Smith v. Sheahan

• Decision Date: 07 January 1997
• Docket Number: No. 95 C 7203.,95 C 7203.
• Citation: 959 F.Supp. 841
• Parties: Valeria SMITH, Plaintiff, v. Michael F. SHEAHAN, Sheriff of Cook County, individually and in his official capacity, and Ronald Gamble, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

Page 841

959 F.Supp. 841

Valeria SMITH, Plaintiff, v. Michael F. SHEAHAN, Sheriff of Cook County, individually and in his official capacity, and Ronald Gamble, Defendants.

No. 95 C 7203.

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.

January 7, 1997.

Lawrence A. Rosen, Lawrence, Kamin, Saunders & Uhlenhop, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.

Nancy M. Black, Sally A. Comin, John J. Murphy, Office of Cook County State's Attorney, Gregory E. Kulis, Kathleen T. Coyne, Gregory E. Kulis & Associates, Chicago, IL, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

HART, District Judge.

Plaintiff Valeria Smith was employed as a correctional officer at the Cook County Jail. She alleges that, on August 30, 1992, she was physically attacked by defendant Ronald Gamble, another correctional officer. Also named as a defendant is the Cook County Sheriff, who has authority over the Cook County Jail. The complaint contains two counts. Count I is a Title VII hostile work environment claim against the Sheriff. Count II is a state common law tort action against Gamble for assault and battery. In answering the complaint, Gamble admitted that he was found guilty in a criminal court of battering plaintiff. Plaintiff moves for judgment on the pleadings as to Gamble's liability on the ground that the criminal conviction prevents him from denying the facts necessary to hold him liable on the battery claim. In response to the motion, defendant also admits that, at his criminal trial, he raised the defense of self-defense. Gamble opposes the motion for judgment on the pleadings on the ground that Illinois law only allows a criminal conviction to be used as prima facie evidence of the underlying conduct, not as conclusive evidence of that conduct.

This court must accord a state court judgment the same preclusive effect that the state court would accord it. 28 U.S.C. § 1738; Rekhi v. Wildwood Industries, Inc., 61 F.3d 1313, 1317 (7th Cir.1995); Wozniak v. County of DuPage, 845 F.2d 677, 680 (7th Cir.1988). The general rule in Illinois is that collateral estoppel is applied when the following requirements are satisfied:

(1) the party against whom the estoppel is asserted was a party to the prior adjudication, (2) the issues which form the basis of the estoppel were actually litigated and decided on the merits in the prior suit, (3) the resolution of the particular issue was necessary to the court's judgments, and (4) those issues are identical to the issues raised in the subsequent suit.

Wozniak, 845 F.2d at 682-83 (quoting County of Cook v. MidCon Corp., 773 F.2d 892, 898 (7th Cir.1985)). Accord Prymer v. Ogden, 29 F.3d 1208, 1212 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1057, 115 S.Ct. 665, 130 L.Ed.2d 599 (1994); Freeman United Coal Mining Co. v. Office of Workers' Compensation Program, 20 F.3d 289, 293 (7th Cir. 1994). The party against whom estoppel is asserted must also have been provided with a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue in the prior action. Prymer, 29 F.3d at 1213; Crot v. Byrne, 957 F.2d 394, 396 (7th Cir. 1992).

Illinois law, though, is not entirely clear as to the application of the ordinary collateral estoppel rules when the prior judgment is a criminal conviction. If the underlying judgment were a federal conviction, it would be clear that there could be a conclusive effect accorded a criminal judgment. See Instituto Nacional De Comercializacion Agricola (Indeca) v. Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust Co., 858 F.2d 1264, 1271 (7th Cir.1988); In re Teltronics, Ltd., 649 F.2d 1236, 1239 (7th Cir.1981). The Illinois courts, however, do not always accord a criminal conviction in one of its courts a conclusive effect, sometimes only treating it as prima facie evidence of the facts upon which the conviction is based. See Thornton v. Paul, 74 Ill.2d 132, 23 Ill.Dec. 541, 547-48, 384 N.E.2d 335, 341-42 (1978); Brown v. Green, 738 F.2d 202, 206 (7th Cir.1984). Although this is sometimes recited as being a uniform rule for criminal convictions, different rules have been applied under different circumstances. Applying different rules based on the particular circumstances would be consistent with Illinois's rule that collateral estoppel is to be applied only when it will not create an injustice. See Kessinger v. Grefco, Inc., 173 Ill.2d 447, 465, 466, 220 Ill.Dec. 137, 145, 146, 672 N.E.2d 1149, 1157, 1158 (1996);¹ Talarico v. Dunlap, 281 Ill. App.3d 662, 217 Ill.Dec. 481, 483, 667 N.E.2d 570, 572 (1st Dist.), appeal denied, 168 Ill.2d 627, 219 Ill.Dec. 577, 671 N.E.2d 744 (1996).

