Sparing v. Village of Olympia Fields, 97 C 5479.
| Decision Date | 13 December 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 97 C 5479.,97 C 5479. |
| Citation | 77 F.Supp.2d 891 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
| Parties | Eugene SPARING, Plaintiff, v. VILLAGE OF OLYMPIA FIELDS, and Officer James Keith, Defendants. |
Kenneth N. Flaxman, Kenneth N. Flaxman, P.C., Chicago, IL, for plaintiff.
Thomas George DiCianni, Michael W. Tootooian, Jennifer Ann Pritz, Ancel, Glink, Diamond, Cope & Bush, Chicago, IL, for defendants.
Eugene Sparing ("Sparing") brought this suit alleging that James Keith ("Keith"), a police officer with the Village of Olympia Fields, violated Sparing's civil rights by entering his home and arresting him without a warrant and without probable cause. Sparing seeks damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for the alleged civil rights violations, and also invokes the court's supplemental jurisdiction to assert the Illinois tort of malicious prosecution against Keith and the Village (where appropriate, "Defendants"). Defendants now move for summary judgment, while Sparing moves for summary judgment on his § 1983 claims. For the following reasons, the court grants Defendants' motion and denies Sparing's motion.
On July 23, 1996, David Smith ("Smith") filed a criminal report with the Olympia Fields Police Department. Smith, an accountant, told Keith that he terminated an employment relationship with Tom Sanfratello ("Sanfratello") on May 31, 1996. Smith complained that Sanfratello took files from Smith's office, prepared checks made out to himself, and forged Smith's signature on the checks. Smith said his friend, Sparing, saw Sanfratello in Smith's office on July 9, 1996 at 2:30 a.m. Sparing allegedly knocked on the window to get Sanfratello's attention, but Sanfratello ignored him.
On August 13, 1996, Keith telephoned Sparing, asking him to verify Smith's version of events, and Sparing did so. Later the same day, Keith questioned Sanfratello about the alleged incident. Sanfratello disputed the story, claiming that he did not leave Smith's employment until June 10, 1996. Sanfratello admitted taking files, but claimed that he returned them to Smith. Sanfratello also admitted signing checks, but maintained he was a signatory on the account, and Smith owed him money.
Sanfratello also told Keith about a conversation he had with Sparing's secretary, Linda Parker ("Parker"). Parker allegedly told Sanfratello that Smith and Sparing were "up to no good." 2 According to Sanfratello, Parker said that Smith faxed a message to Sparing about Sparing's alleged observation of Sanfratello at Smith's office. Sanfratello gave Keith a copy of the fax, which read:
Gene:
July 9, 1996 at 2:45 a.m. [you] observed Tom at office copying files from computer and photocopying. You knocked on windows and Tom ignored you. You left and went home.
Thanks
David
On August 14, 1996, Keith telephoned Parker to investigate Sanfratello's story, and prepared a written report of this telephone interview. According to Keith's report, Parker told Keith that she received the fax from Smith and gave it to Sparing, who allegedly said "Dave [Smith] wants me to perjure myself."
The next day, Parker telephoned Keith to tell him that Sparing confronted her about the conversation she had with Keith the previous day. According to Parker, she met Sparing for lunch, where he asked her with whom she had been speaking. Parker did not answer Sparing's question, but later Sparing drove her by the Olympia Fields police station to "refresh her memory." Parker then told Sparing that she spoke with the police about the fax from Smith. According to Parker, Sparing responded "I thought you were my friend," and asked "How could you do this to me?" and "Don't you know this could lead to criminal charges against me?" Parker claimed that Sparing then fired her, told her that he would be evicting her from the house she rented from him, and that he was taking back a van on which she was making payments. Later the same day, Keith interviewed Parker in person, where she restated the things she told Keith in their telephone conversation.
