Judge Grants Summary Judgment to Enfield Police Officer in 2nd Brutality Case

BRIDGEPORT, CT — Less than a week after the Enfield Town Council voted to settle a police brutality case, a U.S. District Court judge issued a summary judgment Friday in favor of the Enfield Police Department in a second case alleging excessive force.

The case was brought by attorney A. Paul Spinella on behalf of his client, Michael Covaleski, against Enfield police officer Mark Granaudo. Covaleski claimed Granaudo used "unreasonable force" during the course of his arrest on Feb. 11, 2014.

According to the decision of Senior United States District Judge Warren W. Eginton, which was obtained by Patch Media, police and EMS responded to a medical call for a female at an apartment she shared with Covaleski on Asnuntuck Street around 9 p.m. that evening.

Granaudo entered a bedroom where the female was receiving treatment, and discovered a pair of loaded handguns on a shelf; one of the guns was loaded with a 17-round magazine. The woman told Granaudo two children residing there "frequently entered the bedroom to watch television," and the "locking mechanism on the bedroom door was broken, so the room could not be secured," the document stated.

Covaleski arrived home just after the woman had been transported to a hospital and admitted ownership of the guns. He told Granaudo the weapons were registered, but the high-capacity magazine was not, the document read.

Covaleski was arrested and charged with two counts of risk of injury to a minor, two counts of second-degree reckless endangerment and possession of a large-capacity magazine. He "was cooperative during the arrest and voluntarily placed his hands behind his back in order to be handcuffed," the document stated.

According to Covaleski, once he was handcuffed, his hands were resting behind his back at a height approximately on top of his buttocks. He asserted that, despite notifying Granaudo of his recent shoulder surgery, the officer raised Covaleski’s arms by several inches in order to adjust and double lock the cuffs, causing pain and injury to Covaleski’s right shoulder, according to the document.

During and after the time that he was handcuffed, Covaleski never complained of discomfort or pain. To the contrary, a video recording of Covaleski during processing at police headquarters shows him "moving his arms freely and with no indication that he was experiencing any sort of physical pain. At no time did

the plaintiff complain to [Community Service Aide Matt] Bilgen about any physical pain or discomfort, and, as a result, no corresponding notation was made on the arrestee data sheet completed by CSA Bilgen for the
plaintiff. At no time did plaintiff request emergency medical assistance from any of the officers or CSA Bilgen," the document states.

In his decision, Judge Eginton wrote, "Here, where plaintiff never complained of discomfort or pain, it was objectively reasonable for defendant to believe that handcuffing plaintiff in the customary manner upon plaintiff’s arrest did not infringe on plaintiff’s Fourth Amendment rights. Indeed, without indication of distress, there was no way for defendant to determine that the minor amount of force he employed during handcuffing was objectively unreasonable. Under the circumstances, “no rational jury could [find] that the force used was so excessive that no reasonable officer would have made the same choice.”

Spinella also represented Mark Maher of Windsor in his lawsuit against the Enfield Police Department, which will be settled by the town's insurer following a 10-1 vote last Monday by the town council. Under agreement of both parties, terms of the settlement are confidential.

Enfield Police Chief Carl Sferrazza said, "We're very pleased the facts have been reviewed by the judge and a summary judgment granted. We stand by the facts, and were happy to let the court process play out."

Spinella has seven more cases pending against the department and/or individual officers, according to the law firm's web site.

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