Osman v. Weyker
| Decision Date | 09 August 2017 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 16cv908 (JNE/TNL) |
| Parties | HAMDI ALI OSMAN, Plaintiff, v. HEATHER WEYKER, in her individual capacity as a St. Paul Police Officer; ROBERT ROES 1-3, in their individual and official capacities as St. Paul Police Officers; THE CITY OF ST. PAUL; JOHN BANDEMER, in his individual and official capacities as a St. Paul Police Officer, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
Plaintiff Hamdi Ali Osman alleges violations of her constitutional rights in an investigation that led to her indictment by a federal grand jury and her subsequent arrest. The investigation targeted a suspected venture between mostly Somali individuals across Minnesota, Tennessee, and Ohio involving the sex-trafficking of minor girls, and resulted in the criminal indictment of thirty people in the Middle District of Tennessee in 2010-2011 ("Tennessee Case"). Osman alleges that Defendant Heather Weyker, a police officer for the St. Paul Police Department in Minnesota, who was at some point specially deputized as part of an FBI Task Force, played a key role in this investigation. Osman alleges that Weyker fabricated evidence about her and others throughout the investigation, culminating in a tainted indictment that was further corrupted by Weyker's continuing deception before the grand jury and leading up to the trial of nine of Osman's co-defendants. After the jury acquitted six of those co-defendants on all charges and the trial court granted motions for acquittal by the other three on the basis of a variance between the proof at trial and the charged offenses, an appellate court affirmed the court's acquittals. The appellate court also took the highly unusual step of suggesting that "Weyker likely exaggerated or fabricated important aspects of th[e] story" told by the government's star witness at trial and that the entire case as presented at trial "is likely a fictitious story." United States v. Fahra, 643 Fed. Appx. 480, 482, 484 (6th Cir. 2016). Osman also sues John Bandemer, a St. Paul Police Department sergeant who is alleged to have been Weyker's supervisor; Robert Roes 1-3, who are alleged to be supervisory St. Paul police officers; and the City of St. Paul ("St. Paul").
Nineteen of Osman's co-defendants in the Tennessee Case have brought separate suits similarly alleging violations of their constitutional rights in the investigation, their indictment, and their arrests. A twenty-first person, who was not indicted in the Tennessee Case but was separately arrested on charges of intimidating a witness in that federal case, brings another civil suit against Weyker and others for alleged constitutional violations. A motion to consolidate these twenty-one cases was denied on November 21, 2016.
Weyker and Bandemer move to dismiss Osman's complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim and on absolute and qualified immunity grounds. Dkt. No. 59. St. Paul, which filed an answer, moves on behalf of the City of St. Paul and Robert Roes 1-3 for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Rule 12(c). Dkt. No. 68. The Court held a hearing on these motions on May 3, 2017, and now grants in part and denies in part Weyker and Bandemer's motion and grants St. Paul's motion.1
A motion to dismiss or a motion for judgment on the pleadings is appropriately granted "only when there is no dispute as to any material facts and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a [m]atter of law." Greenman v. Jessen, 787 F.3d 882, 887 (8th Cir. 2015) (citation omitted). Further, to survive a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim or a motion for judgment on the pleadings, "a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to 'state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.'" Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)); Haney v. Portfolio Recovery Assocs., LLC, 837 F.3d 918, 924 (8th Cir. 2016), as amended (Dec. 27, 2016). "A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Haney, 837 F.3d at 924 (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678). Although a pleading is not required to contain detailed factual allegations, a "pleading that offers 'labels and conclusions' or 'a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.'" Id. (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678). "The plausibility standard is not akin to a 'probability requirement,' but it asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully." Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (citation omitted). The court reviews "the plausibility of the plaintiff's claim as a whole, not the plausibility of each individual allegation." Haney, 837 F.3d at 924 (citation omitted).
In ruling on a Rule 12(b)(6) or 12(c) motion, a court accepts the facts alleged in the complaint as true and grants all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff. Haney, 837 F.3dat 924; Varga v. U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n, 764 F.3d 833, 838 (8th Cir. 2014). In assessing the motion, the court "may consider some materials that are part of the public record," as well as materials that are "necessarily embraced by the pleadings," including publicly available court documents. Porous Media Corp. v. Pall Corp., 186 F.3d 1077, 1079 (8th Cir. 1999) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted); see also Greenman, 787 F.3d at 887.
