Mason v. Village of Babylon, New York

124 F. Supp. 2d 807, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18494, 2000 WL 1872983
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedDecember 20, 2000
DocketCV-98-4894
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 124 F. Supp. 2d 807 (Mason v. Village of Babylon, New York) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mason v. Village of Babylon, New York, 124 F. Supp. 2d 807, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18494, 2000 WL 1872983 (E.D.N.Y. 2000).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WEXLER, District Judge.

This is a civil rights lawsuit commenced by Plaintiff Renee Mason (“Plaintiff’ or “Mason”) alleging claims sounding in denial of due process, false arrest and unconstitutional search. Named as defendants are the Village of Babylon (“Babylon” or the “Village”), Elizabeth Meyer, Court Clerk of the Babylon Village Court, Suffolk County Police Officer Laurie Ann Mc-Manus (“McManus”) and the County of Suffolk (collectively “Defendants”). 1

Plaintiffs claim arises out of her arrest pursuant to a warrant that had been recalled but remained on the active warrant list. Presently before the court are the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow the defense motion to dismiss the claims alleging false arrest and due process violations are granted. Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment as to the illegality of the search is granted. The parties will proceed to trial on the issue of damages attributable to this claim as well as the issues of qualified immunity and municipal liability.

BACKGROUND

I. Factual Background

The facts forming the basis of Plaintiffs claims are set forth in Plaintiffs complaint and have been amplified by the deposition testimony taken prior to the making of the motions presently before the court.

A. Plaintiff’s Arrest and the Warrant

On May 8, 1997, Plaintiff was traveling in her car and was pulled over by defendant Police Officer Laurie McManus. Once Plaintiff was pulled over, McManus communicated with a police dispatcher and was informed that there was an outstanding warrant for Plaintiffs arrest. Upon learning of the warrant, McManus took Plaintiff into custody and transported her to the Second Precinct. According to Mc-Manus, the arrest was mandatory once the warrant was discovered.

McManus testified that shortly after the arrest she became aware that the warrant upon which the arrest was effected was issued for failure to pay a fine issued in connection with a violation of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, specifically, a broken tail light. Upon the arrest, McManus told Mason that she was being brought to the precinct for traffic violations. McManus testified that at the time of the arrest Mason posed no threat of bodily harm. She further testified that she looked into Mason’s car and’neither saw nor smelled anything that might be contraband. Finally, she testified that she placed Mason under arrest with no difficulty.

As events unfolded it became clear that the warrant upon which Plaintiff was arrested, which had been issued by the Village Court for the Town of Babylon in October of 1996, had been recalled and was not in effect at the time of the arrest. The recall of the warrant, however, was not known to Officer McManus who relied solely on the information communicated to *811 her when informing the police dispatcher of Mason’s identity.

The circumstances and procedures governing the recall of warrants in general, and the warrant in this case in particular, were reviewed at the deposition of Defendant Meyer, the Babylon Village Court Clerk. Meyer testified that if an individual came to court to pay an unpaid fine that had resulted in the issuance of a warrant, it was Meyer’s practice to give the person a receipt indicating that payment had been made. Meyer further stated that once payment was received, she would telephone the Warrant Control Department of Suffolk County (“Warrant Control”) and ask that they recall the warrant.

Meyer explained at her deposition that it was the procedure of her office to place a “warrant recalled” stamp on the copy of the warrant retained at the Babylon Village Court after the telephone call recalling the warrant was made to Warrant Control. The stamp on the warrant at issue here indicated that it had been recalled on October 9, 1996 — seven months prior to Plaintiff’s arrest. That stamp also indicated that the Babylon Village employee who made the call regarding Mason’s warrant spoke to a woman named “Iris” at Warrant Control.

Despite the fact that the stamping of the warrant indicates that Warrant Control was, indeed, called, with respect to the warrant for Plaintiffs arrest, it is clear that the warrant was not cancelled, but remained active. This must have been so because Officer McManus was informed that the warrant was active when she pulled over Mason in 1997. Obviously, some mistake was made with respect to the recall of the warrant. Meyer testified that in the seven years that she had been with the Babylon Village Court, this case was the first time she became aware that a warrant that was requested to be recalled remained active.

B. The Search of Plaintiff While in Police Custody

Upon her arrest, Mason was transported to the Second Precinct. Mason testified as to the following events that transpired there. Upon her arrival at the precinct, Mason told McManus that she wanted to use the bathroom. McManus escorted Mason to the bathroom and conducted a search of Mason prior to allowing her to use the facilities. While the search performed is referred to in Plaintiffs complaint as a “strip search,” Plaintiffs deposition testimony makes clear that the search conducted by McManus, as described below, was not a search where Plaintiff was required to remove all of her clothes. Plaintiff was, however, subject to a search aimed at uncovering contraband that may have been concealed in her undergarments.

Upon entering the bathroom, in the presence only of McManus, Plaintiff was frisked and patted down. She was asked to raise her shirt and expose her bra. She was asked to pull out, but not remove, her bra, so as to dislodge anything that might be hidden therein. Plaintiff was also asked to lower her pants to her thighs. She was not asked to remover her underwear, but to reposition it; again to dislodge anything that might have been concealed. Plaintiff was subject to a visual inspection only of the areas she was asked to expose; she was not touched and was patted down only on areas of her body that were covered with clothes.

Plaintiffs complaint alleges that on the night of her arrest she was transferred from the Second Precinct to the Fourth Precinct and held there in a detention area. Plaintiffs complaint alleges that she was subject to “strip searches” upon her arrival at the Fourth Precinct and later, upon her arrival at the Central Islip courthouse. These searches, however, were not conducted by Defendant McManus and Plaintiff has never identified the individuals who allegedly conducted these searches. Plaintiffs testimony indicates, *812 however, that the search conducted at the Fourth Precinct was similar to the search conducted at the Second Precinct. It appears that the search conducted at the Central Islip courthouse was limited to a “pat down” search.

II. Plaintiffs’ Complaint

Plaintiffs complaint states a cause of action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

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Bluebook (online)
124 F. Supp. 2d 807, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18494, 2000 WL 1872983, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mason-v-village-of-babylon-new-york-nyed-2000.