Schnitter v. City of Rochester et al
Filing
33
-CLERK TO FOLLOW UP-ORDER granting defendants' 13 21 32 Motions for Judgment on the Pleadings and dismissing the complaint. Signed by Hon. David G. Larimer on 3/5/13. (EMA)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
_______________________________________________
JAMES SCHNITTER,
Plaintiff,
DECISION AND ORDER
11-CV-6026L
v.
CITY OF ROCHESTER,
INVESTIGATOR IACUTONE,
SERGEANT DE BELLIS,
MONROE COUNTY,
MICHAEL GREEN,
ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY
GRACE CARDUCCI,
Defendants.
________________________________________________
Plaintiff James Schnitter brings this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against the City of
Rochester, New York (“City”), Rochester Police Department (“RPD”) Investigator Albert Iacutone,
RPD Sergeant Anthony DeBellis (collectively “City defendants”), Monroe County, former Monroe
County District Attorney (“DA”) Michael Green, and Assistant District Attorney (“ADA”) Grace
Carducci (collectively “County defendants”).
Plaintiff’s claims arise out of his 2007 arrest and prosecution on charges of first-degree
sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. Those charges were based on a complaint made
by plaintiff’s estranged wife, concerning an incident that she alleged had occurred in December
2006, in which plaintiff allegedly engaged in sexual contact with his then-three-year-old daughter.
Plaintiff was indicted on those charges in February 2007. At some point, he moved to
dismiss the indictment, apparently based on exculpatory evidence that had been turned over by ADA
Carducci in September 2007. Complaint ¶ 38, 41. The state court granted the motion in January
2008. Complaint ¶ 46.
Plaintiff commenced this action in January 2011. He asserts claims for (1) malicious
prosecution, false arrest and false imprisonment, (2) “14th Amendment deprivation of liberty without
due process of law by withholding material exculpatory and impeachment evidence, and deliberately
failing to conduct a constitutionally adequate investigation,” and (3) supervisory liability against
Green. Plaintiff seeks damages in an unspecified amount.
In support of his claims, plaintiff alleges that Carducci and Iacutone simply relied
unquestioningly on the allegations made by plaintiff’s wife, and failed to take steps to attempt to
verify her accusations. Plaintiff contends that they had a duty to do so because his wife’s credibility
was undermined by her history of psychiatric problems, her evident hostility toward plaintiff, the
inconsistencies in her allegations, and the lack of corroboration of her allegations from both a
physical examination and an interview of plaintiff’s daughter, the alleged victim.
Plaintiff further alleges that the indictment against him “was the product of fraud, perjury,
and misrepresentation.” Complaint ¶ 35. While the complaint does not say so expressly, plaintiff
is apparently alluding to his wife’s false accusations. Plaintiff does not appear to allege that
defendants themselves made any perjurious or fraudulent statements in connection with the
indictment itself.1
1
Plaintiff does allege that Carducci falsely stated in August 2007–more than six months
after plaintiff’s indictment–that she had “provided the [state] Court the minutes of the Grand Jury
proceeding on February 14, 2006,” when in fact she did not provide the grand jury minutes until
September 10, 2007. Complaint ¶¶ 37, 38. If Carducci did make such a statement, however, it
seemingly would have been obvious to all concerned that she had misspoken, since the alleged
incident involving plaintiff and his daughter did not occur until December 2006. Complaint ¶ 17.
Carducci’s alleged statement about providing grand jury minutes in February 2006 could hardly
have been calculated to deceive anyone, then, nor is it apparent how that misstatement could
have affected plaintiff’s rights. In any event, Carducci’s alleged statement could not provide a
basis for plaintiff’s allegation that the indictment itself was the product of fraud or
misrepresentation.
-2-
The complaint also alleges that Carducci failed to turn over exculpatory material to plaintiff,
as required by Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963). Plaintiff alleges that his then-attorney
eventually obtained, by means of subpoena, certain documentary evidence, including his wife’s
psychiatric records and his daughter’s hospital records, that formed the basis for plaintiff’s successful
motion to dismiss the indictment. Complaint ¶¶ 40-44. Carducci did not file a written response to
that motion, allegedly stating on the record that she could not “factually dispute anything contained
in defendant’s motion papers.” Complaint ¶ 47.
