Adames v. Sheahan

• Decision Date: 19 March 2009
• Docket Number: No. 105789.,No. 105851.,105789.,105851.
• Citation: 909 N.E.2d 742,233 Ill.2d 276
• Parties: Hector ADAMES, JR., et al., Appellees and Cross-Appellants, v. Michael F. SHEAHAN, in His Official Capacity as Cook County Sheriff, Appellant and Cross-Appellee. Hector Adames, Jr., et al., Appellees and Cross-Appellants, v. Beretta U.S.A. Corporation, Appellants and Cross-Appellees.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

909 N.E.2d 742

233 Ill.2d 276

Hector ADAMES, JR., et al., Appellees and Cross-Appellants, v. Michael F. SHEAHAN, in His Official Capacity as Cook County Sheriff, Appellant and Cross-Appellee.

Hector Adames, Jr., et al., Appellees and Cross-Appellants, v. Beretta U.S.A. Corporation, Appellants and Cross-Appellees.

No. 105789.

No. 105851.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

March 19, 2009.

Rehearing Denied May 26, 2009.

Daniel F. Gallagher, Terrence F. Guolee and Jennifer L. Medenwald, of Querrey & Harrow, Ltd., Chicago, for appellant and cross-appellee Michael F. Sheahan, Cook County Sheriff.

Joseph F. Spitzzeri, Garrett L. Boehm, Jr., of Johnson & Bell, Ltd., Chicago, and Craig A. Livingston, Walnut Creek, California, for appellant and cross-appellee Beretta U.S.A. Corporation.

Michael W. Rathsack, Chicago (James D. Montgomery, James D. Montgomery, Jr., Melvin L. Brooks, Adam M. Simon, of counsel), for appellees and cross-appellants.

Roger Huebner, Springfield, and DeAno & Scarry, Wheaton, for amici curiae Illinois Municipal League et al.

Charles M. Dyke, of Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP, San Francisco, California, for amici curiae Legal Community Against Violence et al.

OPINION

Justice THOMAS delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

On May 5, 2001, William (Billy) Swan accidentally shot and killed his friend Joshua (Josh) Adames while playing with his father's service weapon. At the time, Billy's father, David Swan, was employed by the Cook County sheriff's department as a correctional officer. Plaintiffs, Hector Adames, Jr., and Rosalia Diaz, as co-special administrators of the estate of Josh Adames, filed suit against numerous defendants. At issue in this case are plaintiffs' claims against defendant Michael F. Sheahan (Sheahan), in his official capacity as Cook County sheriff, and defendant Beretta U.S.A. Corporation (Beretta).

Following discovery, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants Sheahan and Beretta on their respective motions for summary judgment. The appellate court affirmed in part and reversed in part, and remanded the cause. 378 Ill.App.3d 502, 316 Ill.Dec. 823, 880 N.E.2d 559. Both Sheahan and Beretta filed petitions for leave to appeal. 210 Ill.2d R. 315(a). This court allowed both petitions and consolidated the cases. Plaintiffs also have filed a cross-appeal. 155 Ill.2d R. 318.

BACKGROUND

Numerous depositions were taken during discovery in this case. The evidence from those depositions will be summarized here as necessary to our disposition of the case.

Billy Swan's Testimony

On the morning of May 5, 2001, Billy Swan, who then was 13 years old, was home alone. Billy's mother was at work and his father, David, had taken Billy's brother to a movie. Billy called his friend Josh Adames and invited him over to play. Billy then went to his parents' bedroom to watch for Josh through the bedroom window. Billy knew that both going into his parents' bedroom and inviting friends over when no one else was home were against house rules.

While in his parents' bedroom, Billy noticed that the closet door was partially open. He saw a box on the top shelf of the closet, so he took the box down to see what was inside. Billy opened the box, which he said was unlocked, and saw three guns. One of the guns was a Beretta 92FS handgun, the gun at issue in this case. Billy had never seen his father carry a gun or clean a gun in the house, although he thought that his father might have a gun. Billy had never handled a gun before.

Billy picked up each gun and examined it. Billy said that the magazine or clip was in the Beretta. When Billy picked up the Beretta, he pushed a button that released the magazine. Billy could see the bullets in the magazine. Billy then put the magazine back in the Beretta. Billy moved the slide at the top of the gun and a bullet popped out. Billy again removed the magazine and put the bullet back in the magazine. Billy repeatedly removed and replaced the bullets and magazine from the gun. Billy knew that the Beretta was loaded when the magazine was in the gun, but thought it was unloaded when the magazine was taken out. He thought that the bullet came out of the top of the magazine when the handgun was fired, and did not know that a bullet remained in the chamber. Billy did not read the instruction manual for the Beretta.