Following this meeting with Parker, Keith went to Sparing's residence/business and knocked on the door. A man answered the door, and identified himself as Sparing. Keith then told Sparing he was under arrest. At the time Keith announced the arrest, Keith was standing outside the threshold, and Sparing was standing inside the screen door. Then, Sparing asked if Keith had a warrant. Keith replied that he did not need one because he had probable cause to believe Sparing committed a crime. After Keith announced the arrest, Sparing asked to put something down, and walked farther into his residence. At that time, Keith stepped inside Sparing's residence. Sparing returned to the doorway, and walked outside with Keith, who then handcuffed Sparing and took him to the Olympia Fields police station. Sparing was charged with obstructing a peace officer in violation of 720 ILCS 5/31-1.
According to Sparing, Keith offered to release Sparing if he would provide evidence against Smith. Sparing claims that during the ride to the police station, Keith said Sparing also claims Keith said that if Sparing "told the right story" and testified against Smith, "this will be over for you." Keith denies making these statements.
At the time of his arrest, Sparing claims he was selected to be a director of a business that was in the process of going public. As a member of the board of directors, Sparing would have been entitled to purchase 100,000 shares of stock at $0.075 per share. The stock, which is not yet publicly traded, sold for $2.00 per share during the summer of 1999. Sparing asserts that he lost this opportunity because Keith arrested him. Defendants disagree and argue that Sparing was not officially approved as a director at the time of his arrest.
On August 7, 1997, Sparing filed a four count complaint against Keith, the Village, and William Bednar.3 Count I, brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claims that Keith violated Sparing's Fourth Amendment rights when he entered Sparing's residence without a warrant. Count II, another § 1983 claim, alleges that Keith violated Sparing's Fourth Amendment rights when he arrested Sparing without probable cause. Count IV is brought under the court's supplemental jurisdiction, and alleges the Illinois tort of malicious prosecution against Keith and the Village on the theory of respondent superior. A large part of Sparing's claimed damages is the purported lost investment opportunity.
In their motion for summary judgment, Keith and the Village argue that Keith has qualified immunity against the § 1983 claims because Keith did not arrest Sparing in his home, and because Keith had probable cause to make the arrest. Keith and the Village also argue that the malicious prosecution claim fails because Keith had probable cause, and because of the Illinois Tort Immunity Act, 745 ILCS §§ 10/2-109 and 10/2-208. Alternatively, Keith and the Village argue that Sparing's claimed damages are speculative, and not recoverable.
In Sparing's motion on the § 1983 claims, he argues that Keith did not have probable cause to make the arrest, and that he is entitled to judgment because Keith admits to entering Sparing's home. Sparing does not move for summary judgment on his malicious prosecution claim, rather, he asserts that a trial is necessary. Sparing also maintains that the alleged damages are not speculative, and should be resolved at trial.
Summary judgment is permissible when "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The nonmoving party cannot rest on the pleadings alone, but must identify specific facts, see Cornfield v. Consolidated High School District No. 230, 991 F.2d 1316, 1320 (7th Cir.1993), that raise more than a mere scintilla of evidence to show a genuine triable issue of material fact. See Murphy v. ITT Educational Services, Inc., 176 F.3d 934, 936 (7th Cir.1999). In other words, summary judgment is the "put up or shut up" stage of a lawsuit, when the party opposing the motion must present "what evidence it has that would convince a trier of fact to accept its version of events." Shank v. William R. Hague, Inc., 192 F.3d 675, 682 (7th Cir.1999) (citing Schacht v. Wisconsin Dep't of Corrections, 175 F.3d 497, 503-04 (7th Cir.1999)). In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the court can only consider evidence that would be admissible at trial under the Federal Rules of Evidence. See, Bombard v. Fort Wayne Newspapers, Inc., 92 F.3d 560, 562 (7th Cir.1996). The court views the record and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. See Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c), see also, Perdomo v. Browner, 67 F.3d 140, 144 (7th Cir.1995). "In the light most favorable" simply means that summary judgment is not appropriate if the court must make "a choice of inferences." See United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 655, 82 S.Ct. 993, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962), see also, First Nat'l Bank of Arizona v. Cities Service Co., 391 U.S. 253, 280, 88 S.Ct. 1575, 20 L.Ed.2d 569 (1968); Wolf v. Buss (America) Inc., 77 F.3d 914, 922 (7th Cir.1996). The choice between reasonable inferences from facts is a jury function. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).
1. In general
Government officials have qualified immunity against § 1983 liability ...
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