Morales v. The City of New York (2nd Cir. 2006)

Federal Circuits, 2nd Cir. (December 26, 2006)

Docket number: 05-4992


Permanent Link: http://vlex.com/vid/morales-v-the-city-of-new-york-25936498
Id. vLex: VLEX-25936498

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Citations:

U.S. Supreme Court - Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194 (2001)

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Cir. - Vito D'Amico, Firefighter, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. the City of New York; Joseph F. Bruno, Former Fire Commissioner; Carlos Rivera, Current Fire Commissioner, the City of New York; Thomas Dunphy, Lieut.; Matthew Murtagh, Deputy Asst. Chief; Patricia Bartels, Asst. Fire Commissioner, Defendants-Appellees., 132 F.3d 145 (2nd Cir. 1998)

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Cir. - Cellular Telephone Company, Doing Business as At & T Wireless Services, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. the Town of Oyster Bay and the Town Board of the Town of Oyster Bay, Defendants-Appellants., 166 F.3d 490 (2nd Cir. 1999)

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Cir. - Robert Escalera Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Glenna Lunn, Individually, Louis Crisci, Individually, Rocco A. Pozzi, Individually, and the County of Westchester, New York, Defendants-Appellants., 361 F.3d 737 (2nd Cir. 2004)

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Cir. - John Martinez, Plaintiff-Counter-Defendant-Appellee, v. Tosano Simonetti and Richard J. Rosa, Defendants-Appellants, Thomas Mccauley, Defendant-Counter-Claimant-Appellant, Nancy Heinz-Faljean, Esq., Defendant-Cross-Claimant-Counter-Claimant-Appellant, Richard Olivo, Defendant-Cross-Claimant, James Fulginiti, William Hyland, Richard Trapanese and Anthony Discala, Defendants-Cross-Claimants-Counter-Claimants, the New York City Police Department, Raymond W. Kelly, Police Commissioner, James Tavares, and Richard Gutch, Defendants, New York City, Defendant-Cross-Defendant., 202 F.3d 625 (2nd Cir. 2000)

Text:

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

F O R THE SECOND CIRCUIT

S U M M A R Y ORDER

T H I S SUMMARY ORDER WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED IN THE FEDERAL

R E P O R T E R AND MAY NOT BE CITED AS PRECEDENTIAL AUTHORITY TO

T H IS OR ANY OTHER COURT, BUT MAY BE CALLED TO THE ATTENTION

O F THIS OR ANY OTHER COURT IN A SUBSEQUENT STAGE OF THIS

C A S E, IN A RELATED CASE, OR IN ANY CASE FOR THE PURPOSES OF

C O L L A T E R A L ESTOPPEL OR RES JUDICATA.

At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit,

held at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, in

t h e City of New York, on the 19 t h day of December, two thousand and six.

PRESENT:

H O N . THOMAS J. MESKILL

H O N . RALPH K. WINTER

HON. PETER W. HALL

C i r c u i t Judges.

F e l i p e Morales,

P e t i ti o n e r,

-v.- N o . 05-4992-cv

The City of New York, Det. Theodore Campbell,

and P.O.s John and Jane Doe # 1-10,

Respondent.

FO R PETITIONER: Rose M. Weber, 225 Broadway, Suite 1608, New York, NY

F O R RESPONDENT: M i c h a e l A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel of the City of New

Y o r k , 100 Church Street, New York, NY 10007.

A p p e a l from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New

Yo rk (Stein, J.).

UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED,

A N D DECREED that the judgment of the district court be and hereby is AFFIRMED.

Plaintiff-Appellant Felipe Morales appeals from a July 29, 2005, judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Sidney H. Stein, J) granting summary judgment to defendants. We assume the parties' familiarity with the facts, the procedural history, and the scope of the issues presented on appeal.

Morales brought this action under 42U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that defendants violated his constitutional rights through false arrest, malicious prosecution, and malicious abuse of process.

The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants on the ground that Detective Campbell was entitled to qualified immunity because probable cause existed to arrest Morales for violating an order of protection, and because there was no evidence to support Morales's claims of malicious prosecution, malicious abuse of process, or other constitutional violations.

We review a district court's award of summary judgment de novo. Cellular Tel. Co. v. Town of Oyster Bay, 166 F.3d 490, 492 (2d Cir. 1999). Summary judgment is appropriate where there exists no genuine issue of material fact, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. D'Amico v. City of New York, 132 F.3d 145, 149 (2d Cir. 1998).

Campbell moved for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity and thus may prevail if he had "arguable" probable cause to arrest Morales. See Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 206, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001). Probable cause exists given reasonably trustworthy information that would lead a person of reasonable caution to believe a crime has occurred. Martinez v. Simonetti, 202 F.3d 625, 634 (2d Cir. 2000). An officer is entitled to qualified immunity if there is arguable probable cause, which exists if it was objectively reasonable for the officer to believe that there was probable cause, or if officers of reasonable competence could disagree as to the existence of probable cause. Escalera v. Lunn, 361 F.3d 737, 743 (2d Cir. 2004).

We agree with the district court that arguable probable cause existed in the present case.

The arresting officer was presented with a filed complaint alleging a violation of an order of protection, a complainant attesting in person to the violation and seeking to press charges, and a copy of the protection order prohibiting the charged conduct, although not explicitly referencing third-party contact. In addition, the officer called the district attorney's office and reviewed the protection order over the phone before placing Morales under arrest.

We have considered each of Morales's remaining claims, and conclude they are without merit, substantially for the reasons stated in the District Court's thorough decision. Accordingly, th e judgment of the District Court is hereby AFFIRMED.

FOR THE COURT: Thomas Asreen, Acting Clerk By: Oliva M. George, Deputy Clerk

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