As to the City, plaintiff alleges that the City “had a custom, policy or pattern and practice of
failing to adequately investigate cases, and to withhold material exculpatory and impeachment
evidence from prosecutors.” Complaint ¶ 48. Plaintiff alleges that there were “many cases”
involving such “unlawful practices of [the City’s] police officers and investigators,” yet the City did
nothing to rectify those practices. Complaint ¶ 49. Plaintiff further alleges that the City had a
custom or policy of failing to train or supervise its officers with respect to rape investigation
techniques, including “pressuring witnesses to make false identifications, falsifying inculpatory
evidence,” and other matters. Complaint ¶ 50.
Plaintiff makes similar allegations about the DA’s office, alleging that it had a custom and
policy of “bad faith withholding of access to exculpatory evidence” and failing to adequately train
and supervise ADAs in that regard. Complaint ¶¶ 51-53.
Based on these allegations, plaintiff asserts three causes of action. The first cause of action
asserts claims of malicious prosecution, false arrest and false imprisonment. The complaint does not
state whether this cause of action is directed against any particular defendants, but alleges that
“[p]rosecutors withheld, to the last minute, grand jury minutes that contained exculpatory facts that
vitiated probable cause against Plaintiff,” and that “[n]o reasonable officer, given the estranged
wife’s mental background, would not have inquired further and investigated further her claims of
sexual assault against her own child.” Complaint ¶¶ 59, 60.
-3-
The second cause of action asserts a claim of “14th Amendment deprivation of liberty without
due process of law by withholding material exculpatory and impeachment evidence, and deliberately
failing to conduct a constitutionally adequate investigation.” Complaint at 12. Plaintiff alleges that
“[d]efendants fabricated inculpatory evidence, failed to follow leads regarding the mental state of
the estranged wife, withheld material exculpatory and impeachment evidence from prosecutors, and
deliberately failed to conduct a constitutionally adequate investigation ... .” Complaint ¶ 65.
Plaintiff further alleges that “[in] the drive to secure a conviction against Plaintiff,” defendants failed
to conduct a thorough investigation because they knew that such an investigation would have
uncovered evidence that would have exonerated plaintiff. Complaint ¶ 66.
The third cause of action (which is erroneously denominated as the fourth) asserts a claim,
apparently against Green only, alleging that he was grossly negligent, reckless or deliberately
indifferent in failing to provide adequate training and supervision with respect to the ADAs in his
office, which led to Carducci’s alleged misconduct and violation of plaintiff’s rights. Complaint ¶¶
72-74. Plaintiff seeks compensatory and punitive damages, in unspecified amounts, prejudgment
interest, and attorney’s fees.
DISCUSSION
I. County Defendants’ Motion
The County defendants contend that both Green and Carducci are protected by absolute
prosecutorial immunity. “[I]t is well settled that prosecutors are entitled to absolute immunity
against Section 1983 claims, for actions performed in the course of their prosecutorial duties,
including but not limited to the presentation of evidence to grand juries and participation in criminal
trials.” Brown v. Ontario County, 787 F.Supp.2d 273, 277 (W.D.N.Y. 2011) (citing Imbler v.
Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, 427-28 (1976), and Barrett v. United States, 798 F.2d 565, 571-72 (2d Cir.
1986)).
-4-
The Supreme Court has also “made clear that absolute immunity may not apply when a
prosecutor is not acting as ‘an officer of the court,’ but is instead engaged in other tasks, say,
investigative or administrative tasks.” Van de Kamp v. Goldstein, 555 U.S. 335, 342 (2009) (citing
Imbler, 431 U.S. at 431 n.33). A prosecutor who engages in such activities is protected instead only
by qualified, good-faith immunity. Sclafani v. Spitzer, 734 F.Supp.2d 288, 296 (E.D.N.Y. 2010)
(citing Van de Kamp).
The law is clear, however, that a prosecutor’s failure to disclose exculpatory evidence is
protected by absolute immunity. See Lawlor v. Connelly, 471 Fed.Appx. 64, 65 (2d Cir. 2012)
(stating that “[t]his Court has repeatedly held ... that a prosecutor is absolutely immune from liability
under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for his conduct before a grand jury” and that “this Court has specifically held
that a prosecutor is immune from § 1983 liability for withholding exculpatory evidence from a grand
jury”) (citations omitted); see also Warney v. Monroe County, 587 F.3d 113, 125 (2d Cir. 2005) (“if
the prosecutors had tested all the evidence, and then sat on the exculpatory results for at least 72
days, they may well have violated Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963); but they would be
absolutely immune from personal liability”).
