Lynch v. Suffolk County Police Department, Inc.

348 F. App'x 672
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedOctober 14, 2009
DocketNo. 07-3684-cv
StatusPublished

This text of 348 F. App'x 672 (Lynch v. Suffolk County Police Department, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lynch v. Suffolk County Police Department, Inc., 348 F. App'x 672 (2d Cir. 2009).

Opinion

SUMMARY ORDER

Plaintiff-appellant Rickey A. Lynch appeals from a July 31, 2007 judgment of the District Court entered after the District Court dismissed plaintiffs amended complaint in a July 30, 2007 Memorandum Decision and Order of Dismissal. We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts, procedural history, and issues raised on appeal.

Plaintiff brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming that his car and other property were unconstitutionally seized and subsequently used to secure his conviction, and nine-year imprisonment, on forty-two felony counts of forgery and grand larceny. Plaintiff also asserted claims under § 1983 for false arrest, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution in connection with his arrest and trial on the forgery and grand larceny charges, as well as in connection with several misde[674]*674meanor charges that were brought against him but later dismissed “in the interest of justice” under New York Criminal Procedure Law § 170.40. Lastly, plaintiff brought claims of malicious prosecution and false imprisonment under New York common law.

The District Court dismissed plaintiffs amended complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). We review the District Court’s dismissal de novo. See, e.g., Chambers v. Time Warner, Inc., 282 F.3d 147, 152 (2d Cir.2002). For each of plaintiffs claims pursuant to § 1983, and for plaintiffs common law claims of malicious prosecution, we affirm the District Court’s dismissal substantially for the reasons set forth in the District Court’s decision. For plaintiffs common law claim of false imprisonment, we conclude that dismissal was inappropriate. Nevertheless, because it would be an abuse of discretion for the District Court to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiffs common law claim of false imprisonment, we remand the cause to the District Court with instructions to enter judgment for defendants-appellees.

I. Section 1983 Claims

We affirm the District Court’s dismissal of each of plaintiffs § 1983 claims. First, the doctrine articulated by the Supreme Court in Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 114 S.Ct. 2364, 129 L.Ed.2d 383 (1994), bars plaintiffs claims for malicious prosecution in connection with his felony convictions. Plaintiff seeks to “recover damages for [an] allegedly unconstitutional conviction or imprisonment,” id. at 486, 114 S.Ct. 2364, but plaintiff concedes, J.A. 270 (Comply 60), that his felony convictions have never been “invalidated” by a court or other proper authority, Heck, 512 U.S. at 487, 114 S.Ct. 2364; see also Peay v. Ajello, 470 F.3d 65, 68 (2d Cir.2006). In any event, a plaintiff “alleging the constitutional tort of malicious prosecution in an action pursuant to § 1983 must establish termination of the prosecution in his favor in accordance with applicable state law.” Hygh v. Jacobs, 961 F.2d 359, 367-68 (2d Cir.1992). The felony prosecution of plaintiff was not terminated in his favor; plaintiff was convicted.

Second, plaintiff cannot state a § 1983 claim for malicious prosecution in connection with the misdemeanor charges because the charges were dismissed “in the interest of justice” under New York Criminal Procedure Law § 170.40. A dismissal “in the interest of justice” under New York Criminal Procedure Law § 170.40 “cannot provide the favorable termination required as the basis for a claim of malicious prosecution.” Hygh, 961 F.2d at 368 (citing Ryan v. N.Y. Tel. Co., 62 N.Y.2d 494, 478 N.Y.S.2d 823, 467 N.E.2d 487, 493 (1984)).

Third, plaintiffs § 1983 claim challenging the seizure of his car and other effects is time-barred. The statute of limitations for a § 1983 action arising in New York is three years, Eagleston v. Guido, 41 F.3d 865, 871 (2d Cir.1994), and, in most cases, a cause of action under § 1983 accrues “when the plaintiff knows or has reason to know of the injury which is the basis of his action,” Pearl v. City of Long Beach, 296 F.3d 76, 80 (2d Cir.2002) (internal quotation marks omitted). Plaintiff claims that he did not learn of the unconstitutionality of the seizure of his car and other effects until he received an Internal Affairs Bureau report in 2003. That report, however, described only how the seized evidence was allegedly used by investigators and prosecutors to convict plaintiff. Under Heck, plaintiff cannot recover damages for his conviction; he can recover only the damages he allegedly sustained as a result of the seizure itself. 512 U.S. at 486-87 & n. 7, 114 S.Ct. 2364. [675]*675Plaintiff was aware that his property was seized — and thus knew “of the injury which is the basis of his action” — on February 1,1997, and the statute of limitations began to run on plaintiffs claim at that time. Pearl, 296 F.3d at 80. Plaintiff did not commence this action until March 31, 2005, well after the three-year statute of limitations had elapsed. We agree with the District Court that equitable tolling is not appropriate, and thus plaintiffs § 1983 claim relating to the seizure of his car and other effects is time-barred.

Fourth, plaintiffs § 1983 claims for false imprisonment and false arrest are also time-barred. For a § 1983 claim of false imprisonment — and for a claim of false arrest, which is a “species” of false imprisonment — the statute of limitations begins to run “when the alleged false imprisonment ends.” Wallace v. Kato, 549 U.S. 384, 388-89, 127 S.Ct. 1091, 166 L.Ed.2d 973 (2007). An alleged false imprisonment ends when “the victim becomes held pursuant to [legal] process — when, for example, he is bound over by a magistrate or arraigned on charges.” Id. (emphasis omitted). Here, plaintiff was arraigned shortly after his allegedly false arrest and imprisonment in 1997. The statute of limitations, therefore, began to run at that time, and plaintiffs claims for false arrest and false imprisonment — brought in 2005 — are barred by the three-year statute of limitations.

Fifth, plaintiffs claim pursuant to Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), is essentially derivative of his other § 1983 claims and fails for the same reasons that those claims fail. In order to prevail on a claim against a municipality under Monell, a plaintiff must allege, among other things, that a “municipal policy of some nature caused a constitutional tort.” Id. at 691, 98 S.Ct. 2018; accord Roe v. City of Waterbury, 542 F.3d 31, 36 (2d Cir.2008).

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Related

McCarthy v. Dun & Bradstreet Corp.
482 F.3d 184 (Second Circuit, 2007)
Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs.
436 U.S. 658 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Carnegie-Mellon University v. Cohill
484 U.S. 343 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Heck v. Humphrey
512 U.S. 477 (Supreme Court, 1994)
Wallace v. Kato
127 S. Ct. 1091 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Eagleston v. Guido
41 F.3d 865 (Second Circuit, 1994)
Pearl v. The City Of Long Beach
296 F.3d 76 (Second Circuit, 2002)
Sims v. Blot
534 F.3d 117 (Second Circuit, 2008)
Roe v. City of Waterbury
542 F.3d 31 (Second Circuit, 2008)
Ryan v. New York Telephone Co.
467 N.E.2d 487 (New York Court of Appeals, 1984)
Santiago v. City of Rochester
19 A.D.3d 1061 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2005)
Jackson v. Police Department
119 A.D.2d 551 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1986)
Chambers v. Time Warner, Inc.
282 F.3d 147 (Second Circuit, 2002)
Hygh v. Jacobs
961 F.2d 359 (Second Circuit, 1992)

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Bluebook (online)
348 F. App'x 672, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lynch-v-suffolk-county-police-department-inc-ca2-2009.