NEW YORK, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Two Brooklyn court officers must face a lawsuit brought by a man who claimed he was falsely arrested for speaking on his phone while waiting to go through courthouse security, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge William Kuntz said there was a genuine issue of fact about what happened on June 18, 2010, when Getro Milfort was asked to end his phone call or exit the security line at the Kings County Civil Court in Brooklyn.
The judge allowed Milfort to proceed with claims of false arrest, false imprisonment and use of excessive force against court officers Felix Prevete and Christopher Ferrari.
Milfort said that he left the security line when asked by the officers, according to the ruling. As he was finishing his call, he said Prevete grabbed the phone from him hand and pushed him.
He was arrested by several court officers, including Ferrari, whom Milfort said twisted his arm and told him to shut up when he complained about the pain, according to the ruling.
Milfort was issued a summons for disorderly conduct following the incident. He accepted an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal on Sept. 13, 2010.
Shortly afterward, he sued Prevete and Ferrari for false arrest, false imprisonment, excessive force, denial of equal protection and deprivation of due process.
The officers claimed Milfort began arguing in a "loud and belligerent manner" when he was asked to hang up the phone or step aside, the ruling said. The officers denied using excessive force.
In Wednesday's ruling, Kuntz said that a jury should decide which version of events to believe.
"(I)f a reasonable jury were to credit plaintiff's version of the facts, the jury could find that defendants' actions were objectively unreasonable," Kuntz wrote in allowing the false arrest and excessive force claims to proceed.
The judge granted summary judgment to the officers on the equal protection and due process claims.
A lawyer for Milfort, Paul Hale, said he was pleased with the ruling. The New York attorney general's office, which represents the officers, did not immediately return a request for comment.
The case is Milfort v. Prevete et al., U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, No. 10-4467.