Petty v. City of Chi.

• Citation: 754 F.3d 416
• Decision Date: 09 June 2014
• Docket Number: No. 12–3303.,12–3303.
• Parties: Rivera PETTY, as Administratrix of the Estate of Timothy Petty, Deceased, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. CITY OF CHICAGO, et al., Defendants–Appellees.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)

754 F.3d 416

Rivera PETTY, as Administratrix of the Estate of Timothy Petty, Deceased, ¹ Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.CITY OF CHICAGO, et al., Defendants–Appellees.

No. 12–3303.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued Sept. 17, 2013.

Decided June 9, 2014.

Michael W. Condon, Attorney, Jason W. Rose, Attorney, Hervas, Condon & Bersani, Itasca, IL, for Plaintiff–Appellant.

Jonathon D. Byrer, Attorney, City of Chicago Law Department, Chicago, IL, for Defendants–Appellees.

Before WILLIAMS, SYKES, and TINDER, Circuit Judges.

WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge.

Timothy Petty was arrested on the suspicion that he, along with another person, shot and killed Albert Council and wounded two others. Petty was identified as the shooter and was indicted for murder, but was found not guilty after a bench trial. After his acquittal, Petty filed a suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the City of Chicago and individual Chicago Police Department officers arguing that the officers violated his due process rights by intentionally mishandling the shooting investigation and prosecuting him for murder based on falsified evidence. Specifically, Petty alleged that CPD officers held a witness, Fredrick Tarver, in a room for over 13 hours without food, water, or accessto a bathroom until he implicated him. But Petty's argument fails because his “coerced evidence” claim is not cognizable under the Due Process Clause.

In addition, Petty alleged that Defendants concealed evidence and failed to disclose their misconduct in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). We disagree. Summary judgment was proper here because Petty was aware of the's alleged misconduct before trial and had ample opportunity to make use of the information at trial. Finally, he claimed that the City was liable for the police officers' conduct because it had a policy of detaining people believed to be crime witnesses for extended periods of time against their will. But his Monell claim also fails because he did not suffer a constitutional injury sufficient to support it.² Therefore, we affirm the district courts' decision.

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Shooting and the Identifications

In the early morning of October 18, 2003, two individuals shot and killed Albert Council, wounding Sebastian Moore and Lowell Hubbard. Minutes after the shooting, Chicago Police Department (“CPD”) officers arrived at the scene and were told by witnesses that the shooters were African–Americans who wore dark clothing, masks, and skull caps. Officers brought witnesses Frederick Tarver and Mario Parker to CPD Area 3 Headquarters for further questioning. Between 13 to 17 hours later, Tarver selected Timothy Petty's photo from a photo array and identified him as a shooter.

On November 29, Petty, also known as “Spank,” was arrested on an outstanding warrant and after Moore also positively identified Petty as one of the shooters murder charges were filed against him. On December 19, Petty was indicted for murder and held in custody for 33 months pending trial.

B. Petty's Motions Before His Bench Trial

In state court, Petty moved to quash his arrest and suppress any evidence that arose from it, arguing that he was arrested without a valid warrant or probable cause. After hearing testimony from CPD officers regarding their conduct surrounding Tarver's positive identification of Petty, his motion was denied.

Petty filed a second motion to suppress Tarver's identification testimony, alleging that Tarver recanted his identification and only made the initial false identification because police officers told him who to pick out of the line-up. At the hearing, Tarver said the police tried to make him pick Petty from the line-up, and that he had told the officers he was not sure whether Petty was the shooter. He also testified that he was not allowed to leave the police station after the line-up and was left in a locked room until the next morning. Tarver said Defendant Detective Michael Conway threatened to have his parole revoked if he did not help convict Petty. When Tarver was shown the picture of Petty with his signature on it, Tarver said that the signature looked like his but he did not remember seeing or signing the picture. Tarver also stated that he had filed a civil lawsuit against the police for their conduct and that the suit was pending. After a hearing, the state court judge denied Petty's motion, finding that Tarver identified “Spank” to the policeand that the police acted in good faith and committed no misconduct. At a bench trial, Petty was tried for murder and found not guilty. Petty then filed a suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the City and Defendants, which they removed to federal court.

