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Both the city of Jamestown and Chautauqua County are fighting an attempt by a city couple to file an otherwise time-barred claim alleging misconduct during a 2023 traffic stop.
Charles A. Washington and Mariah J. Fleming filed a lawsuit in late April in state Supreme Court in Mayville asking Justice Grace Hanlon to allow them to file their lawsuit despite it being too late to file under state General Municipal Law Section 50-e as well as asking the city to turn over all records Washington and Fleming had requested through the Freedom of Information Law.
Washington and Fleming allege in their court filing they were pulled over on Feb. 1, 2023, late in the evening by officers from the Jamestown Police Department, Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement agencies. After the stop, they allege they were illegally detained and their vehicle improperly searched without probable cause and without a search warrant. Washington and Fleming say the search didn't yield any evidence of illegal activity, but the vehicle was towed and impounded while their cell phones were also seized. The phones, according to the court filing, were returned early in 2024.
Elliot Raimondo, city corporation counsel, said in a court filing last week the city wasn't notified of any possible legal proceeding until May 13, 2024, long past the May 2, 2023, deadline a notice of claim would have to be filed to meet the requirements laid out in the state General Municipal Law. While Washington and Fleming say they told a city police officer they would sue the city, Raimondo said in an affidavit filed in state Supreme Court that the threat doesn't satisfy the state's legal notice requirement.
"It is safe to say the city receives numerous threats of lawsuits from disgruntled individuals on a daily basis, especially when it could be construed that the city is seizing a profitable drug that the petitioners could be unlawfully engaging in commerce with," Raimondo wrote. "A mere threat of a lawsuit does not require the city to begin an investigation for a potential claim or lawsuit, nor would it be feasible to do so for every vague threat of a claim."
Raimondo also entered into evidence a search warrant signed by Judge Marilyn Gerace of Ellicott Town Court. While Fleming and Washington claimed in their filing that their vehicle was searched illegally, Raimondo said the search warrant and the results of the search show no actionable wrong has been committed by the city. A search of the vehicle, according to documents filed by Raimondo, turned up almost 30 grams of fentanyl and other drug paraphernalia, the vehicle was allegedly determined to be traveling 77 miles an hour in a 65 mile an hour zone on Interstate 86 and Fleming was allegedly driving on a suspended driver's license.
"None of this is indicative of wrongful actions, but rather a police investigation that resulted in getting drugs off the streets," Raimondo wrote.
Chautauqua County was also named in the original lawsuit because a deputy initially pulled the vehicle over. Attorney Keifer Tehan of Webster Szanyi from Buffalo wrote in a memorandum opposing Fleming and Washington's request that the initial court filing doesn't show how the county was involved in the alleged incident or why Fleming and Washington should be allowed to file a late notice of claim against the county.
"Simply put, the county had no basis whatsoever to suspect it was somehow negligent or would be sued for an arrest, booking and detainment that was carried out by a separate municipality altogether," Tehan wrote. "It seems like the county is only named in this petition because petitioners fail to recognize that the city of Jamestown and the county of Chautauqua are separate municipalities. The county does not even have a case file for this alleged incident. Of course, the county does not have actual notice of all essential facts constituting petitioners' claims then. Frankly, petitioners' entire petition is frivolous and sanctionable to the extent it is asserted against the county."