Wade v. Ramos
| Decision Date | 22 March 2019 |
| Docket Number | No. 16 C 9022,16 C 9022 |
| Parties | WILHELM I. WADE, SE'MONE M. WADE, and TIRAE L. DOTSON, Plaintiff, v. IVAN I. RAMOS, SALVATORE REINA, JOHN W. FRANO, MARVIN J. BONNSTETTER, KEVIN GARCIA, MICHAEL A. NAPOLI, VITO P. RAIMONDI, TONIA M. MORIN, JOSEPH M. ROMAN, JENNIFER L. TERZICH, LAWRENCE O. STUCKERT, SANTOS T. REYES, JR., and CITY OF CHICAGO, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
Relying on information from a "J. Doe" informant, Chicago Police Officers obtained a warrant to search the apartment of Terrell Johnson in September 2015. Johnson's apartment is one flight upstairs from street level, but is in fact a first-floor apartment. Perhaps because of this configuration, the officers requested and obtained a warrant to search a second-floor apartment, ultimately entering a unit upstairs from Johnson's that belonged to Plaintiffs Wilhelm and Se'Mone Wade. This federal lawsuit followed. The Wades allege that the officers sought and obtained an invalid warrant, executed it unreasonably, and unlawfully seized them during the search. They have also brought a related Monell claim against the City of Chicago. Plaintiff Dotson, who was arrested during the search, additionally alleges that he was subjected to a false arrest and malicious prosecution. The Officers and the City of Chicago now move for partial summary judgment. For the reasons stated herein, the motion is granted.
This case centers on the September 2015 search of a two-story apartment building located at 4131 West Crystal Street in Chicago, Illinois, conducted by Chicago Police Department ("CPD") officers. The apartment building contains four units: two front units, with their own entrance and stairwell, and two rear units, with their own entrance and stairwell. (Pl. 56.1 [292] ¶ 2.) (Mecher Jr. Dep. at 25-26, Ex. H. to Def. 56.1 [265].) Only the two front units—a lower and upper unit—are relevant to this case. At all relevant times, a man named Terrell Johnson resided in the lower front unit (the "Johnson Unit"). (Mecher Sr. Dep. at 13-16, Ex. G to Def. 56.1.) To reach the Johnson Unit, one must enter the apartment complex and ascend one flight of stairs. (Pl. 56.1 ¶ 37.) Plaintiffs Wilhelm Wade and his daughter, Plaintiff Se'Mone Wade, resided in the upper front unit (the "Wade Unit"). (Def. 56.1 ¶¶ 69-70.) To reach the Wade Unit, one must ascend an additional flight of stairs from the Johnson Unit's entrance. (Wilhelm Wade Dep. at 83-88, Ex. J to Def. 56.1.) At the time the search was executed, a "2" was affixed to the front door of the Wade unit. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 26.)
The search was precipitated by information provided by a registered cooperating individual (an "RCI"). (Pl. 56.1 ¶ 35.) The informant, referred to as "J. Doe," was registered as an RCI in approximately 2005 or 2006 with the assistance of Defendant John Frano, a CPD officer. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 57.) Doe thereafter provided information to Frano on a number of occasions; Frano estimates that Doe provided him information some 250 to 300 times and that Frano spoke with Doe approximately 600 to 1200 times prior to the search at issue in this case. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 66.) Doe also cooperated with Defendant Ivan Ramos, a CPD sergeant. (Id. ¶ 63.) Prior to this search, Ramos testified, Doe assisted him with 20 to 40 other search warrants, of which Ramos estimates that "over 90 percent" led to an arrest. Ramos did not compensate Doe in any of these cases, and claims that Doe cooperated out of Doe's stated desire to "clean up the streets." (Def. 56.1 ¶¶ 65, 67.) Ramos has never reviewed Doe's RCI file and is unaware whether it contains anything that would bear negatively on Doe's credibility. (Id. ¶ 62.)
As part of his cooperation, Doe met with Ramos on September 14, 2015. (Id. ¶ 3.) During that meeting, according to Ramos, Doe relayed to him the following information: Earlier that day, Doe had purchased "a couple" bags of heroin from a man named "Swami." (Id. ¶¶ 3-4.) Doe said that he had previously purchased heroin from "Swami" three or four other times. (Id. ¶ 3.) The September 14 transaction took place in what Doe understood to be "Swami's" apartment, situated in the "2nd floor" of a building located at 4131 West Crystal Street. Doe recounted that, after entering through the front door of "Swami's" apartment, Doe walked through the living room to a bedroom in the back of the unit. (Def. 56.1 ¶¶ 10-11.) Inside the bedroom, Doe saw "Swami" remove a clear plastic bag from the bedroom closet. (Id. ¶ 12.) That bag contained 20-50 smaller clear plastic bags containing heroin, several of which Doe purchased from "Swami." (Id.) Doe then left through the front door. (Id. ¶ 10.) Doe was in the unit no more than five to fifteen minutes. (Id. ¶ 4.)
