Kuri v. Folino, 13-cv-01653

• Decision Date: 05 September 2019
• Docket Number: No. 13-cv-01653,13-cv-01653
• Citation: 409 F.Supp.3d 626
• Parties: Anthony KURI (a.k.a Ramsey Qurash), Plaintiff, v. John FOLINO, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

409 F.Supp.3d 626

Anthony KURI (a.k.a Ramsey Qurash), Plaintiff,

v.John FOLINO, et al., Defendants.

No. 13-cv-01653

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.

Signed September 5, 2019

Jonathan I. Loevy, Julie Marie Goodwin, Arthur R. Loevy, Danielle Hamilton, Loevy & Loevy, Joel H. Feldman, Law Offices of Joel H. Feldman, Scott Jay Frankel, Frankel & Cohen, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.

James Gus Sotos, Jeffrey Neil Given, The Sotos Law Firm, P.C., Eileen Ellen Rosen, Andrew Joseph Grill, Austin Gordon Rahe, Catherine MacNeil Barber, John Joseph Rock, Stacy Ann Benjamin, Rock Fusco & Connelly, LLC, Silvia Mercado Masters, Cook County State's Attorney's Office, Chicago, IL, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Honorable Edmond E. Chang, United States District Judge

Anthony Kuri brought several federal and state law claims against the City of Chicago and its police officers after he was charged with murder, detained for three years in Cook County Jail, and acquitted at trial.¹ Some of the defendants were dismissed during the case's journey to trial, and the claims against the City were bifurcated and stayed. Kuri eventually went to trial on five claims against two Chicago detectives, John Folino and Timothy McDermott (in this Opinion, call them the Defendants). Kuri won all five claims against Folino and succeeded on four claims against McDermott. The jury awarded Kuri $3 million for pain and suffering and $1 million for loss of normal life. The Defendants now bring motions under Rules 50, 59, and 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, challenging the jury's verdict on various grounds, while Kuri moves to resume the previously stayed claims against the City. For the reasons discussed below, all four motions are denied.

I. Background

The events of this case stem from a shooting that took place in the West Side of Chicago on July 23, 2009, the ensuing police investigation, and the state criminal trial of Anthony Kuri on charges related to that shooting.

A. Kuri's Relationship to the Victims

Kuri was born in Chicago and spent most of his childhood in group homes or with foster parents. Trial Tr. at 223:3-224:23. In the summer of 2009 (when the fateful shooting happened), he was 19 years old. Id. at 231:24-25. At certain points growing up, when he would have nowhere else to stay, Kuri would stay with a friend named Zae Russell. Id. at 312:17-21. Russell was a member of a gang called the Conservative Vice Lords, which, at the time, was somewhat aligned with another gang, the Latin Kings. Id. at 859:6-11. Tony Fernandez—a close friend of Russell's and a member of the Latin Kings—was familiar with Kuri and had seen him hanging out outside of their high school, although Fernandez knew Kuri by his nickname, "Rowdy." R. 315, Fernandez Dep. Tr. at 57:3-58:7; Trial Tr. at 859:3-5.

At some point before 2009, Kuri became a member of a street gang called the Spanish Cobras. Trial Tr. at 229:12-18; Fernandez Dep. Tr. at 58:13-21. In the summer of 2009, Kuri, Russell, and Fernandez all spent time in the East Albany Park area of Chicago, near the intersection of Lawrence and Lawndale. This was known to be a dividing line between Spanish Cobra territory and Latin Kings territory. Trial Tr. at 859:12-17.

B. The July 23, 2009 Shooting

On July 23, 2009, Fernandez and Russell were riding around in Fernandez's minivan with some friends, including Guarav Patel, who was driving the van. Fernandez Dep. Tr. at 63:17-64:7, 65:1-10. At least some of the men in the minivan were members of either the Latin Kings or the Conservative Vice Lords. Trial Tr. at 470:7-12. At some point, the van approached the intersection of Lawrence and Lawndale, where the passengers inside encountered two members of the Spanish Cobras who went by the names "Chino" and "Funk." Id. at 470:13-17. Words and gang signs were exchanged between the two groups, but eventually the men in Fernandez's van drove away. Id. at 470:13-24; Fernandez Dep. Tr. at 66:23-69:18. Everyone in the van besides Russell, Fernandez, and Patel was then dropped off, and Russell asked Patel to drive to Russell's house on Central Park. Trial Tr. at 471:12-24.

When the van arrived at the house, Russell was sitting in the back row, Fernandez was sitting in the middle row, and Patel was in the driver's seat. Trial Tr. at 471:17-21; Fernandez Dep. Tr. at 85:18-86:11. Fernandez opened the door to let Russell out of the van and Russell began to get out. Id. at 91:7-15. But when Russell looked out to his left, he saw two individuals approaching the van, which prompted him to step back inside the van and close the door. Id. at 91:16-24. Within seconds, and before Fernandez could get a good look at the two individuals outside, someone began shooting at the van. Id. at 93:6-15; 95:17-96:3. Russell immediately ducked down in the van and was able to evade the gunfire. Trial Tr. at 830:12-18. But Patel was shot in the neck. Id. at 830:23-831:2. Fernandez was shot in the leg while trying to attend to Patel and to drive away. Fernandez Dep. Tr. at 93:16-94:7.

