Utsey v. Murphy, 1:08-cv-01140

Utsey, appearing pro se, sues Officer Jon Murphy and the Village of Menands under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for Fourth Amendment violations, assault, and false arrest; claims include failure to train/supervise by the Village and due-process claims against the District Attorney and ADA.
Event at issue occurred on September 27, 2006, when Murphy stopped Utsey for alleged vehicle violations, resulting in Utsey’s arrest and related charges.
The accusatory instrument alleged Utsey ignored orders during a search after being handcuffed while Murphy searched him.
The Albany County District Attorney prosecuted the charges; the Village Court dismissed the case on speedy trial grounds on September 30, 2008.
In 2010, the court previously: deemed the Village’s liability as a municipal entity against which Monell claims were viable, dismissed state-law assault, and dismissed some district attorney claims; the remaining issues were Fourth Amendment stop/arrest, excessive force, and training/supervision.
The court granted in part and denied in part the Village and Murphy’s motions for summary judgment, ruling no municipal liability but allowing certain Fourth Amendment and excessive force claims to proceed against Murphy.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Utsey’s Monell claim against the Village survives.	Utsey asserts the Village is liable due to its policy or custom.	Village contends no policy or custom evidence supports Monell liability.	Monell claim dismissed; no evidence of policy/custom or deliberate indifference.
Whether Murphy had probable cause or reasonable suspicion for the traffic stop.	Stop improper; implied lack of probable cause.	Stop based on observed violations; probable cause exists.	Summary judgment denied on stop legality; however, arrest based on learned invalidity of license/registration/insurance supported later arrest.
Whether the arrest and pat-down search were lawful and whether excessive force claim survives.	Arrest/search violated Fourth Amendment; force excessive.	Arrest supported by probable cause; force issue not fully resolved on summary judgment.	Arrest and search valid given probable cause; excessive force claim left for trial.
Whether Murphy is entitled to qualified immunity for the Fourth Amendment stop and arrest.	Murphy acted unlawfully; qualified immunity unavailable.	Qualified immunity shields officers absent clearly established rights violation.	Murphy not entitled to qualified immunity; partial denial of summary judgment.

Monell v. Department of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (U.S. 1978) (local governmental liability requires policy or custom; deliberate indifference for training/supervision)
City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378 (U.S. 1989) (failure to train may support liability where deliberate indifference to constitutional rights exists)
Henderson v. Town of Greenwich, 317 F. App’x 46 (2d Cir. 2009) (single incident not enough for Monell liability; need policy/custom evidence)
Oklahoma City v. Tuttle, 471 U.S. 808 (U.S. 1985) (establishes that a single incident is insufficient for liability absent policy)
Townes v. City of New York, 176 F.3d 138 (2d Cir. 1999) (fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine not applicable to § 1983 claims; evidentiary rule in criminal procedure)
Scopo v. United States, 19 F.3d 777 (2d Cir. 1994) (probable cause or reasonable suspicion required for traffic stops; search incident to arrest valid with probable cause)