Humphrey v. Staszak
| Decision Date | 23 July 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 97-2163,97-2163 |
| Citation | 148 F.3d 719 |
| Parties | Frank HUMPHREY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Norbert STASZAK, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
John M. Beal (argued), Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Meera Werth (argued), Patricia T. Bergeson, Office of the Corporation Counsel, Appeals Division, Chicago, IL, for Defendant-Appellant.
Before CUMMINGS, WOOD, Jr., and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff, Frank Humphrey, sued four Chicago police officers and the City of Chicago under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging constitutional violations arising from Humphrey's arrest. The jury returned a verdict for $50,000 against only one officer, Norbert Staszak, on Humphrey's false arrest claim. The district court entered judgment on the jury's verdict and later denied Staszak's motions for judgment as a matter of law and for a new trial. On appeal Staszak argues he was protected from liability by qualified immunity or, in the alternative, he is entitled to a new trial because of an improper jury instruction.
On September 12, 1992, Chicago police officers Lawrence Pajowski, Gerald Neuffer, Michael Dimitro, and Norbert Staszak were working undercover near the west side of the State Street subway exit in downtown Chicago. At approximately 9:00 a.m., Officer Pajowski went down into the subway while the other officers remained on the street. While Officer Pajowski was in the underground pedestrian-walkway ("pedway"), he saw Willie Kelly run through the Marshall Field doors that accessed the pedway and jump over the subway turnstile. Upon seeing Officer Pajowski, Kelly turned around and ran through another turnstile, up the northbound stairs exiting to the east side of State Street. Officer Pajowski chased Kelly up to the street level, where he shouted to his fellow officers to "grab him." All four officers then chased Kelly down Randolph Street. When Officers Dimitro and Neuffer eventually caught Kelly, a struggle ensued as Kelly attempted to escape. The officers were finally able to get handcuffs on Kelly. Officer Pajowski then returned to the pedway to determine whether Kelly had committed any other crime besides jumping the turnstile. Officers Dimitro and Neuffer walked Kelly back to the subway entrance with Staszak following behind them.
During this time, Humphrey, a resident of Wisconsin, had parked his car on Randolph Street and witnessed the pursuit and arrest of Kelly, an African American, by the four white officers. As the officers began to escort Kelly back towards the subway entrance, Humphrey approached them and demanded to know why they were arresting Kelly (who was a stranger to Humphrey).
The stories now begin to vary in detail. According to Officer Staszak, Humphrey began shouting at the officers, demanding to know why they were arresting Kelly and asking for their names and badge numbers. Staszak testified that he identified himself as a police officer and told Humphrey, in no uncertain terms, to stay out of their way. According to the testimony of Officers Staszak, Dimitro, and Neuffer, Humphrey continued to follow them, "yelling and screaming" while repeatedly insisting the officers give him their names and badge numbers. Officer Dimitro told Humphrey that they were police officers and showed Humphrey his badge. Humphrey continued with the exchange and followed them to the subway entrance as the officers were trying to take Kelly back to an underground Chicago Transit Authority ("CTA") station. According to the officers, Humphrey blocked them at the subway entrance, where passersby began to gather to watch the altercation between Humphrey and the officers. At this point Officer Dimitro warned Humphrey that if he did not leave he would be arrested for disorderly conduct. Officers Staszak, Neuffer, and Dimitro all testified that Dimitro then arrested Humphrey.
Humphrey testified that as he kept repeating his request for names and badge numbers, as he insisted he was legally entitled to do, Officer Staszak responded with escalating anger and profanity, becoming belligerent and abusive. He also testified that he was arrested before he reached the subway entrance. In addition, Humphrey maintained that Dimitro and Neuffer were not present at the moment of his arrest and that it was Staszak who arrested him for disorderly conduct. No matter the differing versions, the event is sufficiently undisputed for our purposes.
After the arrest, Humphrey was held in the CTA station and then taken upstairs to State Street, waiting 20 to 30 minutes for a police wagon to arrive which would transport him and Kelly to the First District police station. At the station, Humphrey was charged with disorderly conduct and released.
