Gray v. City of Chicago
| Docket Number | 18 C 2624 |
| Decision Date | 29 March 2022 |
| Parties | ADAM GRAY, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF CHICAGO; NICHOLAS CRESCENZO, JR.; GEORGE JENKINS; MICHAEL POCHORDO; CRAIG CEGIELSKI; ERNEST ROKOSIK; DANIEL MCINERNEY; PERCY DAVIS; ROBERT FITZPATRICK; JOSEPH GRUSZKA; JAMES R. BROWN; COOK COUNTY; L. MARTINEZ; AND ELIZABETH BARTON, [1] Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
Plaintiff Adam Gray was fourteen years old when he was arrested in 1993 for arson and the murder of two individuals who died in the resulting fire. To this day, he maintains his innocence. After twenty-four years in prison, he was released and granted a certificate of innocence by the state. He brings the instant suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the City of Chicago; Chicago Police Officers Daniel McInerny, Percy Davis, Nicholas Crescenzo, Michael Pochordo, Craig Cegielski Ernest Rokosik, and George Jenkins, and Chicago Fire Department Investigator Joseph Gruszka (“Individual Defendants”); Cook County State's Attorney James Brown; and Cook County.
In brief, Gray alleges that the Individual Defendants and Brown individually and in concert with each other, violated his constitutional rights by coercing him to give a false confession, fabricating evidence against him for use at trial, suppressing exonerating evidence, and depriving him of liberty without due process of law. Both the Individual Defendants and Brown and Cook County have filed motions for summary judgment. For the following reasons, the Individual Defendants' motion is granted in part and denied in part and Brown and Cook County's motion is denied.
In the early hours of March 25, 1993, a fire began in an apartment building at 4139 S. Albany, on Chicago's West Side. County Defs.' LR 56.1 Statement of Material Fact (“CDSOF”) ¶ 5, ECF No. 251. Two residents of the building died in the fire. Id.
Gray was fourteen years old at the time, and was an on-again, off-again friend of Kasey Paris, one of the surviving residents. Id. ¶ 7; Individual Defs.' Statement of Additional Fact (“IDSOF”) ¶ 88, ECF No. 259. At the scene of the fire, Paris's older brother suggested that Gray could be responsible for the fire, in light of Gray's ongoing feud with Paris and the threats Gray had made against her in the past. IDSOF ¶ 8-11.
Having witnessed the fire, Gray's mother, Gertraud Gray, and his older brother, Michael Gray, went to find Gray at his best friend Mel's house, where Gray had slept the night before. Pl.'s Statement of Additional Fact (“PSOAF”) ¶ 22, ECF No. 268. Michael found Gray, Mel, and Mel's younger brother asleep in Mel's living room. Id. ¶ 24. Michael remembers that Gray had the impression of a knitted blanket on his face because he had slept on the couch. Id. ¶ 25. Gray was wearing what he had worn the night before-a white t-shirt and blue jeans. Id. ¶ 26. Michael took Gray to Michael's apartment. Id. ¶ 24.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the fire, Chicago Police (“CPD”) and Fire Department (“CFD”) officers arrived to investigate. CFD Marshal Joseph Gruzka was among the officers assigned to the case. IDSOF ¶ 16. At least two people reported that they had smelled gasoline at the scene of the fire, id. ¶ 17, and Gruzka noted that the majority of the damage was located in the “enclosed rear porch area, extending from grade level vertically to the roof.” Id. ¶ 18.
To determine the cause of the fire, Gruzka used an instrument called a hydrocarbon detector to determine which areas of the porch should be sampled for laboratory testing. Id. ¶ 107. He noted “heavy alligatoring and shiny, smooth blisters on exposed wood surfaces.”[3] Id. ¶¶ 18-20. Roughly an hour after Gruzka had begun his investigation, Officer Ernest Rokosik from CPD's Bomb and Arson unit arrived. Id. ¶ 21. Rokosik observed “heavy charring through the floor, the decking of the first-floor rear porch.” Id. ¶ 22.
While Rokosik was conducting his investigation, CPD Officers, including Nicholas Crescenzo and Thomas Donegan, were interviewing individuals at the scene of the fire. Id. ¶¶ 25-26. Twenty-three-year-old Karrie Kelly was present during the fire and told investigators that she had seen a young white man, wearing a “black knit cap, black turtleneck, black pants, [and] black shoes, ” running from the vicinity of the fire sometime before 3 a.m. that morning. Id. ¶¶ 30; 32. During that initial interview, Kelly did not tell the officers that she recognized the person who had run past her or that he looked familiar. IDSOF, Ex. 4, 4139 S. Albany Fire Incident Report at 0157-28, ECF No. 259-4.
