Robinson v. City of Chicago, s. 87-1146

Citation868 F.2d 959
Decision Date21 February 1989
Docket NumberNos. 87-1146,87-1778,s. 87-1146
PartiesAlbert ROBINSON, Willie Moore, and John Richardson, individually and on behalf of a class, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. CITY OF CHICAGO, an Illinois municipal corporation, Defendant-Appellant. William DOULIN and Benjamin Perlman, individually and on behalf of a class, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. CITY OF CHICAGO, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)

Ruth M. Moscovitch, Chief Asst. Corp. Counsel, Ramsay Laing Klaff, Deputy Asst. Corp. Counsel, Chicago, Ill., for defendant-appellant.

Kenneth Flaxman, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiffs-appellees.

Before BAUER, Chief Judge, and RIPPLE and MANION, Circuit Judges.

MANION, Circuit Judge.

Defendant City of Chicago appeals from a judgment in No. 87-1146 declaring unconstitutional its policy permitting investigative detentions and a judgment in No. 87-1778 declaring unconstitutional its policy of detaining misdemeanor arrestees until their fingerprints cleared. Because no named plaintiff in either action had standing to sue, we reverse both judgments. See City of Los Angeles v. Lyons, 461 U.S. 95, 103 S.Ct. 1660, 75 L.Ed.2d 675 (1983).

I. Nature of the Case in No. 87-1146 (Robinson)

On July 18, 1981, at 5:30 in the morning, a deliberately set fire destroyed an apartment building in Chicago. Four tenants died. Immediately, police detectives interviewed various witnesses. One tenant informed the investigators that plaintiff John Richardson, a former tenant, had been fighting with his girlfriend, Cecilia Saunders, also a tenant. This tenant added that he had learned from another that Richardson had been in the building at about 4:00 that morning. This other person told the detectives that he had seen Richardson in the building in the pre-dawn hours that morning. Another tenant related that Richardson had warned her to leave the building because he was going to "torch" it. Later, one David Pruitt informed the detectives that Richardson had asked him the night before the fire to lure girlfriend Saunders outside the building so that Richardson could shoot her. Based upon this evidence, Chicago police officers arrested Richardson without a warrant at approximately 2:10 p.m. on the day of the fire. Robinson v. City of Chicago, 638 F.Supp. 186, 188 (N.D.Ill.1986).

At 6:00 p.m., Whalen and Mannion, two Chicago police detectives, interviewed Richardson for approximately two hours. Richardson proffered as an alibi that he had been with plaintiffs Willie Moore and Albert Robinson throughout the previous night and into the morning. When interviewed by the detectives, Moore and Robinson corroborated Richardson's alibi. Later that night, however, Pruitt repeated to detectives Whalen and Mannion his account that Richardson had asked him the night before the fire to lure his girlfriend outside so that Richardson could shoot her. Faced with this conflict between Richardson's alibi and Pruitt's compelling version, the detectives filled out a form requesting that Richardson be "held over" past the next court call so that the detectives could continue to investigate. The watch commander in the detention facility approved this request.

The police held Richardson pursuant to a policy set out in General Order 78-1 of the Chicago Police Department. Section 6, paragraph C-2 of the General Order authorized police officers to detain arrestees when "there is a necessity for the detention ... for a period of time longer than that which might be routinely expected, in order that they may continue the investigation." This General Order was known as the City's "hold past court call" policy. During a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition, the City's selected representative stated that the policy's purpose was to permit "detective division personnel ... more time to complete their investigation."

The police held Richardson for three days while they continued to investigate, without presenting Richardson to a neutral magistrate. During these three days, the evidence implicating Richardson mounted. Fire department investigators found a charred plastic bottle which contained the accelerant used to start the fire. The investigators then traced the bottle to Richardson. The investigators also learned that Richardson had told his girlfriend that he would burn the building down by pouring gasoline from the second floor down to the first. The fire department's investigation had earlier discovered this was just how the fire started. A gas station attendant picked Richardson out of a lineup as the purchaser of a can of gasoline the night before the fire. On July 20, the police assembled all the witnesses so that an Assistant State's Attorney could interview them. Each of the witnesses repeated their incriminating accounts. In addition, Pruitt's wife reported that Richardson had also asked her to lure his girlfriend outside the building, while still another witness reported that Richardson had also told her several days before the fire that he would burn down the building. Even Richardson's alibi witnesses changed their account and stated that they were not sure that Richardson was with them at the time the fire started.

