Vilato v. The City of Yonkers, 7:13-cv-05825

On October 6, 2012, Plaintiff Robert Vilato was arrested after Tanvir Kahn allegedly falsely reported that Vilato robbed him at gunpoint. Vilato was detained for approximately 72 hours before arraignment and release.
The felony robbery charge was reduced to misdemeanors, then adjourned in contemplation of dismissal and ultimately dismissed in June 2013.
Vilato borrowed $7,500 from his father to pay counsel for his criminal defense. He sued Kahn, the City of Yonkers, and Detective William Sullivan under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state tort theories.
Kahn was properly served but repeatedly failed to prosecute his defense: he missed filing deadlines, failed to appear at conferences, and did not contest the default in a timely manner. The court entered default judgment against Kahn and referred damages to a magistrate judge for an inquest.
After supplemental submissions and no opposition from Kahn, the magistrate judge recommended damages of $457,500 — $450,000 for loss of liberty (72 hours at $6,250/hour) and $7,500 for defense costs — based on documentary proof and precedent awarding loss-of-liberty damages absent an evidentiary hearing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Liability for false report leading to arrest	Kahn made false, uncorroborated accusations causing wrongful arrest and prosecution	Kahn did not defend; no opposition filed at inquest	Default admitted liability; court accepted plaintiff's factual allegations except for damages
Measure of loss-of-liberty damages for 72‑hour detention	Seek substantial compensatory award for deprivation of liberty — applied per-hour framework	No opposition; no evidentiary hearing requested	Awarded $450,000 for loss of liberty (72 hrs × $6,250/hr) as reasonable based on cited precedent
Recovery of criminal defense costs	Sought reimbursement of $7,500 retainer paid to counsel	No opposition	Documentary evidence (check) supported $7,500 award for defense costs
Necessity of evidentiary hearing for emotional/subjective damages	Initially sought emotional distress and business damages	Court required hearing to award subjective damages; plaintiff later waived those claims in amended submissions	No hearing held; court declined to award emotional damages without evidence and limited recovery to documented, objective losses

Finkel v. Romanowicz, 577 F.3d 79 (2d Cir. 2009) (default admits factual allegations except damages)
Credit Lyonnais Sec. (USA), Inc. v. Alcantara, 183 F.3d 151 (2d Cir. 1999) (inquest must establish damages to reasonable certainty)
Action S.A. v. Marc Rich & Co., 951 F.2d 504 (2d Cir. 1991) (documentary evidence can suffice in lieu of evidentiary hearing on damages)
Kerman v. City of New York, 374 F.3d 93 (2d Cir. 2004) (loss-of-liberty damages compensable separately from emotional/other harms)
Gardner v. Federated Dept. Stores, Inc., 907 F.2d 1348 (2d Cir. 1990) (examples of substantial awards for short-term deprivations of liberty)
Martinez v. Port Auth. of N.Y. & N.J., 445 F.3d 158 (2d Cir. 2006) (Court of Appeals upheld large per‑hour/day awards for deprivation of liberty)
Fustok v. ContiCommodity Servs., Inc., 873 F.2d 38 (2d Cir. 1989) (inquest may be conducted solely on written submissions)