Jakes v. Boudreau
| Decision Date | 22 May 2023 |
| Docket Number | 19 CV 2204 |
| Parties | ANTHONY JAKES, Plaintiff, v. KENNETH BOUDREAU, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
Rafael Garcia was murdered on Chicago's South Side in 1991. Chicago police officers learned that plaintiff Anthony Jakes (who was fifteen years old at the time) had information about the killing. Officers went to Jakes's house and brought him to a police station, where they allegedly planted drugs on him and coerced his confession. Jakes was tried and convicted for Garcia's murder. In 2018, that conviction was vacated. Jakes brings claims against police officers for (among other things) coercion and fabrication in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Defendants move for partial summary judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. For the reasons discussed below, the motion is granted in part.
Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine dispute about any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). A genuine dispute as to any material fact exists if “the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Bunn v. Khoury Enterprises Inc., 753 F.3d 676, 681-82 (7th Cir. 2014) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986)). I construe all facts and reasonable inferences in favor of Jakes, the nonmoving party. Robertson v. Dep't of Health Services, 949 F.3d 371, 377-78 (7th Cir. 2020) (citation omitted). Defendants bear the burden of establishing that the summary judgment standard is met, but Jakes must put forward enough evidence to establish the essential elements of his claims and show that he can carry his burden of proof at trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986).
Jakes is no longer pursing claims against defendants Fred Bonke and Thomas Pack, and is also abandoning Count Three of his complaint. See [269] at 11 n.1; [268] ¶ 4.[1]At issue then, are claims against defendants Michael DeLacy, Louis Caesar, and Ken Burke, and one theory of liability against Kenneth Boudreau. See [1] ¶¶ 117186. I omit facts that relate only to Bonke, Pack, and claims no longer at issue.
Shortly after midnight on September 16, 1991, Rafael Garcia was shot on the South Side of Chicago. See [268] ¶¶ 5, 12.[2]Garcia exited a restaurant near the intersection of Fifty-First Street and South Racine Avenue and entered his car. See id. ¶¶ 5-6, 9. Someone shot him. See id. ¶ 9. A few minutes later, two Chicago police officers arrived. See id. ¶ 5. They found Garcia lying in the street in a pool of blood close to his car. See id. ¶¶ 5-6. The passenger side window of the vehicle was broken, and shell casings and an order of chicken were on the front seat. Id. ¶ 6. The owner of the restaurant said that he heard five gunshots and then called police. Id. ¶ 7.
Detectives Louis Caesar and Jack McCann responded to the scene of the shooting. [268] ¶ 9.[3] Garcia, who was unconscious, was taken from the scene at approximately 12:30 a.m. and admitted to Cook County Hospital. Id. ¶ 8. Caesar and McCann went to the hospital but were unable to interview Garcia, who was in surgery. Id. ¶ 11. At 10:32 a.m. on September 16, Garcia died. See id. ¶ 12. An autopsy concluded that Garcia had died from multiple gunshot wounds. Id.
Early in the morning on September 16, the Office of Emergency Management Communications received a tip about the Garcia killing. [268] ¶ 13; see [285] ¶ 12. Two Chicago police officers followed up on the call, and spoke to an employee at a liquor store near the scene of the shooting. See [268] ¶ 13; [285] ¶ 12. The employee said that the shooting had been meant for a man named Snake, who had been a passenger in Garcia's car. See [268] ¶ 13; [285] ¶ 12. The employee also said that a Black man named Thomas had been the shooter, that Thomas had been sent by a man named Troy, and gave a description of both men. See [285] ¶ 12.
The tip about Snake was passed on to Detectives Caesar and McCann. See [268] ¶ 14; [285] ¶ 13. Neither detective spoke to the liquor store employee, see [285] ¶ 13, and Caesar and McCann tried and failed to find the owner of the restaurant. See [268] ¶ 14. Caesar and McCann wrote reports and left work at noon on September 16. Id. ¶ 15. They did not speak with any of the detectives beginning work on the next shift because Caesar and McCann believed that none of the day-shift detectives were assigned to the Garcia investigation. Id.
At noon on September 16, Officers Thomas Pack and Michael DeLacy received a call from a woman who said that Anthony Jakes might know something about the Garcia homicide. See [268] ¶ 16; [253-3] at 12.[4] The woman said that Jakes lived at the rear house at 1212 West Fifty First Street, three doors down from where Garcia was shot. See [268] ¶ 16.
