Opinion ID: 786706
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Probable Cause — The Effect of the Indictment

Text: 37 Once a suspect has been indicted ... the law holds that the Grand Jury action creates a presumption of probable cause. Colon, 60 N.Y.2d at 82, 468 N.Y.S.2d 453, 455 N.E.2d 1248. The presumption may be overcome only by evidence establishing that the police witnesses have not made a complete and full statement of facts either to the Grand Jury or to the District Attorney, that they have misrepresented or falsified evidence, that they have withheld evidence or otherwise acted in bad faith. Id. at 82-83, 468 N.Y.S.2d 453, 455 N.E.2d 1248. Thus, in order for a plaintiff to succeed in a malicious prosecution claim after having been indicted, he must establish that the indictment was produced by fraud, perjury, the suppression of evidence or other police conduct undertaken in bad faith. Id. at 83, 468 N.Y.S.2d 453, 455 N.E.2d 1248. 38 In this case, the government interviewed Carriere on March 18, 1994. In February 1996, nearly two years after the interview, Rothstein was indicted by a grand jury sitting in the Northern District of Florida. When Carriere moved for summary judgment below, his counsel asserted that Rothstein's indictment gave rise to a presumption of probable cause, and that summary judgment was warranted because [w]e don't know what was presented before the grand jury. Counsel for Rothstein responded that he also did not know what evidence was presented to the grand jury, but that it did not matter. The district court agreed, stating as follows: If in fact a person tells the police so and so is guilty of a felony and he maliciously lies about that, it doesn't matter what goes on before the grand jury. 39 In a motion for reconsideration, Carriere again argued that the district court seemingly overlook[ed] established case law that the return of an indictment by the grand jury is prima facie evidence of probable cause. Colon, 60 N.Y.2d at 79, 468 N.Y.S.2d 453, 455 N.E.2d 1248. (Mar. 12, 2001 Mem. Supp. Def.'s Mot. Recons. at 5.) In response, Rothstein argued that Colon is irrelevant to this litigation because Rothstein's claims are not premised on [Carriere's] grand jury testimony (whatever it may have been), but are based on what Carriere told Agent Pellegrino in March 1994..... (Mar. 15, 2001 Pl.'s Mem. Opp. Def.'s Mot. Recons. Den. Summ. J. (Pl.'s Opp. Recons.) at 7-8.) In an order denying reconsideration, the district court again agreed with Rothstein, stating that plaintiff's cause of action is based on statements defendant made to law enforcement agents, not to the grand jury. 40 This was error. Rothstein's cause of action is for malicious prosecution, not for maliciously making false statements to law enforcement authorities. A central issue in this case was whether the prosecution in question was initiated in the absence of probable cause to believe the crimes charged were committed by Rothstein. The grand jury's February 1996 indictment presumptively established that probable cause. Rothstein was required to rebut that presumption by proving fraud, perjury, suppression of evidence or other misconduct in the grand jury. His failure even to attempt to make that showing requires the dismissal of his claim. 41 On appeal, Rothstein makes three arguments on this issue. First, he asserts that Carriere defaulted on this issue below and thus may not now raise it on appeal. Specifically, Rothstein contends that [t]he record is devoid of even a passing reference to a presumption regarding probable cause below. (Appellee's Br. at 26.) This argument is flatly refuted by the record. As set forth above, the presumption was explicitly raised in support of Carriere's motion for summary judgment, and Carriere's position was explicitly rejected by the district court. Carriere raised the presumption again in his motion for reconsideration, and again it was rejected. We therefore have difficulty understanding how counsel could assert in good faith that there was no reference to the issue below. 42 It is true that Carriere did not raise the issue for a third time at trial, but he was not obligated to do so. A motion pursuant to Rule 50 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure challenging the sufficiency of Rothstein's evidence to rebut the presumption might have been required to preserve the error if the district court had allowed the issue to be tried. But the court's ruling that the grand jury proceedings were irrelevant took the presumption out of the case entirely. In essence, the ruling granted partial summary judgment to Rothstein on the effect of the indictment. 