In Ferreira v. City of Binghamton, the New York Court of Appeals answered a certified question from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit concerning the showing that a plaintiff must make in order to hold a municipality liable when its police force negligently plans and executes a no-knock search warrant. In a majority opinion written by Judge Madeline Singas and joined by Chief Judge DiFiore and Judges Garcia, Cannataro and Troutman, the court held that the plaintiff must establish that a municipality owes him a special duty as opposed to an ordinary duty, but that a special duty always exists where a municipality’s police force plans and executes a no-knock search warrant and that duty runs to all individuals within the targeted premises at the time the warrant is executed.

In August 2011, the Binghamton Police Department obtained a no-knock search warrant for the residence of an alleged armed and dangerous felony suspect. Before executing the warrant, the police observed the residence and saw the suspect leave the premises. The police never saw the suspect return. Early the next morning, despite not knowing whether the suspect was in the residence, a heavily-armed SWAT team initiated a dynamic entry into the residence. The SWAT team encountered the plaintiff—who was not the suspect and was not accused of wrongdoing—on the couch near the front door and shot him resulting in serious injuries. The plaintiff was unarmed.

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