Landmark malicious prosecution claim will go to trial

This case returns to the Second Circuit after a trip to the U.S. Supreme Court and a remand to the Eastern District of New York. It's a police misconduct case that the Supreme Court used as a vehicle to clarify when someone can sue the police for malicious prosecution. That ruling came down in 2022, and it's still being litigated. Since the plaintiff wins this appeal in the Second Circuit the case will continue, though the next step is probably trial.

The case is Thompson v. Clark, a summary order issued on May 28. It all started when the police came to plaintiff's house on a 911 call claiming plaintiff was abusing his newborn daughter. Plaintiff would not allow the police to enter his home without a warrant, and he was arrested for obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest. These charges were eventually dismissed, and plaintiff sued the officers for malicious prosecution, among other claims. 

The case reached the Supreme Court, which held that you do not have to show the criminal charges "ended with some affirmative indication of innocence." You only have to show the charges ended without a conviction. This was good news for lawyers who represent police misconduct victims. So the case returned to the Eastern District of New York, which held that plaintiff must lose the case for a different reason: the police had probable cause to arrest him for obstructing. The Second Circuit (Calabresi, Park and Merriam) disagrees.

Plaintiff gets a trial on his malicious prosecution claim because the jury may find he did not actually obstruct any police activity. When plaintiff stood in his doorway, spoke peacefully with the officers and invoked his Fourth Amendment rights in demanding to see a warrant, he was not obstructing. He did not physically interfere with the police, and verbally refusing to allow the officers to enter his home is not enough to make the arrest. Nor did he engage in inappropriate or disruptive conduct at the scene. And the parties dispute whether plaintiff yelled or raised his voice. In addition, plaintiff has the right to invoke his constitutional rights to let the police enter the residence or demand to review the warrant. The jury will have to decide whether plaintiff deserves to win the malicious prosecution claim on the obstructing charge. The jury will also decide whether the police had probable cause to pursue a resisting arrest charge against plaintiff.