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Antoine v. New York City Health & Hospitals Corp.1/24/2005
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.
Introduction
Motion by the defendants for summary judgment dismissing the complaint in its entirety.
Facts & Procedural Posture
On May 17, 2000, the plaintiff was involved in an unusual set of circumstances that led to her involuntary commitment, pursuant to the Mental Hygiene Law, for a period of twenty days at defendant Bellevue Hospital Center ("Bellevue").
During the early morning hours of May 17, 2000, the plaintiff called "911" and requested medical assistance for her then-boyfriend, Vincent Herbert, at his Manhattan apartment. Two New York City police officers, Officers Rocanello and Narvaez, responding to a dispatch on the "911" call, arrived at the scene to find the plaintiff outside of Herbert's apartment building. The plaintiff identified herself, stated that she had made the phone call to "911", and told the officers that she and Herbert had an argument and that she was concerned that Herbert may harm himself. Additionally, the plaintiff indicated that Herbert may have a gun in the apartment.
The officers, accompanied by the plaintiff, went to Herbert's third floor apartment, where the officers tried, unsuccessfully, for several minutes to summon Herbert. Following the arrival of several additional officers, the door of Herbert's apartment was removed, and the apartment was searched. While not allowed in the apartment, the plaintiff was allowed to stand in the corridor adjacent to the apartment. The search revealed that the apartment was empty. Despite being told by the officers that Herbert was not in the apartment, the plaintiff repeatedly insisted to the contrary, and maintained that the officers needed to look more carefully because Herbert was "little" and could be hiding.
Upon further conversation with the plaintiff, Officer Rocanello learned that the plaintiff had left Herbert multiple messages on his answering machine in the hours leading up to the officers' intervention. The Officer found the answering machine in the apartment and listened to the messages, hearing the approximately forty messages that the plaintiff had left Herbert. In the messages, the plaintiff cried, screamed and yelled, used profanity, threatened to "go after" Herbert, and threatened to harm herself if Herbert did not answer her calls. After listening to the messages, Officer Rocanello returned to the corridor where the plaintiff was located. The plaintiff continued insisting that Herbert was in the apartment, began accusing the officers of lying to her, and acted belligerently, speaking loudly and cursing at the officers.
Based upon the events that had unfolded, the officers called an ambulance to the scene to transport the plaintiff to Bellevue. Upon the arrival of the ambulance, the plaintiff was taken into custody by the officers pursuant to Mental Hygiene Law § 9.41, which permits a police officer to take into custody a person who appears to be mentally ill and is conducting herself in a manner which is likely to result in serious harm to the person or others. The plaintiff was then transported to the psychiatric emergency room of Bellevue.
Bellevue's staff obtained personal information from the plaintiff (e.g. address, occupation) following her arrival at the emergency room, and a mental status exam was administered to the plaintiff. During the intake process, the plaintiff provided, among other things, the name of a friend, Michelle Davis, for Bellevue to contact.
According to the comprehensive as
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