Soomro v. City of New York

174 F. Supp. 3d 806, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42582, 2016 WL 1266069
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMarch 30, 2016
DocketNo. 13CV0187-LTS
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 174 F. Supp. 3d 806 (Soomro 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
Soomro v. City of New York, 174 F. Supp. 3d 806, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42582, 2016 WL 1266069 (S.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

Memorandum Opinion and Order ■

LAURA TAYLOR SWAIN, United States District Judge

Ashique Soomro (“Plaintiff’) brings this action against the City of New York and police officers Timothy Kraus and James Lamur pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, asserting false arrest, malicious prosecution, denial of a fair trial,' and related state law claims. Defendants have moved for summary judgment dismissing all claims; Plaintiff has moved for partial summary judgment on his denial of a fair trial and malicious prosecution claims.

The Court has jurisdiction of this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1367.

The Court has carefully reviewed the submissions of the parties. For the following reasons, Defendants’ motion is granted in part and denied in part, and Plaintiffs motion is denied.

Background

Unless otherwise noted, the following material facts are undisputed. As of October 10, 2011, Plaintiff was a full-time yellow taxi cab driver working in the City of New York. (Defs. Response to PL Statement of Facts Pursuant to Local Rule 56.1(b) (“Defs. Counter Stmt.”) ¶2.)1 Defendant Lamur has been employed by the New York City Pólice Department since May 1, 2000. (Id. ¶ 4). Defendant Kraus has been employed by the New York City Police Department since September 29, 2000. (Id. . ¶ 7.) Lamur and Kraus were assigned to the citywide Traffic Task Force (“TTF”) and were working for the TTF on October 10, 2011, in the vicinity of the intersection of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York County. (Id. ¶¶ 6, 8-10.)

On October 10, 2011, at or about 11:40 a.m., Plaintiff and his passenger arrived at the intersection of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue.' (Id. ¶¶ 11-12.) As Plaintiff finished driving westbound through the intersection, Plaintiff stopped to discharge his passenger. (Id. ¶ 14.) Kraus was standing 50 to 60 feet further west along 57th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues when he first observed Plaintiff stopping his vehicle. (Id. ¶ 15.) Kraus waved to Plaintiff, indicating that Plaintiff should keep moving and not stop his taxi in that location. (Id. ¶ 16.) Plaintiff understood that Kraus wanted him to move his vehi-ble. (Defs. Local R. 56.1 Statement of Undisputed Fact (“Defs. 56.1 Stmt.”) ¶ 19.)

Plaintiff drove about eight feet past Kraus towards Sixth Avenue before he stopped his vehicle. (Defs. Counter Stmt. ¶¶ 18-19.) The passenger threw down a ten dollar bill, opened the door and suddenly exited the passenger side of the taxi. (Defs. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 13.) Kraus saw the taxi stop and approached Plaintiffs vehicle from the passenger side of the vehicle just as the passenger was exiting and banged on the roof of Plaintiffs vehicle. (Defs. Counter Stmt. ¶23.) As Plaintiff then drove away, Kraus’ left arm was caught inside the vehicle,2 and Kraus was pulled [810]*810along by the taxi. (Defs. Counter Stmt. ¶ 24.) Kraus remained on his feet as he was pulled along by the taxi, before he became detached or otherwise let go of the taxi, at which time he tumbled to the road. (Id. ¶ 38.) Kraus was dragged about approximately 80-100 feet down the street. (Id. ¶ 26.)

The parties disagree as to whether Plaintiff was aware that Kraus was caught in the taxi. Kraus testified at his deposition that he had yelled at Plaintiff loudly through the open window on the passenger side to “stop the car, stop the car, pull over, stop the car.” (Kraus Dep. Tr. 84:19-25; 85:2-4; see also Lamur Dep. Tr. 72:25-73:4.) Kraus also testified that he had “no doubt” that the Plaintiff could hear him because Plaintiff was “looking right at [him]” through the side view mirror. (Kraus Dep. Tr. 85:5-15.) Plaintiff testified that the front passenger window was closed and that he did not hear Kraus yelling (PLDep. Tr. 67:3-15, 88:13-14), and did not check his rearview mirror or look to his right or left (id. 78:19-24, 97:11-13; Defs. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 39.) Plaintiff also testified that he did not have music playing in his car and was not on his phone. (PLDep. Tr. 88:15-19.) Plaintiff continued driving westbound on 57th Street as Kraus tumbled to the road, and Plaintiff did not stop until he reached the red light at 57th Street and 6th Avenue. (Defs. Counter Stmt. ¶¶ 39, 41.)

Lamur was stationed roughly across the street from Kraus. (Defs. 56.1 Stmt. ¶ 84.) Lamur’s attention was drawn to Plaintiffs taxi because it stopped in the middle of the street to discharge a passenger. (Id. ¶ 85.) Lamur observed Kraus approach Plaintiff and motion for Plaintiff to keep going. (Id. ¶ 86.) Lamur saw Kraus pulled along by the taxi and Lamur ran after the taxi. (Defs. Counter Stmt. ¶ 42.) Lamur caught up with Plaintiff at the intersection of 57th Street and Sixth Avenue, where Plaintiff was waiting at the red light, and arrested Plaintiff. (Id. ¶¶ 43^44.) Plaintiff was taken into custody and brought to the local police station for processing. (Id. ¶ 45.)

Lamur prepared the arrest paperwork, spoke with prosecutors at the New York County District Attorney’s Office (“NYDA”), and signed a criminal complaint. (Id. ¶ 46.) Lamur signed the criminal complaint on October 10, 2011, at 11:05 p.m., based on statements he claimed were made to him by Kraus. (Id. ¶ 48.) The criminal complaint included the statement:

Deponent [Lamur] states that deponent is informed by Police Officer Timothy Kraus, Shield 20901 of Manhattan Traffic Task Force, that when informant told the [Plaintiff] to move his taxi, the defendant (i) drove off, (ii) half of informant’s body was still in said taxi as the defendant drove off, (iii) informant was hanging out of the taxi and was unable to get out of the taxi as the defendant drove off, (iv) informant fell out of the window and rolled on the ground causing informant to [suffer pain and injuries].

(Id. ¶ 49.) Lamur also told the NYDA that he saw Kraus’ body “half hanging out of car [sic]” and that Kraus could not put his feet down because the taxi was traveling too fast. (Id. ¶ 80.) Kraus asserts that he is not sure whether he told Lamur that “half his body was inside” the taxi. (Id. ¶ 72.) In his deposition taken in the instant action, Kraus acknowledged that it was not true that “half his body” was [811]*811caught in the taxi cab. (Defs. Counter Stmt. ¶¶ 73-74.) Surveillance camera videos of the incident confirm that no more than Kraus’ arm was caught in the taxi and that Kraus’ head was not inside the taxi. (Lumer Decl. Ex. 7.) Kraus met with members of the NYDA’s office telephoni-cally and in person following Plaintiffs arrest to discuss the facts and circumstances of Plaintiffs arrest. (Defs. Counter Stmt. ¶ 75.)

The NYDA elected to prosecute Plaintiff. (Id. ¶ 47.) Plaintiff was charged with assault in the second degree, pursuant to New York Penal Law § 120.05(3)3 based on a criminal complaint signed by Lamur. (Lumer Decl. Ex. 9.) Although Plaintiff was charged with felony assault, his case was never presented to a grand jury and Plaintiff was never indicted. (Defs. Counter Stmt.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
174 F. Supp. 3d 806, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42582, 2016 WL 1266069, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/soomro-v-city-of-new-york-nysd-2016.