Perry v. Vega

Background

Kahreem S. Perry, representing himself, sued five New York City police officers under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for alleged constitutional violations arising from an October 23, 2021 incident. The opinion states that Perry was being criminally prosecuted for the same occurrence, involving robbery and burglary charges. Defense counsel requested that the civil case be stayed, meaning paused, while the criminal case proceeded.

Court’s analysis

The court applied six factors used to decide whether to stay a civil case while a criminal proceeding is pending: the overlap between the cases; the status of the criminal case; the plaintiff’s interest in proceeding quickly; possible prejudice to the plaintiff from delay; the defendants’ interests and burdens; the court’s interests; and the public interest.

The court found substantial overlap because both cases arose from Perry’s October 23, 2021 arrest and the related charges. It also concluded that Perry’s interests were best protected by a stay because the stay would help preserve his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. The court stated that all the other factors favored a stay as well.

Defense counsel represented that counsel had been unable to contact Perry because he was incarcerated. The court therefore did not have Perry’s position on the request. It sent a copy of the order to Perry’s assigned criminal defense attorney.

Ruling

The court granted a stay of the case until further order. Perry may notify the court in writing if he objects. Defense counsel must notify the court about the status of the criminal case within two weeks of a disposition or every 90 days, whichever occurs first. The Clerk of Court was directed to terminate the motion at ECF No. 22 and mail the order to Perry and Glenn Franklin Hardy, Esq.