Cooperwood v. Farmer
| Decision Date | 11 July 2016 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 16 C 1495 |
| Parties | MARIO COOPERWOOD, Plaintiff, v. DEPUTY FARMER, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
AMY J. ST. EVE, District Court Judge:
On April 13, 2015, Plaintiff Mario Cooperwood filed a Complaint in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit of Will County, Illinois against the City of Crest Hill, Illinois, Unknown Crest Hill Police Officers, Unknown Will County Sheriff's Deputies, Crest Hill Police Officer Farmer, and Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas in his official capacity. Plaintiff subsequently filed a First Amended Complaint in state court on October 5, 2015 against Defendant Will County Sheriff's Deputy Brett Farmer, Unknown Will County Sheriff's Deputies, and Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley in his official capacity. On January 28, 2016, Defendants removed this lawsuit pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1441, 1446. Before the Court is Defendants' motion to dismiss for failure to properly serve, failure to file state law claims within the relevant statute of limitations, and failure to join a necessary and indispensable party. For the following reasons, the Court grants in part and denies in part Defendants' motion.
On October 5, 2015, Plaintiff filed his seven-count First Amended Complaint in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit Court of Will County bringing constitutional claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law tort claims arising out of Plaintiff's arrest on April 12, 2013. (R. 10-3, First Am. Compl.) More specifically, Plaintiff alleges that, on April 12, 2013, Defendant Farmer and Unknown Will County Sheriff's Deputies stopped him while he was driving in violation of his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. (Id. at ¶¶ 2-8.) During the course of this traffic stop, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Farmer and the Unknown Deputies performed a name search and discovered an outstanding warrant with a "no bond" designation from McCracken County, Kentucky for a "Mario Cooperwood." (Id. at ¶¶ 9-10.) Defendant Sheriff's Deputies then arrested Plaintiff on the basis of this warrant - purportedly without a citation to a violation of Illinois law or a municipal ordinance and despite Plaintiff's avowed denial that there was a warrant for his arrest. (Id. at ¶¶ 11-13.) Plaintiff also asserts that Defendant Farmer and the Unknown Deputies did not have reason to believe he was a danger to them or others, or that he was concealing any weapons or contraband. (Id. at ¶ 14.)
Crest Hill police officers then processed Plaintiff. (Id. at ¶ 15.) Plaintiff alleges that at that time Defendant Farmer and the Unknown Deputies failed to compare the description of "Mario Cooperwood" in the Kentucky warrant with Plaintiff's characteristics and did not determine whether Plaintiff's fingerprints cleared. (Id. at ¶¶ 16-18.) The next day, on April 13, 2013, Plaintiff was transferred from the Crest Hill Police Department lock-up to the Will County Sheriff's Office. (Id. at ¶ 19.) At that time, certain Will County Sheriff's Deputies allegedly subjected Plaintiff to a routine strip search. (Id.)
Plaintiff alleges that on April 14, 2013, the Illinois State Police determined that he did not have a criminal history and sent such notice to the Will County Sheriff's Office. (Id. at ¶ 20.) Also, Plaintiff contends that - upon receiving this information - the officers did notinvestigate whether they made an error in detaining him. (Id. at ¶ 22.) Specifically, despite the notice from the Illinois State Police, Plaintiff claims that he was not released from custody nor did the officers attempt to bring his matter before a judge for his release. (Id. at ¶ 23.)
On April 15, 2013, Plaintiff appeared before a Will County judge on a return of warrant and to possibly set bond, but the judge did not set bond. (Id. at ¶ 26.) Plaintiff alleges someone in the Will County Sheriff's Office failed to advise the state court judge that he was the wrong person. (Id.) Plaintiff claims that also on April 15, 2013, the Will County Sheriff's Office had received a mug shot of the Kentucky "Mario Cooperwood" and communicated with McCracken County to verify that Plaintiff was not the person named in the warrant. (Id. at ¶ 27.) On April 16, 2013, the Sheriff's Office took Plaintiff back to court and the Will County State's Attorney withdrew its no hold bond petition. (Id. at ¶ 29.)
