Schoolcraft v. The City Of New York et al

Filing 243

MEMORANDUM OF LAW in Support. Document filed by Adrian Schoolcraft. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A)(Smith, Nathaniel)

NYPD supervisor countersue

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By Ri:n CcitJc,i
Morcfr

lB, 2014 |

B:50pm

Photo Reuters

A scandal-scarred NYPD supervisor on Tuesday countersued whistleblower cop Adrian
Schoolcraft, alleging he drummed up bogus comprlaints about wrongdoing at a crime-ridden
Brooklyn precinct that the official once commanded as "revenge" for a bad evaluation.
Deputy Inspector Steven Mauriello filed his $2 nr,illion countersuit in Manhattan federal
court, which also seeks to dismiss the $50 million suit that Schoolcraft socked the citv, him
and others with in 2010.
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Deputy Inspector Steven

Mauriello
Photor David McGlynn

Schoolcraft claims he was forced to spent time in a mental ward after claiming cops at the
B 1st. Precinct were fudging crime stats.
Mau.riello's counterclaim alleges Schoolcraft wanted his ex-commander deemed the
" scapegoat" for " intentional downgrading of crirne."
"As a result of the foregoing wrongful conduct

plaintiff, Steven Mauriello has suffered
damage to his career and reputation ... he has undeseruedll'suffered public humiliation and
scorn, and has been caused to suffer extreme emotional distress," the countersuit alleges.
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Schoolcraft could not immediately be reached for comment.
LAWSUITS, NYPD

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New York Vllage Voicr:

Filed 10115113 Page 1 of 4
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Steven Mauriello, I\ryPD Dep,uty Inspector and
Adrian S choolcraft 's Antagonist, Takes Off the
Kid Gloves
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Deputy Inr;pector Steven
I\{auriello, the main
antago nist of whistleblower
cop Adrian Schoolcraft, has

broken

a l<lng

public silence,

and is fighl,ing back against

Schoolcralt's allegations in
rr:cently fited court papers,
the Village Voice has learned.

Nlauriello l'pictured at far left with Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner l(ellyl was
Schoolcralt's commander in the 8rst Precinct in Broo.klyn. During the three years since
Schoolcralt sued Mauriello, other police bosses and the city, Mauriello has remained
lzrrgely quiet, expect to deny Schoolcraft's claims. Nor,v, in a motion for counterc,laims, his
laLwyer Walter Kretz accuses Schoolcraft of mounting a manipulative "revenge cilmpaign"
against Mauriello. (In the motion, Kretz cites a book by this reporter, titled "The NIIPD
Tapes," a[rong other documents.)

"lfhe cumulative documentary and recorded evidence,produced in
discovery, some of which has only recently been delivered to us, and some of
which has been revealed to us through the recent releaLse of the Rayrnan book,
prrovides a portrait of the plaintiff as a disaffected police officer determined to do
harm to those who essentially evaluated him fairly based upon his poor
pr:rformanrer &nd properly treated him on the job as he deserved to be treated," Kretz
writes.
"Rather thzLn respond to their instruction, patience, encouragement and support,
he deceiverl them and has subjected them, and especially Mauriello, to a
re,ckless and malicious revenge carried out secretly for: an extended time."

Nathaniel Simith, Schoolcraft's Iawyer, declined to conrment on the Kretz allegations.
Kretz allcgr:s that Schoolcraft and his fathcr, larry, who had sued tlrr:cc policc

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clepartmeitts in the past, hatched a plan to destroy Mauriello's career "while laf ing a false
foundatio n for claims p@Eggi4tefdedpggg$gaFRg/$: cDcj'C0#feg?tf€f1of an Fited
Oct. 7 , 20i)g recording in which the Schoolcrafts discuss a plan to "fuck Mauriello over."

"Plaintiffs intended to carry out the plan by making unfound and exaggerated accu.sations
8rst Precinct, vrhich plaintiff and his father hoped
would mal<e Mauriello the'scapegoat'for the alleged ''wongdoing in the Brst Precinct and
throughouLt the NYPD, and thus cause Mauriello to get fired."
a.gainst tht: supervising officers of the

i\,4ranri

New Irnres

lVhile an i.nternai I'l"YPD report substantiated Schoolcraft's claims of downgrading of
crime reports, Kretz alleges that Schoolcraft himself had a hand in it.

"[Schoolclaft] caused at least three incidents--two grzrnd larcenies and one burg)ary'--to be
recorded instead as lost property and caused at least lhree other incidents not to be
reported at all," he writes. "While he identified r3 incidents of improper crime reporting,
he actualll' was responsible for six such inciclents."

Piroenix New Tinres

Schoolcra [t's plan, Kretz claims, was that the crime victints would rcturn to thc Jrrecinct
and complain, thus setting up a paper trail to show thaLt crime reports were not properly
handled.

