Opinion ID: 2704
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Purported Omissions

Text: Walczyk asserts that two of the three identified material omissions misled the issuing magistrate into erroneously finding probable cause to support his arrest and the search of his home. (a) Failure to Speak With Officer Hebert First, the district court pointed to defendants' failure to disclose that no officer had spoken directly with Officer Hebert, who would have revealed that he did not himself feel threatened by Walczyk's bloodbath statement. The conclusion is unconvincing both as a matter of law and fact. Preliminarily, we observe that the law permitting one law enforcement officer to rely on the report of another in applying for a warrant nowhere requires direct consultation to ensure that the officer reviewing the report ascribes no more weight to the described facts than the reporter intended. See generally Panetta v. Crowley, 460 F.3d 388, 395 (2d Cir.2006); Martinez v. Simonetti, 202 F.3d 625, 634 (2d Cir. 2000); Velardi v. Walsh, 40 F.3d at 574. Indeed, we have specifically ruled that a police officer is not required to explore and eliminate every theoretically plausible claim of innocence before making an arrest. Martinez v. Simonetti, 202 F.3d at 635 (internal quotation marks omitted). Thus, we reject the suggestion that a law enforcement officer is guilty of a material omission when, in applying for a warrant, he fails to disclose that he has not spoken directly with a fellow officer on whose report he relies to establish probable cause. Even if we were to assume, however, that the applicant officer's failure to ascertain that the reporting officer did not consider words he heard to be threatening was relevant to a determination of probable cause, that is not this case. Officer Hebert did understand Walczyk's bloodbath statement as a threat. At Walczyk's criminal trial, Hebert testified that he did not understand Walczyk to be threatening him, but he most certainly did understand Walczyk to be threatening any Barberino employees who came onto the disputed property. As we have already noted, this understanding finds ample support in the totality of facts recounted in the warrant affidavits. In sum, because Hebert's subjective view of Walczyk's statement, if it had been solicited by defendants and reported to the issuing magistrate, would actually have reinforced rather than undermined probable cause, we conclude that a corrected warrant affidavit would raise no genuine dispute as to the magistrate's issuance of warrants for the arrest of Walczyk or the search of his home. (b) The Lack of a Prior Conviction for Threatening A second purported omission is the defendants' failure to disclose that none of Walczyk's prior conduct had resulted in a conviction for threatening. This omission is hardly relevant. Certainly, nothing in the challenged affidavits wrongly insinuates that Walczyk had such a conviction. Absent such conduct, we expect that when a magistrate, mindful of the government's burden to demonstrate probable cause, reviews a warrant application that does not report a prior conviction for a particular crime, the magistrate assumes for purposes of determining whether the government has carried its burden that no such conviction exists. See generally Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366, 376, 113 S.Ct. 2130, 124 L.Ed.2d 334 (1993) (noting that probable cause requirement ensures against government action based on speculation). Moreover, as this court observed in Brown v. D'Amico, the law does not demand that an officer applying for a warrant volunteer every fact that arguably cuts against the existence of probable cause, as long as he does not omit circumstances that are critical to its evaluation, 35 F.3d 97, 99 (2d Cir.1994). It was the particulars of Walczyk's past conduct in using or threatening to use firearms to resolve disputes that was critical to the determination of the probability that his bloodbath statement constituted a threat of violence. This probability is in no way undermined by the lack of a prior conviction for threatening. Because we identify no merit in Thomas Walczyk's facial challenge to the warrant affidavits authorizing his arrest and the search of his home, and because we determine as a matter of law that no alleged omissions were material to the issuance of these warrants, we conclude that he (as well as his wife and daughter) fails to demonstrate a viable unlawful search or arrest claim under federal or state law. Accordingly, we reverse the district court order denying defendants' summary judgment with respect to these plaintiffs' unlawful search and arrest claims, and we remand with directions to enter such a judgment. c. Elizabeth Walczyk .