In his First Amended Complaint, Plaintiff alleges that due to Defendants' actions, he was in custody for five days despite Defendants' knowledge that they had the wrong person or that they should have known they had the wrong person. (Id. at ¶¶ 30-32.) In Counts I, II, and III, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. In Counts IV, V, VI, VII, Plaintiff brings state law claims of false arrest, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
As discussed, on April 13, 2015, Plaintiff Mario Cooperwood filed a Complaint in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit of Will County, Illinois against the City of Crest Hill, Illinois, Unknown Crest Hill Police Officers, Unknown Will County Sheriff's Deputies, Crest Hill Police Officer Farmer, and Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas. Summons were not issued at that time. (R. 10-2,State Ct. Dkt. at 2.) The state court docket shows that Plaintiff issued a first alias summons on July 14, 2015 without leave of the court. (Id.) Plaintiff maintains that on July 20, 2015, an employee of the Will County Sheriff's Office ("WCSO") received this summons as indicated by a signed return receipt. Plaintiff asserts that the WCSO employee rejected service and returned the summons with a letter stating that Paul Kaupas was no longer the Will County Sheriff. (Id.)
Plaintiff appeared in state court on August 3, 2015 for a status hearing without having served the Defendants. (R. 10-2, State Ct. Dkt. at 2.) At that time, the state court granted Plaintiff's motion to serve a second alias summons. (Id.) Plaintiff then filed a First Amended Complaint on October 5, 2015, specifically identifying Defendant Farmer as a Will County Deputy Sheriff and Mike Kelley as the Will County Sheriff. (R. 10-3, First Am. Compl.) Plaintiff, however, did not identify the Unknown Sheriff's Deputies in his First Amended Complaint. (Id.) Thereafter, the state court judge granted Plaintiff's motion for leave to issue a third alias summons and to appoint a special process server. (R. 10-2, State Ct. Dkt. at 1.)
In the meantime, on December 3, 2015, the Will County judge dismissed Plaintiff's lawsuit for want of prosecution due to Plaintiff's failure to appear in court that day. (Id.) On December 29, 2015, the state court set-aside its dismissal on Plaintiff's motion to reconsider. (Id.) The court then appointed a special process server and a fourth alias summons issued. (Id.)
On or about January 4, 2015, a process server left a summons for Defendant Farmer with Shannon Zobel, a Records Coordinator at the WCSO. (R. 10-5, Farmer Aff. ¶ 7.) Zobel informed Defendant Farmer of the summons by email. (Id. at ¶ 8.) Defendant Farmer claims that Zobel's email was his first notice of this lawsuit. (Id. at ¶ 10.) Will County Sheriff Kelley claims that Plaintiff has never served him. (R. 10-6, Kelley Aff. ¶ 5.) Sheriff Kelly avers thatthe Will County State's Attorney informed him of this lawsuit on or about January, 13, 2016. (Id. at ¶ 4.)
Under Rule 12(b)(5), a defendant may move to dismiss a complaint based on insufficient process. See Cardenas v. City of Chicago, 646 F.3d 1001, 1005 (7th Cir. 2011). Here, because Defendants removed this lawsuit from state court, Illinois Supreme Court Rule 103(b) - instead of Rule 4(m) - governs whether Plaintiff's attempt to serve Defendants was legally sufficient. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 81(c); Cardenas, 646 F.3d at 1005. In other words, "federal courts may apply state procedural rules to pre-removal conduct," including "the timeliness of service of process." Romo v. Gulf Stream Coach, Inc., 250 F.3d 1119, 1122 (7th Cir. 2001). Rule 103(b) "calls for plaintiffs to 'exercise reasonable diligence' in serving process, as measured by 'the totality of the circumstances.'" Kimbrell v. Brown, 651 F.3d 752, 754 (7th Cir. 2011). The plaintiff has the burden of demonstrating reasonable diligence in the service of process. See Segal v. Sacco, 136 Ill. 2d 282, 285, 144 Ill.Dec. 555 N.E.2d 719 (Ill. 1990); see also Hunt ex rel. Chiovari v. Dart, 612 F. Supp. 2d 969, 979 (N.D. Ill. 2009).
"A motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) challenges the viability of a complaint by arguing that it fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted." Camasta v. Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc., 761 F.3d 732, 736 (7th Cir. 2014). Under Rule 8(a)(2), a complaint must include "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). The short and plain statement under Rule8(a)(2) must "give the defendant fair notice of what the claim is and the grounds upon which it rests." Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S. Ct. 1955, 167 L. Ed. 2d 929 (2007) (citation omitted). Under the federal notice pleading standards, a plaintiff's "factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level." Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. Put differently, a "complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to 'state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.'" Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S. Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L. Ed. 2d 868 (2009) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). In determining the sufficiency of a complaint under the plausibility standard, courts must "accept all well-pleaded facts as true and draw reasonable inferences in the plaintiffs' favor." Roberts v. City of...
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