v. City of Miami, 220 So. 3d 410, 42 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 682, 2017 WL 2687694, 2017 Fla. LEXIS 1364 (Ala. 2017).

Opinions

LEWIS, J.

The many and multiple complexities and conflicts generated in today’s society have produced numerous difficulties inherent in the delivery of police work and services. The City of Miami, along with other governmental units, have responded to some of those difficulties inherent in modern police work by creating citizen review and investigative panels. The present case has been generated by the creation of and powers given to a group known as the City of Miami Civilian Investigative Panel (CIP), which is an independent body designed to investigate and review instances of alleged police misconduct, and review police policies and procedures, with the ultimate goal of making recommendations to the relevant law enforcement agency. Today we consider a challenge to some of the CIP’s authority, in which Lieutenant Freddy D’Agastino and the Fraternal Order of Police seek review of the decision of the Third District Court of Appeal in D’Agastino v. City of Miami, 189 So.3d 236 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016), on the basis that it expressly and directly conflicts with a decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Demings v. Orange County Citizens Review Board, 15 So.3d 604 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009), on a question of law. The policy or wisdom of such investigative panels is not before us. Specifically, the only question before us involves the operative effect of the Police Officers’ Bill of Rights (PBR), codified in sections 112.531-.535, Florida Statutes (2008), and whether those state statutes have any preemptive force with regard to the activities of other review panels. Due to the conflict of decisions, we have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.

FACTUAL, LEGAL, AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On March 5, 2009, a complaint was filed with the CIP against Lt. D’Agastino for alleged misconduct that had occurred the day before during a traffic stop. The City of Miami Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division (Internal Affairs) subsequently fully investigated the matter, interviewing under oath the complainant, Lt. D’Agastino, and two other 'officers who were present during the traffic stop. On April 8, 2009, Internal Affairs mailed a letter to the complainant indicating that it had completed its investigation and that its findings were “inconclusive” as to the alleged misconduct “because insufficient evidence exists to prove or disprove the allegation.” Specifically, the Internal Affairs report indicated that there were no inde[414]*414pendent witnesses to corroborate either conflicting account of the incident that emerged from the sworn interviews conducted by Internal Affairs.

On April 17, 2009, nine days after the letter indicating Internal Affairs had completed its investigation, the CIP issued a subpoena to Lt. D’Agastino ordering him to appear before the CIP to testify. However, on May 22, 2009, Lt. D’Agastino filed an action in the circuit court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit alleging that the CIP as an investigative authority conflicts with a component of the PBR, section 112.533(1), Florida Statutes. As a result, Lt. D’Agastino requested that the subpoena issued by the CIP be quashed and a protective order entered. Separately, the Fraternal Order of Police had filed a declaratory action also alleging that the CIP was in conflict with section 112,533(1), Florida Statutes. The two cases were consolidated and the trial court ultimately ruled in favor of the City of Miami and the CIP on cross-motions for summary judgment. Lt. D’Agastino then appealed the trial court’s decision to the Third District Court of Appeal. The Third District affirmed, entertained a motion for rehearing for three years, but ultimately issued a substituted opinion once again affirming the trial court’s order. The Third District’s decision was by a vote of two to one. Before we delve into the details of the legal reasoning at issue, however, it is helpful to understand the state law and municipal ordinances that are at issue and under consideration here.

The Police Officers’ Bill of Rights

We begin with the Police Officers’- Bill of Rights, codified in Part VI of Chapter 112 of the Florida Statutes. Most relevant here, section 112.533 is titled “Receipt and processing of complaints,” and provides in pertinent part:

(l)(a) Every law enforcement agency and. correctional agency shall establish and put into operation a system for the receipt, investigation, and determination of complaints received by such agency from any person, which shall be the procedure for investigating a complaint against a law enforcement and correctional officer and for determining whether to proceed with disciplinary action or to file disciplinary charges, notwithstanding any other law or ordinance to the contrary. When law enforcement or correctional agency personnel assigned the responsibility of investigating the complaint prepare an investigative report or summary, regardless of form, the person preparing the report shall, at the time the report is completed:
1. Verify pursuant to s. 92.525 that the contents of the report are true and accurate based upon the person’s personal knowledge, information, and belief.
2. Include the following statement, sworn and subscribed to pursuant to s. 92.525:
“I, the undersigned, do hereby swear, under penalty of perjury, that, to the best of my personal knowledge, information, and belief, I have not knowingly or willfully deprived, or allowed another to deprive, the subject of the investigation of any of the rights contained in ss. 112.532 and 112.533, Florida Statutes.” The requirements of subparagraphs 1. and 2. shall be completed prior to the determination as to whether to proceed with disciplinary action or to file disciplinary charges. This subsection does not preclude the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission from exercising its authority under chapter 943,
(b)l.. Any political subdivision that initiates or receives, a, complaint against a law enforcement officer or correctional [415]*415officer must within 5 business days forward the complaint to the employing agency of the-officer who is the subject of the complaint for review or investigation.
2. For purposes of this paragraph, the term “political subdivision” means a separate agency or unit of local government created or established by law or ordinance and the officers thereof and includes, but is not limited to, an authority, board, branch, bureau, city, commission, consolidated government, county, department, district, institution, metropolitan government, municipality, office, officer, public corporation, town, or village.

§ 112.533(1), Fla. Stat. (2008) (emphasis added).1

Immediately preceding is section 112.532, titled “Law enforcement officers’ and correctional officers’ rights.” Section 112.532 introduces several rights afforded to law enforcement officers2 with the following language, “All law enforcement officers ... employed by or appointed to a law enforcement agency ... shall have the following rights and privileges.” § 112.532(1), Fla. Stat. Those rights and privileges are enumerated in six subsections and many subparagraphs.

The first set of rights and privileges are those “Rights of Law Enforcement Officers and Correctional Officers While Under Investigation,” enumerated in subsection 112.532(1):

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Bluebook (online)
220 So. 3d 410, 42 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 682, 2017 WL 2687694, 2017 Fla. LEXIS 1364, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dagastino-v-city-of-miami-ala-2017.