Oxman v. Downs

999 F. Supp. 2d 404, 999 F. Supp. 404, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20714, 2014 WL 793140
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 14, 2014
DocketNo. 13-CV-1741 (ADS)(AKT)
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 999 F. Supp. 2d 404 (Oxman v. Downs) 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
Oxman v. Downs, 999 F. Supp. 2d 404, 999 F. Supp. 404, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20714, 2014 WL 793140 (E.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

SPATT, District Judge.

On April 1, 2013, the Plaintiff Laurence Oxman (the “Plaintiff’) commenced this action by filing a Complaint against the Defendants Richard W. Downs (“Downs”), individually; Philip Cardinale (“Cardinale”), individually; George Bartunek (“Bartunek”), individually; and the Town of Riverhead (the “Town,” and collectively, the “Defendants”) pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988. The Plaintiff asserts claims for malicious prosecution both under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and New York State law.

Presently before the Court is a motion by the Defendants to dismiss this action pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“Fed. R. Civ.P.”) 12(b)(6). For the reasons that follow, the Court grants the Defendants’ motion and dismisses the Complaint.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Rule 12(b) Standard for Considering Factual Allegations and Evidence Outside the Complaint

Before reciting the underlying factual allegations of this case, the Court notes, as an initial matter, that evidence outside of the Complaint may not be considered by the Court when deciding a motion to dismiss brought pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). See, e.g., DiFolco v. MSNBC Cable L.L.C., 622 F.3d 104, 113 (2d Cir.2010) (“In ruling on a motion pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), the duty of a court is merely to assess the legal feasibility of the complaint, not to assay the weight of the evidence which might be offered in support thereof.”) (citation and internal question marks omitted); Hahn v. Rocky Mt. Express Corp., No. 11 Civ. 8512(LTS)(GWG), 2012 WL 2930220, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. June 16, 2012) (“When deciding a motion to dismiss ... [e]vidence outside [the complaint] ... cannot [] be considered on review of a 12(b)(6) motion.”) (citation and internal quotation marks and alterations omitted).

In this regard, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(d), where matters outside the complaint are presented in connection with a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, “a district court must either ‘exclude the additional material and [407]*407decide the motion on the complaint alone’ or ‘convert the motion to one for summary judgment under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 and afford all parties the opportunity to present supporting material.’ ” Friedl v. City of New York, 210 F.3d 79, 83 (2d Cir.2000) (quoting Fonte v. Bd. of Managers of Continental Towers Condo., 848 F.2d 24, 25 (2d Cir.1988)).

In this ease, both the Defendants, in their motion to dismiss, and the Plaintiff, in his opposition, include several exhibits that are outside of the Complaint. Generally, when a defendant attempts to counter a plaintiffs Complaint with its own factual allegations and exhibits, such allegations and exhibits are inappropriate for consideration by this Court at the motion to dismiss stage. See, e.g., Dual Groupe, LLC v. Gans-Mex LLC, 932 F.Supp.2d 569, 572 (S.D.N.Y.2013) (“Defendants dispute many of the complaint’s factual allegations, which the court cannot adjudicate at the motion to dismiss stage.”) Nevertheless, in its analysis, the Court may refer “to documents attached to the complaint as an exhibit or incorporated in it by reference, to matters of which judicial notice may be taken, or to documents either in [the] [P]laintiff[’s] possession or of which [the] [P]laintiff[ ] had knowledge and relied on in bringing suit.” Brass v. Am. Film Tech., Inc., 987 F.2d 142, 150 (2d Cir.1993); see also Karmilowicz v. Hartford Fin. Servs. Group, 494 Fed.Appx. 153, 155-57 (2d Cir.2012) (“[A] plaintiff cannot evade a properly argued motion to dismiss simply because [the] plaintiff has chosen not to attach [a document on which he relies in bringing suit] to the complaint or to incorporate it by reference.”) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted); Cortee Industries, Inc. v. Sum Holding L.P., 949 F.2d 42, 47 (2d Cir.1991) (“[W]hen a plaintiff chooses not to attach to the complaint or incorporate by reference a prospectus upon which it solely relies and which is integral to the complaint, the defendant may produce the prospectus when attacking the complaint for its failure to state a claim, because plaintiff should not so easily be allowed to escape the consequences of its own failure.”).

In this regard, the Court finds that it may consider all of the Defendants’ exhibits and the Plaintiffs exhibits “without converting the motion! ] to dismiss into [a] motion[ ] for summary judgment!.]” Dellate v. Great Neck Union Free Sch. Dist., CV 09-2567 AKT, 2010 WL 3924863, at *5 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 30, 2010), aff'd sub nom. Dellatte v. Great Neck Union Free Sch. Dist., 448 Fed.Appx. 164 (2d Cir.2012). This is “because ‘the record was available to and clearly known of by all parties to this action.” Dellate, 2010 WL 3924863, at *5 (quoting Bennett v. Tucker, No. 95 Civ. 8029(SAS), 1996 WL 288202, at *1 n. 3 (S.D.N.Y. May 30, 1996)); see also Tiraco v. New York State Bd. of Elections, 963 F.Supp.2d 184 (E.D.N.Y.2013) (“[A] court may also consider ‘public documents of which the plaintiff has notice.’ ”) (quoting Brodeur v. City of New York, No. 04-CV-1859 (JG), 2005 WL 1139908, at *3 (E.D.N.Y. May 13, 2005)); Johnson v. Cnty. of Nassau, 411 F.Supp.2d 171, 178 (E.D.N.Y.2006) (“[T]he Court ‘may take judicial notice of the records of state administrative procedures as these are public records, without converting a motion to dismiss to one for summary judgment.’ ”) (quoting Evans v. New York Botanical Garden, No. 02 Civ.3591 RWS, 2002 WL 31002814, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 4, 2002)).

Further, the Court acknowledges that the Plaintiffs instant action arises from the same facts and circumstances that served as the foundation for his previous § 1983 action, entitled Riverhead Park Corp., et al. v. Cardinale, et al., Case No. 07-CV-4133 (the “RPC Action”). In this regard, on October 3, 2007, the Plaintiff, along with his now deceased business part[408]*408ner, Stanley Blumenstein (“Blumenstein”), and their company, Riverhead Park Corporation (“RPC”), accused Cardinale, Bartunek and the Town, among others, of committing a conspiracy and of violating their procedural due process rights, substantive due process rights and equal protection rights under Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. The Defendant Downs was not a party to the RPC Action.

In a decision dated March 28, 2013, this Court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants in the RPC Action and dismissed the RPC Action.

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Bluebook (online)
999 F. Supp. 2d 404, 999 F. Supp. 404, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20714, 2014 WL 793140, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oxman-v-downs-nyed-2014.