Chavez v. Illinois State Police
| Decision Date | 05 November 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 94 C 5307.,94 C 5307. |
| Citation | 27 F.Supp.2d 1053 |
| Parties | Peso CHAVEZ, et al., Plaintiffs, v. The ILLINOIS STATE POLICE, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
Jane M. Whicher, Harvey Michael Grossman, Imani Chiphe, Roger Baldwin Foundation of ACLU, Inc., Chicago, IL, Jonathan Klee Baum, Ted S. Helwig, Nicole Nehama Auerbach, Katten, Muchin & Zavis, Chicago, IL, for plaintiffs.
Roger Philip Flahaven, Iain D. Johnson, Illinois Atty. General's Office, Chicago, IL, for defendants.
Roger Pascal, Schiff, Hardin & Waite, Chicago, IL, William T. Barker, Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, Chicago, IL, for movant.
This case centers around the plaintiffs' claim that the Illinois State Police stop, detain, and search African-American and Hispanic motorists solely on the basis of their race. Magistrate Judge Edward A. Bobrick's Report and Recommendation ("R & R") addressing the defendants' motion for partial summary judgment (# 150-1) is before the court. The magistrate judge recommended that the defendants' motion be granted as to the equal protection claims of plaintiffs Peso Chavez and Gregory Lee, all plaintiffs' freedom of movement claims, and the claims against defendants Kenneth Hall, Lonnie Inlow, Kathleen Sauter and Michael Snyders, but denied as to Chavez' Fourth Amendment claims. He also recommended that the defendants' motion for summary judgment as to plaintiff Joseph Gomez' claims and the plaintiffs' motion to strike certain paragraphs of the defendants' Local Rule 12(m) statements (# 188-1) be denied. The plaintiffs object to all portions of the R & R adverse to them.
The following objections to additional reports and recommendations are also before the court: (1) the plaintiffs' objections regarding their motion to compel enforcement of subpoenas directed to the Office of the Secretary of State (# 216); (2) the plaintiffs' objections regarding their motion to modify discovery subpoena (#310); (3) the plaintiffs' objections regarding their motion to file affidavits in opposition to the defendants' motion to strike and dismiss their claims for equitable relief and supplemental state law claims (# 230); (4) the plaintiffs' (# 305) and defendants' (# 307) objections regarding the defendants' motion to strike and dismiss the plaintiffs' claims for equitable relief and supplemental state law claims; (5) the plaintiffs' objections regarding their motion to certify a plaintiff class (#324); and (6) the defendants' objections regarding the March 16, 1998 report and recommendation addressing Gregory Lee (# 345).
In addition, the following motions are also before the court: (1) the plaintiffs' motion to continue the stay with respect to the defendants' summary judgment motion (# 347-1); (2) the plaintiffs' motion to stay additional pending matters (# 355-1); and (3) the plaintiffs' motion to withdraw and substitute the declaration of Martin Shapiro and associated filings (# 367-1 and # 367-2).
The court previously accepted the magistrate judge's R & R and noted that a statement of reasons would follow. The court subsequently stayed proceedings in this case so that the plaintiffs could resolve certain issues with respect to their statistical evidence. As these matters have been resolved, the court now explains its reasoning with respect to the R & R and modifies it only insofar as it now finds that Gillette, Graham, and Cessna are entitled to qualified immunity to the extent that the plaintiffs seek to impose liability on them based on Thomas' admittedly (for summary judgment purposes) improper stop of Chavez. In addition, the court finds that Gillette and Cessna are entitled to qualified immunity based on their participation in the search of Chavez' vehicle. Thus, Gillette and Cessna's motion for summary judgment as to Chavez' Fourth Amendment stop and search claims and Graham's motion for summary judgment as to Chavez' Fourth Amendment stop claim are granted.
The court also overrules all of the objections to the magistrate judge's reports and recommendations. Finally, the court denies the plaintiffs' motion to continue the stay with respect to the defendants' summary judgment motion, the plaintiffs' motion to stay additional pending matters, and the plaintiffs' motion for leave to withdraw and substitute the declaration of Martin Shapiro and associated filings.
This court adopts the factual background in the magistrate judge's R & R, which was based on the parties' Local Rule 12 submissions. To briefly summarize, the plaintiffs claim, on behalf of themselves and similarly-situated individuals, that the Illinois State Police have a practice of stopping, detaining, and searching African-American and Hispanic motorists based on their race and without legally sufficient cause or justification. The plaintiffs' claims do not, however, begin with allegations of discrimination against African-American or Hispanic motorists. Instead, they arise from the stop, search, and arrest of a white motorist, George Koutsakis. See People v. Koutsakis, 272 Ill.App.3d 159, 208 Ill.Dec. 549, 649 N.E.2d 605 (Ill.App.3d Dist. 1995).
