Green v. City of Mount Vernon

96 F. Supp. 3d 263, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42533, 2015 WL 1455701
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMarch 31, 2015
DocketCase No. 10-CV-707 (KMK)
StatusPublished
Cited by89 cases

This text of 96 F. Supp. 3d 263 (Green v. City of Mount Vernon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Green v. City of Mount Vernon, 96 F. Supp. 3d 263, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42533, 2015 WL 1455701 (S.D.N.Y. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION & ORDER

KENNETH M. KARAS, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Ivamae Green (“Green”), Fitzroy Barnes, Fatima Barnes, and Eus-tace Barnes (collectively, “Plaintiffs”)1 [275]*275bring this Action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and New York State law, alleging that Defendants Sergeant Glenn Scott (“Scott”), ‘ Sergeant Chris Gallagher (“Gallagher”), Richard Fox (“Fox”), Michael Kushner (“Kushner”), Leonard Cooper (“Cooper”),2 Eugene Wilson (“Wilson”), Richard Azron (“Azron”), Jared Kmiotek (“Kmiotek”), Jane Doe a/ka Jean Jerome (“Jane Doe”) (collectively, the “Police Officer Defendants”), and the City of Mount Vernon (“Mount Vernon”) violated the U.S. Constitution and committed a number of state torts. Defendants move to dismiss all claims. For the following reasons, the Motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I. Background

A. Factual Background

The following facts are drawn from Plaintiffs’ Fourth Amended Complaint (“FAC”), and certain documents the Parties submitted that the Court considers, as explained below, and are taken as true for the purpose of resolving the instant Motion. This action arises out of a search of Plaintiffs’ home that occurred on June 3, 2009 at approximately 10:30 p.m. pursuant to a search warrant that relied in part on information from a confidential informant (“Cl”) and that identified two people allegedly involved in the sale of cocaine. (See Fourth Am. Compl. (“FAC”) ¶ 10 (Dkt. No. 47).) At the time of the search, Green was “home in her apartment with her three infant children.” (Id.) Scott, Fox, and Kushner, acting “with a purportedly] valid search warrant,” broke down the door to Plaintiffs’ apartment “without any prior warning,” entered the apartment with guns drawn, and “threatened bodily harm” to Plaintiffs if they did not comply with police demands. (Id.; see also id. ¶ 27 (alleging that Scott, Fox, and Kmiotek “intentionally placed [Plaintiffs] in fear of imminent harm or contact” when they drew their guns, pointed the guns at all three Plaintiffs, and threatened them with immediate harm (internal quotation marks omitted)).) Scott, Fox, and Kushner then “handcuffed and arrested” Green and separated her from her children. (Id. ¶ 10.) Plaintiffs allege that the Police Officer Defendants “intended to confine Plaintiffs,” that “Plaintiffs objected to and were conscious of the confinement at gun point,” and that the confinement “was not privileged” because the search warrant was invalid. (Id. ¶ 49.)

After Green was handcuffed, Cooper, Wilson, Azron, Kmiotek, Jane Doe, and McKennie entered the apartment. (Id. ¶ 10.) Plaintiffs allege that McKennie forced Green to strip off all of her clothing, and that Jane Doe and McKennie performed two vaginal searches of Plaintiff. (Id. ¶ 10.)3 Plaintiffs allege that Jane Doe and McKennie “completely ransacked Plaintiffs’] apartment[,] destroying much of [their] property[.]” (Id.) Furthermore, Plaintiffs allege that the Police Officer Defendants searched Green’s apartment, but did not find drugs or either of the two [276]*276individuals described in the search warrant. (Id.)