Plaintiff here attempts to cast this claim in terms of an alleged failure to conduct a thorough
investigation, but that does not render the complained-of conduct “investigatory” in nature. At
bottom, plaintiff’s claim rests upon the prosecutor’s decision to charge plaintiff with a crime. That
is a quintessentially prosecutorial task. See Stein v. Disciplinary Bd. of Supreme Court of New
Mexico, 520 F.3d 1183, 1194 (10th Cir. 2008) (“Deciding whether to bring charges–which necessarily
includes an evaluation of whether there has been sufficient investigation to support charges–is a
quintessential prosecutorial function protected by absolute immunity”) (citing Buckley v.
Fitzsimmons, 509 U.S. 259, 273 (1993)).
Plaintiff also alleges in his second cause of action that “[d]efendants fabricated inculpatory
evidence,” Complaint ¶ 65, but there is not one factual allegation anywhere in the complaint to
support that assertion. Rather, the complaint alleges only that “ADA Carducci relied solely on the
-5-
wife’s testimony” and “failed to make a further inquiry to investigate the estranged wife’s
allegations, corroborate them, or investigate Plaintiff’s claims that he was innocent.” Complaint ¶¶
27, 34.
I recognize that a plaintiff need not plead evidence to state a facially valid claim, but there
must still be enough facts alleged to apprise the defendants of what it is they are alleged to have
done, so that they can frame a meaningful response. As the Second Circuit has put it, “notice
pleading supported by facially plausible factual allegations is all that is required–nothing more,
nothing less.” In re Morgan Stanley Information Fund Securities Litigation, 592 F.3d 347, 358 (2d
Cir. 2010) (citing Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 678 (2009)). See also Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly,
550 US. 544, 557 (2007) (“naked assertion[s]” devoid of “further factual enhancement” are
insufficient to state a claim).
The bald assertion that defendants fabricated evidence, then, is insufficient without some
allegations concerning the nature of the alleged fabrications. Plaintiff’s “threadbare recital[] of the
elements of a cause of action” are not enough, Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, and his claims against
Carducci and Green are therefore dismissed. See Zembiec v. County of Monroe, 766 F.Supp.2d 484,
498 (W.D.N.Y. 2011) (“plaintiff’s conclusory allegations that [the county sheriff] and the County
maintained a policy of publishing confidential medical records and retaliating against employees,
absent some factual allegations in support of those assertions, also render these claims defective and
subject to dismissal”) (citing cases), aff’d, 468 Fed.Appx. 39 (2d Cir. 2012).
Plaintiff’s claim against Green based on his alleged failure to train or supervise the ADAs
under him also fails. To state a claim under § 1983 for failure to train, a complaint must allege that
the supervisor’s failure to train his employees amounts to “‘deliberate indifference to the rights of
persons with whom the [employees] c[a]me into contact.’” Connick v. Thompson, ___ U.S. ___, 131
S.Ct. 1350, 1359 (2011) (quoting City of Canton, Ohio v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 388 (1989) (first
alteration in original)).
-6-
Plaintiff does allege that Green “acted with gross negligence, recklessness, and/or deliberate
indifference to the constitutional rights of citizens by failing to provide adequate training ... .”
Complaint ¶ 72.
Variations of that allegation are sprinkled throughout the complaint, but the
complaint is devoid of any particulars supporting that conclusory assertion.
“A pattern of similar constitutional violations by untrained employees is ‘ordinarily
necessary’ to demonstrate deliberate indifference for purposes of failure to train.” Connick, 131
S.Ct. at 1360 (quoting Bryan Cty., 520 U.S., at 409, ). While the Supreme Court has left open the
possibility that a single incident could give rise to liability for failure to train or supervise, the Court
has cautioned that only a “narrow range” of circumstances would support such single-incident
liability, where the “unconstitutional consequences of failing to train [were] patently obvious ... .”
Connick, 131 S.Ct. at 1361. No allegations supporting either theory have been pleaded here.