After Doe shared this information, Ramos drove with Doe to the apartment located at 4131 West Crystal Street. (Id. ¶ 13.) Doe identified the unit he had entered by pointing to the second floor of the building and stating that he had entered the front door of the complex, gone up to the second floor, and purchased heroin from "Swami" there. (Id. ¶ 13.) In a sworn complaint (referred to here as "criminal complaint") that he prepared later, Ramos wrote that he retrieved a photograph of Terrell Johnson from the Chicago Police Department Data Warehouse and showed this to Doe, and Doe identified the man in the photograph as "Swami."1 (Search Warrant at 2.) Ramos testified that he also "pull[ed] pictures of the residence." (Def. 56.1 ¶ 6.) These photosare not in the record, and the court is unaware of where they were "pulled" from. Ramos took no other action to verify Terrell Johnson's address. (Id. ¶ 7.) All of the defendants, including Ramos, have made judicial admissions that they performed ' (Pl. 56.1 ¶ 36.)
On or before September 16, 2016, Ramos drafted a criminal complaint in support of his request for a warrant to search Johnson and "the premises: 4131 W. Crystal 2nd floor apartment of a brown brick apartment building located in the City of Chicago, Cook County IL." (See Search Warrant at 1-2.) Ramos asserts that the criminal complaint contains "all grounds constituting probable cause to obtain a warrant." (Pl. 56.1 ¶ 34.) It includes the foregoing information about Ramos's September 14th meeting with J. Doe, but provides no details about Doe's background. (See Search Warrant.)
Ramos believes that the criminal complaint "would have" first been approved by "Lieutenant Platt,"2 but does not specifically recall receiving this approval, and although Ramos recognizes a signature on the criminal complaint as "a signature of a lieutenant," he does not recognize it to be Lieutenant Platt's. (Def. 56.1 ¶¶ 14, 16; Ramos Dep. at 231-32; Ramos Answers to Interrog.'s ¶ 20, Ex. Z12 to Def. 56.1.) Ramos believes the criminal complaint was also approved by the State's Attorney's office through Assistant State's Attorney Katheryn Roy, as he recalls faxing the criminal complaint to her, but he does not recognize any signature on the criminal complaint to be that of ASA Roy. (Ramos Dep. at 233-34.)
Before the search warrant was approved, Ramos and Frano transported Doe in a squad car to the home of Cook County Circuit Judge Ursula Walowski, with Ramos in the driver's seatand Frano in the front passenger's seat. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 17.) Once at Judge Walowski's residence, Frano exited the vehicle and Judge Walowski took his place in the front passenger seat. (Id.) Ramos handed Judge Walowski a draft search warrant, a copy of the criminal complaint, and a print-out of J. Doe's criminal history.3 (Id.); (Search Warrant at 2.) According to Ramos,4 Judge Walowski interviewed Doe and learned the following: (1) Judge Walowski asked how Doe knew Johnson, and Doe responded that Johnson sold him drugs; (2) Judge Walowski asked when Doe last purchased narcotics from Johnson, and Doe responded that it was two days prior; (3) Judge Walowski asked how much heroin Doe had purchased, and Doe responded that it was "a couple of bags;" (4) in answer to Judge Walowski's question, Doe acknowledged that he had been using heroin for 8 to 10 years. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 19.) Ramos does not recall telling Judge Walowski that Doe was registered as an informant. (Id. ¶ 20.) The meeting with the judge lasted no more than 15 minutes. (Id. ¶ 21.)
The Search Warrant reflects that it was approved by Judge Walowski on September 16, 2015 at 7:05 p.m. (Search Warrant at 3.) It authorizes the search of "Johnson, Terrell AKA 'Swami,'" described as a 5'9" 180-pound black male born in 1976, and the premises at "4131 W.Crystal 2nd Floor Apartment of a brown brick apartment building located in the City of Chicago, Cook County IL." (Id.) It additionally provides for the seizure of "any documents showing proof of residency, any paraphernalia used in the weighing, cutting, or mixing of illegal drugs, any money, [and] any records detailing illegal drug transactions which have been used in the commission of, or which constitute evidence of [unlawful possession of a controlled substance]." (Id.) There is no evidence that Doe himself reviewed either the search warrant or the criminal complaint before it was authorized or executed.
Prior to execution of the search warrant, Ramos met with Frano and ten other officers who would execute the search warrant: Defendants Salvatore Reina, Kevin Garcia, Michael Napoli, Joseph Roman, Lawrence Stuckert, Santos Reyes Jr., Jennifer Terzich, Tonia Morin, and Vito Raimondi. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 24.) At this meeting, Frano provided pictures of Terrell...
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