Opinion ID: 557798
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Complaint and the Motions To Dismiss

Text: 11 After unsuccessfully filing administrative claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2671 et seq. (1988) (FTCA), plaintiffs commenced the present action in the spring of 1988 against the United States, the DEA, Boylan, and other law enforcement officers allegedly involved in the searches. The complaint alleged principally that the procurement and execution of the warrants with respect to plaintiffs' apartments violated their rights under the Fourth Amendment; that the selection of their apartments for search was the product of ethnic discrimination, in violation of their equal protection rights under the Fifth Amendment and 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1981 and 1982; and that defendants were liable for various common-law torts, including trespass, assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. 12 Plaintiffs promptly sought discovery of the government, including depositions of Boylan and his informant. The government opposed, stating that it intended to file motions to dismiss. The court stayed discovery of the government pending those motions. 13 In October 1988, the individual defendants moved to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim or, alternatively, under Rule 56 for summary judgment. In support of the motion for summary judgment, Boylan submitted two sworn declarations dated October 6, 1988, and August 15, 1989, respectively, supplementing certain of the statements made in the Boylan affidavit submitted in support of the application for the search warrants. Thus, he stated that Molina had been the source of all of the informant's information; that the information as to the expected shipment of cocaine had been received at a Christmas party in Molina's apartment; and that much of the information as to specific apartments had been received at a New Year's Eve party, when Molina was consulting the informant with regard to the possible installation of an alarm system and video cameras to guard against surprise raids by law enforcement officials. When the informant told Molina he would have to see the apartments involved, Molina showed him apartments 2A, 2F, 2H, 2J, 3B, 3D, and 4F. The informant observed Molina using keys to open the doors to apartments 2F, 2H, and 2J. Soon after leaving Molina's presence, the informant made a written list of the apartments shown him by Molina; he later read the list to Boylan. Boylan stated that he had deliberately omitted from his search warrant affidavit such details as he thought might reveal the informant's identity and place the informant in jeopardy. 14 Sworn declarations in support of summary judgment were submitted also by defendants Timothy Sullivan, Thomas Murray, and William Cook, the officers who, respectively, had headed the teams of agents who entered and searched the Mendezes' apartment (2F), the Arces' apartment (2J), and Rivera's apartment (3D). Each of these officers stated that in executing the search warrant for these apartment the agents had 15 followed standard procedures. We gathered outside the door to the apartment. I knocked loudly on the door and [identified myself as a police officer] in a loud voice.... We waited for a brief period of time--less than a minute--for someone to come to the door. 16 The declarations of Murray and Cook, with respect to apartments 2J and 3D, continued, [h]earing no response from inside the apartment, we struck the door with a battering ram; the declaration of Sullivan, with respect to apartment 2F, stated, [w]e were about to strike, or had just struck, the door with a battering ram when one of the occupants of the apartment opened the door. Sullivan, Murray, and Cook stated that the searches had been thorough but neat. Murray, who led the search of 2J, stated that Mrs. Arce did not complain to us about how the search was conducted. Cook, who led the search of 3D, stated that Rivera had been wearing a nightgown and had been searched by one female agent in the bathroom. 17 In opposition to defendants' motions, plaintiffs contended, inter alia, that the search warrants were invalid for a number of reasons. They contended that they were improper because they were anticipatory warrants, not warrants based on existing facts. They also argued that the Boylan affidavit was insufficient to justify the issuance of the warrants because it failed to disclose certain facts. For example, it did not state the date on which the informant told Boylan the shipment was expected, creating the possibility that Boylan's information was stale. In addition, they argued that since certain of the informant's information had been received at holiday parties, the information might have been distorted by intoxication. Plaintiffs also contended that after the informant identified their apartments, Boylan should have checked further and would have learned that plaintiffs (a) were not from the Dominican Republic, and (b) had been residents of 143 Bruce before the Dominican organization moved there. 18 In addition, plaintiffs submitted affidavits giving their versions of the execution of the warrants. Rivera and Santana stated that they were awakened by loud banging noises coming from somewhere other than Rivera's apartment. Moments later they heard even louder banging on Rivera's own door. Rivera and Santana went to the door, asking who was there and what they wanted, and shouting, Stop! The battering did not stop until the door was broken in. Prior to battering the door to 3D, the agents had not knocked or identified themselves. 19 Seeing nonuniformed people with drawn guns in the hallway outside the apartment, Rivera and Santana ran into one of the bedrooms. The officers pursued them and forced them to lie on the floor with their hands behind their heads. When Rivera attempted to ask the officers why they had broken into her home, one of them forced her head to the floor with his foot, aimed his shotgun at her head, and told her to be quiet. 