Patrick v. City of Chi.

Decision Date04 October 2016
Docket NumberNo. 14-cv-3658,14-cv-3658
Citation213 F.Supp.3d 1033
Parties Deon PATRICK, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF CHICAGO, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

Nicole Nehama Auerbach, Stuart Jay Chanen, Valorem Law Group LLC, Daniel C. F. Wucherer, Valorem Law Group, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.

Terrence Michael Burns, Daniel Matthew Noland, Harry N. Arger, Molly E. Thompson, Paul A. Michalik, Dykema Gossett PLLC, Steven Blair Borkan, Graham P. Miller, Misha Itchhaporia, Timothy P. Scahill, Whitney Newton Hutchinson, Borkan & Scahill, Ltd., Chicago, IL, Lisa Marie Meador, Thomas Edward Nowinski, Chicago, IL, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER

HON. RONALD A. GUZMÁN, United States District Judge

The Court grants in part and denies in part Defendants' motions for summary judgment [140] [141] [148]. The Court grants judgment on Count III (Brady ) in favor of all Defendants and on Count IV in favor of the ASA Defendants as to the failure to intervene claim. Count VI, supervisory liability, is dismissed without prejudice. Plaintiff is entitled to a trial on his remaining claims. A status hearing is set for October 25, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. to set a trial date.

STATEMENT

This case concerns the alleged malicious prosecution and wrongful imprisonment of plaintiff Deon Patrick ("Plaintiff"). He claims that seven Chicago police officers, Anthony Villardita, Thomas Johnson, Rick Abreu, Terry O'Connor, Brian Killacky, Sean Glinski, and Michael Berti ("Officer Defendants" or "Officers"), as well as two Assistant State's Attorneys, Joseph Magats and Martin Fogarty ("ASA Defendants" or "ASAs") (collectively "Defendants") framed him for murders he did not commit.1 The operative thirteen-count complaint alleges that Defendants engaged in a myriad of egregious misconduct, such as coercing Plaintiff's confession, fabricating evidence against him, withholding exculpatory evidence, maliciously prosecuting him, and conspiring to maliciously prosecute him. Defendants now move for summary judgment on virtually all of Plaintiff's claims. For the following reasons, the Court grants in part and denies in part Defendants' motions.

BACKGROUND
I. The Undisputed Facts2
The Lassiter/Haugabook Murders

The truly undisputed facts here are relatively few. Around 8:00 p.m. on November 16, 1992, Jeffrey Lassiter and Sharon Haugabook were shot and killed in Lassiter's apartment in Chicago. (Officers' Facts [Dkt # 144] ¶ 10.) The police arrived shortly thereafter, with Detectives Villardita and Johnson leading the investigation. (Pl.'s Facts [Dkt. # 162] ¶ 2.) At the scene, the detectives spoke with Faye McCoy, a nearby resident and neighborhood activist, who told them that she saw four black males leaving the courtyard around the time of the murders. (Id. ) Two days later, after looking at a photo array set up by the police, McCoy identified one of the men leaving the courtyard as "Goldie" (a.k.a. Dennis Mixon), whom she knew frequented Lassiter's apartment. (Officers' Resp. Pl.'s Facts [Dkt # 183] ¶ 3.) A police report filed the day after the murders further depicted Mixon as a suspect. (11/17/1992 Police Rept. [Dkt. # 164, Ex. 6] at 1.) Particularly, the report stated that various local residents were aware of a conflict between "Goldie" and Lassiter, that Lassiter's apartment was apparently a crack house, and that "Goldie" and his crew of "Vice Lords" wanted to oust Lassiter and move in with their business (selling crack). (Id. at 1-2.) In the weeks that followed, however, neither Mixon nor any of his associates were arrested in connection with the murders. (Pl.'s Facts ¶ 4.)

The case essentially remained dead in the water until December 2, 1992, when another lead emerged—a fifteen year old named Lewis Gardner, who was arrested with two of his friends for drug possession. (Officers' Facts ¶ 12.) Yet, through a series of disputed circumstances/events, Gardner later confessed to the Lassiter/Haugabook murders and implicated Plaintiff and five others (Paul Phillips, Akia Phillips, Daniel Taylor, Rodney Matthews, and Joe Brown) (collectively "the codefendants"). (Id. ; ASAs' Facts ¶¶ 15-20.) With Gardner's confession in hand, the Officers believed they had probable cause to arrest the remaining codefendants, who, one by one, were interrogated and confessed to the murders as well.3 (Pl.'s Facts ¶¶ 39, 42.)

The circumstances surrounding their confessions, however, as well as those surrounding Plaintiff's subsequent criminal trial and conviction, are hotly disputed. In fact, there is so little overlap between the parties' versions of events that there are really two stories to tell, each of which finds some support in the record. The Court will therefore summarize them for narrative purposes and deal with disputes of fact or other conflicts, as necessary, in the analysis section.

II. Defendants' Story4

Defendants claim this case is nothing but straightforward police work that led to the arrest and conviction of eight murderers.