At Humphrey's first scheduled court appearance on November 2, 1992, an additional charge of obstructing a police officer was added to the disorderly conduct charge. However, at the next court appearance, all the charges were dropped with leave to reinstate. To date the charges have not been reinstated and Humphrey has not been prosecuted.
On September 9, 1994, Humphrey filed suit against the four police officers and the City of Chicago in the Circuit Court of Cook County, alleging violations of state laws as well as federal civil rights laws. The nine-count complaint alleged that Humphrey saw the police officers use excessive force in arresting Kelly before Humphrey intervened. Humphrey prayed for $30,000 compensatory damages and $4,000,000 in punitive damages for his own arrest by those same officers. The suit was removed to the district court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b) and (c).
Humphrey subsequently filed an amended complaint in the district court, raising claims of malicious prosecution, violations of federal civil rights laws (unconstitutional search and seizure and denial of the right to equal protection), and conspiracy. The City of Chicago was later dismissed as a defendant upon oral motion of the parties.
After receiving the officers' motion for summary judgment, the district court granted summary judgment on all claims against Officer Pajowski and granted partial summary judgment to the remaining officers. The court denied the officers' summary judgment motion on the false arrest claim, holding that "neither a finding of qualified immunity nor a finding of probable cause [was] warranted, given the facts still at issue."
At trial, after the close of the evidence, the officers filed a motion pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 50 for judgment as a matter of law on Humphrey's false arrest claim. The district court denied the motion.
After the jury began deliberations, it sent a note to the judge asking whether it was "appropriate to find for the Plaintiff if we believe a defendant was responsible for escalating or provoking the situation?" Despite the officers' objections, the judge proceeded to give an instruction on entrapment, and then permitted each side an additional five minutes of closing argument on the new issue of entrapment. The jury returned a verdict of $50,000 against Officer Staszak. The district court denied Officer Staszak's Fed.R.Civ.P. 50 and 59 motions and entered judgment for Humphrey. This appeal followed.
Initially, Staszak argues that the district court committed reversible error by giving a jury instruction on the affirmative defense of entrapment. According to Staszak, the entrapment instruction was improper because entrapment was never brought forth in the complaint or raised as an issue at any time by Humphrey. No evidence or prior argument had been presented or directed toward that issue. The judge, in response to the jury's question and without a suggestion from either party, gave the entrapment instruction. Staszak argues that the entrapment instruction unfairly prejudiced him and could only have misled and confused the jury. Staszak further argues that the entrapment instruction could also have led the jury to believe that no probable cause existed for the officers to arrest Humphrey.
Jury instructions are reviewed as a whole to determine whether they are "sufficient to inform the jury correctly as to the applicable law." United States v. Agostino, 132 F.3d 1183, 1194 (7th Cir.1997) (quoting Wilson v. Williams, 83 F.3d 870, 874 (7th Cir.1996)), cert. denied --- U.S. ----, 118 S.Ct. 1526, 140 L.Ed.2d 677 (1998). On review, we will not overturn the use of a jury instruction "if [the instruction] fairly and adequately advises the jury of the law in this Circuit." United States v. Bruce, 109 F.3d 323, 327 (7th Cir.1997); see also United States v. McNeese, 901 F.2d 585, 607 (7th Cir.1990). We reverse only if, "considering the instructions, the evidence and the arguments, it appears that the jury was misled and its understanding of the issues was seriously affected to the prejudice of the complaining party." Agostino, 132 F.3d at 1194 (citations omitted).
A two-part analysis is used when reviewing jury instructions. Wilson, 83 F.3d at 874. "First, we determine if the instruction misstates or insufficiently states the law, and, if so, then we determine whether any error has prejudiced the complaining party." Id. If a misleading instruction did prejudice the complaining party, then the proper remedy is a new trial. Dawson v. New York Life Ins. Co., 135 F.3d 1158, 1165 (7th Cir.1998) (citations omitted).
Here, the jury note asked whether it was "appropriate to find for [Humphrey] if we believe that a defendant was responsible for escalating or provoking the situation." In response to its inquiry, the judge gave the jury the following instruction:
Under Illinois law it is a defense to a criminal charge that a defendant was entrapped--that is, he was incited or induced by a public officer to commit an offense. However, a defendant...
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