NYPD must answer FOIL Request - Attorney's fees awarded
Michael Grabell is a journalist employed by ProPublica who sued NYPD because NYPD failed to respond to his FOIL request. The NYPD unlawfully withheld certain documents not properly exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) (Public Officers Law (POL) §85 et seq). Mr. Grabell sought information relating to NYPD's purchase and use of a police vehicle known as the Z-backscatter van (Van). "The Van(s) is an unmarked vehicle that contains an x-ray device th
NYC Police Union cannot intervene in NYPD Stop and Frisk Case
The Court of Appeals reviewed and affirmed the District Court’s decision to deny the Police Unions’ motion to intervene pursuant to using an abuse of discretion review in the newsworthy stop and frisk case. Background: On August 12, 2013, after a bench trial that followed plaintiffs’ withdrawal of claims for money damages and claims against individual defendants, Judge Scheindlin issued an order in Floyd v. City of New York, finding that the City had violated the Fourth and F
Photos taken from Defendants’ Phone suppressed; new trial granted...
As strange as it may seem to some, people like to take photographs on their phone of illegal activity. Here, the Defendant had allegedly taken photographs on his phone of a pistol resembling a pistol recovered in the case. “This evidence demonstrated that the ‘decision to seek the warrant was prompted by what [the police] had seen during the initial entry’ (Murray v. United States, 487 US 533, 542 [1988]). Rather than applying for a warrant on the basis of mere probable cause
Defendant NYC Police Officers are not entitled to Qualified Immunity for the mass arrests that occur
Garcia v. Jane and John Doe, 12-2634-cv (Aug. 21 2014) In their complaint, the Plaintiffs attached video footage and photographs that became part of the complaint and, therefore, were considered on appeal. The Plaintiffs allege violations of their First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. While the District Court denied the motion to dismiss these claims against the individual officers, the District Court granted the motion to dismiss claims against the NYC, Mayor Bloomberg an
