Jovanovic v. City of New York, 486 F. App'x 149

Jovanovic, a Columbia PhD candidate, was accused by Jamie Rzucek of kidnapping, sexual abuse, and assault; Bonilla led the police investigation and Fairstein prosecuted.
A grand jury indicted Jovanovic in December 1996; additional charges followed; he was ultimately convicted and sentenced to 15 years to life.
In 1999, the Appellate Division vacated the conviction due to exclusion of evidence suggesting consensual sadomasochistic intent and related emails.
The state declined to retry, and Jovanovic filed a civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Bonilla, Fairstein, and the City.
The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants on several claims, and Jovanovic appeals challenging those rulings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Malicious prosecution probable cause	Jovanovic asserts lack of probable cause due to alleged investigative flaws.	Bonilla contends probable cause existed from the grand jury testimony.	Probable cause existed; district court affirmed.
Fabricated evidence and fair trial (Bonilla)	Fabrication of evidence deprived him of a fair trial and caused liberty deprivation.	Bonilla claims immunity and causation failure; fabrication alone not enough for liability here.	No causation; no liability; affirmed.
Inflammatory public statements and grand jury fairness (Fairstein)	Fairstein's statements improperly influenced the grand jury and witnesses.	Public statements were not shown to prejudice the grand jury or witnesses; grand jury scrutiny is limited.	Summary judgment proper; no demonstrated prejudice.
Municipal liability for training/suppression of false claims	City failed to train police regarding false rape claims.	Investigation not deficient to support municipal liability.	No municipal liability; district court affirmed.

Savino v. City of New York, 331 F.3d 63 (2d Cir. 2003) (probable cause element in malicious prosecution; credibility of victim)
Curley v. Village of Suffern, 268 F.3d 65 (2d Cir. 2001) (probable cause from victim/eyewitness information unless doubt arises about veracity)
Panetta v. Crowley, 460 F.3d 388 (2d Cir. 2006) (probable cause sufficiency after initial investigation)
Ricciuti v. N.Y.C. Transit Auth., 124 F.3d 123 (2d Cir. 1997) (fabricated evidence and qualified immunity concerns)
Jocks v. Tavernier, 316 F.3d 128 (2d Cir. 2003) (challenge to fabricated admissions reaching prosecutors)
Briscoe v. LaHue, 460 U.S. 325 (1983) (grand jury immunity for witnesses/prosecutors)
Rehberg v. Paulk, 132 S. Ct. 1497 (2012) (extending Briscoe to grand jury proceedings)
Powers v. Coe, 728 F.2d 97 (2d Cir. 1984) (pretrial publicity and its remedies in fair trial claims)
Calandra, 414 U.S. 338 (1974) (grand jury procedures and investigative function)
United States v. York, 428 F.3d 1325 (11th Cir. 2005) (grand jury scrutiny standards)
Wray v. City of New York, 490 F.3d 189 (2d Cir. 2007) (municipal liability standards for investigations)
City of Los Angeles v. Heller, 475 U.S. 796 (1986) (police liability and protective immunity principles)
Ricciuti, Ricciuti v. N.Y.C. Transit Auth., 124 F.3d 123 (2d Cir. 1997) (see above (cited for fabricated evidence context))