C. Petty's Civil Suit

In his complaint, Petty alleged that the City was liable for the police officers' conduct under Monell v. Department of Social Services of City of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). Specifically, he asserted that the City had a policy of detaining people believed to be witnesses to crimes for extended periods of time against their will. The City moved to dismiss Petty's Monell claim, arguing that Petty could not have suffered a constitutional violation because he was not the one detained, and without a direct link, he could not establish a direct connection between the City's alleged policy and his alleged injury. Judge Andersen granted the City's motion to dismiss.

In the same complaint, Petty alleged that the individual officers: (1) violated his due process right to a fair trial by inducing prosecutors to wrongfully prosecute him; and (2) deprived him of exculpatory information in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). He claimed that the individual defendants coerced Tarver into falsely identifying Petty as the shooter by holding him against his will at the police station, harassing him at his home, and arresting and refusing to release him until he identified Petty from a lineup. He believes that CPD officers violated Brady because they failed to tell prosecutors how Tarver's identification was secured.

When the case was transferred to Judge Kendall, Defendants moved for summary judgment on Petty's due process and Brady claims and they filed a statement of undisputed facts under United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Local Rule 56.1. In Petty's response in opposition, he admitted everything in the Defendants' statement of facts and submitted a 56.1 statement with 169–paragraphs of additional facts. Petty also provided 42 exhibits spanning 480 pages.

Defendants moved to strike all but the first 40 paragraphs of Petty's 56.1 statement citing Local Rule 56.1, which prohibits a party from submitting more than 40 paragraphs without permission from the court. The district court struck all those additional facts because Petty never sought, nor received, permission to file additional paragraphs and granted summary judgment in favor of the Defendants.

Petty filed a motion to reconsider the court's ruling, citing Whitlock v. Brueggemann, 682 F.3d 567 (7th Cir.2012), which had been decided a day before the district court ruled against him. He argued that Whitlock held that the deliberate manufacture of false evidence violates the Due Process Clause and that the district court's decision contradicted Whitlock. He also moved for leave to file a statement that contained more than 40 paragraphs. The court denied his request to file the additional paragraphs and his motion for reconsideration. He now appeals that decision as well as the grant of summary judgment as to all of his federal claims, and the dismissal of his Monell claim against the City.

II. ANALYSIS

First, Petty contends that the district court should have allowed him to submit a fact statement in excess of 40 paragraphs. Second, he argues that the district court erred when it granted summary judgment for the City on his due process and Brady claims. Finally, he asserts that it was error for the district court to dismiss his Monell claim. We address these issues below.

A. No Error in Striking Petty's Additional Facts

Petty contends the district court abused its discretion by striking his additional fact statements in excess of that allowed by local rules. A party filing a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure must file “a statement of material facts as to which the moving party contends there is no genuine issue and that entitle the moving party to a judgment as a matter of law.” N.D. Ill. Local R. 56.1(a)(3). The non-moving party must file a response to the moving party's statement, and, in the case of any disagreement, cite “specific references to the affidavits, parts of the record, and other supporting materials relied upon.” Koszola v. Board of Educ. of City of Chicago, 385 F.3d 1104, 1108 (7th Cir.2004) (quoting N.D. Ill. Local R. 56.1(b)(3)(A)). According to Local R. 56.1(b)(3)(C) “[a]bsent prior leave of Court, a respondent to a summary judgment motion shall not file more than 40 separately-numbered statements of additional facts.” We review district court decisions concerning compliance with local rules for abuse of discretion. Id.

Petty argues that the district court should have given him greater leeway to submit more than 40 paragraphs given the complexity of the case, but we do not agree. Petty violated Local Rule 56.1 by submitting additional facts in excess of the 40 permitted without permission from the court, and tries to justify his error by arguing that malicious prosecutions and due process cases are so fact intensive that the paragraph limitation is simply not practical. While this kind of case may be more complex, Local Rule 56.1 contemplates this very problem and outlines how movants may address their concerns within the confines of the rule. See Local R. 56.1 Committee Comment (“A party may seek leave to file more...