43 As the Seventh Circuit has explained, a Rule 50 motion is required to preserve a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence because once a trial has occurred, the focus is on the evidence that was actually admitted at trial, not on the earlier summary judgment record. Chemetall GMBH v. ZR Energy, Inc., 320 F.3d 714, 718-19 (7th Cir.2003). However, where the trial court's denial of a summary judgment motion is not based on the sufficiency of the evidence, but on a question of law, the rationale behind Rule 50 does not apply, and the need for such an objection is absent. Id. at 719-20; see also Wilson v. Union Pacific R.R. Co., 56 F.3d 1226, 1229 (10th Cir.1995) (Not every denial of a motion for summary judgment requires a subsequent Rule 50 motion in order to be appealable. A critical distinction exists between summary judgment motions raising the sufficiency of the evidence to create a fact question for the jury and those raising a question of law that the court must decide. Where a motion for summary judgment based on an issue of law is denied, appellate review of the motion is proper even if the case proceeds to trial and the moving party fails to make a subsequent Rule 50 motion.) (quotation marks and citation omitted). 44 The district court did not deny Carriere's motion for summary judgment on the ground that a trial was necessary to determine whether Rothstein could rebut the presumption established by New York law. Rather, it ruled that the presumption had no role in the case at all. The disposition of the issue in that manner, over Carriere's repeated objection, preserved it for our review. 45 Rothstein's second argument is that the presumption of probable cause raised by his indictment is easily rebutted. (Appellee's Br. at 37.) The sole basis of his argument is the contention that Carriere testified in the grand jury, and therefore the indictment must have been procured by perjury. This argument is baseless. The burden of rebutting the presumption of probable cause requires the plaintiff to establish what occurred in the grand jury, and to further establish that those circumstances warrant a finding of misconduct sufficient to erode the premise that the Grand Jury acts judicially[.] Colon, 60 N.Y.2d at 82, 468 N.Y.S.2d 453, 455 N.E.2d 1248. Here, the content of Carriere's grand jury testimony is unknown, as is the content of the rest of the government's presentation. Indeed, in arguing below that the grand jury proceedings were irrelevant, Rothstein's counsel conceded that he had no idea what happened before the grand jury. His belated argument that Carriere must have testified falsely to the grand jury amounts to rank speculation. 46 Third, Rothstein relies on Russo v. New York, 672 F.2d 1014 (2d Cir.1982), in contending that we have rejected a challenge similar to Carriere's. Russo, however, did not involve a grand jury's indictment. Rather, the defendant there sought to ascribe presumptive effect to the issuance of an arrest warrant. We held, based on New York law, that the presumption is inapplicable where the warrant was issued based on the statements of the defendant in the malicious prosecution action. Id. at 1018. In this case, it cannot be said that the indictment was based on Carriere's testimony in the grand jury, let alone solely on that testimony. Rothstein has never claimed that it was, contending instead that his cause of action was not premised on [Carriere's] grand jury testimony (whatever it may have been), but on his 1994 interview. (Pl.'s Opp. Recons. at 8.) Indeed, Rothstein assiduously avoided any inquiry into the basis of the indictment. Thus, Russo provides no reason to find the presumption inapplicable in this case. 47 In sum, the district court's erroneous disregard of the presumption that probable cause supported the prosecution of Rothstein requires a reversal of the judgment in his favor. In other circumstances, the appropriate relief might be to remand for a new trial, at which a properly instructed jury could determine whether Rothstein has rebutted the presumption by showing that the grand jury proceedings were tainted by fraud or perjury. However, that is neither necessary nor appropriate here. Throughout the proceedings in the district court, Rothstein insisted that the grand jury presentation was irrelevant, and that he had no idea what had transpired there. For that reason, Carriere's motion for summary judgment should have been granted, and a remand for a trial on the issue would be futile.