Anthony Jakes was fifteen years old in September 1991. See [268] ¶ 2; [285] ¶ 1. Jakes's aunt was his guardian, and owned two buildings-a front and rear house-located at 1212 West 51st Street. See [268] ¶ 17.[5] Jakes was living in Chicago at the time of the shooting, see id. ¶ 18, but there's a dispute as to whether he was living in the front or rear house at 1212 West 51st Street, and (relatedly) whether the first-floor apartment in the front house was vacant. See id. ¶¶ 18-19; [285] ¶ 4; [2531] at 12, Dep. at 41-42; [253-2] at 5, Dep. at 12.[6]
At some point on the night of September 15, Jakes was in front of 1210 West 51st Street with his cousin, Cleotha Chairse. [285] ¶ 5. There's a dispute as to what happened next. According to Jakes, a car pulled up and someone tossed a bottle through a window of the house at 1210 West 51st Street. See id. Jakes then helped his cousin clean up the glass. See id. ¶ 6. While in the alley, Jakes and his cousin were approached by three men who wanted to fight. See id. ¶¶ 6-7. Jakes ran through the alley towards Throop street. See id. ¶ 7.
Chairse remembered a slightly different sequence. See [285] ¶¶ 5-7. Chairse testified that he and Jakes threw bottles at passing cars. See id. ¶ 6; [253-1] at 32324, Dep. at 12, 16. One car stopped and approached Jakes and Chairse, at which point Jakes and Chairse ran. See [285] ¶ 6; [253-1] at 324, Dep. at 16. Chairse went into the house, and a bottle was thrown through the window. See [253-1] at 347, Dep. at 106-07. Chairse didn't remember Jakes helping clean up the broken glass. See [285] ¶¶ 5-6; [253-1] at 324-25, 347, Dep. at 16-21, 106-09.
There's a dispute as to whether Jakes served as the lookout for the murder, knew Garcia would be robbed or shot, or witnessed some portion of the crime. See [285] ¶ 9; [253-3] at 15; [253-6] at 259-62. Jakes walked back towards 51st Street, at which point he saw an ambulance outside the restaurant. See [285] ¶¶ 7-8, 11. Jakes then ran home. See id. ¶ 11.
Based on the tip they received on September 16, Officers Pack and DeLacy considered Jakes a possible witness to the crime. See [268] ¶ 24; [285] ¶ 14; [253-3] at 83.[7]Before looking for Jakes, the officers didn't review reports or talk to any Area 3 detectives. [268] ¶ 23. Along with two other officers, at about 12:30 p.m. Pack and DeLacy went to the rear house at 1212 West 51st Street. See id. ¶¶ 23, 25; [285] ¶¶ 14-15. Pack knocked and spoke with Jakes's aunt. [268] ¶ 26. Pack told her that they were looking to speak with Jakes because officers had reason to believe Jakes knew something about the murder. See [268] ¶¶ 26-27.[8]There's a dispute as to whether the officers had permission to enter the house, and whether officers had their guns drawn. See id. ¶ 27; [285] ¶ 15; [266-21] at 9-10; [253-1] at 209, Dep. at 79-80; [266-20] at 7.
When the officers arrived, Jakes was upstairs ironing clothing. See [285] ¶ 15. Jakes heard the officers arrive, see id. ¶ 16, his aunt called for Jakes to come down, and Jakes came to the top of the stairs. See [268] ¶ 28. There's a dispute as to what happened next. According to Jakes, officers came up the stairs with guns drawn, slammed Jakes against the wall, and handcuffed him. See id.; [285] ¶ 17. Jakes asked what was going on and whether the officers had a search warrant. See [266-1] at 25. At Jakes's criminal trial, however, Officer Pack didn't remember any officers slamming Jakes into a wall. See [253-2] at 352.
Pack and another officer waited with Jakes while he got dressed. [266-22] at 8-9, 15; See [285] ¶ 17. The officers placed Jakes (who was handcuffed) in a police car. See [285] ¶ 19.[9] Jakes could not recall if officers read him Miranda warnings at the house or told him that he was under arrest. See [268] ¶ 30. Officers did not tell Jakes that he was involved in a murder. See id. There are disputes as to whether the officers searched the house for a gun, told Jakes's aunt where they were taking Jakes, and whether she gave officers permission to take Jakes to the police station. See [268] ¶¶ 31, 33; [285] ¶¶ 18, 20, 25; [266-20] at 109; [266-6] at 403. No gun was found at Jakes's house, [285] ¶ 18, and officers told his aunt to call police if she found a gun or had any questions. See [268] ¶ 33.
Pack and DeLacy transported Jakes to the Area 3 police station. See [268] ¶ 34; [285] ¶ 21. They arrived by 12:40 p.m., and Jakes was taken to the third floor. See [268] ¶ 34. A sergeant told Pack that the detectives on the case weren't at the station, and that Pack should place Jakes in an interview room. See [268] ¶ 35; [285] ¶ 21. Despite the fact that there were no visible bulges in Jakes's...
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