Pittman v. Incorporated Village of Hempstead

49 F. Supp. 3d 307, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 119736, 2014 WL 4258996
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedAugust 27, 2014
DocketNo. 11-CV-4567 (ADS)(AKT)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 49 F. Supp. 3d 307 (Pittman v. Incorporated Village of Hempstead) 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
Pittman v. Incorporated Village of Hempstead, 49 F. Supp. 3d 307, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 119736, 2014 WL 4258996 (E.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

SPATT, District Judge.

On September 20, 2011, the Plaintiff Troy Pittman (the “Plaintiff’) commenced this action against the Defendants Incorporated Village of Hempstead (the “Village”) and Michael Holley (“Holley,” and together with the Village, the “Defendants”). Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983, the Plaintiff alleges that the Defendants violated his rights under the Fourth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution by (1) using excessive force constituting an unreasonable seizure of the Plaintiff and (2) falsely arresting the Plaintiff as no probable cause existed to arrest him.

Presently before the Court is the Defendants’ motion for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“Fed. R. Civ.P.”) 56 or in the alternative, for dismissal pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). The Court notes that in their moving papers, the Defendants have included footnotes in violation of this Court’s Individual Rule I.A. Notwithstanding this infraction, the Court will consider the Defendants’ papers in rendering its decision. However, the Court advises the Defendants’ counsel that any future filings that contain footnotes will not be considered by this Court.

For the reasons that follow, the Court denies the motion in part and grants the motion in part.

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Admissibility of the Plaintiff’s Factual Assertions

At the outset, the Court notes that in reply to the Plaintiffs opposition, the Defendant argues that the Court should disregard the Plaintiffs factual assertions as they are only supported by a declaration by the Plaintiffs attorney, who has no personal knowledge of the underlying facts of this case. However, the Defendants overlook that in his declaration, the Plaintiffs attorney cites to evidence in the record, including the Plaintiffs deposition testimony, in order to support his factual assertions. “Despite the requirement that a declaration be made upon personal knowledge, attorneys often submit declarations in support of or in opposition to a motion for summary judgment for the purpose of introducing documents into the record.” Osuna v. Gov’t Employees Ins. Co., 11-CV-3631 JFB AKT, 2014 WL 1515563 (E.D.N.Y. Apr. 17, 2014) (quoting Degelman Indus. Ltd. v. Pro-Tech Welding & Fabrication, Inc., No. 06-CV6346T, 2011 WL 6752565, at *3 (W.D.N.Y. Dec. 23, 2011)). For this reason, the Court will consider those factual assertions made in the Plaintiffs opposition papers, including those recited in the declaration by the Plaintiffs attorney, so long as they are supported by admissible evidence in the record. Id.

With that being said, the Court pauses here to discuss the following two exhibits that the Plaintiff includes with his opposition: (1) a printout from the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision’s website providing inmate information with regard to the Defendant Holley’s son; and (2) an article from the website of the Long Island Press, dated June 4, 2010, allegedly concerning the arrest of Holley’s son for shooting a man during a robbery. In his declaration, based on these two exhibits, the Plaintiffs attorney suggests that the Plaintiff made a comment to Holley about his son’s sitúa[312]*312tion, causing Holley to lose his temper resulting in him allegedly using excessive and unreasonable force against the Plaintiff. However, the Plaintiff cites no evidence in his opposition papers to support this speculation.

Indeed, these allegations appear to only be substantiated by the declaration of the Plaintiffs attorney. The Plaintiff cites to no deposition testimony, affidavits or declarations from either himself or from any other individual who would have had personal knowledge of the facts in question and that support this conjecture. Thus, “this Court may not consider [these] ‘facts’ set forth in [the] [Plaintiff’s memorandum of law because they were not submitted in proper, admissible form.” Dobson v. Citigroup, Inc., 03-CV-0680 (SR), 2009 WL 1796579, at *3 (W.D.N.Y. June 24, 2009) (citing Fed.R.Civ.P. 56).

B. Underlying Facts

On May 26, 2010, at about 8:45 p.m., the Plaintiffs former girlfriend, Shanel Cummings filed a formal complaint at the Defendant Village’s Police Headquarters against the Plaintiff. She claimed that the Plaintiff entered her house while intoxicated and became upset when she asked him to leave. According to Cummings, the Plaintiff then picked up two televisions sets, which were valued at approximately three-hundred fifty dollars, and threw them to the ground, thus breaking them both.

While at the Village’s Police Headquarters to make her complaint, Cummings signed a Statement of Allegation/Supporting Deposition (the “Statement”). The Statement set forth facts supporting a New York State Domestic Incident Report (the “Incident Report”) and was drawn up by Police Officer Melody Washington. However, apparently, in filling out the Statement, Officer Washington inadvertently listed Cummings’s boyfriend as “Troy Cummings” instead of “Troy Pittman,” which is the Plaintiffs name. When she realized her error, the Defendant’s allege that Officer Washington used whiteout in order to change the name from “Troy Cummings” to “Troy Pittman.” The Court notes that, on both versions of the form, the Suspect Name Box listed “Troy Pittman” and the Incident Report also alleges that “Troy Pittman” was the intoxicated individual who came to Cummings’s apartment and broke two televisions after she told him to leave.

Approximately one month later, on June 21, 2010 at about 4:00 p.m., the Defendant Holley, a police officer, along with another police officer, Daniel P. Larkin, responded to a call for assistance by a Village Crossing Guard at the Franklin School located on South Franklin Street in Hempstead. The Village Crossing Guard had reported that the Plaintiff had walked up to an elementary school girl and solicited her by inviting her back to his apartment to play video games.

When Officer Holley and Officer Larkin arrived, the Village Crossing Guard described the Plaintiff and advised that the Plaintiff had walked down the street toward the Shamrock Gas Station, also located on South Franklin Street in Hemp-stead. Holley went to the Shamrock Gas Station and found the Plaintiff there. Allegedly, the Plaintiff was visibly intoxicated. Relying on the description he received from the Village Crossing Guard, Holley determined that he had probable cause to take the Plaintiff into custody for soliciting a minor and for being visibly intoxicated. As such, Holley took the Plaintiff into custody, placed him in the back of his police car and drove him to the Village’s Police Headquarters.

On the other hand, the Plaintiff maintains that on June 21, 2010, he was simply [313]*313walking down South Franklin Street in Hempstead alone when Holley, with assistance from Officer Larkin, stopped him and placed him under arrest without a warrant.

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49 F. Supp. 3d 307, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 119736, 2014 WL 4258996, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pittman-v-incorporated-village-of-hempstead-nyed-2014.