Mitchell v. City of Decatur
| Decision Date | 23 March 2021 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 18-CV-2179 |
| Parties | Lonnie MITCHELL, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF DECATUR and Andrew Wittmer, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Central District of Illinois |
Basileios John Foutris, Foutris Law Office Ltd., Daniel P. Kiss, Meyer & Kiss LLC, Chicago, IL, Louis J. Meyer, Meyer & Kiss LLC, Peoria, IL, for Plaintiff.
Jerrold H. Stocks, Featherstun Gaumer Stocks Flynn & Eck, Decatur, IL, for Defendant Andrew Wittmer.
John T. Robinson, City of Decatur, Decatur, IL, for Defendant City of Decatur.
Plaintiff, Lonnie Mitchell, filed a Complaint (#1) pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that Defendants City of Decatur and Officer Andrew Wittmer violated his right to be free from excessive force under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Defendants filed a Joint Motion for Summary Judgment (#27) on April 30, 2020, to which Plaintiff filed a Response (#28) on May 20, 2020. Defendants filed a Reply (#29) on June 4, 2020. For the following reasons, Defendants’ Joint Motion for Summary Judgment (#27) is DENIED.
The following background facts are taken from Defendants’ Undisputed Statement of Material Facts, Plaintiff's Additional Facts section in his Response, and the exhibits attached by the parties to their filings.
This case arises from a police-involved shooting that occurred in Decatur, Illinois, on July 11, 2016.
On July 11, 2016, Defendant Officer Andrew Wittmer ("Wittmer") responded to a call in the location of Hilton and Main Streets in Decatur, Illinois, shortly after 1:00 am. The call came from a Derondi Lee. In the call, Lee said that, at that moment, there was a person at the house next door, "Honey Bun's" house. Lee said this person was not wearing a shirt and had a "bag of [sic] backpack full of weapons" and a "big Government .45," which Wittmer understood to be a model 1911 .45 caliber handgun. In his phone call with Wittmer, Lee did not say anything about an argument or disturbance involving this person1 . Wittmer considered Lee to be a relatively reliable source of information. Before the July 11, 2016, incident, Wittmer had no idea who Plaintiff was, what Plaintiff's name was, and never had any contact with him at all.
Plaintiff admitted that, before Wittmer's arrival on the scene, he had an argument with Honey Bun. After the argument with Honey Bun, Plaintiff went next door to Derondi Lee's house to "cool off." Plaintiff carried on his person a work knife, which was covered in electrical tape and putty, sheathed in a wrist-guard on Plaintiff's right arm. Tucked into Plaintiff's waist was a BB/pellet gun that he carried to protect himself against stray dogs. After arriving at Lee's house and before the shooting, Plaintiff placed the BB/pellet gun into his waistband, where the gun was visible.
Before Wittmer's arrival, Lee told Plaintiff that the police were coming. Unbeknownst to Plaintiff, Lee had "unexpectedly" called Wittmer to tell Wittmer that there was a person next door at Honey Bun's house with weapons.
Plaintiff left Lee's home in order to go to his own home. Plaintiff testified that as he left Lee's home, he could hear, but could not see, a police officer speaking with people next door at Honey Bun's home.
Wittmer arrived on the scene around 1:08 am. When Wittmer arrived, there was nothing going on except a few people drinking in Honey Bun's driveway. Wittmer testified that this "actually would be the opposite of a problem from that neighborhood[,]" as "[n]ormally there would be dozens of people out[,]" and it "would be extremely loud and boisterous."
Upon arrival, he activated his recording equipment and engaged the people remaining outside Honey Bun's residence. While Wittmer was engaging those persons, Plaintiff exited Lee's residence, walking west towards Wittmer's parked squad car, which drew Wittmer's attention. Plaintiff fit the description provided to Wittmer by Lee. Plaintiff was not wearing a shirt and the gun was plainly visible to Wittmer in Plaintiff's waistband.
The court has viewed the video recorded on the camera from Wittmer's squad car. The video is grainy, and it is not easy to make out small details.
Wittmer arrives and makes contact with people on the driveway of Honey Bun's house at 1:08:48. Wittmer tells one of the people on the driveway that he has been called out for an argument between a man and woman. At 1:09:00, Wittmer can be heard speaking with the people in the driveway, asking them to keep their hands out of their pockets.
At around 1:09:08, Plaintiff can be seen coming from the house next door to Honey Bun's and walking into the street. Due to the graininess of the video, it is not possible to distinguish details on Plaintiff's body, such as the knife or gun. At this point, Wittmer is still in Honey Bun's driveway speaking with people.
