Edwards v. City of Mount Vernon

46 Misc. 3d 435, 994 N.Y.S.2d 845
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 23, 2014
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 46 Misc. 3d 435 (Edwards v. City of Mount Vernon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Edwards v. City of Mount Vernon, 46 Misc. 3d 435, 994 N.Y.S.2d 845 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Francesca E. Connolly, J.

On December 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m., the City of Mount Vernon Emergency Services Unit (hereinafter ESU) executed a “no-knock” search warrant on the plaintiffs’ apartment. The warrant was obtained from a Mount Vernon City Court judge based upon information supplied by a confidential informant. At the time the warrant was executed, the plaintiff Diana Edwards, [437]*437the two-year-old plaintiff Trystan Edwards, and nonparty Orey Warren were sleeping in a rear bedroom. The ESU team broke down the plaintiffs’ front door, detonated a “flash-bang” grenade inside the apartment, and stormed the residence clad in body armor, helmets, and carrying semiautomatic rifles. The members of ESU entered the rear bedroom and handcuffed Diana Edwards and Warren.

After ESU secured the apartment, Detective Edward McCue, who had applied for and obtained the search warrant, entered the apartment and almost immediately realized that something was wrong. Instead of finding a cluttered apartment strewn with empty alcohol bottles, ashtrays, and marihuana—as the confidential informant had indicated they would find—the police encountered a “relatively neat” residence. The contraband that was the subject of the search warrant was not in the apartment and the occupants of the apartment were not the persons who were the subjects of the criminal investigation. Indeed, there is no evidence that the plaintiffs or Warren were in any way connected with the person under suspicion of criminal activity, who was the intended target of the raid.

Accordingly, the plaintiffs commenced this action to recover damages for injuries they allegedly sustained as a result of the incident. The defendant City of Mount Vernon moves for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.

Factual Background/Procedural History

The Pleadings

The plaintiffs commenced this action on or about July 13, 2011 against the City, asserting causes of action for negligence and negligent hiring, training, supervision, and retention of law enforcement officers on behalf of both plaintiffs, and causes of action for false arrest and loss of services on behalf of the plaintiff Diana Edwards. The City answered the complaint asserting various affirmative defenses, including justification, probable cause, and absolute and qualified immunity.

The City’s Motion for Summary Judgment

In support of its motion, the City relies upon, among other things, the plaintiffs’ notice of claim, a copy of the search warrant, copies of police incident reports, Diana Edwards’ General Municipal Law § 50-h hearing transcript, and deposition transcripts of Detective Edward McCue, Lieutenant Glenn Scott, and Diana Edwards.

According to Edwards’ deposition and 50-h hearing, on September 1, 2010—three months before the incident in ques[438]*438tion—she moved into the subject two-bedroom apartment, with her two-year-old son Trystan, located at 70 West 3rd Street, apartment 7J, Mount Vernon. Edwards was a full-time student at Westchester Community College and a 23-year resident of Mount Vernon. In the early morning hours of December 2, 2010, the plaintiffs and Orey Warren, who is Trystan’s father, were sleeping in the rear bedroom of the apartment. Edwards heard three loud bangs on the front door that sounded like gunshots. Warren and Edwards got out of bed and went into the living room where she observed the front door burst open and smoke bombs being thrown into the living room. Men with guns and masks rushed into the apartment yelling, “Police. Put your hands up.” Edwards ran to the rear bedroom to protect her son. When she saw that the men were in fact the police, she put her hands up, and the officers began searching for their identification. Edwards and Warren, who were both naked, were allowed to dress. They were then handcuffed and brought into the living room. A female officer stayed with Trystan in the rear bedroom. Additional officers arrived. Edwards remained in the living room in handcuffs while she watched the police “ransack” the apartment (Edwards 50-h hearing tr at 14). The officers looked through kitchen cabinets, pulled out drawers, rummaged through Trystan’s toys, moved the beds and dressers, knocked items off the dressers onto the floor, and damaged the sheetrock near the closet. The officers asked Edwards if she knew a person named N.K., whose name appeared on the warrant.1 Edwards had seen the person who she believed was N.K. in the apartment building, but had never met him. After 20 to 30 minutes had passed, an officer wearing a suit and tie told her: “This was a mistake. We didn’t mean to come in here and disturb a family. We got a call or we got a tip that the person who we were looking for lived here” (Edwards deposition at 37). After apologizing, the police left. Edwards contacted her landlord to have the front door fixed and, although the lock was fixed about a month later, the door remained damaged. Edwards also sought counseling from a neighborhood health center for herself and her son.

The day after the incident, a woman claiming to be N.K.’s mother came to her door and apologized, telling Edwards that her son no longer lived with her in the building.

The search warrant, issued by a Mount Vernon City Court judge on December 1, 2010, permitted a search of the apart[439]*439ment, at any time, for: pistols, holsters, ammunition, drugs, and any documents belonging to N.K. Further, the warrant permitted the officers to execute the search warrant without first announcing their purpose or authority (i.e., a “no-knock” warrant).

The warrant application was supported by the affidavit of Detective Edward McCue, who averred that he was investigating the crimes of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree. McCue’s affidavit states:

“This Court conducted an in-camera review of a named individual with the initials D.R. The Court was able to inquire and ask questions of this named individual. D.R. provided information that on Saturday November 27, 2010 he was hanging out with an individual he knows as ‘Gusto’ who he believes has a first name [N.]. Gusto is a male black, approximately 27 years old (D.R. then identified ‘Gusto’ from a photo of [N.K.]. . . . Your deponent was present when the identification procedure was done). The Mount Vernon Police Department Records Database indicate [sic] the following: ‘Gusto is the alias for [N.K.] . . . and that [NK] has been arrested for Criminal Possession of a Weapon and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the past.’ “Thereafter, D.R. advised this Court that ‘Gusto’ was carrying a dark colored backpack which contained a Mack 10 automatic firearm. D.R. advised that Gusto showed him the firearm in the street and that they then went to 70 West 3rd Street, Apt. J. He advised that the outside of the building is noted with a large 70 on the building and that said building is a brick building. They took the elevator up to the 7th floor, exited and entered the door to the immediate left and entered apartment 7J. Said apartment is clearly marked.
“Once inside said apartment D.R. and Gusto went inside and into the kitchen area. Once there Gusto took the Mack 10 firearm out of the backpack and again showed it to D.R. Thereafter, Gusto produced a second firearm, believed to be a .380 firearm. Gusto then took the firearms and retreated to the back room.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
46 Misc. 3d 435, 994 N.Y.S.2d 845, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/edwards-v-city-of-mount-vernon-nysupct-2014.