Fasciana v. County of Suffolk

996 F. Supp. 2d 174, 2014 WL 524466, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15692
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 7, 2014
DocketNo. 13-CV-1885 (JS)(ARL)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 996 F. Supp. 2d 174 (Fasciana v. County of Suffolk) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fasciana v. County of Suffolk, 996 F. Supp. 2d 174, 2014 WL 524466, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15692 (E.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

SEYBERT, District Judge:

Plaintiff Mark A. Fasciana (“Plaintiff’) commenced this action on April 5, 2013 against defendants Suffolk County (the “County”) and Hyundai Capital America Inc. f/k/a Hyundai Motor Finance Company (“Hyundai” and together with the County, “Defendants”) pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988 to redress violations of the Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States [178]*178Constitution. Currently pending before the Court is the County’s motion to dismiss the Complaint. For the following reasons, the County’s motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

BACKGROUND

I. Factual Background

Plaintiff alleges that, at all relevant times, he was the owner of a 2009 Hyundai bearing Vehicle Identification Number 5NMSH13EX9H232178. (Compl. ¶ 11.) According to the Complaint, on December 21, 2011, the County seized Plaintiffs vehicle “pursuant to a seizure program within which it: (a) seizes and retains possession of motor vehicles, and (b) subjects such vehicles to civil forfeiture, as ‘the instru-mentalities of a crime.’ ”1 (Compl. ¶ 12.)

Thereafter, Plaintiff was afforded a retention hearing regarding the vehicle, at the conclusion of which the County’s hearing officer ordered Plaintiff to execute a General Release to release the County of all liability before the vehicle would be returned to Plaintiff. (Compl. ¶ 29.) Plaintiff refused to sign the release and, accordingly, the County has withheld his vehicle. (Compl. ¶ 31.)

II. Legal Framework2

Plaintiff maintains that the County and its appointed hearing officers have systematically acted in defiance of both the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process requirements articulated in Krimstock v. Kelly and the requirements of the Suffolk County Code. (Compl. ¶ 20.)

In Krimstock v. Kelly, 306 F.3d 40 (2d Cir.2002) (“Krimstock /”), the Second Circuit held that, although the police can temporarily seize a vehicle while arresting a drunk driver, the municipality cannot indefinitely hold the vehicle pending resolution of a civil forfeiture proceeding. Instead, the Second Circuit found that “the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee that deprivations of property be accomplished only with due process of law requires that plaintiffs be afforded a prompt post-seizure, pre-judgment hearing before a neutral judicial or administrative officer.” Id. at 67. The Circuit “decline[d] to dictate a specific form for the prompt retention hearing,” but held that “at a minimum, the hearing must enable claimants to test the probable validity of continued deprivation of their vehicles, including the [municipality]’s probable cause for the initial warrant-less seizure” and “whether less drastic measures than impoundment, such as a bond or a restraining order, would protect the [municipalityl’s interest in the allegedly forfeitable vehicle during the pendency of proceedings.” Id. at 69-70. The Circuit, in a footnote, also stated that “[a] claimant’s proven history of persistent drunkenness or repeated DWI violations ... might justify a fact-finder in denying release of the vehicle pendente lite.” Id. at 66 n. 28. The case was remanded to the district court to “fashion[ ] appropriate relief.” Id. at 70.

On remand, the district court concluded that due process requires that, at a post-seizure hearing, the municipality prove by a preponderance of the evidence that: (1) “probable cause existed for the arrest of the vehicle operator,” (2) “it is likely that the [municipality] will prevail in an action [179]*179to forfeit the vehicle,” and (3) “it is necessary that the vehicle remain impounded in order to ensure its availability for a judgment of forfeiture.” Krimstock v. Kelly, No. 99-CV12041, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82612, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 27.2007).3 A neutral magistrate must “decide those issues by a statement of findings on the record, or by a written statement to be made a matter of record.” Krimstock, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43845, at *4; accord Krimstock, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82612, at *3. If the municipality fails to meet its burden on any of the three Krim-stock elements, the vehicle must be returned. See Krimstock, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43845, at *6-7; Krimstock, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82612, at *3.

Shortly after Krimstock I was decided, the New York Court of Appeals took up the issue and also concluded that due process requires “a prompt post-seizure retention hearing” where the municipality must “establish that probable cause existed for the defendant’s initial warrantless arrest, that it is likely to succeed on the merits of the forfeiture action, and that retention is necessary to preserve the vehicle from destruction or sale during the pendency of the proceeding.” Cnty. of Nassau v. Canavan, 1 N.Y.3d 134, 144-45, 770 N.Y.S.2d 277, 286, 802 N.E.2d 616, 625 (2003) (citation omitted).

Courts in New York have consistently looked to the three requirements articulated in both the Krimstock line of cases and Canavan when analyzing whether a post-seizure vehicle retention hearing comports with due process, see, e.g., Boyle v. Cnty. of Suffolk, No. 10-CV-3606 (JS)(ARL), 2010 WL 4340627, at *2 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 19, 2010); Price v. Prop. Clerk of N.Y.C. Police Dep’t, 74 A.D.3d 1078, 1079, 903 N.Y.S.2d 142, 144 (2d Dep’t 2010), and the Krimstock standard has been incorporated into the Suffolk County Administrative Code, which states, in relevant part, as follows:

[TJhere will be a hearing promptly scheduled before a neutral magistrate to determine whether probable cause existed for the defendant’s warrantless arrest, whether the County is likely to succeed on the merits of the forfeiture action, whether retention is necessary to preserve the vehicle from destruction or sale during the pendency of the forfeiture proceeding, and whether any other measures would better protect the County’s interest during the proceedings, including, but not limited to:
(a) Issuance of a restraining order prohibiting the sale, transfer, or loss of the vehicle with imposition(s) of appropriate penalties for violation of said restraining order;
(b) Taking of a bond; and/or
(c) Use of an interlock device.

(Gatto Deck, Docket Entry 13, Ex. J.)4

With this framework in mind, then, Plaintiff asserts that the County and its hearing officers have taken the position that they will not release a vehicle back to their owners unless the respective owner executes a General Release, releasing the County of any and all liability. (Compl. ¶ 22.) This is true “irrespective of the County’s failure to satisfy its burdens at a retention hearing, as they were articulated [180]*180in Krimstock.” (Compl.

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Bluebook (online)
996 F. Supp. 2d 174, 2014 WL 524466, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15692, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fasciana-v-county-of-suffolk-nyed-2014.