(i) The Initial Arrests and Confessions

On December 2, 1992, police were conducting routine surveillance in Gardner's neighborhood when they noticed him and his two friends, Akia and Paul Phillips, behaving suspiciously. (ASAs' Facts ¶¶ 11-13.) The three were subsequently arrested for drug possession and taken to the Chicago Police Department's 23rd District for questioning. (Id. ) Paul was soon released on bond, though, leaving only Akia and Gardner. (Id. ¶ 13.)

While in lockup, Gardner asked to speak to one of the on-duty police officers, Officer Forrest, in private. (Id. ¶ 14.) Officer Forrest then walked Gardner down to the station's youth office, where Gardner spontaneously volunteered that his drugs were supplied by "C-Deon" (a name associated with Plaintiff) and that C-Deon was involved in the Lassiter/Haugabook murders. (Id. ) Naturally, Officer Forrest took these remarks seriously and asked Gardner if he would be willing to talk to detectives, to which Gardner agreed. (Id. ¶ 15.)

Gardner was then taken to the Area 6 Violent Crimes Unit ("Area 6") and interviewed by Detectives Villardita and Johnson around 7:00 p.m. (Id. ¶ 16.)

After Gardner gave an oral confession to the detectives, inculpating himself and the codefendants, Villardita called the State's Attorney's Office Felony Review Unit5 to request approval of felony charges. (Id. ¶ 17.) Accordingly, Assistant States Attorney Fogarty was dispatched to Area 6 the same day and arrived at approximately 9:00 p.m., but he did not memorialize Gardner's confession with a court reporter until roughly 2:00 a.m. the next day. (Id. ¶¶ 18-21.)

With Gardner out of the way, Officer Forest returned to the 23rd District, where he was advised that Akia had given a false name (Dion Bonner) and birthdate, which required reprocessing him as an adult under his actual identity. (Id. ¶ 25.) During the reprocessing, Akia asked Officer Forrest where Garnder went and learned that he was moved to Area 6. (Id. ¶ 27.) What followed was another unexpected, but voluntary, comment: Akia said that Gardner must be at Area 6 because of the murders. (Id. ) Recognizing that this was no mere coincidence, Officer Forrest arranged for Akia to be taken to Area 6 for questioning as well. (Id. ¶ 27.) And, much like Gardner, Akia was interviewed by Detectives O'Connor and Abreu around 7:30 p.m., after which he orally confessed to the murders and implicated the other codefendants. (Id. ¶ 28-29.)

Now, with two confessions and eight suspects, the case was taking on a new life and complexity, which prompted a Felony Review Unit supervisor to order another set of hands for assistance—Assistant States Attorney Magats. (Id. ¶¶ 31-32.) He arrived at Area 6 sometime between 11:00 p.m. on December 2nd and the early morning of December 3rd, where he largely remained, along with Assistant States Attorney Fogarty and the Officer Defendants, until December 4th. (Id. ) It was during this period that the remaining codefendants were arrested, brought to Area 6, and interrogated, culminating in seven signed confessions. (Id. ¶¶ 33-37.)

(ii) Plaintiff's Arrest and Confession

Plaintiff's arrest, interrogation, and confession were no different. He was arrested by Detectives O'Connor, Abreu, Delaney, and Killacky at approximately 11:30 p.m. on December 2, 1992 and taken to Area 6, where he initially denied any involvement in the murders. (Id. ¶¶ 41-43.) The next day, at about 8:20 p.m., he was put in a lineup with Taylor, Matthews, and Paul Phillips. (Id. ¶ 44.) Faye McCoy viewed the lineup and identified each of them as kids from the neighborhood. (Id. ¶ 45.) She further stated, according to a report written by Detectives Delaney and Killacky, that she saw the four kids leaving the area around Lassiter's apartment on the night of the murders, but that she was afraid to testify against them. (Id. ) Shortly after the lineup, Plaintiff confessed to Detectives O'Connor and Abreu. (Id. ¶ 45.)

Around midnight, Assistant States Attorney Magats entered Plaintiff's interrogation room and introduced himself as a State's Attorney with the Felony Review Unit. (Id. ¶ 49.) The two spoke for about a half hour, with Detective O'Connor as a witness. (Id. ¶ 48.) During this time, Plaintiff again orally confessed and further agreed to have his confession memorialized in handwritten form, which Magats prepared and reviewed with Plaintiff in detail. (Id. ¶¶ 49, 52.) The whole process was fairly routine, and Plaintiff appeared to be of sound mind throughout, leaving Magats with no reason think that his confession was anything but knowing and voluntary. (Id. ¶ 54.)

(iii) The Next Steps and the Taylor Question

Magats contacted his supervisor, Anna Demacopoulous, to discuss whether felony charges should be approved. (Id. ¶ 61, 67.) (Neither he nor Fogarty had the authority to do so, id. ) She reviewed the files, approved charges against Plaintiff and each codefendant, and the case proceeded to the grand jury. (Id. ¶ 68.) There was one wrinkle, though:...

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