O'Neal v. City of New York

196 F. Supp. 3d 421, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96585, 2016 WL 4035522
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJuly 22, 2016
Docket14-cv-7649 (JGK)
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 196 F. Supp. 3d 421 (O'Neal v. City of New York) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Neal v. City of New York, 196 F. Supp. 3d 421, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96585, 2016 WL 4035522 (S.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

JOHN G. KOELTL, District Judge:

Johnnie O’Neal brings this action against the City of New York (the “City”), the New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA”), and Jose Morales, alleging violations of his rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. O’Neal was arrested and convicted in 1985 of rape in the first degree in violation of New York Penal Law § 130.35 and robbery in the first degree in violation of New York Penal Law § 160.15. He was imprisoned for more than thirteen years. In 2008, the Legal Aid Society investigated the validity of O’Neal’s conviction, and in 2010, the New York City District Attorney (“NYCDA”) conducted an investigation that called into question O’Neal’s conviction. In 2013, a state court issued an order vacating O’Neal’s rape and robbery convictions pursuant to New York Criminal Procedure Law § 440.10(l)(g).

On September 19, 2014, O’Neal filed this lawsuit, and filed an Amended Complaint on September 14, 2015. O’Neal asserted violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against: (1) Jose Morales, the New York City detective who investigated the alleged rape and robbery, for malicious prosecution, Amended Compl. ¶¶ 77-86 (First Cause of Action); (2) Morales for violating O’Neal’s right to a fair trial by allegedly providing false information to the prosecutor, Amended Compl. ¶¶ 87-91 (Second Cause of Action); (3) against the City of New York for municipal liability under Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978) for the actions of the NYCDA arising from alleged violations of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963) by the state prosecutor, Amended Compl. ¶¶ 92-119 (Third Cause of Action); and (4) [426]*426against the NYCHA for municipal liability for the actions of the New York City Housing Authority Police Department (“NYCHAPD”), Amended Compl. ¶¶ 120-31 (Fourth Cause of Action). On November 9, 2015, the defendants moved to dismiss the Amended Complaint. O’Neal voluntarily withdrew the malicious prosecution claim against Morales (First Cause of Action) and the municipal liability claim against the NYCHA (Fourth Cause of Action). Pl.’s Opp. at 1. For the reasons explained below, the defendants’ motions are granted.

I.

In deciding a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), the allegations in the complaint are accepted as true, and all reasonable inferences must be drawn in the plaintiffs favor. See McCarthy v. Dun & Bradstreet Corp., 482 F.3d 184, 191 (2d Cir.2007). The Court’s function on a motion to dismiss is “not to weigh the evidence that might be presented at a trial but merely to determine whether the complaint itself is legally sufficient.” Goldman v. Belden, 754 F.2d 1059, 1067 (2d Cir.1985). The Court should not dismiss the complaint if the plaintiff has stated “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). While the Court should construe the factual allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, “the tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions.” Id.

When presented with a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), the Court may consider documents that are referenced in the complaint, documents that the plaintiff relied on in bringing suit and that are either in the plaintiffs possession or that the plaintiff knew of when bringing suit, or matters of which judicial notice may be taken. See Taylor v. Vt. Dep’t of Educ., 313 F.3d 768, 776 (2d Cir.2002).

II.

The following facts alleged in the Amended Complaint are accepted as true for the purposes of the defendants’ motions to dismiss.

On January 29, 1985, O’Neal was convicted of rape in the first degree and robbery in the first degree. Amended Compl. ¶ 13. The crime for which O’Neal was arrested and convicted occurred on March 16, 1984. Id. ¶ 21. At approximately 11:00 p.m., on March 16,1984, a woman referred to as M.R. was raped and robbed on the roof of her apartment building at 865 Columbus Avenue. Id. ¶22. When M.R. attempted to leave the elevator in her apartment building, a man threatened her with a knife and stole her money and jewelry. He proceeded to force M.R. to the roof where he ordered M.R. to the floor, covered her face, removed her clothing, and raped her. Id. M.R. described her assailant as a thin, African American man in his 20s. Id. She did not indicate that her assailant lived in her building or that he had a mustache or missing front tooth. Id. In the months preceding the March 1984 rape, three other rapes occurred, two on the rooftop of 865 Columbus Avenue and one across the street at 830 Columbus Avenue. Id. ¶ 17. The three prior rapes occurred after midnight and shared similar characteristics — namely, the victim was intercepted in the elevator and threatened with either a gun or a knife, robbed of valuables, forced to the roof, and raped. Id. [427]*427¶¶ 18-20. The victims identified their respective attackers as a thin, African American male. The ages ranged from 28-30 to 28-29 to early 20s. Id.

Jose Morales, a detective in the New York Police Department, was assigned to investigate the rape of M.R. He allegedly noted that the rapist had the “same M.O. and dialogue” as and was described similarly to the assailants in the three other rapes. Id. ¶¶ 23-24. On March 27, 1984, Morales interviewed M.R.’s mother, B.M., who told Morales that six days earlier, B.M. and M.R. had identified O’Neal as the rapist. Id. ¶ 27. B.M. told Morales that on March 21,1984, M.R. told B.M. that she saw her rapist from the window of her apartment on the 10th floor. Id. ¶ 28. B.M. told Morales that B.M. followed the person M.R. identified for six hours and that he returned to 865 Columbus Avenue. Id. B.M. told Morales that B.M. called M.R. from a pay phone and told her to come downstairs to identify the person B.M. had been following. B.M. told Morales that M.R. confirmed that the person was her assailant and that B.M. followed the person to the elevator and saw him go into an apartment on the 5th floor. Id.

M.R. also told Morales that she saw a person she believed to be her assailant from her 10th floor window on March 20, 1984, and again on March 21,-1984, when she told her mother. Id. ¶ 29. The Amended Complaint alleges that Morales had reasons to doubt the truthfulness and reliability of the identification by B.M. and M.R. because, among other things, B.M. and M.R. never mentioned that the assailant lived in their building and that he had a missing tooth and mustache like O’Neal. Id. ¶30.

M.R. and B.M.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
196 F. Supp. 3d 421, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96585, 2016 WL 4035522, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oneal-v-city-of-new-york-nysd-2016.