RU}IHIFI'$SAHES

lSchoolcr aft's] goal was not to assist his fellow officers or the people of the 81st Prr:cinct,"
"It was to do harm to Mauriello while fatrricating support for claims he
intended to bring."
"

X.retz r,rritt:s.

report, prepared by the NYPD's Quality Assuran.ce Division, rnade no clainr that
Schoolcralt had anything to do with downgrading of r,eports himself. T'he report wars
completed in zoro, but buried by the NYPD, until thir; newspaper was able to obtain a
copy through back channels.

T hat

Kretz also cites a remark taken from a tape Schoolcra.ft made of a conversation lvith his
father, in vshich he says, Officers "just worked together so we wouldn't have to work with
any niggers."

Kretz: "While it is appalling enough that a NewYork City police officer would harbor such
rilcist sentiments, especially when serving a predominantly African American communitSr,
his decisio n to pretend otherwise to bolster his malicious scheme to harm Maurir:llo, is
that much more despicable."
In the past, larry Schoolcraft has said that his son wasn't making
parrotting the sentiments of other officers.

a

Village Voice
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racist remark, but

And we sh<luld note that those remarks were lifted from an Internal Affairs report that was
pretty biased against Schoolcraft. One example of that is that those quotes were
reproduce,l without the full conversation. Another is that the report clearly gave more
irnportancr: to what Mauriello and other police bosses were saying, than it did Schocllcraft.
Kretz goes on to outline Mauriello's likely defense to the lawsuit. Mauriello contends that
he gave Sc.roolcraft a poor evaluation based on the advice of his subordinates. \Alhen
Schoolcralt complained, Mauriello and the other bosses disagreed, saying he jusr[ wasn't
doing his job.

Ivlauriello r:laims he was not aware that Schoolcraft was seen by a department
pisychologist, who ordered his guns and shield removed. Mauriello was not aware of why
he and his r;taff were called to Internal Affairs after Schoolcraft was forced into the
prsychiatricr ward at Jamaica Hospital on Oct. 31, 20ogr. He did not order Schoolcraft to be
taLken to the psych ward.
"r\s far as tr,{auriello knew, the events of October 31, 2 oo9, were triggered by
plaintiffls unusual and ultimately bizarre behavior and were undertaken to make
sure plaint:.ff was not about to cause harm to himself or anyone else," Kretz asserts.
However, ts readers of this newspaper are aware, Schoolcraft's tape of that evening does
not indicate he ever threatened himself or others that night.
Kretz also rliscloses that one of the recordings he will use came from Schoolcraft s
computer-.-the one in his apartment. The city has clairned that they did not seize his
computer, so how that happened is yet another puzde in a case filled with them. '.lhe city
has resistetl returning the items seized from Schoolcraft's apartment that night.
"l n any evr'nt, we intend to show through the recording of the conversation betweenr

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prlaintiff and his father, as well as through other recordings, that plaintifl's complaints to
fFSrcVd$b$SSdFtWS tu$O$Arng]|qh{grlar1d tu
0AD,and fo IAB, were
create unf,tunded support for plaintiffs intended claims against the City fol retaliation,"
F.retz writt:s.

gdselt

Fited 10l1Sl1g Page 3 of 4

T'he centr;Ll legal lbundation for Mauriello's counterclaim is "tortious interferenr:e,'" which

occurs whr:n a party intentionally damages another pa.rty's business relationships.

The most lamous example of this lvpe of claim took place during the landmark litigiltion
over Big T cbacco rZ years ago. Whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand had given an inter-view to
"t5o Minutr:s," breaking his confidentiality agreement with tobacco company Brown and
Vy'illiamson.
CBS Broadcasting decided not to televise the full intervierv with Wigand, and blo ck out his
features, atter Brown and Williamson threatened to file a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit
against CBli for "tortious interferencc."

The attorney general of Mississippi steppcd in and dcposed Wigand, and that move gave
CBS the leE;al cover to run the full segment and identif.r the whistleblower in Februar
1996.

In the period since Schoolcraft's story became public, Mauriello has lost his c<-rmmand. He
was transferred to the Bronx Transit unit. He was charged departmentally with failing to
take a polic,e report, among other things. And that case has been left more or less
unresolved ever since.
Brut we worder, does the city really want to conflate the treatment of Schoolcraft wilh that
ol Wigand, who was not only vindicated, but went on t,c become a key witness in a serie.s of
"trig tobacco" Iawsuits and change the whole dynamic in this country around smoking.
Mayor Bloomberg, after all, banned smoking in most public places.

A hearing on Kretz's motion will take place in federal court in Manhattan on Oct. r6.

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Case 1 :10-cv-06005-FIWS Document

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Itlewest I Cldest I Top Comments
:.

1ilayi.;.ltii)

,

Mauriello is CLEARLY desperate. lf he thirrks that this will win him suppr:rt
from the public, he's even more of an idiot than I thought. (Shame on his
attorney for filirrg such a frivolous documerrt.)
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