The Court briefly summarizes salient factual allegations in Osman's Second Amended Complaint and some relevant facts from the court record in the Tennessee Case.
Weyker, who is sued in her individual capacity, and Bandemer, who is sued in his individual and official capacities, were both officers of the St. Paul Police Department during all relevant times. SAC ¶¶ 5-6. Weyker was an officer in the vice unit of the police department, and Bandemer was lead sergeant of that unit and Weyker's supervisor. SAC ¶¶ 6, 25.
Weyker became the lead St. Paul Police Department investigator of a suspected sex-trafficking ring, in an investigation connected with an FBI Task Force on sex-trafficking. SAC ¶ 17. On October 20, 2010, an indictment was filed in the Middle District of Tennessee charging Osman with several counts of conspiracy to recruit and transport minors for sex trafficking. SAC ¶ 18. No such conspiracy ever existed, and Weyker and Bandemer knew it. Id.
A First Superseding Indictment was filed on November 3, 2010, naming 29 defendants.2 It charged Osman with five counts: two counts of conspiracy to violate 18 U.S.C. § 1591(a), which criminalizes the sex trafficking of minors, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and knowingly benefiting from participating in such a sex-trafficking venture (Counts 1 and 2);conspiring to tamper with a witness, victim, or evidence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512 (Count 3); obstructing or attempting to obstruct the enforcement of § 1591 (Count 4); and attempting to recruit a minor (Jane Doe Three) for sex trafficking (Count 14). See First Superseding Indictment ("FSI"), United States v. Osman, No. 3:10cr260, Dkt. No. 36 (M.D. Tenn. Nov. 3, 2010) (). The dates alleged in the sex-trafficking conspiracy counts spanned January 2000 through July 2010; while the obstruction-of-justice counts focused on April 28, 2009 through May 2009; and the recruitment count alleged an overt act on February 2, 2008.
On November 8, 2010, Osman was arrested. SAC ¶ 19. Because the indictment charged Osman with the sex-trafficking-related offenses, she was subject to a rebuttable presumption of pretrial detention. SAC ¶ 20. She was ordered detained pending trial. Id. Weyker had falsely formulated probable cause for those charges. Id.; see also SAC ¶ 1. But for those charges, Osman would not have been detained. SAC ¶ 20.
The charges of a widespread sex-trafficking conspiracy were baseless. "In reality, there was no child prostitution happening, no conspiracy, and no real evidence of a criminal organization or 'gang,' as noted by the Sixth Circuit." SAC ¶ 23. The indictment itself hints at the falsity underlying its charges by alleging such a wide time range, from 2000 through 2010, yet failing to allege any overt acts before 2005. SAC ¶ 21. Moreover, Osman was a minor during many of those years. Id.
The indictment alleged that Osman attempted to entice Jane Doe Three into engaging in commercial sex acts in February 2008 in Nashville. SAC ¶ 24; FSI ¶¶ 52-57. Actually, around that time, she received a call from Jane Doe Three, who said she had left her home in Minneapolis and was coming to stay with Osman, who had recently moved to Nashville. SAC¶¶ 9-11. Osman said Jane Doe Three could not stay with her long-term but could stay with her until Jane Doe Three's mother came to pick her up, which the mother did the next day. SAC ¶¶ 12-13. Jane Doe Three's visit to Nashville was not solicited by Osman, and it had nothing to do with engaging in commercial sex. SAC ¶¶ 14, 16.
Weyker was motivated to fabricate evidence by a quest for glory. See SAC ¶¶ 25-26. The investigation was very important to the St. Paul Police Department's vice unit. SAC ¶ 25. So Weyker fabricated "[t]he overwhelming majority of the material evidence supporting the indictments in this alleged conspiracy" and fed it to the federal prosecutors in Tennessee who were duped into bringing the charges despite the absence of real probable cause. See SAC ¶¶ 27, 37, 44. Throughout the investigation, Weyker "worked with almost no supervision" by Bandemer, Robert Roes 1-3, or anyone in the department. SAC ¶ 38.
Other examples of false evidence fabricated by Weyker are:
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