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DEFENDANT WAS ACQUITTED OF MURDER AFTER IMPRISONMENT FOR TWO AND A HALF YEARS; HIS FALSE ARREST AND MALICIOUS PROSECUTION ACTION WAS PROPERLY DISMISSED AT THE SUMMARY JUDGMENT STAGE; TWO-JUDGE DISSENT ARGUED CONTESTED FACTS REQUIRED A TRIAL (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a one-sentence memorandum decision, over a two-judge dissenting opinion, determined that the defendants’ motion for summary judgment in this false arrest/malicious prosecution case was properly granted. The dissenters argued contested facts required a trial:

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed, with costs. Plaintiff failed to raise any material, triable issue of fact with respect to whether probable cause for his arrest and prosecution was lacking, or as to whether the police acted with actual malice (see generally De Lourdes Torres v Jones, 26 NY3d 742 [2016]).

From the dissent:

A jury acquitted plaintiff Wayne Roberts of murder in the second degree and related charges. He then sued the City of New York, the City Police Department and various police officers for, amongst other claims, false arrest and malicious prosecution. In his complaint, plaintiff asserted that he was wrongfully accused and imprisoned for two and half years, and maliciously prosecuted despite the lack of probable cause to arrest and legal justification to pursue his criminal prosecution. He claimed defendants acted with malice and in bad faith, in deliberate indifference to his rights. * * *

Where, as here, conflicting evidence creates one or more material issues of fact, those issues “must be resolved by the jury rather than by the court as a matter of law” (De Lourdes Torres, 26 NY3d at 771). The decision in this Court and the majority decision below both defy this basic principle. Roberts v City of New York, 2019 NY Slip Op 07713, CtApp 10-29-19

 

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