## Facts

- Gloria J. Boose was arrested based on warrants connected to crimes apparently committed by other individuals, following misidentification and incomplete investigation by police.
- In one incident, an offender used Boose’s name when dealing with police, leading to a warrant charging “Gloria Jean Booth” with obstruction of governmental administration.
- In a separate incident, police lacked a positive identification of an assailant but assumed the same person was responsible and obtained a warrant for “Jane Doe Booze,” then arrested Boose for second-degree assault.
- The assault charge was presented to a grand jury, which initially indicted Boose; the indictment was later superseded by a no bill and dismissal.
- Boose went to the police station in response to the warrants, was booked and fingerprinted, held until late in the day, and released on her own recognizance.
- Boose sued the City of Rochester alleging malicious prosecution, negligence, and false imprisonment.
- The trial court dismissed malicious prosecution at the close of Boose’s case, allowed the case to proceed on negligence and false imprisonment (including a motion to conform pleadings to proof), and the jury awarded Boose $6,000.
- The City appealed from the judgment.

## Issues

1. Whether a plaintiff may recover for injuries from an allegedly inadequate police investigation under a general negligence theory, rather than being limited to false imprisonment/false arrest and malicious prosecution.
2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to submit malicious prosecution to the jury, making dismissal at the close of plaintiff’s proof erroneous.
3. Whether the false imprisonment claim was barred by municipal notice-of-claim/limitations requirements and, if so, whether the City should have been permitted to amend its answer to plead that defense.

## Decision

- The appellate court held that there is no independent negligence cause of action for inadequate police investigation in this context; recovery must proceed, if at all, under false imprisonment/false arrest or malicious prosecution.
- The court held the plaintiff made a prima facie showing of malicious prosecution and that the trial court erred in dismissing that claim before submission to the jury.
- The court held the false imprisonment claim was time-barred under applicable municipal procedural requirements and that the City should have been allowed to amend its answer to assert the defense.
- The judgment for plaintiff was reversed; the negligence theory was rejected; the false imprisonment claim was dismissed; and a new trial was ordered limited to malicious prosecution.

## Legal Principles

- A plaintiff may not recover under general negligence principles for alleged inadequacy of police investigation leading to arrest and prosecution; claims must be brought within the traditional tort frameworks of false imprisonment/false arrest and malicious prosecution.
- Public policy favoring investigation and prosecution of apparently guilty persons limits tort expansion in the criminal-process setting; investigative shortcomings are assessed through established elements such as lack of probable cause and malice, not through a free-standing negligence duty.
- Malicious prosecution may be submitted to the jury where evidence supports initiation or continuation of a criminal proceeding without probable cause, favorable termination, and malice; malice may be inferred from absence of probable cause.
- False imprisonment/false arrest claims against a municipality remain subject to statutory notice-of-claim and limitations requirements; untimely claims are barred, and pleading amendments may be permitted to raise the defense.

## Conclusion

The appellate court rejected a stand-alone negligence theory for allegedly inadequate police investigation, held that Boose’s proof required submission of malicious prosecution to a jury, and dismissed the false imprisonment claim as untimely, ordering a new trial confined to malicious prosecution.


Boose v. City of Rochester, 71 A.D.2d 59 (N.Y. App. Div. 4th Dep’t 1979)