In November, 1992, a state trooper stopped Koutsakis for exceeding the posted speed limit on Interstate 80 by four miles. Id., 272 Ill.App.3d at 160, 208 Ill.Dec. 549, 649 N.E.2d at 606. Koutsakis denied that he was speeding. While the trooper wrote Koutsakis a warning ticket, a second trooper arrived with a drug-sniffing dog. Id., 272 Ill.App.3d at 161, 208 Ill.Dec. 549, 649 N.E.2d at 607. The dog "alerted" and the police discovered 250 pounds of marijuana in the ensuing search of Koutsakis' vehicle. Id.
Attorney Nancy Hollander represented Koutsakis in the criminal proceedings against him. According to Hollander, when she has a client stopped with 250 pounds of marijuana, her job "is to look for miracles." Def. St. (Ex. 23) at 48-49. She suspected that state troopers were stopping motorists based on skin tone or travel patterns, and thus decided to see if she could establish that the stop of Koutsakis was pretextual. To investigate this hunch, she hired plaintiff Peso Chavez, a private investigator and New Mexico resident, to recreate the circumstances leading to Koutsakis' stop and arrest.
Accordingly, Chavez emulated the circumstances surrounding Koutsakis' stop and arrest by renting a red car with California license plates and placing open maps, fast food wrappers, a cellular phone, and a gym bag in his rental car. He then headed out to Interstate 80 for a test drive, with the full intent of being stopped. On his first day out — February 17, 1993 — Chavez, followed by Katherine Austin from the Public Defenders' Office, saw state troopers on Interstate 80 three times but was not stopped.
The next morning, Chavez and Austin set out again, traveled to the western edge of Bureau County, Illinois, and began driving east on Interstate 80. State Trooper Larry Thomas was parked on the east-bound shoulder of Interstate 80 at mile post 53. When Chavez' vehicle passed him, he decided to follow it. Thomas followed Chavez for 24 miles, or almost one half hour, although he could not explain why he decided to do so. It is undisputed that Chavez traveled at no more than 60 miles per hour, although the speed limit was 65.
According to Thomas, he stopped Chavez at about mile post 77 for failing to signal a lane change. Chavez, like Koutsakis, denied that he committed any traffic violation. Attorney Austin, who was following Chavez, also denied that Chavez had committed any traffic violation. Similarly, State Trooper Dan Gillette, who was parked at a turn-around in the median at mile post 77 and was facing and monitoring eastbound traffic, observed no violation. Instead, according to Gillette, he heard Thomas' radio traffic indicating the stop before he saw Chavez' and Thomas' vehicles pass him.
Thomas and Chavez pulled over east of the area where Gillette was located, and Gillette pulled out of the turn-around and joined them. Thomas requested and received Chavez' driver's license and issued a warning ticket based on Chavez' alleged failure to signal. In his report on the incident, Thomas listed Chavez' race as "white," despite the fact that the report contained a listing for "Hispanic." Chavez, Thomas, and Gillette disagree as to the events that ensued, although everyone agrees that the entire stop took between 35 and 55 minutes.
Trooper Thomas noticed that Chavez' vehicle had California license plates and a rental company registry, and that a small suitcase, discarded fast food bags, and a map were in the car. He also saw Chavez' hands shake, and thought Chavez was nervous. Thomas testified there is nothing unusual about an individual's hands shaking or nervousness during a traffic stop, or the presence of a small suitcase, fast food bags, and a map.
By the time Thomas had gone back to his car, Gillette had arrived and told Thomas he was going to talk to Chavez. While back at his car, Thomas ran a check on Chavez' driver's license and ran a criminal history, although he cannot remember the results. Thomas also ran an EPIC check on Chavez at Gillette's request.1 Thomas does not know why Gillette wanted to talk to Chavez, or why Gillette wanted an EPIC check.
Other portions of Thomas's testimony are inconsistent, although the inconsistencies do not rise to the level of a disputed issue of material fact. Thomas testified that, while awaiting the results of the EPIC check, he returned to Chavez' car, issued a warning ticket, and told Chavez he was free to go. He also testified, however, that he continued to talk to Chavez until the EPIC report came back, that he had received the EPIC report when he issued the...
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