Nardoni v. City of N.Y.

331 F. Supp. 3d 116
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedAugust 7, 2018
Docket1:17-cv-2695-GHW
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 331 F. Supp. 3d 116 (Nardoni v. City of N.Y.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nardoni v. City of N.Y., 331 F. Supp. 3d 116 (S.D. Ill. 2018).

Opinion

GREGORY H. WOODS, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Shawn Nardoni fell victim to gun violence as a young teenager. In September 2015, he was shot in the leg in his neighborhood in the Bronx, after which he was hospitalized for several days. Following his release from the hospital, Plaintiff was handcuffed and detained by officers of the New York City Police Department ("NYPD") and brought to a local police precinct. At the precinct, Plaintiff was interrogated by Defendant Detective David Terrell about the identity of Plaintiff's shooter. Plaintiff later sued Detective Terrell and the City of New York, bringing claims for false arrest and municipal liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (" Section 1983"). Defendants now move for summary judgment. Because it is undisputed that Detective Terrell was not involved in Plaintiff's arrest, summary judgment is GRANTED as to Plaintiff's false arrest claim. And because Plaintiff points to no evidence in the record of a policy or custom by the City of New York to support his Monell claim, summary judgment is GRANTED on that claim as well.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background1

On or about September 1, 2015, Plaintiff was shot in the leg. Pl.'s Rule 56.1 Counterstatement (ECF No. 90) ("Pl.'s 56.1") ¶ 1.2 He was admitted to a hospital for treatment. Id. ; Second Am. Compl. (ECF No. 54) ("SAC") ¶ 8. Plaintiff spent approximately three days in the hospital before being released. Declaration of Joseph Gutmann (ECF No. 86), Ex. B ("Pl.'s Dep.") at 64:17-23.3 Shortly after being released from the hospital, on either September 4 or 5, 2015, Plaintiff was sitting outside of his apartment building in the Bronx with a friend when he was arrested by two or three members of the NYPD. Pl.'s Dep. at 66:13-15, 77:12-20; SAC ¶¶ 9-10.

*120A "brown-skinned" female NYPD officer "grabbed [his] hands and put [him] in handcuffs" and then drove Plaintiff to the 42nd Precinct. Pl.'s Dep. at 77:9-11, 79:8-9, 82:23-83:9.

Once at the 42nd Precinct, Plaintiff was placed in a cell. Pl.'s Dep. at 83:10-11. At some point after that, Detective Terrell took Plaintiff from his cell to another room where Detective Terrell questioned Plaintiff. Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 4; Pl.'s Dep. at 83:10-13, 84:8-16. According to Plaintiff's deposition testimony, Detective Terrell kept Plaintiff in this room for three or four hours and "badgered" Plaintiff in an attempt to solicit from him the name of the individual who shot him. Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 5; Pl.'s Dep. at 85:1-8. Despite Plaintiff's response that he did not know his shooter's identity, Detective Terrell "tried to force [Plaintiff] to say it was some kid," Pl.'s Dep. at 84:20-21, and "kept on repeating the same stuff trying to force [Plaintiff] to say something that [Plaintiff] did not know," id. at 85:1-3. During the interrogation, Detective Terrell also threatened to kick Plaintiff's head through the wall and punch Plaintiff in the face. Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 6; Pl.'s Dep. at 84:21-22.

Following the interrogation, Detective Terrell returned Plaintiff to his cell. Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 7. Plaintiff was not taken to court or to central booking in connection with his arrest. Pl.'s Dep. at 101:15-18, 125:7-126:8.

On January 6, 2016, Plaintiff was interrogated by Detective Corinne MacLennan at the 42nd Precinct in another attempt to discover the name of the individual who shot him.4 Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 20; Declaration of Chukwuemeka Nwokoro (ECF No. 88) ("Nwokoro Decl."), Ex. A at 47. During that interrogation, Plaintiff stated that "he ha[d] no idea who shot him." Nwokoro Decl., Ex. A at 47.

It is undisputed that Detective Terrell did not arrest Plaintiff on either September 4 or 5, 2015. Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 9. It is also undisputed that Detective Terrell did not order, instruct, plan, or facilitate an arrest of Plaintiff on either September 4 or 5, 2015. Id. ¶ 10.

B. Procedural History

Plaintiff's mother, Patrice Nelson, initiated this action on Plaintiff's behalf on April 14, 2017. ECF No. 1. At the time of the filing of the initial complaint, Plaintiff was a minor. The complaint asserted false arrest and malicious prosecution claims under Section 1983 against Detective Terrell and the unidentified female officer who arrested Plaintiff. Id. The complaint also alleged that the City of New York bears responsibility for such violations under Monell v. Department of Social Services , 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). Id. In the original complaint, the female officer who arrested Plaintiff was not named because Plaintiff knew only that she was female and was an officer assigned to investigate Plaintiff's September 1, 2015 shooting. Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 11.

On January 12, 2018, Plaintiff amended his complaint to name Detective MacLennan as the defendant previously identified as a Jane Doe officer. ECF No. 37. Detective MacLennan was added to the amended complaint based upon discovery identifying her as a female officer assigned to investigate Plaintiff's shooting. Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 11.

*121Plaintiff amended the complaint once again on February 9, 2018, still asserting claims against Detective MacLennan, Detective Terrell, and the City of New York. ECF No. 54. In the second amended complaint, Plaintiff alleged that Detective MacLennan, acting in concert with Detective Terrell, improperly arrested and detained Plaintiff under false pretenses. SAC ¶ 22. Detective MacLennan is a Caucasian female. Def.'s 56.1 ¶ 12. When deposed on February 7, 2018, Plaintiff testified that the officer who arrested him was a "brown-skinned" female. Id. ¶ 11; Pl.'s Dep. at 77:9-11. In light of Plaintiff's deposition testimony, on May 31, 2018, Plaintiff agreed to the dismissal with prejudice of the false arrest claim against Detective MacLennan. ECF No. 83.

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

Related

Coffey v. Broome County
N.D. New York, 2025
Boyde v. Barnes
N.D. New York, 2022
Lawrence v. Sherman
N.D. New York, 2022
Coleman v. County Of Nassau
E.D. New York, 2021
Morris v. Martin
N.D. New York, 2019
Carter v. Broome County
N.D. New York, 2019
Miller v. Terrillion
391 F. Supp. 3d 217 (E.D. New York, 2018)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
331 F. Supp. 3d 116, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nardoni-v-city-of-ny-ilsd-2018.