Opinion ID: 149769
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: John Torraco

Text: On October 15, 2004, Torraco, who is a citizen and resident of the state of Florida, and his wife, who is not a party to this action, flew from Florida into LaGuardia Airport (LaGuardia), New York, from which they went to Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, to stay with Torraco's mother. Two days later, the couple set out for LaGuardia to return to Florida. Torraco's mother first drove them to a friend's house in Queens, New York. [3] Following a brief visit, the friend drove the couple to the airport. During this time, Torraco's unloaded, disassembled gun was in a carrying case kept in the car trunk. Upon arrival at LaGuardia, Torraco informed the airline ticket agent that he had a gun in a carrying case, which he wanted to check through. The agent tagged the firearm with an orange firearms declaration tag, and advised Torraco that it was standard operating procedure to notify the Port Authority Police when a passenger declares a weapon, which she did. Appellee Officer Espinal responded and asked Torraco whether he had a New York license for the firearm. Torraco, who, as noted above, does not, informed Officer Espinal that he was traveling from New Jersey to Florida, and that Section 926A preempted local licensing requirements. Being unfamiliar with Section 926A, Officer Espinal called his superior, appellee Sergeant Goldberg. Upon joining the group, Sergeant Goldberg was informed that Torraco had voluntarily declared his gun at the ticket counter, was coming from New Jersey where he had a residence, and was going to Florida where, in Torraco's view, he was legally authorized to carry the gun without a license. Sergeant Goldberg asked Torraco for paperwork that would establish that he was lawfully in possession of the gun. A TSA supervisor arrived and took the position that Torraco was permitted to transport the weapon without regard to local law. Sergeant Goldberg took the position that Torraco needed to first establish that his possession of the gun was lawful, before the question of whether he could legally possess the gun in New Jersey or Florida became relevant. He and Officer Espinal arrested Torraco for violating New York Penal Law § 265.01(1), which provides that [a] person is guilty of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree when ... [h]e possesses any firearm without a license. [4] Torraco was held for twenty-eight hours, when he was arraigned in Queens County Criminal Court on that charge, and subsequently released on recognizance. His attorney moved to dismiss on the ground of federal preemption, and though the district attorney did not respond to the motion, he cross-moved to dismiss in the interests of justice. The court denied the district attorney's motion and granted Torraco's motion, finding that the State's failure to respond to Torraco's motion was a concession on the merits. Torraco subsequently brought this suit in federal court alleging that appellees violated: (a) his right to carry firearms under Section 926A, and (b) his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. He sought to enforce both of these claimed rights under Section 1983.