(1) The Lack of Probable Cause According to defendants, the theory for searching Elizabeth Walczyk's residence was that it probably contained firearms accessible to her son, constituting some further evidence that his bloodbath statement was a threat of violence. To the extent Elizabeth Walczyk joins in her son's facial challenge to the warrant affidavits and to his charged material omissions regarding Officer Hebert and Walczyk's criminal record, we have already explained why we reject these arguments. The district court, however, identified another omission that raises greater concern with respect to the search of Elizabeth Walczyk's home. The warrant affidavit reported that Thomas Walczyk was licensed to possess various firearms and that he maintained two neighboring residences where such firearms would likely be found: [A] review of Farmington Police records indicate[s] that Walczyk has maintained residences at both 27 and 28 Tunxis St., Farmington, CT. Search Warrant Aff. and App. at 3. The implication was that Walczyk had maintained the residences recently. What the affidavit omitted, however, was the apparently undisputed fact that Walczyk had not resided at his mother's 27 Tunxis Street residence for more than seven years. There can be no question that the omitted information was relevant to any assessment of probable cause. In evaluating probable cause, a magistrate is always required to consider whether the facts adduced in the warrant application appear[] to be current, i.e., true at the time of the application, or whether they have become stale. Rivera v. United States, 928 F.2d 592, 602 (2d Cir.1991). The law sensibly draws no bright-line rule for staleness. Rather, a magistrate is expected to consider the age of the facts in light of the conduct at issue with a view toward ensuring that probable cause exists at the time the warrant is to be executed, not simply at some past time. See id.; see also United States v. Martino, 664 F.2d 860, 867 (2d Cir.1981) (observing that, in circumstances of continuing or ongoing conduct, as contrasted with isolated illegal acts, the passage of time between the last described act and the presentation of the application becomes less significant). Thus, where information is seven years old, a magistrate must be alerted to that fact to make a reasonable probable cause determination. As we have already observed, the question of what weight a magistrate would have given omitted relevant evidence is generally a question for the finder of fact. See Velardi v. Walsh, 40 F.3d at 574. In this case, however, we can conclude as a matter of law that nondisclosure of the staleness of the dual residency allegation was fatal to a demonstration of probable cause. Not only was the allegation seriously outdated, it was the sole support for a search of Elizabeth Walczyk's home. A comparison best makes this point. With respect to 28 Tunxis Street, the issuing magistrate could have inferred that Walczyk maintained guns at that address because he was licensed to possess such weapons and, on at least one occasion, he was actually seen retrieving a loaded assault rifle from that premises to brandish at a person with whom he had a dispute. Further, neighbors had reported seeing him fire a handgun on that property. By contrast, no facts were alleged indicating that Walczyk had ever stored or retrieved firearms from his parents' home, much less that he had done so in the seven years since last residing there. Defendants urged that inference simply from Walczyk's license to possess firearms and his purported residence at 27 as well as 28 Tunxis Street. Whatever questions might be raised about the strength of such an inference in any circumstance, it could not be drawn from a dual residency allegation that was seven years old. Defendants submit that the search of Walczyk's 28 Tunxis Street residence would have been meaningless if he were free to cross the street to his parents['] home, where he formerly lived for many years, and have free access to other weaponry. Appellant's Br. at 30. This argument overlooks the fact that the warrant affidavit fails to allege any factsapart from Walczyk's dual residencysuggesting that anyone ever stored guns at 27 Tunxis Street. The affidavit makes no mention of the fact that Lucien or Elizabeth Walczyk was licensed to possess guns. As we have recently reiterated, probable cause to search must be based on particularized information about the place to be searched, not simply on a target's `mere propinquity to others independently suspected of criminal activity.' United States v. Martin, 426 F.3d 68, 81 (2d Cir. 2005) (quoting Ybarra v. Illinois, 444 U.S. 85, 91, 100 S.Ct. 338, 62 L.Ed.2d 238 (1979)). Once the dual residency allegation is corrected, we can conclude as a matter of law that the affidavit is devoid of any particularized information establishing probable cause to search Elizabeth Walczyk's home. (2) Defendants' Claim of Qualified Immunity; Elizabeth Walczyk's Motion for Summary Judgment on the Issue of Liability Despite our ruling that the search of Elizabeth Walczyk's home was not supported by probable cause, defendants might still be entitled to claim qualified immunity from liability for damages if the search was supported by arguable probable cause. Escalera v. Lunn, 361 F.3d 737, 743 (2d Cir.2004) (holding that, even in the absence of probable cause, officer will still be entitled to qualified immunity from a suit for damages if he can establish that there was `arguable probable cause'). 