United States District Court, D. Connecticut
ANN F. FELIX, Plaintiff,
v.
JOHNATHAN ASELTON, Defendant.
RULING GRANTING MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE
PLEADINGS
JANET
BOND ARTERTON, U.S.D.J.
Ann F.
Felix brings a civil rights suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §
1983 against Defendant Newington Police Officer Johnathan
Aselton in his individual capacity. ([Doc. #1]). She alleges
that she was subject to false arrest and malicious
prosecution and that she was denied equal protection of the
laws. Defendant now moves for a judgment on the pleadings.
([Doc. #30]).
For the
reasons that follow, Defendant's Motion for Judgment is
granted.
I.
Background
The
following facts are drawn from Plaintiffs Complaint and from
the public records referenced therein. Plaintiff is a female
resident of Newington, Connecticut. (Compl. ¶ 3.) For
seven months, she dated John Doe "on and off."
(Arrest Warrant Application, Ex. A to Def.'s Mot. for J.
[Doc. # 30-2] at 3.) On May 19, 2017, the couple had an
argument at Plaintiffs home. (Id.) After Doe left
Plaintiffs home, he, by his own admission, proceeded to post
"five nude photos" of Plaintiff to a "closed
group of 29 people on Facebook." (Id. at 2.)
On May
21, 2017, Defendant Officer Aselton responded to Plaintiffs
harassment complaint to the Newington Police Department about
Doe's publication of these photographs. (Id. at
1.) Plaintiff showed him the photos, in which she claims her
"face was very clearly identifiable." (Compl.
¶ 7.) Defendant then launched an investigation into a
"domestic disturbance which had occurred on
05/19/17." (Arrest Warrant Application at 1.)
Defendant
met with Doe on May 24, 2019 at the Newington Police
headquarters. (Id. at 2.) Doe provided a sworn
written statement, averring that Plaintiff "lunged at
[him, ]" "grabbed [his] right arm and scratched
him, " and "pushed [him]" during the argument
at her home. (Id.) Doe stated that he bled from a
"very small laceration" on his right cheek and that
his "arm had scratch marks on it." (Id.)
He showed Defendant his right arm, which had "numerous
scratches and lacerations of various age, " including
"[o]ne small scratch in particular [that] appeared to be
new." (Id.) Defendant took photographs of these
scratches and provided Doe with victims' rights
information. (Id.) Doe also admitted to posting nude
photographs of Plaintiff on the Internet following their
argument. (Id.)
Plaintiff
subsequently provided Defendant with her own sworn written
statement, which disputed Doe's version of events.
(Id. at 3.) She stated that she "never lunged
at Doe" and that she had "no idea how he may have
received scratches on his arms or face." (Id.)
She noted that "Doe works on an aircraft, " where
"he crawls in small spaces." (Id.) In
addition to offering her sworn statement, Plaintiff supplied
Defendant with medical documentation that she "was
recovering from serious abdominal surgery" at the time
of the argument as proof that she "would not have been
capable of such activity." (Compl. ¶ 8.) She also
showed Defendant "that her fingernails were cut
extremely short" to prove that "she could not have
inflicted the scratches which were alleged."
(Id. ¶ 9.)
On May
25, 2017, Defendant completed an application for Plaintiffs
arrest on charges of disorderly conduct and assault in the
third degree. (Id. ¶ 6.) In his sworn
application, Defendant described the physical evidence
provided by Doe. (Arrest Warrant Application at 3.) Defendant
also stated that he "could not clearly identify
Felix's face in the photos" and that "[i]t
seemed as if Felix was fabricating an answer" to his
questions regarding her communication with Doe. (Id.
at 4; see also Compl. ¶¶ 7, 10.) The
arrest warrant application otherwise repeated both sworn
written statements in full, including Plaintiffs denial and
her suggestion that Doe could have been injured at work.
However, the application did not contain any mention of
Plaintiffs medical documentation or the length of her
fingernails. (Compl. ¶¶ 8, 9.)
On June
8, 2017, a Connecticut superior court signed an arrest
warrant for Plaintiff on the charges requested by Defendant.
(Id. ¶ 11.) Plaintiff was later arrested and
taken into custody. (Id.)
On
August 31, 2017, Plaintiff appeared pro se before the
Connecticut superior court, (Superior Court Transcript, Ex. D
to Def.'s Mot. for J. [Doc. # 30-5]), which caused her
"fear, humiliation, inconvenience and emotional
distress." (Compl. ¶ 12.) At the hearing, the state
prosecutor entered a nolle prosequi, because the
matter was being handled in family court, and the Judge
dismissed the case at Plaintiffs request and without
objection by the prosecution. (Superior Court Transcript at
2.)
On
February 6, 2018, Plaintiff brought this one-count civil
rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. She
alleges that Defendant, acting in his individual capacity,
violated her "her right to be free from false arrest and
malicious prosecution, " as guaranteed by the Fourth
Amendment. (Compl. ¶ 14.) She also alleges that
Defendant subjected her to "disparate treatment in
comparison to the male involved in the incidents, and thereby
deprived [her] of equal protection of the laws in violation
of the Fourteenth Amendment." (Compl. ¶ 15.)
Defendant
now moves for a judgment on the pleadings on grounds that
Plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief may
be granted. (Defs Mot. for J. at 1.) Defendant also asserts a
defense of qualified immunity. (Id.)
II.
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