Jeanty v. City of Miami

876 F. Supp. 2d 1334, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100392, 2012 WL 2877596
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedJuly 13, 2012
DocketCase No. 10-20513-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 876 F. Supp. 2d 1334 (Jeanty v. City of Miami) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jeanty v. City of Miami, 876 F. Supp. 2d 1334, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100392, 2012 WL 2877596 (S.D. Fla. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (D.E. 145, 148, 169) AS TO PLAINTIFF’S SECTION 1983 CLAIMS, DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AS TO PLAINTIFF’S SUPPLEMENTAL STATE-LAW CLAIMS, DISMISSING PLAINTIFF’S SUPPLEMENTAL STATE-LAW CLAIMS WITHOUT PREJUDICE, DENYING ALL OTHER PENDING MOTIONS AS MOOT, AND CLOSING CASE

JOAN A. LENARD, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE is before the Court on Defendants’ Motions for Summary Judgment (D.E. 145, 1/30/12; D.E. 148, 1/30/12; D.E. 169, 2/16/12), Plaintiffs Responses (D.E. 176, 2/27/12; D.E. 177, 2/27/12; D.E. 184, 3/1/12), and Defendants’ Replies (D.E. 198, 3/22/12; D.E. 199, 3/22/12; D.E. 200, 3/26/12). Having considered the Motions, Responses, Replies, related pleadings, and the record, the Court finds as follows.

I. Facts

The record evidence, viewed in a light most favorable to the non-moving party, reveals the following.

Plaintiff Gary Jeanty is the president and owner of the Security Enforcement Authority (“SEA”), a security services company. (Plaintiffs Statement of Facts, D.E. 178 at ¶ III.A.1.) SEA contracted to provide security services for the Villa de Campo Condominiums. (Id. at ¶ III.A.2.) The Villa de Campo Condominium complex is located outside Miami in Miami-Dade County. (Id.)

The Villa de Campo Condominium Association prohibits motorists from parking on the grass of the premises. (Id.) SEA security guards enforce this policy by placing [1338]*1338parking violation stickers on any improperly-parked vehicles. (Id.)

On the morning of March 10, 2008, SEA security guard George Ristic placed a violation sticker on a car parked on the grass. (Id. at ¶ III.B.4.) The car belonged to Defendant City of Miami Police Officer Carlos Antunez. (Id.) Antunez approached Ristic later that morning. (Id.) Antunez was in uniform and driving his City of Miami police cruiser. (Id.) He was visibly angry. (Id.) Ristic explained that it was his responsibility to place violation stickers on any cars parked on the grass. (Id.) Antunez threatened to arrest Ristic or any other employee he caught placing violation stickers on his car. (Id.) Antunez took out his citation book and said, “You want to put tickets, I can put tickets too.” (Id.) Antunez wrote and issued to Ristic three traffic citations. (Id.) Ristic called Jeanty for assistance, but Antunez forced Ristic to hang up the phone. (Id. at ¶ III.B.5.)

Three days later, on March 13, 2008, Antunez confronted SEA security guard Oralus Agustín. (Id. at ¶ III.B.7.) Antunez was in uniform and driving his cruiser. (Id.) Antunez told Agustín that he was going to arrest anyone he caught driving an SEA truck. (Id.) Agustín called Jeanty for help, and Jeanty drove to the scene in his ear. (Id. at ¶ III.B.8.)

When he arrived, Jeanty parked his car within a crosswalk and within thirty feet of a stop sign. (Defendant Antunez’s Statement of Facts, D.E. 148 at ¶¶ 7, 18.) The tags on Jeanty’s car were expired as of October 27, 2007. (Plaintiffs Statement of Facts, D.E. 178 at ¶ 1.11.)

Jeanty exited his vehicle and proceeded toward Antunez. (Id.) Jeanty identified himself and asked Antunez what the problem was. (Plaintiffs Statement of Facts, D.E. 178 at ¶ 1.8.) Antunez was yelling and threatening arrest, so Jeanty called the Miami-Dade dispatch for assistance. (Id.) At some point Jeanty ended the phone call and walked back to his car. (Id. at ¶ 1.9.)

Antunez then got into his own vehicle, pulled up behind Jeanty’s, and activated his cruiser lights. (Id. at ¶ III.B.9) Antunez removed Jeanty from his car and placed him in a spread-eagle position on the back of the cruiser. (Id.) Antunez fidgeted with his handgun and ultimately ordered Jeanty to sit down. (Id.)

Miami-Dade County Police Officers Orlando Lopez and Cynthia Lendore arrived soon thereafter. (Id. at ¶ III.B.10.) According to Lopez and Lendore, Antunez was behaving unprofessionally and antagonistically. (Id. at ¶ III.B.ll.) Antunez told them that Jeanty was being arrested for an expired tag. (Id. at ¶ III.B.10.) Lopez and Lendore handcuffed Jeanty and transported him to the Miami-Dade County Jail. (Id. at ¶ III.B.15.)

Antunez prepared an arrest affidavit listing “expired reg. for more than 6 months” as the basis of the arrest. (Arrest Affidavit, D.E. 147-4 at 1.) MiamiDade County Police Sergeant Vince Atherley notarized the arrest affidavit. (Plaintiffs Statement of Facts, D.E. 178 at ¶ III.B.16.) Jeanty was detained for approximately twenty-eight hours. (Id. at ¶ III.B.17.)

The City of Miami Police Internal Affairs Division later investigated the incident. (Id. at ¶ III.C.22.) The Internal Affairs Division found no probable cause to support Jeanty’s arrest. (Id.) The Division reasoned that driving with an expired registration is arrestable only if the registration has been expired for over six months and the driver has committed a previous offense. (Id.) Jeanty’s registration was expired for only four months and eighteen days at the time of his arrest, and Antunez failed to properly verify Jeanty’s registration status before arresting him. (Id.) The Division also found that Antunez [1339]*1339had improperly patrolled beyond his jurisdiction and that his actions toward Jeanty and Ristie were retaliatory in nature. (Id.)

: Jeanty initiated this civil rights action in February 2010. Jeanty’s Complaint sets forth the following allegations against Defendants:

Count_Defendant_. Basis_Allegation_

1 City of Miami :_Florida state law_False arrest_

2 City of Miami Florida state law Negligent hiring, training, and

_supervision_

3 City of Miami 42 U.S.C. § 1983 / 4th Policy, custom, and practice and 14th Amendments resulting in constitutional _deprivations_

4 City of Miami 42 U.S.C. § 1983 / 4th Failure to train, hire, monitor, _and 14th Amendments supervise, and control_

5 City of Miami_Florida state law_False imprisonment_

6 Officer Antunez 42 U.S.C. § 1983 / 4th False arrest _and 14th Amendments_

7 Miami-Dade County Florida state law_False arrest_•

8 Miami-Dade County Florida state law_False imprisonment_

9 Officer Lendore . 42 U.S.C. § 1983 / 4th False arrest _and 14th Amendments_

10 Officer Lopez 42 U.S.C. § 1983/ 4th and False arrest _14th Ameiidments_

(Third Amended Complaint, D.E 118.)

II. Motions for Summary Judgment

Defendants move for summary judgment in three separate motions. (See D.E. 148,169,145.)

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
876 F. Supp. 2d 1334, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100392, 2012 WL 2877596, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jeanty-v-city-of-miami-flsd-2012.