Finally, on July 21, a grand jury charged Richardson with murder of the four tenants. That evidence notwithstanding, a jury acquitted Richardson.

On August 22, 1983, Richardson and his two alibi witnesses, Robinson and Moore, sued the City and detectives Mannion and Whalen pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. In plaintiffs' second amended complaint, filed on March 1, 1985, plaintiffs Robinson and Moore sued the detectives, seeking compensatory and punitive damages for their detaining them without probable cause in order to investigate Richardson's alibi. Subsequently, Robinson and Moore settled their claims. Their claims are not at issue in this appeal.

Plaintiff Richardson sued the City both individually and on behalf of a class. Richardson alleged that he was "held in custody for more than two days" pursuant to the General Order and that the General Order violated the Fourth Amendment by authorizing investigative detentions. Richardson sought--for himself and for the class--a declaratory judgment "as to the illegality of the City's investigative detention policy." Richardson also sought compensatory damages of $19.99. Richardson and the City, however, soon settled his damages claim; that claim is not at issue in this appeal either.

Richardson's proposed class for declaratory relief consisted of "[a]ll persons who, from August 17, 1978 to the time of entry of judgment were held in custody without the filing of charges pursuant to Section 6, Paragraph C-2 of General Order 78-1...." Richardson argued that the "hold past court call" policy deprived each member of the class of rights secured by the Fourth Amendment because it authorized extended detention without a judicial determination of probable cause.

The City moved to dismiss Richardson's complaint on the grounds that he failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and that he lacked standing to sue for declaratory relief. After the court denied the City's motion, Richardson moved to certify the proposed class. On February 21, 1986, the court granted Richardson's motion and held that this action could be maintained as a class action pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(2) on behalf of "[a]ll persons who from August 17, 1978 to the time of entry of judgment were held in custody without the filing of charges" pursuant to the General Order.

Richardson and the City subsequently filed cross-motions for summary judgment on the prayer for declaratory relief. On June 25, 1986, in a reported opinion, the court denied the City's motion and granted Richardson's cross-motion, concluding that the "hold past court call policy" was unconstitutional:

Paragraph C-2 permits the exact type of extended detention which the Court in Gerstein [v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 95 S.Ct. 854, 43 L.Ed.2d 54 (1975) ] found repugnant to Fourth Amendment rights. It specifically provides that an arrestee's detention be extended beyond the time when he would normally be sent before a magistrate so that police officers may continue the investigation. The reasoning behind this policy of extended detention is obvious; to build a case against a defendant while he is in jail. However, the teaching of Gerstein ... is clear--hoping to build a case is not a permissible reason for jailing someone indefinitely.

638 F.Supp. at 192.

The next day, the police department issued a teletype order rescinding the "hold past court call" policy. The City subsequently moved to dismiss the action on the grounds that it had been rendered moot by this policy change. The court denied that motion.

By the time the court entered judgment on December 23, 1986, the damages claims of the three named plaintiffs had already been settled. Thus, what remained was for the district court to enter a declaratory judgment on behalf of the class: the court declared that each class member had been "deprived by defendant City of Chicago of rights secured by the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States." 1 The City timely appeals. 2 2]

II. Nature of the Case in No. 87-1778 (Doulin)

The appeal in No. 87-1778 also presents a challenge to another facet of the City's policy of detaining arrestees. The nature of the case and nature of the proceedings are fully set forth in the district court's opinion reported below as 662 F.Supp. 318. We set forth only those facts necessary to decide the one issue facing this court on appeal.

William Doulin works at and Benjamin Perlman owns a retail jewelry store in Chicago. On October 9, 1981, Chicago police officers arrested Perlman and Doulin for the misdemeanor offense of receipt of stolen jewelry. 662 F.Supp. at 321.

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