Fernandez managed to steer the van away from the shooting towards a group of people around the corner, who called an ambulance upon seeing the van. Fernandez Dep. Tr. at 94:21-95:1. Patel, who had already stopped breathing, was taken away in the first ambulance. Id. at 95:2-9, 105:3-7. A second ambulance took Fernandez to Illinois Masonic Hospital, where he was treated for bullet wounds in his leg. Id. at 102:21-103:4. According to Fernandez, Russell did not say anything to him about the identity of the perpetrators or who Russell suspected was behind the shooting that night. Id. at 108:5-10.

C. Russell's First Interview

The first CPD officers assigned to the shooting were Detective Frank Szwedo and his partner Detective John Valkner. Trial Tr. at 456:6-24. When they arrived on scene, they found a blue-and-silver Huffy bicycle lying on the sidewalk. R. 331.10, Evidence Inventory at 1. Szwedo and Valkner then tried to interview possible witnesses, including Russell. Russell later testified that the detectives initially placed him in handcuffs, suggested to him that shots were fired from inside the car, and said that they "had to take [him] in for an investigation." Trial Tr. at 831:18-832:6. It is undisputed that the handcuffs were eventually removed, and Szwedo questioned Russell for about ten minutes "[t]o get his account of the incident." Id. at 464:5-10, 470:1-2. Szwedo also testified that Russell was cooperative throughout the interaction and answered all of his questions. Id. at 464:14-21.

Russell explained to Szwedo that he was driving in a minivan with Fernandez, Patel, and two other members of the Latin Kings he did not know by name when, at the intersection of Lawrence and Lawndale, they had an altercation with two "Cobras" known as Chino and Funk. Trial Tr. at 470:7-17. Russell said that the minivan then drove away, dropped off the two other Latin Kings, and then drove on to Russell's house, where two male "Hispanics" approached the van and yelled "King Killer." Id. at 471:12-472:11. Russell described the men as wearing white T-shirts and having short or shaved hairstyles. Id. at 472:22-473:9. At trial, Szwedo explained that he was probing Russell during this conversation and giving Russell a chance to explain everything he knew about the incident. Id. at 472:15-21. He also testified that Russell's story was consistent with the location of the van and the 911 call. Id. at 474:4-8. Finally, Szwedo asked Russell whether he would be able to recognize the shooters if they were presented to him. Id. at 475:12-16. Russell responded "maybe." Id. At the end of the interaction, Russell gave Szwedo the names of two Spanish Cobras, along with his own address and phone number. Id. at 474:20-475:5, 475:21-23. At no point during the interview did Russell mention Kuri's name. Id. at 477:3-12; see also R. 331.2, 8/4/2009 Supp. Report at 11-12.

D. The Wachaa Tip

At some point after the shooting, the case was transferred from Szwedo and Valkner to the Defendants, CPD Detectives John Folino and Timothy McDermott. There was no evidence presented at Kuri's civil trial about how or why the case was transferred. Trial Tr. at 537:8-17. Around this time, Folino was contacted by an informant named Abdul Wachaa, who claimed to have information about the July 23 shooting. Id. at 549:22-25. Folino did not write a report documenting his first conversation with Wachaa. Id. at 550:9-11. Folino testified at Kuri's civil trial that this tip was his very first interaction with Wachaa, id. at 539:2-5, but Folino testified at his deposition that he could not remember whether he had worked with Wachaa before the Patel murder, id. at 539:13-20. Folino admitted, though, that he used Wachaa as an informant multiple times afterwards and was still using him at the time Folino was deposed in this case. Id. at 533:4-24.

Around the same time, on August 3, 2009, Wachaa was arrested for battery and taken to Swedish Covenant Hospital, where he encountered CPD Officer Carmen Lopez. Trial Tr. at 1217:15-1218:2; R. 331.5, Lopez Report. Wachaa told Lopez that he was on the phone with Russell when the shooting took place in front of Russell's house. Id. at 1. According to Wachaa, Russell yelled into the phone "Lil David and Rowdy are in front of my house. They killed Indian Dude and they shot T.C... Rowdy was on the bike and Lil David was on the pegs." Id. Russell also allegedly told Wachaa that the van was on "Wilson by the alley by the row houses," and then hung up. Id. Wachaa explained to Officer Lopez that Rowdy and Lil David were both Spanish Cobras and that he had heard about an altercation between the Cobras and Latin Kings on Lawrence and Lawndale that same evening. Id. at 1-2. Lopez determined that Rowdy was a pseudonym for Kuri and that Lil David was a pseudonym for an individual named David Gomez. Id. at 2.

Folino testified at the civil trial that he did not document his...