Lyles v. State

194 Misc. 2d 32, 752 N.Y.S.2d 523, 2002 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1581
CourtNew York Court of Claims
DecidedSeptember 26, 2002
DocketClaim No. 105774
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 194 Misc. 2d 32 (Lyles v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lyles v. State, 194 Misc. 2d 32, 752 N.Y.S.2d 523, 2002 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1581 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Terry Jane Ruderman, J.

Defendant brings the instant motion to dismiss claim No. 105774 on the basis of, inter alia, lack of jurisdiction. Specifically, defendant argues that the federal constitutional claims warrant dismissal because this court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over those claims and that the state constitutional claims warrant dismissal because a state constitutional claim should not be implied on the facts herein. Defendant also argues that any common-law claims are untimely.

Notice of Intention

A notice of intention was served upon the Attorney General’s office on June 22, 1999. It alleged that on March 27, 1999, at about 12:30 a.m., claimant was “driving westbound along [33]*33highway 287 toward the New York State Thruway for approximately five minutes” with a coworker passenger when New York State Troopers Allen and Morgan directed claimant to pull over to the side of the road (defendant’s exhibit A to motion). The notice of intention further alleged the following. The troopers told claimant he was pulled over because of smoke emanating from his exhaust pipe. Upon noticing that claimant’s 10-day temporary inspection sticker had expired, claimant was ticketed for the violation. Claimant consented to a search of his person for weapons or contraband; nothing was found. Claimant did not consent to the subsequent search of his vehicle, wherein the driver’s door was pulled apart. Claimant was allegedly detained for one hour and 20 minutes before being permitted to leave.

Approximately three minutes later, the troopers again directed claimant to the side of the road; this time due to a windshield obstruction by an air freshener hanging from claimant’s rearview mirror. The troopers inquired of claimant as to the contents of his car’s trunk and then allegedly proceeded, without claimant’s consent, to search the driver’s door and under the dashboard. New York State Trooper Sergeant Stamps then arrived and purportedly searched claimant’s person without his consent. The search was not fruitful and Stamps asked claimant about the trunk’s contents. Claimant did not consent to a search of the trunk. Stamps purportedly told claimant that he would be handcuffed if he did not agree to open the trunk. Stamps then allegedly cuffed claimant and claimant offered to use a screwdriver to open the trunk because the cylinder lock was not functioning. The troopers searched the trunk and “threw items including [claimant’s] guitar from the trunk of the car onto the road” and then replaced the items in the trunk {id. 2). After having been detained for a total of approximately 60 minutes for the second stop, claimant was permitted to leave.

The notice of intention alleged:

“[t]he claimant has been damaged as follows: (1) he and his property were subjected to unreasonable searches and seizures and he seeks $15,000 to compensate for this injury; (2) he was falsely imprisoned and he seeks $15,000 to compensate for this injury; (3) he suffered pain and suffering from assault and battery caused by the unjustified handcuffing and he seeks $15,000 to compensate for this injury; (4) he suffered from the intentional [34]*34injury to property including damage to his car door, dashboard, armrest and guitar and he seeks $2,100 to compensate for this injury; (5) he suffered from the negligent injury to his property including his car door, dashboard, armrest, and guitar and he seeks $2,100 to compensate for this injury; and (6) he was denied equal protection of the law and seeks $15,000 to compensate for this injury. Based upon the information known to the claimant to date, the claimant has suffered damages amounting to no less than $64,200” (id.).

The Claim

A claim was served upon the Attorney General’s office on March 18, 2002 and filed with the court on March 19, 2002 (defendant’s exhibit B to motion papers). The claim alleged that claimant, “a black man,” was subjected to an unconstitutional search and seizure of his person and his automobile (id. ij 2). Paragraph 22 of the claim stated that “[t]he conduct of the State police officers described is so unreasonable that it cannot be explained on any plausible ground except for the race of the claimant.”2 Thus, claimant alleged the following federal and state constitutional violations:

“24. The search and seizure of Mr. Lyles, as described here, was undertaken in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. He seeks $15,000 to compensate for this constitutional injury. * * *
“25. The search and seizure of Mr. Lyles, as described here, was undertaken in violation of Article I § 12 of the New York Constitution. He seeks $15,000 to compensate for this constitutional injury. * * *
“26. The search of Mr. Lyles’ automobile, as described here, was undertaken in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. He seeks $2100 to compensate for this injury. * * *
“27. The search of Mr. Lyles’ automobile, as described here, was undertaken in violation of Article I § 12 of the New York Constitution. He seeks $2100 to compensate for this injury. * * *
[35]*35“28. The unjustified conduct by State officials, as described here, violated the Equal Protection Clause to the Fourteenth Amendment. Claimant seeks $15,000 to compensate for this constitutional injury. * * *
“29. The unjustified conduct by State officials, as described here. Such conduct violated the Equal Protection Clause of Article I § 11 of the New York Constitution. Claimant seeks $15,000 to compensate for this constitutional injury” (id.).

The claim did not allege any common-law tort causes of action.

Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss

Federal Constitutional Claims

As the Court of Appeals stated in Brown v State of New York (89 NY2d 172), 42 USC § 1983, together with 42 USC § 1981, is the enabling legislation which provides a damage remedy against state officials and some entities for violation of federal constitutional rights. However, since Monell v Department of Social Servs. of City of N.Y. (436 US 658), it has been settled that the State is not “a person” within the meaning of section 1983. Therefore, the Court of Appeals concluded that no action will lie against the State under section 1983 or section 1981 (Brown, 89 NY2d at 184-186).

Notwithstanding this well settled law under section 1983, claimant invokes Bivens v Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bur. of Narcotics (403 US 388), which established an implied cause of action against federal officials for violation of federal constitutional rights. Claimant argues that the Court of Claims should recognize a Bivens cause of action for damages against the State for deprivation of federal constitutional rights. A Bivens cause of action has already been held unavailable against a city and city officers (see, Weimer v City of Johnstown, 249 AD2d 608). There is a lack of authority for this court to create a monetary cause of action against the State based upon the Federal Constitution absent congressional or state legislative approval and to do so would raise serious Eleventh Amendment policy concerns (see Chemerinsky, Federal Jurisdiction § 9.1.4 [3d ed 1999];

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

Related

Biswas v. City of New York
973 F. Supp. 2d 504 (S.D. New York, 2013)
Mickens v. State
25 Misc. 3d 191 (New York State Court of Claims, 2009)
Frederick v. State
23 Misc. 3d 1008 (New York State Court of Claims, 2009)
Lyles v. State
2 A.D.3d 694 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
194 Misc. 2d 32, 752 N.Y.S.2d 523, 2002 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1581, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lyles-v-state-nyclaimsct-2002.