By 5 a.m., roughly two hours after the fire was reported, Rokosik and CPD Detective McInerny were headed to Gray's home, where they told his mother they wanted to speak to him. Id. ¶ 35. She told them Gray was at his brother's apartment, gave them the address, and went to work. Id. She did not accompany the officers to find Gray because “they only wanted to talk to him.” Id.
The Officers found Gray at Michael's apartment. Id. ¶ 37. According to Rokosik, they arrived at Michael's apartment at 6 a.m.; Michael testified that it was closer to 5 a.m. Compare IDSOF, Ex 18, Direct Examination of Ernest Rokosik (“Rokosik Direct”) at ¶ 174, ECF No. 259-18, with PSOAF, Ex. 18, Deposition of Michael Gray ( ) at 186, ECF No. 266-19. Both parties agree, however, that the officers took Gray from Michael's apartment to the station for questioning. IDSOF ¶¶ 37-38. As Michael recalls, the officers told him that they would only need Gray for approximately two hours for questioning and that Gertraud was aware they were taking Gray to the station. PSOAF, Ex. 20, Direct Examination of Michael Gray ( ) at B-24-25, ECF No. 266-21.
At around 6 a.m., two police officers came to search Mel's home, where Gray had stayed the night before. PSOAF ¶ 50.[4] Mel's mother claims that two officers searched her home, telling her that they were looking for something that could contain gasoline. Id. They also asked her if she was missing a milk carton. Id. The Individual Defendants contest this.
Meanwhile at the police station, Gray was placed in an unlocked room; he was not handcuffed. IDSOF ¶ 40. At one point, Crescenzo entered the room, searched Gray's bag, and found a knife. Id. ¶ 41. Gray explained he had the knife for protection. Id. Gray tried to sleep while he was in the room, but one of the officers told him he was not allowed to sleep. PSOAF ¶ 28.
Gray believes that he sat in this first room for about an hour. IDSOF ¶ 46. Between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., [5] either Brown or Crescenzo moved Gray to a room containing eight to ten officers. Id. This larger room is where Gray's first interrogation took place.
Once the door closed, Brown introduced Gray to Youth Officer Davis and said “[H]e's here to protect your juvenile rights.” DSOF ¶ 48. Brown read Gray his Miranda rights, and Gray stated that he understood. That said, Gray now maintains that he did not actually understand what was being said, because he had not been Mirandized before. He thought the police only wanted to ask him questions as a witness. DSOF ¶ 48; Pl.'s Resp. IDSOF ¶ 48, ECF No. 270.
In response to the officers' questions, Gray told the officers that he had slept at his friend's house all night until his mother and brother came to get him at 4:00 a.m. The officers did not believe him and asked him, “When did you leave before [4:00 a.m.]?” IDSOF ¶ 49. This interrogation was twenty to thirty minutes long and ended with Gray in tears. Id.
Defendants gave Gray a 30-minute break before beginning the next interrogation. Id. ¶ 50. This seems to have taken place between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. During this interrogation, Gray again denied any involvement in the fire. Id. ¶ 52.
Gray asked for his mother and his brother but was not allowed to see them. In fact, the officers lied to him, telling him that they had “called your mom, and she said she was tired of your shit and didn't care what happened to you.” Id. ¶¶ 50-51. The officers also told Gray that Mel “was saying that he went to sleep before [Gray] and . . . did not remember watching Family Feud before going to bed that night like [Gray] had previously told the police.” Id. ¶ 50. This second interrogation lasted twenty to thirty minutes id. ¶ 51, and Gray claims it also ended with him crying. PSOAF ¶ 37.
It is undisputed that, to this point, Gray had consistently denied any involvement in the fire. Yet, his arrest report, a copy of which Davis obtained before entering the first interrogation, [6] PSOAF ¶ 52, read, in relevant part:
The [Plaintiff] arrested on the aforementioned charges in that on 25 March 1993 at approx. 4139 S. Albany he went to the rear of the building and splashed one gallon of gasoline down the rear porch and ignited it causing a fire which killed the victim Mr. MCGINNIS and injuring his sister Ms. Margaret MESA[.]
PSOAF ¶ 52. The only thing missing from the arrest report was the date for the next court hearing. PSOAF, Ex. 44, Dep. of Percy Davis (“Davis Dep.”) at 159:17-160:24, ECF No. 266-46.
As this was happening, Michael waited until roughly 7 a.m. before going to the police station to retrieve Gray so that he could go to school. IDSOF ¶ 42. When he arrived at the police...
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