Hicks v. City of New York

232 F. Supp. 3d 480, 2017 WL 532304, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17903
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 8, 2017
Docket15-CV-04888 (PAC)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 232 F. Supp. 3d 480 (Hicks v. City of New York) 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
Hicks v. City of New York, 232 F. Supp. 3d 480, 2017 WL 532304, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17903 (S.D.N.Y. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION & ORDER

HONORABLE PAUL A. CROTTY, United States District Judge:

Plaintiff TYRONE HICKS (“Hicks”) was convicted in 1999 in Bronx Supreme Court of attempted rape and attempted sodomy of a woman, “T.T.”1 He was sentenced to eight years and served his time. Four years after his release, however, Hicks’ conviction was vacated; he had been exonerated by exculpatory DNA evidence.

At Mr. Hicks’ trial, T.T. was the central witness; she identified Mr. Hicks as her assailant. Mr. Hicks asserts (as he did throughout his criminal proceedings) that the New York Police Department (NYPD) used improper lineup and identification procedures which led to T.T.’s identification and his subsequent wrongful conviction. He seeks $10 million in damages.

Perhaps Mr. Hicks should be compensated by some public entity for the eight years of his life he lost due to his conviction. But who is to be held responsible; on what theory; and which public entity should pay? No member of the grand jury which indicted him; nor the Bronx Assistant District Attorneys who prosecuted him; nor the jurors who convicted him; nor the judge who conducted pre-trial hearings and the trial; nor the appellate judges who reviewed and affirmed Mr. Hicks’ conviction can be held accountable—all are immune from suit.2

[486]*486Instead Mr. Hicks brings this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against Defendants the City of New York, three NYPD Detectives (Marchman, Catalano, and Lynch), and John and Jane Does. But it appears anomalous to hold the police officers responsible for an erroneous conviction, in the absence of any constitutional or other federal law violations, when all of those who initiated, and subsequently prosecuted, the case against Mr. Hicks are immune from liability.

Mr. Hicks alleges five claims: Malicious Prosecution (Count I), Denial of Fair Trial (Count II), Failure to Intercede (Count III), and Civil Rights Conspiracy (Count IV); and State Law Malicious Prosecution (Count V).3

Defendants the City of New York and Det. Marchman (“Marchman”) (collectively, “Defendants”)4 move to dismiss all claims with prejudice, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).5 The motion is GRANTED.

The allegations are insufficient to support any of the five claims. The allegations concerning the malicious prosecution claim (Counts I and V) are not sufficient to overcome the presumption of probable cause to prosecute created by Mr. Hicks’ grand jury indictment. The claim of denial of a fair trial (Count II) fails for several reasons. First, the prosecutors and the judge who conducted pre-trial Wade and independent source hearings were aware of, and not misled by, the photo array and line-up identification procedures used with T.T.; thus, the prosecutors’ decision to continue prosecution and/or the judge’s determination to permit T.T.’s line-up and in-court identifications at trial constituted superseding causes that severed any liability of the officers. Accordingly, the claim cannot rest on any alleged suggestive identification procedures or fabricated evidence in the form of a manufactured identification. Second, none of the alleged Brady violations support a denial of fair trial claim. Neither the analysis results of a latent fingerprint obtained from T.T.’s doorframe nor other sexual assault victims’ “non-identifications” of Mr. Hicks were suppressed, as Mr. Hicks’ counsel knew of the essential facts regarding this evidence. The absence of proof here is not exculpatory. Further, the officers turned over a second threatening note to the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, and thus cannot be liable under Brady for its failure to be disclosed to Mr. Hicks. Third, there is no constitutional right to an “adequate investigation.” The failure to intercede claim (Count III) fails as Mr. Hicks does not present any specific facts showing that any office!* failed to [487]*487intercede in his arrest and prosecution, nor does he allege that any officer was aware of any constitutional violations other than those that the officer himself is alleged to have committed. Finally, the civil rights conspiracy claim (Count IV) must be dismissed as Mr. Hicks does not plead facts demonstrating an agreement between any defendants to deprive him of his rights, and even if he had, the intracorporate conspiracy doctrine would bar liability as no facts demonstrate that any alleged conspiring officers acted due to an improper personal motivation.

I. Legal Standard

In considering a motion to dismiss, a court accepts a complaint’s factual allegations as true and draws all inferences in Plaintiffs favor. See McCarthy v. Dun & Bradstreet Corp., 482 F.3d 184, 191 (2d Cir. 2007). A court must only “ ‘assess the legal feasibility of the complaint, not [] assay the weight of the evidence which might be offered in support thereof.’” GVA Mkt. Neutral Master Ltd, v. Veras Capital Partners Offshore Fund, Ltd., 580 F.Supp.2d 321, 327 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) (quoting Eternity Global Master Fund Ltd. v. Morgan Guar. Trust Co. of N.Y., 375 F.3d 168, 176 (2d Cir. 2004)). But the factual allegations must “raise a right to relief above the speculative level” and cross “the line from conceivable to plausible.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). Thus, a pleading must allege more than “labels and conclusions” or a “formu-

laic recitation of the elements of a cause of action;” facts “merely consistent with a defendant’s liability” are insufficient. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955) (internal quotations and citations omitted).

In considering a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, a court may consider documents referenced in the complaint, documents relied on by the plaintiff in bringing the action and are either in plaintiffs possession or of which plaintiff knew when bringing suit, or matters of which judicial notice may be taken. Shabazz v. Kailer, 201 F.Supp.3d 386, 390 (S.D.N.Y. 2016); Taylor v. Vt. Dep’t of Educ., 313 F.3d 768, 776 (2d Cir. 2002). Thus, a court “need not accept as true an allegation that is contradicted by documents on which the complaint relies.” In re Bristol-Myers Squibb Secs. Litig., 312 F.Supp.2d 549, 555 (S.D.N.Y. 2004).

II. Background

The Complaint’s factual allegations are taken as true.6

In the early morning hours of February 23, 1998, a man attempted to rape T.T., a 27-year-old female, while she was standing in front of an apartment building at 2303 Valentine Ave., Bronx, NY; he threatened to “put her to sleep,” while squeezing her throat. Compl. at ¶¶ 24-26, 30. T.T.’s vigorous resistance attracted tenants’ attention, one of whom called 911 and described the [488]*488perpetrator as “male, black ...

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Domroes v. White
W.D. New York, 2023
Warr v. Liberatore
270 F. Supp. 3d 637 (W.D. New York, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
232 F. Supp. 3d 480, 2017 WL 532304, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17903, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hicks-v-city-of-new-york-nysd-2017.