20 After a minute or two, Rivera and Santana were told to stand, and Rivera was patted down and given a copy of the search warrant. Santana, wearing only underpants, was taken out of the bedroom in painfully tight handcuffs. Three female officers required Rivera, who was wearing a T-shirt, sweat pants, and underwear, to strip in front of a window that was covered only by a nearly transparent curtain; she was too frightened to protest. After the strip-search, Rivera was allowed to dress and was taken into the living room where her hands were handcuffed behind her back. At this point, Santana was allowed to get dressed and was then rehandcuffed. The search of 3D lasted approximately one-and-one-half hours. When the officers departed they took with them Rivera's bank statements, her wallet with all her personal identification, family photographs, and other personal papers of Rivera and Santana. The officers left the contents of every drawer and closet strewn around; furniture was upended; and some of Rivera's young son's toys were pulled apart and broken. No drugs were found. 21 The affidavit of Diana Penaloza Arce (Arce) stated that on the morning of January 8, her husband was at work when Arce heard a loud banging at her front door, 2J. Frightened, Arce picked up her son and went to the front door, crying, please stop, there's a baby here! When the door started splintering from its frame, Arce could see people in the hallway and offered to open the door, but she could not because it had already been knocked off its hinges. The door was then knocked in, just missing Arce and the baby. The officers rushed into the apartment with drawn guns. Prior to the battering of Arce's door, they had not knocked or identified themselves. 22 Arce was not allowed to telephone her husband or a relative who was a police officer. When one of the officers asked Arce how long she had lived there, she responded that she and her husband had purchased the apartment, as well as the apartment next door. The officer commented in a disparaging way that those purchases must have required a lot of money. The search of the Arce apartment lasted approximately two hours, and the officers left the apartment in disarray. No drugs were found. 23 The affidavits of Santiago and Carmen Mendez, who had lived in apartment 2F since 1975, stated that on the morning of January 8, they had arisen and were preparing breakfast when the police began smashing their door with a battering ram. Santiago Mendez opened the door within seconds of the commencement of the battering. As he opened the door, the officers entered with guns drawn. Santiago asked the officers what the problem was but was given no information. Prior to ramming the door, the police had neither knocked nor identified themselves. 24 In response to police questioning, Santiago acknowledged having a small quantity of marijuana in the apartment. At one point during the search, an officer saw an open box of cereal in the refrigerator and asked the Mendezes if they had roaches. The search of the Mendezes' apartment lasted two hours. The Mendezes' possessions were tossed about and some of their property was damaged. No cocaine was found. 25 All of the plaintiffs stated that they had never heard of any of the members of the Dominican organization and had never been in apartment 4F. Arce and Mendez stated further that it would have been impossible for the informant to observe Molina entering their apartments, 2J and 2F, respectively, by key during the New Year's party as described in the Boylan affidavit and declarations. Both couples had been at home at the time in question; and no one other than the couples themselves had keys to their respective apartments. 26 Challenging other aspects of the Boylan affidavit, plaintiffs' attorneys submitted affidavits reporting their conversations with federal and state prosecutors with respect to prosecutions resulting from prior information received by Boylan from the confidential informant. Plaintiffs' attorney Peter J. Neufield stated that Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Edward T. Ferguson III told Neufield that he had no indication that any of the individuals named in Boylan's affidavit had been arrested after one of the October 1986 raids described in the Boylan search warrant affidavit but that two other individuals had been arrested; Ferguson suggested that Neufield speak to the Bronx County District Attorney's office for further information. Plaintiffs' attorneys stated that they had queried several prosecutors in the Bronx District Attorney's Office who reported that they had found no reference to any court proceedings arising out of the October 1986 seizures described in the Boylan affidavit. 27 In support of their contention that selection of their apartments for search was the product of ethnic discrimination, plaintiffs pointed out that none of them was from the Dominican Republic, and they argued that Boylan had merely targeted any name that sounded Hispanic. The affidavit of their attorney John D.B. Lewis stated that though 143 Bruce is a racially integrated building, 28 it appears that the only residents of 143 Bruce Avenue raided by NYDETF agents on January 8, 1987, were those with Hispanic surnames. In fact, it may be that every Hispanic-surnamed resident of 143 Bruce Avenue was raided by NYDETF on January 8, 1987. 29 (Emphasis in original.) Arce stated in her affidavit that apartment 2A, owned by the Arces, was rented to a Puerto Rican family; the door to 2A was broken in during the raids. In addition, plaintiffs construed the searching officers' comments to Mendez about roaches and to Arce about being able to afford to purchase two apartments as ethnic slurs. Plaintiffs urged that they be allowed discovery to obtain substantiation for their view of the ethnic selectivity of the searches.