Opinion ID: 757299
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Four Incidents of Alleged Harassment

Text: 8 1. The License Investigation. Section 128 of the New York State Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, and the regulations of the Cohoes Police Department, prohibit a police officer from being either directly or indirectly interested in the manufacture or sale of alcoholic beverages. See N.Y. Al. Bev. Con. L. § 128 (McKinney's 1987). This provision prohibits officers from having an interest in the ownership or operation of any establishment that has a liquor license. See Wilson v. New York State Liquor Authority, 52 N.Y.2d 741, 436 N.Y.S.2d 275, 275, 417 N.E.2d 569, 569 (1980) (mem.). [T]he obvious purpose of the prohibition is to avoid conflicts of interest with a police officer's duty to enforce the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, and to preserve public confidence in the police. Rotunno v. City of Rochester, 120 A.D.2d 160, 161, 507 N.Y.S.2d 924, 925 (4th Dep't 1986), aff'd, 71 N.Y.2d 995, 529 N.Y.S.2d 275, 524 N.E.2d 876 (1988). 9 Acting on information that Connell was violating this provision, the defendants conducted an internal investigation in June 1993. Connell maintains that he never had an ownership interest in the bars and that they were owned and operated by LaPointe. The complaint alleges that Cohoes officials sought affidavits from LaPointe's employees and offered one of them leniency on drunk driving charges in exchange for incriminating information about Connell. No criminal charges arising from this investigation were filed against Connell. 10 2. The enforcement of the signage ordinance. In May 1993, LaPointe gave a new name (Sensations) to the part of the Cohoes bar in which the topless dancers were performing. She repainted the exterior sign in bright colors and added a painting of a fan dancer. The bar sits in the Cohoes Historic District, and its appearance and signage are subject to special regulation. Defendant Stephen Carmel, the Cohoes building code enforcement officer, wrote to LaPointe that the repainted sign violated two Code provisions. According to Carmel, the plaintiffs were required to obtain a permit for a new sign, and to submit color drawings of proposed designs to the Planning Board. LaPointe refused to obtain a permit, asserting that the Code provision did not govern the repainting of an existing sign. Carmel issued appearance tickets to both of the plaintiffs. The sign remained. 11 The complaint alleges that the sign had been repainted on prior occasions without objection, that the ordinance had never been enforced against any other business for the repair, maintenance or alteration of an existing sign, that the ordinance was enforced in 1993 to harass Connell and LaPointe and injure their business, and that the neighbor's complaint cited in Carmel's letter was a pretext. Local newspapers reported the incident; and plaintiffs allege that Mayor Signoracci claimed official credit for this action. 12 3. The awning theft investigation. The complaint alleges that in 1993, Mayor Signoracci instigated a probe of Connell for the alleged theft of an awning that had been removed from an abandoned building and installed at LaPointe's bar. Signoracci and Police Chief Heslin turned the investigation over to the Albany County District Attorney, who assigned to it his Chief Investigator, defendant Valenti. Valenti was assisted by defendants Ward and Abrams, Cohoes police officers. They placed a body microphone on an individual named Mike Morrow and monitored his conversations with Connell. Connell was indicted on charges of grand larceny and official misconduct in November 1993. The grand larceny charge was ultimately adjourned in contemplation of dismissal, and the official misconduct charge was dismissed. 13 The complaint alleges that the investigation was prompted by a falsehood told by a disgruntled former employee of LaPointe; that defendant Valenti coerced Morrow to wear the body microphone and then to lie to the grand jury; and that Signoracci and the other defendants conspired with the district attorney's office to trump up the charges for the sole purpose of threatening and harassing Connell. 14 4. The campaign against topless bars. According to the complaint, Mayor Signoracci made frequent public statements beginning in May 1993, denouncing topless bars and their owners; expressed a desire to do everything he could to eliminate topless dancing and similar entertainment in Cohoes; blamed both LaPointe and Connell for the topless dancing; and accused Connell of maintaining a financial interest in the establishments in violation of state and local law. Signoracci publicly conceded that the plaintiffs had a First Amendment right to offer topless entertainment and that this entertainment was legal under state law, and voiced his view that, nonetheless, [t]hey don't belong 1 1/2 blocks away from two churches, the police station, City Hall and in a local Historic District. 15 In November 1993, the Mayor sponsored a public rally with the American Family Association to observe Pornography Awareness Week half a block from Sensations. At the rally, the Mayor denounced topless bars, and implied that Connell was violating state law and Cohoes Police Department policy by his involvement in their operation. On another occasion, he took members of the Association to the Troy bar; the complaint alleges that the field trip was conducted to arouse public opinion, obtain political advantage, and injure the plaintiffs. The Mayor's statements and actions taken as a whole are alleged to constitute threats that actually impaired the plaintiffs' businesses and chilled the exercise of their First Amendment rights. 16 In June or July 1993, defendant Heslin, the Cohoes Police Chief, installed a surveillance camera at the police stationhouse, a block away from Sensations. The plaintiffs allege that Heslin's purpose was to spy on LaPointe's patrons, and that Heslin publicized the fact that the camera would be trained on the bar in order to deter Cohoes citizens from going there.