Valdez v. City of East Hartford

26 F. Supp. 2d 376, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17462, 1998 WL 772176
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedSeptember 29, 1998
DocketCIV. 3:95CV668(AHN)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 26 F. Supp. 2d 376 (Valdez v. City of East Hartford) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Valdez v. City of East Hartford, 26 F. Supp. 2d 376, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17462, 1998 WL 772176 (D. Conn. 1998).

Opinion

RULING ON MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

FITZSIMMONS, United States Magistrate Judge.

Gerónimo Valdez brings this civil rights action against the City of East Hartford and three of its police officers for (1) deprivation of his civil rights in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983; and (2) various state law claims. Pending is defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment on all counts. For the reasons that follow, defendants’ Motion [D«c. # 50] is GRANTED.

STANDARD

In a motion for summary judgment, the burden is on the moving party to establish that there are no genuine issues of material fact in dispute and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56(c), Fed.R.Civ.P.; Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 256, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A court must grant summary judgment “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact.” Miner v. City of Glens Falls, 999 F.2d 655, 661 (2d Cir.1993) (citation omitted). A dispute regarding a material fact is genuine “if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Aldrich v. Randolph Cent. School Dist., 963 F.2d 520, 523 (2d Cir.) (quoting Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 965, 113 S.Ct. 440, 121 L.Ed.2d 359 (1992). After discovery, if the non-moving party “has failed to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of [its] case with respect to which [it] has the burden of proof,” then summary judgment is appropriate. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The court resolves “all ambiguities and draw[s] all inferences in favor of the nonmoving party in order to determine how a reasonable jury would decide.” Aldrich, 963 F.2d at 523. Thus, “[o]nly when reasonable minds could not differ as to the import of the evidence is summary judgment proper.” Bryant v. Maffucci 923 F.2d 979, 982 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 849, 112 S.Ct. 152, 116 L.Ed.2d 117 (1991). See also Suburban Propane v. Proctor Gas, Inc., 953 F.2d 780, 788 (2d Cir.1992).

In the context of a motion for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56(c), disputed issues of fact are not material if the moving party would be entitled to judgment as a matter of law even if the disputed issues were resolved in favor of the non-moving party. Such factual disputes, however genuine, are not material, and their presence will not preclude summary judgment. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); see also Cartier v. Lussier, 955 F.2d 841, 845 (2d Cir.1992). This distinction is particularly important in the context of a qualified immunity defense, which has been raised in this case by the defendants. In cases where a qualified immunity defense is raised,

the question of whether the factual disputes are material is even more critical *379 ____ Plaintiffs may not unwrap a public officer’s cloak of immunity from suit simply by alleging even meritorious factual disputes relating to probable cause, when those controversies are nevertheless not material to the ultimate resolution of the immunity issue.

Cartier, 955 F.2d at 845.

UNDISPUTED FACTS

This action is predicated on one incident. The following facts are not disputed. 1

Gerónimo Valdez is a black Puerto Rican and a resident of Hartford, Connecticut. [Amend. Compl. ¶¶ 1, 5].

Mark Kelly, Todd Hanlon and Kurt Stoldt 2 are police officers employed by the City of East Hartford, Connecticut. [Id. ¶ 2].

Samml McKnight: August 26, 199k

On August 26, 1994, at approximately 5:57 p.m., defendant Mark Kelly was driving on Park Avenue, East Hartford during his patrol when he noticed a magenta Acura with New York registration K4S357 heading eastbound. [Def. Ex. A]. Officer Kelly testified that he checked the car’s registration because it had an out-of-state registration and the appearance of the vehicle was “out of the ordinary.” [Pl.Ex. C at 23] Police dispatch informed Officer Kelly that the registration he gave was for a 1978 two-door grey Chevrolet, and that the New York Motor Vehicle Department reported the registration was illegal and expired. [Def. Ex. A]. Officer Kelly approached the driver when he stopped at Roads Pizza on Park Avenue and requested documentation for the vehicle. Id. Officer Kelly described the driver as a black male. [Pl.Ex. C at 24]. No documentation was produced. [Def. Ex. A]. Officer Kelly drove the driver home to get identification. Id. The driver was unable to locate any identification at his home. Id.

The driver identified himself as Raymond Harrington with a date of birth of August 22, 1966. Id. A motor vehicles records check revealed that Raymond Harrington had a suspended license. Id. Officer Kelly then placed the driver under arrest for misuse of registration plates and operating under a suspended license. Id. His vehicle was left parked in a vacant lot next to Road’s Pizza. Id.

At police headquarters, the driver informed Officer Kelly that he had provided a false name and identified himself as Samuel McKnight. Id. Officer Kelly added a charge of criminal impersonation. Id. Officer Kelly stated in his report that “[t]he first name the operator used is a real person with a criminal record who the operator says is a friend of his.” Id. McKnight was held at police headquarters until proper identification could be made and bail could be arranged. Id.

Samuel McKnight: September SO, 199k

On September 30 at 8:49 p.m., Officer Kelly and another East Hartford Police Officer, Irwin, received information from a Hartford police officer that his agency was looking for Samuel McKnight, a primary suspect in a robbery that occurred in Hartford. [Def Ex. B], Officer Kelly reported that

[according to the Hartford officer, Samuel McKnight got into a taxi in the Columbus Circle area (East Hartford) and took the taxi to Hartford. Allegedly while in the taxi Samuel McKnight was using cocaine. When the taxi got to Hartford and stopped to collect his fare, Samuel McKnight pulled a gun on the taxi driver and demanded money. Once he got the money he fled. Officer Irwin initially met with the Hartford officer then came into my beat, district 25, which is where Columbus Circle is located, and I learned of the robbery.

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Bluebook (online)
26 F. Supp. 2d 376, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17462, 1998 WL 772176, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/valdez-v-city-of-east-hartford-ctd-1998.