Actress Taryn Manning is taking legal action against the city of New York.
Actress Taryn Manning is taking legal action against the
city of New York for the sum of $10 million, claiming she was falsely arrested
in 2014.
Manning, known for her role as Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett
on Orange Is the New Black, filed a New York Supreme Court petition
against the city on Monday, claiming the New York Police Department should not
have arrested her after she was accused of making criminal threats against a
woman whom the actress had previously obtained a restraining order against.
Following Manning’s arrest in November 2014, the New York
District Attorney’s office declined to press charges against her, but her
attorney alleges she remained in police custody for hours despite the NYPD
being aware no charges would be filed.
MORE: 'OITNB' Star Taryn Manning Arrested in New York
“The meeting ended when I was handcuffed by a detective and
locked in a small room adjacent to the interview room,” Manning, 37, said in a
sworn affidavit filed with the petition on Monday. “Approximately 20 minutes
later, I was removed [from the room] still handcuffed and marched through the
precinct. I was processed and ultimately placed in a holding cell.”
“Although the arrest was voided and sealed…the NYPD then
reported Ms. Manning’s [false] arrest to media outlets,” the petition states.
Jeanine Heller, the woman who claimed Manning had threatened
her, had previously been arrested twice for allegedly stalking and harassing the
37-year-old actress. Heller was later arrested a third time for violating a
previous plea agreement by attempting to contact Manning via text messages. She
was sentenced to six months in jail in July 2015.
MORE: Taryn Manning's Stalker Is Back in Jail
With this petition, Manning is seeking permission to file a claim
against the city after failing to do so within the 90-day deadline.
“Ms. Manning should never have been arrested where the New
York City Police Department received advance notice from the New York County
District Attorney’s Office that Ms. Manning would not be prosecuted based on an
allegation of the subject complainant,” Manning’s attorney James Franzetti said
in a statement to ET.
“It was also astonishing that the NYPD acted on an
allegation of a complainant with a glaring prosecutorial (two prior arrests,
charges including stalking and harassing Ms. Manning) and plea history.”
MORE: Taryn Manning's Ex-Makeup Artist Alleges That the 'OITNB' Actress Assaulted Her
Franzetti says the petition is the first step in further
legal action against the city. “Substantively, the petition concerns the
acquired, actual knowledge of the City of New York of the essential,
foundational facts which serve as the basis for Ms. Manning’s claims and causes
of action for false arrest, civil rights and additional statutory violations.”
“My damages include attorney’s fees, hours of detention,
emotional distress and reputational harm,” Manning said in her affidavit.
In a separate legal battle, Manning was accused less than
two weeks ago of assaulting her ex-makeup artist, which Manning’s attorneys
quickly denied in a statement to ET.