Opinion
2011-12-8
Francisco MENDOZA, Plaintiff–Respondent, v. The CITY OF NEW YORK, Defendant–Appellant.
Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York (Drake A. Colley of counsel), for appellant. Fotopoulos, Rosenblatt & Green, New York (Dimitrios C. Fotopoulos of counsel), for respondent.
Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York (Drake A. Colley of counsel), for appellant. Fotopoulos, Rosenblatt & Green, New York (Dimitrios C. Fotopoulos of counsel), for respondent.
Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Larry S. Schachner, J.), entered October 19, 2010, which, insofar as appealed from as limited by the briefs, denied so much of defendant's motion for summary judgment as sought dismissal of the causes of action for false arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, and the complaint dismissed in its entirety. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment accordingly.
No triable issue of fact exists as to whether the detention, arrest, or prosecution was supported by probable cause, given that the police found plaintiff in a state of undress on premises identified in a valid search warrant as a drug distribution point, and a controlled substance was recovered from those premises ( see Martinez v. City of Schenectady, 97 N.Y.2d 78, 85, 735 N.Y.S.2d 868, 761 N.E.2d 560 [2001]; People v. Mayo, 59 A.D.3d 250, 254–255, 873 N.Y.S.2d 584, affd. 13 N.Y.3d 767, 886 N.Y.S.2d 867, 915 N.E.2d 1165 [2009] ).