Sylvia Panetta v. Thomas M. Crowley, Marc Jurnove, Patricia A. Kelvasa, John Doe I, Docket No. 02-7275-Cv

460 F.3d 388, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 21293
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedAugust 18, 2006
Docket388
StatusPublished
Cited by394 cases

This text of 460 F.3d 388 (Sylvia Panetta v. Thomas M. Crowley, Marc Jurnove, Patricia A. Kelvasa, John Doe I, Docket No. 02-7275-Cv) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sylvia Panetta v. Thomas M. Crowley, Marc Jurnove, Patricia A. Kelvasa, John Doe I, Docket No. 02-7275-Cv, 460 F.3d 388, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 21293 (2d Cir. 2006).

Opinion

WINTER, Circuit Judge.

After a jury trial, defendant Thomas A. Crowley was found liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for the false arrest of plaintiff Sylvia Panetta. Defendant Marc Jurnove was held not liable for claims of malicious prosecution and conspiring to subject Panetta to false arrest. Judge Yanthis denied Panetta’s motion for a new trial on damages, Crowley’s post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial, and Jurnove’s motion for attorneys’ fees and costs. Judge Yanthis also awarded Panet-ta $1,000 in punitive damages and ordered Crowley to pay Panetta $50,894.03 in attorneys’ fees and costs.

Crowley appeals, arguing that he had probable cause as a matter of law to arrest Panetta or, in the alternative, that he was entitled to qualified immunity. Jurnove, as a prevailing defendant, appeals from the denial of attorneys’ fees and costs. Panet-ta does not cross-appeal from the denial of her motion for a new trial on damages.

We hold that Crowley had probable cause to arrest Panetta because he relied on the complaints of a purported peace officer as well as an identified citizen informant, and he corroborated these complaints with personal observations. Crowley was entitled to judgment as a matter of law, and we vacate the judgment against him. However, we affirm the denial of attorneys’ fees and costs to Jurnove.

BACKGROUND

a) Facts

We of course view the evidence in the light most favorable to Panetta. United States v. Space Hunters, Inc., 429 F.3d 416, 428-29 (2d Cir.2005).

On April 17, 1998, Marc Jurnove and Patricia Kelvasa made a walk-in complaint to New York State Trooper Crowley at the Middletown, New York, State Police barracks. They alleged that Sylvia Panetta was abusing her horse, Veil. During a 10 to 15 minute conversation, Jurnove and Kel-vasa detailed their basis for suspicions of animal cruelty. They stated that Veil had hair loss; lice; scabbing; protrusion of ribs, top line, and hips; bloated belly; patchy skin; and cracked hooves, all of which they claimed was evidence that the horse was not properly cared for or provided proper food. Jurnove and Kelvasa also showed Crowley a series of recent photographs taken by Kelvasa, depicting several of the physical maladies they had described. During this meeting, Crowley, who had no previous experience with horses, asked Jurnove and Kelvasa additional questions about Veil, general horse care, and signs of neglect.

While Crowley lacked training with respect to horses, Jurnove and Kelvasa rep-* resented themselves as having expertise in horse care. Jurnove informed Crowley that he had served as the chief cruelty investigator of the Long Island Humane Society, as an agent in the special investigations unit of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and as a director of the International Society for the Protection of Exotic Animal Kind & Livestock (“I-SPEAK”). Jurnove also represented that he had received advanced equine training and was certified in evaluating the physical status of horses, including body weight and hoof conditions. Furthermore, Jurnove provided Crowley with a written statement indicating that he was a “NY State Peace Officer” or simply a *392 “Peace Officer” in connection with some of the positions described above. Kelvasa based her equine credentials on her service as a co-leader of a 4-H program, in which she instructed children in the care, feeding, and treatment of horses, as well as her personal ownership of horses.

Jurnove also provided Crowley with a seven-page written statement, supplied on I-SPEAK letterhead, describing Veil’s condition. The written statement was intended to support Jurnove’s belief that Veil was being kept in violation of the animal cruelty laws, specifically New York Agriculture and Markets Law § 353. After listing Jurnove’s animal protection credentials, the written statement describes Jurnove’s 1995 observations of Veil and his attempts to aid the horse. The last page of the written statement recounted Kelva-sa’s contacting of Jurnove about Veil’s poor condition, Jurnove and Kelvasa’s visit with Veil the next day, and the horse’s present distressed state. The written statement concluded with the sentence: “I understand any false statement is a Class A misdemeanor by New York State Law.” While Jurnove’s written statement indicated his prior involvement with Veil in 1995, Jurnove did not inform Crowley that Pan-etta had previously sued him unsuccessfully for malicious prosecution stemming from Jurnove’s 1995 actions.

After receiving the information provided to him by Jurnove and Kelvasa, 1 Officer Crowley and another officer researched the applicable law, New York Agriculture and Markets Law § 353. That provision makes it a misdemeanor to “deprive[ ] any animal of necessary sustenance or drink, or neglect[ ] or refuse[ ] to furnish it with such sustenance or drink, or ... permití ] any animal to be unjustifiably injured.” N.Y. Agrie. & Mkts. Law § 353. Returning to Jurnove and Kelvasa, Crowley informed them that he was “not gonna just go out there, [and] arrest [Panetta] on your statement,” but rather he would “investigate and take it from there.”

b) Crowley’s Observation of Veil

Following his meeting with Jurnove and Kelvasa, Crowley proceeded to view Veil for himself. Upon his arrival at Panetta’s property, Crowley spoke with a man standing diagonally across the street and confirmed that he was at the correct address. Crowley also inquired whether the man knew anything about horses, and, when he received a positive response, asked the man’s impression of the horse. The man told Crowley that Veil appeared to be in poor condition and also warned him to beware of the many dogs on Panet-ta’s property.

Following this conversation, Crowley observed Veil for approximately five minutes from a fence line. From a distance of fifteen to twenty feet, Crowley confirmed many of Veil’s maladies, including the protruding ribs and topline, a bloated belly, patchy skin, and cracked hooves. Crowley decided to issue Panetta an appearance ticket, which constitutes non-custodial arrest and requires the issuee to appear in court at a specified time. See N.Y.Crim. Proc. Law § 150.20 (outlining the procedure for the use of appearance tickets in specific circumstances); N.Y. Agric. & Mkts. Law § 371 (permitting use of appearance tickets for violations of animal cruelty laws).

*393 c) Panetta’s Arrest

Although the accounts of Panetta’s arrest differ, we recount the evidence in the light most favorable to Panetta. See Diesel v. Town of Lewisboro, 232 F.3d 92, 103 (2d Cir.2000).

Crowley drove his marked police car up Panetta’s driveway.

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460 F.3d 388, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 21293, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sylvia-panetta-v-thomas-m-crowley-marc-jurnove-patricia-a-kelvasa-ca2-2006.