Matthews v. City of East St. Louis

• Decision Date: 27 March 2012
• Docket Number: No. 11–1168.,11–1168.
• Parties: Anthony MATTHEWS and Robert Gillespie, Plaintiffs–Appellants, v. CITY OF EAST ST. LOUIS, Vincent Anderson and Larry Greenlee, Defendants–Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

675 F.3d 703

Anthony MATTHEWS and Robert Gillespie, Plaintiffs–Appellants,

v.CITY OF EAST ST. LOUIS, Vincent Anderson and Larry Greenlee, Defendants–Appellees.

No. 11–1168.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued Feb. 23, 2012.Decided March 27, 2012.

Richard Dvorak (argued), Attorney, Law Offices of Richard Dvorak, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiffs–Appellants.

William P. Hardy (argued), Attorney, Hinshaw & Culbertson, Springfield, IL, for Defendants–Appellees.

Before FLAUM and TINDER, Circuit Judges, and SHADID, District Judge. ^*

SHADID, District Judge.

Anthony Matthews and Robert Gillespie appeal the district court's grant of a motion for summary judgment in favor of the defendants in this case. For the following reasons, we affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment to the defendants.

I. BACKGROUND

The following facts are taken according to Matthews and Gillespie. On February 21, 2009, Appellants Matthews and Gillespie were involved in a physical altercation with employees of the Club Casino (“Club”), a nightclub located in East St. Louis, Illinois. The altercation began when Matthews and Gillespie, an R & B singer and his promoter, along with a group attempted to enter the club without paying a cover-charge because they were invited to the club for promotional purposes. When the group arrived, initially they were informed they were free to enter the club. However, when entering the lobby, they were confronted by a large security guard who was screaming at them and demanding payment. The group decided to pay, and when Matthews attempted to pay for himself and a dancer in the group, the club owner, Cedric Taylor, grabbed his arm and the large security guard who was screaming at them struck Matthews in the face. A melee ensued and numerous security staff struck and kicked Matthews and Gillespie. Both men sustained numerous visible injuries. After the beating, the employees took the two outside, handcuffed them and called the police.

The first officer on the scene was Lieutenant Vincent Anderson, recognized as a superior officer by his white shirt. Anderson was the acting shift commander that night. Anderson repeatedly yelled to Matthews and Gillespie that he ran this town, in response to the two men explaining that they were jumped by security staff. After which they stopped trying to explain themselves and resigned to be arrested. Another officer, Larry Greenlee, arrived on the scene to a disturbance call, but did not know the specific nature of the disturbance. Greenlee attempted to speak with security staff, but was directed to speak with Taylor. When interviewed by Greenlee, Taylor stated that Matthews struck him in the face. Greenlee stated that he heard one of the two arrestees admit to hitting Taylor, so he filled out complaints against both individuals and Taylor signed them. Matthews and Gillespie were taken to Greenlee's squad car and placed in the rear seat, though they were never told they were under arrest. Both were charged with assault and battery.

At some point during the investigation, Greenlee was informed that there were video cameras that surveilled the lobby and presumably would show what happened. Greenlee chose not to check the video system. Taylor stated that the video system was maintained by an outside company and was constantly rolling, recording over itself every thirty to sixty days, which meant the altercation was taped-over prior to this action commencing. Taylor stated that he never requested the video because he felt it was unnecessary.

In October 2009, Matthews and Gillespie filed a five-count complaint in the district court alleging violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the City of East St. Louis, and officers Vincent Anderson, Lester Anderson, and Greenlee and La Bon Vie Corporation, d/b/a Club Casino and its president and owner, Cedric Taylor. In June 2010, they amended the complaint and the district court granted their motion to voluntarily dismiss Lester Anderson without prejudice. They then filed an amended complaint containing five counts. Count 1 alleges Taylor, acting in concert with Club employees as part of a conspiracy with the City through Anderson and Greenlee used excessive force against them. Count 2 alleges the same individuals unlawfully seized, detained and prosecuted them. Count 3 alleges the City failed to instruct, supervise, control and discipline its officers. Count 4 was a state law claim alleging negligence against Taylor and the Club in hiring, retaining and supervising employees and as alternative to Counts 1–4, Count 5 alleged assault and battery against Taylor and the Club.

