Raddy Toribio v. Bernard Spece

558 F. App'x 227
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedFebruary 21, 2014
Docket13-3029
StatusUnpublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 558 F. App'x 227 (Raddy Toribio v. Bernard Spece) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Raddy Toribio v. Bernard Spece, 558 F. App'x 227 (3d Cir. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION

BARRY, Circuit Judge.

Raddy Toribio was arrested for a string of bank robberies he did not commit, and was released three days later. He filed an action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging false arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution against three mem *228 bers of the Pennsylvania State Police. The District Court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment, finding that they had probable cause for the arrest, promptly effected Toribio’s release upon discovering exculpatory evidence, did not act with malice, and were in any event entitled to qualified immunity. Toribio appealed. We will affirm.

I. Background

On August 6, 2010, a man robbed the Susquehanna Bank in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, the latest in a series of bank robberies in central Pennsylvania. Three bank employees offered descriptions of the robber. Teller Deborah Steffee, who, in response to the robber’s note, handed him money, said he was six foot to six foot three inches tall with a goatee; another teller, Tara Pandher, who “had a glimpse of’ the robber but “did not see his face,” described his apparel and said he had a “fine lined beard” (181 a); and branch manager Christy Rebehn, who saw the robber dash through the parking lot from her office window, described him as a “darker skinned not black male about” six foot tall (168a).

Investigators publicly disseminated a grainy, low quality photo taken by the bank’s surveillance camera. The image showed the robber standing with his arms crossed leaning against a wall. Although it provided a three-quarters view of the robber’s face, the facial features appeared somewhat blurred, and a black baseball cap obscured the shape of his head and forehead.

Nonetheless, the photo immediately produced a tip. Cassandra Shoaff, Toribio’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of his five-year old son, told a friend in the Allentown Police Department that she believed Tori-bio was the man in the photo. That information made its way to Corporal Michael Sadusky, who was heading the investigation. When Sadusky called Shoaff, she told him that “her son saw the photo of the defendant on the internet” and said “‘that’s daddy.’” (182a). Sadusky gave hard copies of the photo and other images captured by the surveillance camera to the Allentown Police Department, which, in turn, forwarded them to Shoaff. Shoaff claimed to be “95% sure that the male in the pictures” was Toribio, but could not “be 100% certain ... due to the quality of the pictures.” Id.

To corroborate Shoaffs identification, Trooper Bernard Walasavage arranged a photo lineup using an array of head shots of Toribio and seven other Hispanic men. Walasavage asked Steffee, Pandher and Rebehn to participate, even though Pan-dher and Rebehn had already told investigators that they had not gotten a good look at the robber.

Before conducting the lineup, Walasa-vage showed each of the women photos of the robber from surveillance footage at Susquehanna Bank and several previously targeted banks. At the lineup itself, Pan-dher, who had not seen the robber’s face, claimed to be certain that the head shot of Toribio depicted the robber. Rebehn stated that she “only saw [the robber] from the side and with his head down” and declined to identify anyone. (182a). Stef-fee, however, the teller to whom the robber passed the note, confidently identified Toribio.

Satisfied that they had the right man, Trooper Bernard Spece applied for an arrest warrant. The supporting affidavit described Shoaff as a “source who wished to remain anonymous.” (188a). It made no mention of her relationship to Toribio. With respect to the photo lineup, the affidavit stated that both Pandher and Steffee positively identified Toribio, but made no mention of Pandher’s statement that she *229 never saw the robber’s face, nor of Wala-savage’s peculiar procedure of asking the participants to look at surveillance photos before proceeding to the lineup.

A warrant issued, and Toribio was arrested on August 10, 2010. At five foot nine, Toribio was several inches shorter than certain witnesses had described. Concerned with the discrepancy, Sadusky called Steffee and Rebehn, “advised both that [he] had located the individual that was identified in the photo lineup,” and asked them to confirm the identification by viewing him through a one-way glass window at the police station. (133a). Upon seeing Toribio, Steffee “hugged [Sadusky] in elation” and “related that she had no reservations that [Toribio] was the man who robbed the bank.” Id. Rebehn, too, said she was sure Toribio was the robber, despite having previously declined to identify him in the photo lineup.

Two days later, another bank was robbed in Lancaster County. Sadusky learned of the robbery the next day, and Toribio was released. All charges were dropped two business days after the Lancaster robbery occurred.

Toribio filed an action under § 1983 against Spece, and later a separate action against Sadusky and Walasavage. The two cases were consolidated, and Toribio filed amended complaints alleging one count of false arrest, one count of false imprisonment, and one count of malicious prosecution. Defendants’ motion for summary judgment was granted on June 4, 2012, and this timely appeal followed.

II. Jurisdiction and Standard of Review

The District Court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343, and we have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We exercise plenary review of an order granting summary judgment. See Giles v. Kearney, 571 F.3d 318, 322 (3d Cir.2009). “A court may grant summary judgment only when the record shows that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). “[T]he evidence of the non-movant is to be believed, and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in his favor,” but the “mere existence of some evidence in support of the non-movant is insufficient to deny a motion for summary judgment; enough evidence must exist to enable a jury to reasonably find for the nonmovant on the issue.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).

III. Analysis

A. False Arrest

“[A] plaintiff may succeed in a § 1983 action for false arrest made pursuant to a warrant if the plaintiff shows, by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) that the police officer knowingly and deliberately, or with a reckless disregard for the truth, made false statements or omissions that create a falsehood in applying for a warrant; and (2) that such statements or omissions are material, or necessary, to the finding of probable cause.” Wilson v. Russo,

Related

Davila v. N. Reg'l Joint Police Bd.
370 F. Supp. 3d 498 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 2019)

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558 F. App'x 227, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/raddy-toribio-v-bernard-spece-ca3-2014.