In any event, such a claim cannot be predicated on boilerplate allegations of the sort
presented in this case. Plaintiff has simply tacked on an allegation that the alleged violation of his
constitutional rights was due in part to a failure to train, supervise, etc., on the part of Green. That
sort of “[t]hreadbare recital[] of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory
statements, do[es] not suffice.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. See Bennett v. Washington,
No. 11-176, 2013 WL 140104, at *7 (E.D.Pa. Jan. 10, 2013) (since amended complaint contain[ed]
no allegations that [supervisor] had notice that [nurse’s] training was ‘deficient in a particular
respect,’” it “fail[ed] to allege a plausible claim that [supervisor] was deliberately indifferent to the
need to train her nurses to recognize when an injured inmate needed a doctor’s examination)
(quoting Connick, 131 S.Ct. at 1360); Matos v. City of New York, No. 10-CV-4558, 2012 WL
7160430, at *6 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 3, 2012) (plaintiff’s allegations that defendant City “exercised
deliberate indifference by failing to take remedial action,” and that it “failed to properly train, retrain,
supervise, discipline, and monitor the officers,” were “merely boilerplate conclusions that d[id] not
provide support for his claims,” and his allegation that City was aware from “notice[s], claims, and
lawsuits” of police detective’s propensity to commit constitutional violations was a “legal conclusion
-7-
couched as a factual allegation,” which “provide[d] no ‘factual amplification’ from which this court
could plausibly infer that the City’s deliberate indifference caused plaintiff’s injuries”) (quoting
Missel v. County of Monroe, 351 Fed.Appx. 543, 546 (2d Cir. 2009)); Gaymon v. Esposito, No. 114170, 2012 WL 1068750, at *9 (D.N.J. Mar. 29, 2012) (“Given that a municipality’s culpability for
a deprivation of rights ‘is at its most tenuous where a claim turns on a failure to train,’ this Court
finds that, given the limited factual support for Plaintiffs’ failure to train claim, it cannot survive a
motion for judgment on the pleadings”) (quoting Connick, 131 S.Ct. at 1359).
To the extent that plaintiff’s claims against Green and Carducci are asserted against them in
their official capacities, they are also barred by the Eleventh Amendment. In their role as
prosecutors, Green and Carducci “acted, in all relevant respects, on behalf of New York State, which
itself is immune under the Eleventh Amendment.” Doe v. Green, 593 F.Supp.2d 523, 535
(W.D.N.Y. 2009). That immunity extends to them, in their official capacities, as well. Id.
Plaintiff’s claims against the County must also be dismissed. For one thing, the complaint
does not adequately allege that the purported violations of plaintiff’s rights were due to any customs
or policies of the County, for the same reasons stated with respect to Green’s supervisory liability.
Aside from that, however, the County cannot be held liable for Green’s and Carducci’s
actions, because Green and Carducci acted on behalf of New York State. As this Court has
previously explained, “the case law is clear that a county in New York cannot be held liable for the
prosecutorial acts of a district attorney, because the DA acts in that capacity on behalf of the state,
not the county.” Id. at 534 (collecting cases). In Green, the Court dismissed a claim alleging that
the defendant county maintained certain policies or customs concerning grand jury investigations
and prosecutions of certain types of crimes, on the ground that those “were not policies of the
County–which lacked the authority to set such policies–but policies of the DA, acting on behalf of
New York State.” Id. The same reasoning applies here.
-8-
II. City Defendants’ Motion
Plaintiff’s claims against the City defendants (the City, Investigator Iacutone, and Sgt.
DeBellis) are also subject to dismissal. Since Iacutone and DeBellis (“the officers”) were not
directly involved in the decision to prosecute plaintiff, the claim against them is essentially a claim
for false arrest. “A § 1983 claim for false arrest ... is substantially the same as a claim for false arrest
under New York law.” Weyant v. Okst, 101 F.3d 845, 852 (2d Cir. 1996) (citations omitted). Under
New York law, an action for false arrest requires that the plaintiff show that “(1) the defendant
intended to confine him, (2) the plaintiff was conscious of the confinement, (3) the plaintiff did not
consent to the confinement and (4) the confinement was not otherwise privileged.” Broughton v.
State of New York, 37 N.Y.2d 451, 456 (1975).