Plaintiffs allege that “[d]uring the search,” Scott told Green that “they had entered the wrong apartment.” (Id. ¶ 11.) However, Plaintiffs allege that even after Scott stated that they were in the wrong place, the apartment search continued, as did “the imprisonment” of Plaintiffs and the “further destruction of’ Plaintiffs’ property. (Id.)4 Plaintiffs also allege that Mount Vernon and the Police Officer Defendants “negligently or intentionally caused personal injuries and traumatic emotional distress to all Plaintiffs.” (Id. ¶ 41.) In particular, Plaintiffs allege that they were “rendered sick, sore, lame, and disabled,” and have incurred medical expenses as a result of the Police Officer Defendants’ actions. (Id. ¶54.) Finally, Plaintiffs allege that Defendants did not “perform repairs” on Plaintiffs’ apartment. (Id. ¶ 18.)

Plaintiffs claim that there were defects with the search warrant and the affidavit submitted by Detective Fegan in support of the search warrant (the “Fegan Affidavit” or the “Affidavit”).5 First, Plaintiffs allege that Defendants’ search warrant was “defective on its face,” because it “described the premises to be searched as ‘15 South 5th Avenue, 1st floor apartment,’” and therefore “does not state with particularity what is meant by the ‘1st’ floor.” (Id. ¶ 14.) More specifically, the warrant states that it authorizes a search and seizure “FOR THE FOLLOWING RESIDENTIAL PREMISES: 15 SOUTH 15TH AVENUE, 1ST FLOOR APARTMENT WITH SIDE ENTRANCE ON NORTH SIDE OF HOUSE.” (Affn of Hina Sherwani (“Sherwani Affn”) Ex. B (First Floor Search Warrant) (“Search Warrant”), at unnumbered 1 (Dkt. No. 52).) Additionally, Plaintiffs allege that the “warrant describes, two ... individuals! — ]FNU LNU[ ] ‘Blue[,]’ a male black, and FNU LNU[ ] ‘Jan[,]’ a female black,” as residing in or being present in the apartment to be searched, but that “[n]either of these individuals resides [in] or was present in [the] apartment.” (FAC ¶ 14.) In addition to providing for the search and seizure of those two individuals, the warrant also states that it authorizes a search and seizure of “ANY INDIVIDUALS ON THE PREMISES AT THE TIME OF THE SEARCH WARRANT EXECUTION INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THOSE EXERCISING CONTROL AND OR DOMINION OVER SAID PREMISES, ACTING IN THE ROLE OF A LESSEE, SUB-LESSEE AND/OR OWNER.” (Search Warrant at unnumbered 1.) The warrant further provides, “You are therefore commanded at any hour of the day or night, without first announcing your purpose or authority, to make a search of the above listed Premises and person(s) for cocaine as described in Penal Law Sections 220.00.” (Id. at unnumbered 2 (emphasis added).) Furthermore, the warrant lists the items to be seized. (Id.)

In addition to alleging that the warrant was defective on its face, Plaintiffs allege [277]*277that after the warrant was issued, the Defendant Police Officers and Mount Vernon “as a matter of policy did no investigation to [e]nsure that, prior to [the] execution of [the] warrant, the facts [underlying the] warrant were reasonably correct, and that [the] persons named in the warrant actually resided there.” (FAC ¶ 21; see also id. ¶ 33 (alleging that the search warrant lacked probable cause because the Defendant Police Officers and Mount Vernon “did no investigation[,] as a matter of policy, to [e]nsure that the information they obtained from their informant was true, reliable, and credible.”).)6 Plaintiffs conclude that all of the above facts are “proof that the Affidavit submitted to the [c]ourt to obtain [the] search warrant was not credible, and the ‘informant’ who provided the information was unreliable.” (Id. ¶ 14.)

With regard to. the Fegan Affidavit, Plaintiffs submit that the affiant, Detective Fegan, who the Court notes is not named as a Defendant in the FAC, stated that “he received information from a registered and reliable confidential informant,” that the Mount Vernon Police “sent the informant” to 15 South 15th Ave.

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Bluebook (online)
96 F. Supp. 3d 263, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42533, 2015 WL 1455701, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/green-v-city-of-mount-vernon-nysd-2015.