The district court granted summary judgment on Counts 2 and 3 in favor of all defendants and dismissed the state law claims without prejudice. Matthews and Gillespie conceded in their response to defendants' motion that summary judgment should be granted as to Count 1. As to the remaining counts, the district court held that at the time of the altercation, Taylor and the Club were not functioning as state actors for purposes of § 1983. The district court found that Taylor and the Club did not have a pre-existing arrangement to use off-duty police officers as security and the witnesses who stated that the security staff was comprised of off-duty officers based their beliefs on speculation. Also, even if they were off-duty officers, they were not performing a police function. Lastly the district court found that the two failed to show a conspiracy between the City and Taylor and the Club. The district court also granted summary judgment as to the City, Anderson and Greenlee holding that there was probable cause to arrest Matthews and Gillespie and therefore there was no unlawful seizure/arrest against Greenlee. Additionally, the district court held that Anderson had no personal involvement or an affirmative link to the arrest and therefore he was not liable. The district court noted that probable cause defeats a claim of malicious prosecution and Matthews and Gillespie failed to show an express policy, widespread practice, or that their arrests were caused by someone with final policymaking authority as is required to sustain a claim of municipal liability.

II. DISCUSSION

A grant of summary judgment is reviewed de novo, construing the facts and drawing all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to Matthews and Gillespie. Castronovo v. Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co., 571 F.3d 667, 671 (7th Cir.2009).

Matthews and Gillespie argue that officer Greenlee lacked probable cause to arrest them both. In support of this, they offer four arguments: (1) Greenlee failed to exercise any discretion in assessing the credibility of the witnesses; (2) Greenlee knew of the existence of a videotape which would exonerate the two arrestees and chose to ignore it; (3) the totality of the circumstances should have demonstrated to a reasonable officer that there was no probable cause to arrest Matthews and Gillespie; and (4) Greenlee lacked individualized probable cause for the arrest of the men.

Probable cause is a determination made from assessing whether, based on the facts and circumstances at the time of the arrest, a reasonable officer would conclude that the suspect has committed or is committing a crime. Woods v. City of Chicago, 234 F.3d 979, 996 (7th Cir.2000). The sufficiency of the evidence for a determination of probable cause need not be enough to support a conviction or even enough to show that the officer's belief is more likely true than false. Id. As such, “as long as a reasonably credible witness or victim informs the police that someone has committed a crime, or is committing, a crime, the officers have probable cause”. Spiegel v. Cortese, 196 F.3d 717, 723 (7th Cir.1999) (quoting Jenkins v. Keating, 147 F.3d 577, 585 (7th Cir.1998)). Additionally, “this court has emphasized that once probable cause has been established, officials have ‘no constitutional obligation to conduct further investigation in the hopes of uncovering potentially exculpatory evidence.’ ” Id. (quoting Eversole v. Steele, 59 F.3d 710, 718 (7th Cir.1995)).

Matthews' and Gillespie's four arguments will be addressed in turn, but the facts pertaining to each are largely duplicative. They first argue that Greenlee failed to exercise any discretion in arresting the two of them. In support, they state that the evidence as Greenlee saw it upon arriving showed two handcuffed men who were badly beaten and protesting their innocence. According to them, this showed that any reasonable officer would have concluded that they were the victims rather than the aggressors. They further argue that Greenlee testified that he “takes things at face value” and believes victims are telling the truth whenever they talk to him, apparently without thought. This ignores the fact that when Greenlee arrived on scene, he spoke with the Club owner Cedric Taylor, who gave him a seemingly reliable account of what...