Jones v. York

• Decision Date: 16 May 2022
• Docket Number: 21-1989
• Parties: Brenda JONES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Brent YORK, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

34 F.4th 550

Brenda JONES, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.Brent YORK, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 21-1989

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued January 13, 2022

Decided May 16, 2022

Lisa C. Goldman, Attorney, Davey & Goldman, Madison, WI, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Andrew C. Goldner, Attorney, Leib Knott Gaynor LLC, Milwaukee, WI, Samuel C. Hall, Jr., Sara Catherine Mills, Attorneys, Crivello Carlson, S.C., Milwaukee, WI, for Defendants-Appellees.

Before Hamilton, Brennan, and Jackson-Akiwumi, Circuit Judges.

Brennan, Circuit Judge.

A fire consumed Brenda Jones's house in Adams County, Wisconsin in 2013. Brent York, an investigator with the county sheriff's office, initially concluded that an electrical malfunction caused the blaze. But when he learned that a friend of Jones, Alan Onopa, claimed to have a recording of Jones admitting to arson, he reopened the investigation.

In pursuit of this new lead, York interviewed several witnesses, including Jones and Onopa. York also analyzed Jones's telephone records and secured Onopa's recording. Ultimately, York concluded that Jones set her own house on fire, so he referred the matter to the Adams County district attorney, who charged Jones with arson. A jury found her guilty.

After trial, Jones was appointed new counsel and moved for postconviction relief, arguing, among other things, that her trial counsel was ineffective because he did not move to suppress Onopa's recording as created for the purpose of extortion. Before the court ruled on the matter, the district attorney conceded the motion and dropped all charges against Jones.

Jones then sued York and Adams County under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. She contended that York violated her due process rights by withholding exculpatory evidence, fabricating inculpatory evidence, testifying falsely at trial, and prosecuting her without probable cause. Adams County, she claims, contributed to these unconstitutional acts by permitting them as a matter of custom or policy. See Monell v. Dep't of Soc. Servs. of City of New York , 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants. We agree with the district court that no reasonable jury could find for Jones on any of her claims, so we affirm.

I

A

Shortly after dawn on February 17, 2013, a neighbor called Adams County dispatch to report that Jones's house was on fire. By this time, the house was mostly destroyed. Firefighters and other responders, including York, arrived promptly at the scene. Jones, who had spent the night at her sister's house in a nearby town, returned to the property after receiving a call from York. She told him that ice dams had been leaking water into the walls and causing electrical problems—for example, electrical sockets were "popping." Jones had asked an electrician to investigate these issues, but the inspection had yet to occur. York concluded that electrical malfunctions caused the fire and closed the investigation.

Two weeks after the fire, Jones and a close friend, Alan Onopa, were staying at the Stardust Motel in Marshfield, Wisconsin. An argument broke out between them, though they hotly contest the details of what happened. According to Jones, Onopa became drunk and threatened to turn her in for burning her house down unless she gave him money. His threats moved from verbal to physical when, Jones recalled, Onopa put his hands on her throat. Jones fled the hotel and stayed the night at her sister's house.

Onopa disputes Jones's version. He told York he did not drink any alcohol that evening. As Onopa tells it, the conflict arose when he declined Jones's sexual advances, though later voicemails show his agitation and surprise at Jones's departure from the hotel. Whatever occurred during their argument set off a chain of events.

Jones responded in several ways. She reported the altercation to Officer Caleb Bornbach of the Marshfield Police Department, who documented their conversation in a police report. Per Bornbach's report, Jones told him about Onopa's behavior and what she perceived to be attempted extortion; she did not tell Bornbach that Onopa placed his hands on her throat. Jones also preemptively notified her insurance company about Onopa's threat. She also tried calling York, but he did not answer.

In the days following, Onopa repeatedly called Jones, who refused to answer. Undeterred, he left voicemails, which the parties agree were "threatening." In these voicemails, Onopa warned that if Jones did not call him back, he would release a "recording." He insisted they needed to get their "stories straight." When Jones did not return his calls, Onopa followed through on his threat and called Jones's insurance company, telling the adjuster that he had a recording that proved Jones was responsible for the house fire.