Under various circumstances, it has been held that criminal convictions may only be used as prima facie evidence and will not be accorded a conclusive effect. In disputes between an insurer and insured regarding coverage for tort suits based on conduct for which the insured was also convicted of a crime, the conviction is only prima facie evidence of the insured's conduct or intent. Thornton, 23 Ill.Dec. at 547-48, 384 N.E.2d at 341-42; Bay State Insurance Co. v. Wilson, 96 Ill.2d 487, 71 Ill.Dec. 726, 728, 451 N.E.2d 880, 882 (1983); State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Shelton, 176 Ill.App.3d 858, 126 Ill.Dec. 286, 289, 531 N.E.2d 913, 916 (1st Dist.1988), appeal denied, 125 Ill.2d 574, 130 Ill.Dec. 489, 537 N.E.2d 818 (1989). See also Wright v. City of Danville, 267 Ill.App.3d 375, 204 Ill.Dec. 681, 688, 642 N.E.2d 143, 150 (4th Dist.1994) (municipal indemnity — dictum). In an adoption proceeding, a prior conviction was limited to being prima facie evidence that the natural father had committed rape. Smith v. Andrews, 54 Ill.App.2d 51, 203 N.E.2d 160, 164-66 (2d Dist.1964), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 1029, 86 S.Ct. 655, 15 L.Ed.2d 543 (1966). The Seventh Circuit has held that, in suits pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 involving police conduct, a prior conviction of the plaintiff arising from the same event may only be used as prima facie evidence of the plaintiff's criminal conduct. Brown, 738 F.2d at 206. Accord Calusinski v. Kruger, 24 F.3d 931, 934 (7th Cir.1994); Hill v. Miller, 878 F.Supp. 114, 116 (N.D.Ill. 1995); Johnson v. City of Chicago, 712 F.Supp. 1311, 1314 (N.D.Ill.1989); Garland v. Schulz, 1995 WL 31518 *3 (N.D.Ill. Jan.26, 1995). In O'Dell v. Dowd, 102 Ill.App.3d 189, 57 Ill.Dec. 650, 653-54, 429 N.E.2d 548, 551-52 (4th Dist.1981), a wrongful death suit involving an automobile accident, it was held that a conviction for a traffic offense (to which the defendant had pleaded guilty) was admissible as prima facie evidence that the defendant had been driving too fast for conditions. The Illinois Supreme Court, however, subsequently held that traffic convictions are not admissible evidence and may not be a basis for collateral estoppel. Thurmond v. Monroe, 159 Ill.2d 240, 201 Ill.Dec. 112, 115-16, 636 N.E.2d 544, 547-48 (1994) ("Thurmond II"). Illinois Appellate Court cases had previously reached that conclusion and construed O'Dell as being consistent by limiting O'Dell to a holding that the guilty plea (not the conviction) was the properly admissible evidence in the O'Dell case. See Thurmond v. Monroe, 235 Ill.App.3d 281, 176 Ill.Dec. 350, 354, 601 N.E.2d 1048, 1052 (1st Dist.1992) ("Thurmond I"), aff'd, Thurmond II, supra; Hengels v. Gilski, 127 Ill.App.3d 894, 83 Ill.Dec. 101, 112, 469 N.E.2d 708, 719 n. 7 (1st Dist.1984). Such a limitation is consistent with O'Dell's citation to Barnes v. Croston, 108 Ill.App.2d 182, 247 N.E.2d 1, 2-3 (1st Dist.1969). O'Dell, however, does not stand as controlling precedent that a conviction cannot be used offensively as conclusive evidence in a subsequent tort action against the criminal defendant based on the same conduct.

Before turning to those cases according a conviction a conclusive effect, it is noted that there are inconsistent holdings with respect to whether there is a distinction between cases in which the conviction followed a trial on the merits and cases in which the conviction followed a guilty plea.² Smith, 203 N.E.2d at 164-66, was the first Illinois case to permit the use of a criminal conviction itself as evidence. The Smith court distinguished its ruling from the admission into evidence of guilty pleas, which had previously been held to be an admissible form of evidence as an admission against interest. Id. at 163-64 (citing Galvan v. Torres, 8 Ill. App.2d 227, 131 N.E.2d 367 (2d Dist.1956)). Prior to 1986, it was established that, as an admission against interest, the guilty plea was not conclusive and contrary evidence could be presented. See id.; Country Mutual Insurance Co. v. Duncan, 794 F.2d 1211, 1215 (7th Cir.1986) (collecting cases). However, only 16 days after Duncan, the Seventh Circuit held that, where a conviction in the Illinois courts is based on a guilty plea (not a trial), the conviction will be accorded a conclusive effect in subsequent litigation. Rodriguez v. Schweiger, 796 F.2d 930, 933 (7th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1018, 107 S.Ct. 1899, 95 L.Ed.2d 506 (1987) (quoting & citing Brown, 738 F.2d at 206).³ See also Charles v. Cotter, 867 F.Supp. 648, 656 & n. 2 (N.D.Ill.1994). Rodriguez, however, appears to be based on a misreading of what Brown, 738 F.2d at 206, meant by use of the guilty plea as an "admission." Brown simply recited the rule set forth in Smith. Smith and Duncan make clear that the rule was that the guilty plea was admissible and could only be used as an admission against interest.

To properly interpret many of the cases involving guilty pleas, it must be recognized that use of a guilty plea as evidence is a separate question from use of the conviction. See Thurmond II, 201 Ill.Dec. at 115, 636 N.E.2d at 547. When the conviction itself is not admissible, it has been held that the guilty plea is still admissible as an admission against interest. See, e.g., Thurmond I, 176 Ill.Dec. at 352-53, 601 N.E.2d at 1050-53 (traffic convictions are not admissible evidence, but guilty pleas in traffic cases can be admitted as...