After playing with the guns for several minutes, Billy saw his friend Michael riding his bike outside. Billy put the three guns in his pockets and went downstairs and opened the front door. Billy invited Michael in and showed him the guns. Billy jokingly told Michael that he was feeling "trigger happy" and that he was going to shoot Josh. Billy left the guns on the couch while he and Michael went in another room to play on the computer. Approximately 10 minutes later, Josh came over. Billy showed Josh the guns and the boys began playing around. While Billy was holding the Beretta, Josh tried to reach for it to take it out of Billy's hand. Billy pushed the button on the Beretta, took the magazine out and put it in his pocket. At this point, Josh was by the front door. Billy pretended that he was firing the gun, then pulled the trigger, discharging the gun. The gunshot was loud, causing Billy's ears to ring. Billy was afraid he would be in trouble if the neighbors heard the noise, so he ran upstairs and put the guns away.

When Billy came back downstairs, he saw Josh sitting against the door holding his stomach. Josh told Billy that he had been shot. Billy first thought that Josh was kidding, but when he moved Josh's hand, he saw a hole. Billy called 911 and told the dispatcher that he had found a gun and accidentally shot his friend while playing. Billy testified that he knew he was handling a real firearm and real ammunition when he shot Josh. Michael left as soon as the shooting happened.

Billy was found delinquent in juvenile court proceedings for the shooting and was placed on probation. The delinquency determination was based on a finding that Billy committed involuntary manslaughter (720 ILCS 5/9-3(a) (West 2000)), and reckless discharge of a firearm (720 ILCS 5/24-1.5(a) (West 2000)). The appellate court affirmed the delinquency finding. In re W.S., No. 1-02-1170, 343 Ill.App.3d 1300, 305 Ill.Dec. 890, 856 N.E.2d 695 (2003) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23).

David Swan's Testimony

David Swan graduated from the police academy in 1988 and was deputized with the Cook County sheriff's department around January 1988. From 1988 through 1997 or 1998, David worked corrections inside the Cook County jail, working a tier with approximately 48 to 60 inmates. David fed the inmates and did paper work and log books. David was promoted to a lieutenant in 1997 or 1998. As lieutenant, David's position was mainly administrative, doing paper work and scheduling and filling shifts. Until David was promoted to lieutenant, he carried a firearm to and from work most of the time, although he did not carry his gun while working on the jail tier. Rather, he would store his gun in the Division 5 Armory. He initially carried a Smith & Wesson .38 Special, but when he became certified in automatic weaponry, he began carrying the Beretta 92FS and kept the .38 Special as his personal weapon. David stopped carrying a weapon to work when he became a lieutenant. David testified that in 2001, he did not need a weapon in order to perform his job duties.

At the time of the shooting, David owned three firearms, the .38 Special, a .25 semiautomatic and the Beretta 92FS. The .25 semiautomatic was David's personal weapon and was never carried on the job. Although David no longer carried a gun once he was promoted to lieutenant, David kept his guns for his own protection and in case he was transferred to a different unit of the Cook County sheriff's office where he would again need a firearm. David's understanding was that, as a correctional officer, he was not required to respond to a crime by attempting to physically introduce himself into the crime or stop the crime. Rather, David understood that he was to call "911" to request a police response in the event he witnessed criminal activity.

On May 5, 2001, David took his younger son to the movies while his wife was at work. Billy did not want to go to the movie. David told Billy that no one was allowed in the house. Billy said that he was going to the park to play. David testified that prior to May 5, 2001, the last time he had seen his guns was in the summer of 2000, when he completed his annual certification at the Cook County sheriff's gun range. After qualifying with the weapons, David cleaned them and locked them in his lockbox. David placed the lockbox with the guns in it on the top shelf of his bedroom closet. There were two keys to the lockbox. David kept one key on his key ring and one key in his top dresser drawer. David disagreed with Billy's testimony that the lockbox was not locked; however, for purposes of summary judgment, it was presumed that the lockbox was unlocked.

David understood that the sheriff's department required deputies to secure and store their weapons in either a locking box, like the one David used, or with a trigger lock. David testified that he stored the ammunition separately from the handgun, and stored the handgun without a bullet in its chamber, in accordance with department requirements. David was not aware that the Beretta would fire a bullet if the magazine was removed.

Following the shooting, Sheahan filed a complaint against David before the Cook County sheriff's merit board. The complaint alleged that each officer has a duty to safely store his weapon, that David did not do that, and that this failure allowed David's son to gain access to the weapon, which in turn resulted in Josh's death. The complaint noted that Sheahan's general order required the safe storage of weapons to avoid accidents. David's guns were taken from him by the police...