On March 7, 2013, the insurance company notified York about Onopa's claim. Given this new information, York reopened the investigation. His inquiry continued for over one year, with York weighing the markedly different accounts of Jones and Onopa.

He began by meeting Jones on March 21, 2013. During their recorded conversation, Jones presented her version of what occurred at the hotel in Marshfield. She accused Onopa of threatening her by saying if she did not "take care of him" and give him money, he would turn her in for burning the house down. She also told York that, at some point during the dispute, Onopa "had [her] by the throat." Jones detailed her contact with the Marshfield Police Department and her insurance agent, and she alleged that Onopa took some of her belongings from the motel room.

Jones then played Onopa's voicemails for York. When York heard Onopa mention a "recording," York asked Jones what that meant. Jones denied the existence of any recording. Curious, York asked Jones to call Onopa in his presence so he could listen while she inquired about the recording. Jones agreed.

That same day, York and Jones met at her sister's home to conduct the arranged phone call. The parties agree that York attempted to record this call, but when York looked for it later, he was unable to find it. Nevertheless, the parties substantially agree as to what Jones and Onopa discussed: Onopa said he would deliver the recording to Jones if she paid him $3,500; Jones (directed by York) asked Onopa how to avoid "getting in trouble"; and Onopa replied that Jones should keep their "agreement."

Jones later testified she did not know what "agreement" Onopa was referencing. For his part, York testified at Jones's trial that Onopa demanded the money as compensation for personal property he lost in the fire. Jones contends this mischaracterized Onopa's motive; in her view, Onopa's request for money was a brazen attempt at extortion.

A week later, Jones called Bornbach to supplement her initial police report. She told him that Onopa had grabbed her throat and that York had reopened the investigation. Bornbach said he intended to contact York, which he did later that day. Bornbach and York discussed the case, including Jones's allegation that Onopa put his hands on her throat.

York continued the investigation by interviewing Onopa on April 2, 2013. Onopa told York he had recorded Jones talking about burning her house down while they were both at a Motel 6 in the Chicago suburbs two or three days after the fire. York asked for and received this recording from Onopa. York listened to the recording and documented his understanding of what was said, including that background noise made it difficult to clearly hear the voices. According to York, in the recording:

[Onopa] ... asked if Brenda had put something in the heater, and Brenda's answer was mostly unclear but I heard the word "match" in her answer. Brenda was then laughing and said, "I tried to stick it in the heater and it," the rest of her answer is unclear. Alan then said that he could not believe that she did all of that damage with just a match, and Brenda answered "ya."

Jones argues the female voice in the recording, alleged to be hers, is inaudible.

In late April 2013, York met with Jones again at the Adams County Sheriff's office for a voluntary interview. York reviewed with Jones her account of the fire and related events. This time, near the end of the interview, York informed Jones that he "believed ... she had some involvement in starting her house fire." Upon learning this, Jones asked for an attorney, and York ended the interview.

Two weeks later, and three months after the fire, York interviewed Onopa a second time. York questioned Onopa about how he met Jones, what she had said about burning her house down, and when Onopa recorded Jones. During the interview, Onopa said he and Jones met at a bar a year before the fire, she made romantic advances, but he did not reciprocate. Still, over the next year they spent time together.

Onopa recalled that Jones would sporadically discuss burning down her house, which was "falling apart," to collect the insurance money. To prepare, Jones installed smoke detectors to bring her house in compliance with the insurance policy. The motivation for this plan, in Onopa's view, was to attract him into a relationship by obtaining a large amount of money. Onopa reported that Jones transferred mementos and other items to her sister's home in the Wausau area in the days and weeks before the fire.

Onopa also spoke about his post-fire interactions with Jones. According to Onopa, Jones described precisely how she burned down her house—using a blanket over an electric heater, and when that did not work, igniting the heater with a lighter. As to the recording, Onopa said he only wanted leverage in case Jones blamed him for the fire and a bargaining chip to retrieve the value of personal property destroyed in the fire.

In May 2013 York interviewed Jones's electrician. The electrician confirmed that Jones asked him to look at an electrical issue and said that Jones had not expressed any urgency about the...