“Probable cause ‘is a complete defense to an action for false arrest’ brought under New York
law or § 1983.” Ackerson v. City of White Plains, 702 F.3d 15, 19 (2d Cir. 2012) (quoting Weyant,
101 F.3d at 852). “Probable cause to arrest exists when the officers have ... reasonably trustworthy
information as to [ ] facts and circumstances that are sufficient to warrant a person of reasonable
caution in the belief that an offense has been ... committed by the person to be arrested.” Zellner v.
Summerlin, 494 F.3d 344, 368 (2d Cir. 2007). “In deciding whether probable cause existed for an
arrest, we assess ‘whether the facts known by the arresting officer at the time of the arrest objectively
provided probable cause to arrest.’” Ackerson, 702 F.3d at 19 (quoting Jaegly v. Couch, 439 F.3d
149, 153 (2d Cir. 2006)).
Even if a complaint states an otherwise viable false arrest claim, “[q]ualified immunity is a
complete defense to false arrest claims. An arresting officer is entitled to qualified immunity even
when ... probable cause to arrest does not exist, ‘if he can establish that there was “arguable probable
cause” to arrest.’” Ackerson, 702 F.3d at 21 (quoting Escalera v. Lunn, 361 F.3d 737, 743 (2d Cir.
2004)). “Arguable probable cause exists if either (a) it was objectively reasonable for the officer to
believe that probable cause existed, or (b) officers of reasonable competence could disagree on
whether the probable cause test was met.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).
-9-
In the case at bar, plaintiff’s wife reported that she had witnessed plaintiff subject their threeyear-old daughter to sexual contact. Complaint ¶¶ 18, 19. Although the daughter herself allegedly
denied any such contact, given her age, it was not unreasonable for the officers to rely on the
statements of the child’s mother, who claimed to have seen the sexual contact. Eyewitness testimony
will generally give rise to probable cause, absent an obvious reason to doubt the witness’s veracity,
and police officers have no duty to search for exculpatory evidence, or to go to great lengths to
determine whether the accuser’s credibility might be called into question, absent some obvious
reason to doubt her. See Mustafa v. City of Chicago, 442 F.3d 544, 548 (7th Cir. 2006); Ahlers v.
Schebil, 188 F.3d 365, 370 (6th Cir. 1999). See also Rhodes v. Tevens, No. 07-CV-471, 2012 WL
777421, at *6 (W.D.N.Y. Mar. 7, 2012) (officers “were not obligated to pursue every lead or engage
in extensive fact-finding regarding the complainant’s credibility”) (citing Gisondi v. Town of
Harrison, 72 N.Y.2d 280, 285 (1988)).
I also note that the complaint alleges that plaintiff was arrested on the same day, February
7, 2007, that the indictment was returned. Complaint ¶¶ 26, 35. Although plaintiff alleges that his
wife’s accusations were false, there are no allegations indicating that the officers engaged in any
fraudulent or bad-faith conduct themselves, and they were therefore “entitled to rely on the
presumption of probable cause arising from the Indictment when arresting” plaintiff. Blasini v. City
of New York, No. 11 Civ. 3022, 2011 WL 6224605, at *5 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 14, 2011). See also Dale
v. Kelley, 908 F. Supp. 125, 138 (W.D.N.Y. 1995) (village police chief’s reliance on district
attorney’s “relatively more expert opinion that probable cause existed was objectively reasonable
as a matter of law”), aff’d, 95 F.3d 2 (2d Cir. 1996).
Plaintiff’s claims against the City fare no better than his claims against the County. Plaintiff
has made only conclusory allegations concerning the City’s alleged failure to train and supervise its
employees in the RPD, and as stated, such “formulaic recitation[s] of the elements of a cause of
action” are insufficient to state a claim. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678.
- 10 -
None of plaintiff’s claims, then, can survive a motion to dismiss. In so ruling, the Court does
not minimize the harm allegedly done to plaintiff if he was falsely accused of sexually molesting his
own daughter. But for the reasons stated above, these defendants cannot be held liable for that harm.
Plaintiff’s complaint must therefore be dismissed.
CONCLUSION
Defendants’ motions for judgment on the pleadings (Dkt. #13, #21, #32) are granted, and the
complaint is dismissed.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
_______________________________________
DAVID G. LARIMER
United States District Judge
Dated: Rochester, New York
March 5, 2013.
- 11 -
Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.
Why Is My Information Online?