Date: September 12, 2014
Case Name: Jason Castro v. City of New York, No. 305928/08
Government – Police, Municipalities
Intentional Torts – Assault
Government – Excessive Force
Intentional Torts – False Arrest
Case Type:
head
head-headaches
knee-knee derangement
knee-medial meniscus; tear
knee-anterior cruciate ligament; tear
knee-posterior cruciate ligament; tear
knee-medial collateral ligament; damage
neck-bulging disc; cervical
other-effusion
other-tenosynovitis
other-physical therapy
wrist-scapholunate ligament; tear
wrist-triangular fibrocartilage complex; torn
epidermis-contusion
face/nose-face(face, bruise)
sensory/speech-anosmia
sensory/speech-speech/language; impairment of
surgeries/treatment-arthroscopy
mental/psychological
mental/psychological-depression
Injury
Type(s):
Court: Bronx Supreme
Venue: Bronx County
State: New York
Type: Settlement
Amount: $500,000
Arrestee claimed he was beaten for disputing traffic ticketOn April 9, 2008, plaintiff Jason Castro, a 31-year-old unemployed man, approached his minivan, which was
parked on West Fordham Road, near its intersection at Hampden Place, in the University Heights section of
the Bronx. Two police officers, Raymond Marrero and Juan Santana, were ticketing illegally parked vehicles.
Castro protested upon realizing that his vehicle was being, or had been, ticketed. An altercation ensued, and
Castro claimed that he was kicked and punched. He further claimed that he sustained injuries of his face, his
head, a knee, his neck and a wrist.
Castro was arrested, and he ultimately received charges of obstruction of governmental administration,
resisting arrest and possession of a deadly weapon: a box cutter. The charges were dropped when a judge
determined that Castro’s arrest lacked probable cause.
Facts:
Alan Getreu; Vocational Rehabilitation; Mineola, NY called by Patrick J.
Mantione, Pamela Horan David Erlanger; Neuropsychology; New York, NY
called by Patrick J. Mantione, Pamela Horan Roger Mosesson; Neuroradiology;
New York, NY called by Patrick J. Mantione, Pamela Horan Ramesh Gidumal;
Orthopedic Surgery; New York, NY called by Patrick J. Mantione, Pamela Horan
Defendant
Expert(s):
Patrick J. Mantione; Senior Counsel, Zachary W. Carter, Corporation Counsel;
Brooklyn, NY, for City of New York
Pamela Horan; Senior Counsel, Zachary W. Carter, Corporation Counsel; New
York, NY, for City of New York
Defense
Attorney(s):
Defendant(s): City of New York
C. Robins; ; Psychology/Counseling; New York, NY called by Alan M.
Greenberg, Robert J. Menna
Edwin Robins; M.D.; Psychiatry; New York, NY called by Alan M. Greenberg,
Robert J. Menna
Charles Kincaid; Ph.D.; Vocational Rehabilitation; Hackensack, NJ called by
Alan M. Greenberg, Robert J. Menna
Richard Seldes; M.D.; Orthopedic Surgery; New York, NY called by Alan M.
Greenberg, Robert J. Menna
Plaintiff
Expert(s):
Alan M. Greenberg; Law Offices of Alan Greenberg, P.C.; New York, NY, for
Jason Castro
Robert J. Menna; Law Offices of Alan Greenberg, P.C.; New York, NY, for Jason
Castro
Plaintiff
Attorney(s):
Plaintiff(s): Jason Castro (Male, 31 Years)
PartiesAfter the selection of a jury, but prior to the scheduled start of the trial, the parties negotiated a settlement.
The city agreed to pay $500,000.
Result:
Castro was transported to a police precinct’s headquarters. After some 30 hours of detention, he was released.
He immediately presented to Montefiore Medical Center, in the Bronx. He underwent minor treatment.
Castro claimed that he sustained bruises and contusions of his face and head, a tear of his right wrist’s
triangular fibrocartilage complex, a tear of the same wrist’s scapholunate ligament, and trauma that produced
bulges of his C4-5 and C5-6 intervertebral discs. He also claimed that he sustained derangement of his right
knee, a tear of the posterior horn of the same knee’s medial meniscus, and partial tears of the same knee’s
anterior cruciate, lateral collateral, medial collateral and posterior cruciate ligaments. He further claimed that
his right knee developed effusion, which is a buildup of a joint’s lubricating fluid, that his right wrist
developed flexor tenosynovitis, which is restrictive inflammation of the sheath of a tendon, and that he
suffered depression, headaches, nightmares, impairment of his speech, extreme changes of his personality
and anosmia, which is a loss of the sense of olfaction.
Castro underwent psychological counseling, about three years of physical therapy and arthroscopic surgery
that addressed his right knee.
Castro claimed that his depression lingers and that his speech remains impaired. He claimed that those effects
resulted in his loss of two jobs and the rejection of his application to enroll in a vocational program. He also
claimed that his residual effects have imposed a largely reclusive existence.
Castro sought recovery of past lost earnings, future lost earnings, and damages for past and future pain and
suffering.
Defense counsel contended that Castro’s depression and speech impairment are a product of a congenital
abnormality and/or conversion hysteria.
Injury:
Castro sued the police officers’ employer, the city of New York. Castro alleged that he was falsely arrested,
that the officers utilized excessive force that constituted assault and that the city of New York was vicariously
liable for the officers’ actions.
Castro claimed that, during the course of his protest, he accidentally ejected spittle onto one of Marrero’s
cheeks. He claimed that the officers immediately flung him, face-first, onto the sidewalk. He further claimed
that, after he had been handcuffed, the officers punched and kicked his head.
Marrero and Santana claimed that Castro was behaving in a belligerent manner that justified an arrest. They
also claimed that Castro was not punched or kicked. They claimed that he was subjected to force
proportionate to his resistance and sufficient to effect the arrest.This report is based on information that was provided by plaintiff’s counsel. Defense counsel did not respond
to the reporter’s phone calls.
Editor’s Comment:
Judge: Julia Rodriguez
Trial Information:
Castro’s counsel reported that Judge Julia Rodriguez had ruled that the jury could be told that Castro’s
criminal charges had been dismissed in a case in which the city was obligated to provide probable cause for
Castro’s arrest.
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