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. (quoting Golino v. City of New Haven, 950 F.2d at 870); see also Caldarola v. Calabrese, 298 F.3d 156, 162 (2d Cir.2002). Like the district court, we conclude that questions of disputed fact preclude a judicial resolution of this issue in favor of either side. While no competent officer who knew that Thomas Walczyk had not resided in his parents' home for more than seven years could reasonably think that the stale allegation of dual residency established probable cause to search that premises for firearms, it cannot be determined from the present record which officers, if any, possessedor even should have possessed such knowledge. Further record development and factfinding are necessary to determine, among other things, (1) which of the defendants, if any, actually reviewed the police records that purportedly established Walczyk's residence at both 27 and 28 Tunxis Street; (2) whether these records would have alerted a reasonable officer to the staleness of the dual residency allegation; (3) which defendants, if any, possessed independent knowledge that the dual residency statement was not accurate; (4) the circumstances under which the dual residency allegation was communicated along the chain of defendants; and (5) whether any defendant's reliance on such communication without further inquiry was reasonable in light of the totality of the circumstances. [22] Because a resolution of some of these matters in favor of Elizabeth Walczyk could preclude one or more defendants from claiming that they acted with arguable probable cause in searching her home, the district court correctly concluded that defendants did not yet establish their entitlement to qualified immunity. On the other hand, because a resolution favorable to one or more defendants could afford them the benefit of a qualified immunity shield, the district court also correctly denied summary judgment on liability to Elizabeth Walczyk. Accordingly, we affirm both these rulings.
Connecticut law allows state police to set temporary bail in certain cases. See Conn. Gen.Stat. § 54-63 c(a). [23] The district court dismissed Walczyk's excessive bail claim as a matter of law, holding that when a police officer sets temporary bail pursuant to this statute, he performs a judicial function and hence has absolute immunity from suit. Walczyk v. Rio, 339 F.Supp.2d at 390. Other district courts in Connecticut have similarly ruled. See Sanchez v. Doyle, 254 F.Supp.2d 266, 269-73 (D.Conn.2003); accord Machuca v. Canning, No. 3:00-cv-1722, 2006 WL 2828160, at  (D.Conn. Sept. 29, 2006); Minney v. Kradas, No. 3:01-cv-1543, 2004 WL 725330, at -4, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5520, at -11 (D.Conn. Mar. 31, 2004); Bacciocchi v. Chapman, No. 3:02-cv-1403, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1077, at -20 (D.Conn. Jan. 26, 2004); Clynch v. Chapman, 285 F.Supp.2d at 219-23. Citing Sanchez and Clynch by analogy, this court recently concluded that absolute judicial immunity shielded a prosecutor who ordered a defendant's bond increased pursuant to Conn. Gen.Stat. § 54-63d because the prosecutor was performing a judicial function. See Root v. Liston, 444 F.3d at 132 (observing that courts apply functional approach to immunity questions). Following Root, we now hold what the citations to Sanchez and Clynch implied: police officers setting bail under Conn. Gen.Stat. § 54-63c(a) are engaged in a judicial function that affords them absolute immunity. It is . . . well established that officials acting in a judicial capacity are entitled to absolute immunity against § 1983 actions, and this immunity acts as a complete shield to claims for money damages. Montero v. Travis, 171 F.3d 757, 760 (2d Cir.1999) (extending absolute immunity to parole board officials performing a quasi-judicial function in making parole decisions); see also Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 511, 98 S.Ct. 2894, 57 L.Ed.2d 895 (1978) (granting absolute immunity to administrative hearing examiners performing adjudicatory functions within federal agencies). As the Supreme Court has explained, it is the nature of the function performed, not the identity of the actor who performed it, that inform[s] our immunity analysis. Forrester v. White, 484 U.S. 219, 229, 108 S.Ct. 538, 98 L.Ed.2d 555 (1988) (holding that judges do not enjoy absolute immunity when performing administrative, legislative, or executive functions). Following this functional approach to immunity questions, this court in Root v. Liston observed that [o]rdinarily, it is judges who set bail, and judges enjoy absolute immunity when they do so. 444 F.3d at 132 (internal citations omitted). In short, because the setting of bail is a judicial function, see Cleavinger v. Saxner, 474 U.S. 193, 205, 106 S.Ct. 496, 88 L.Ed.2d 507 (1985), absolute immunity extends to police officers when they perform that function pursuant to statute. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's dismissal of Walczyk's excessive bail claim.