At 1:09:13, Plaintiff is walking in the middle of the street, and Wittmer calls out "hey sir" to Plaintiff. Wittmer begins walking toward Plaintiff. At 1:09:15, Plaintiff says "yes?" in response to Wittmer. At 1:09:17, Defendant says to Plaintiff. At 1:09:18, Plaintiff walks off camera. Plaintiff does not come back into view of the camera for the rest of the video. Wittmer at this point advances towards Plaintiff, pointing his service weapon and flashlight in Plaintiff's direction. Wittmer is now a few feet into the street off of Honey Bun's driveway.
At 1:09:20, Wittmer tells Plaintiff to stop and to put his hands on top of his head. At 1:09:26, Wittmer tells Plaintiff to "interlock" his fingers on top of his head.
At 1:09:29, Plaintiff tells Wittmer he has a "pistol" on his person, and a knife on his person. At 1:09:33, Wittmer tells Plaintiff to "leave" his "hands up." At 1:09:35, Wittmer tells Plaintiff "don't go for that or you'll get shot man."
At 1:09:38-39, Plaintiff again states that he has a knife and a pistol on his person. At 1:09:41, Plaintiff tells Wittmer to come "grab it," presumably referring to the pistol. At 1:09:43, Wittmer tells Plaintiff that he is not going to come "grab it," and that he wants Plaintiff to "lay down."
At 1:09:45-47, a woman can be heard in the background, presumably on Honey Bun's driveway, telling Plaintiff to lay down and do what Wittmer is telling him to do. At 1:09:48, Wittmer again tells Plaintiff to interlock his fingers behind his head. At 1:09:50, other people in the background can be heard telling Plaintiff to lay down. At that same time, Wittmer takes a couple of steps forward, and tells Plaintiff to "listen to me." At 1:09:54 Plaintiff yells back
At 1:09:55, Officer Jason Danner comes into view on the camera, also pointing a gun at Plaintiff. Danner never discharges his weapon.
At 1:10:00 Wittmer yells "no, put your hands up, away from that." At 1:10:02-03, a "clinking" sound can be heard, presumably Plaintiff's knife hitting the ground. At 1:10:03, Wittmer again tells Plaintiff to "lay down." At 1:10:05, Wittmer yells at Plaintiff to lay down. At 1:10:06, Wittmer shoots Plaintiff.
Plaintiff did not believe that Wittmer could see the knife, and, in fact, Wittmer did not know that Plaintiff had a knife on his person at the time.
Plaintiff never told Wittmer that the gun was a BB/pellet gun. Plaintiff agreed that the pistol looked like a real firearm. Wittmer first discovered that the gun was a BB/pellet gun when he recovered it after the shooting and was placing the gun into his squad car.
Plaintiff testified that he kept his hands straight up in the air during the interaction with Wittmer so that Wittmer would not misconstrue him doing anything that could be perceived as reaching for something. Plaintiff was underneath a street light during the entire encounter.
Plaintiff testified that he did understand what Wittmer was saying to him at the time of the shooting.
After telling Wittmer that he could not put his hands behind his head because of the knife, Plaintiff testified that he slowly moved his left arm toward his right arm - thereby forming an "A" shape with his body - in order to unsnap the knife from his hand. Plaintiff flicked a strap, whereupon the knife fell to the ground. Wittmer heard the knife hit the ground.
Wittmer testified that Plaintiff was walking away from him while he was approaching Plaintiff with commands for Plaintiff to stop for approximately 9 seconds.
Wittmer testified that, after the knife hit the ground, he was giving Plaintiff commands to get on the ground, but that Plaintiff's "gestures [were] getting larger with his hands." Wittmer described Plaintiff as "angry" and that Plaintiff was yelling that "he cannot[.]" Wittmer testified that Plaintiff was "gesturing" as Plaintiff was talking, while at the same time Wittmer was giving him commands to get down on the ground. Instead of reaching forward to put his hands on the ground, Wittmer testified that Plaintiff brought "his right hand in as if to draw the weapon." Wittmer testified that Plaintiff's right hand went "[d]own and in towards the area of his waist where he had the firearm." As soon as he observed that happening, Wittmer fired his weapon, "believing [Plaintiff] was reaching to draw that firearm either to use it against me or whoever was behind me."
Plaintiff testified that as soon as he heard Wittmer call for him to stop, he turned around and put his hands in the air, as if he were motioning for a field goal in football. However, this is not on the video. Plaintiff does turn around and acknowledge Wittmer, but his hands were not yet up by the time he moves off camera.
Plaintiff testified that after he unhooked the knife, he placed his left hand back to where it had been positioned - above his...
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