Wilson v. Adm'r of Estate of Former Chi. Police Dep't Commander Burge
| Decision Date | 31 March 2023 |
| Docket Number | 21-cv-03487 |
| Parties | Jackie Wilson, Plaintiff, v. Administrator of the Estate of Former Chicago Police Department Commander Jon Burge; Thomas McKenna; Brian O'Hara, Special Representative of Deceased Defendant Patrick O'Hara; Geri Lynn Yanow, Special Representative of Deceased Defendant John Yucaitis; Lawrence H. Hyman; Nicholas N. Trutenko; Michael Hartnett; Timothy Andrew Horvat; Susan Kunkle, Special Representative of the Estate of William J. Kunkle; William David Coleman; Anthony Schumann, Special Representative of Deceased Defendant Leroy Martin Sr.; Terry Hillard; Robert Shines as Special Representative for the Estate of Gayle Shines; Thomas Needham; City of Chicago; Cook County, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
Table of Contents
A. Individual Constitutional Claims (Counts I, II, III) 1. Claims Against Hartnett a. Color of Law b. Sufficiency of Counts I, II, and III
2. Claims Against Hyman
3. Claims Against Kunkle
4. Claims Against Horvat
5. Claims Against Shines, Hillard, Needham, and Martin a. Suppression of Evidence (All City Defendants)
b. Failure to Supervise or Intervene (Martin)
c. Count III Under the Fourteenth Amendment (All City Defendants)
6. Claims Against Daley a. Sufficiency of Count I
b. Conspiracy
B. Individual State-Law Claims (Counts VI and VII)
C. Conspiracy
D. Monell Claim (Count V), Respondeat Superior (Count IX), and Indemnification (Count X)
On February 9, 1982, Chicago Police Officers William Fahey (Officer Fahey) and Richard O' Brien (Officer O'Brien) were shot and killed during a traffic stop. The murders led to the largest manhunt in the history of the City of Chicago. Five days later, Plaintiff Jackie Wilson (Wilson) and his brother Andrew Wilson (Andrew) were arrested by the Chicago Police Department (CPD) for the murders, at which time they were allegedly tortured by Chicago Police Officers into confessing to the murders. Wilson and Andrew were tried for the murders and found guilty. Wilson was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Illinois Appellate Court reversed Wilson's conviction and granted him a new trial. Wilson was re-tried and convicted for the murder of Officer O'Brien; but acquitted of the murder of Officer Fahey. Wilson's conviction was affirmed by the Illinois Appellate Court.
Wilson subsequently filed a complaint with the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission (the Commission), alleging that his statements were involuntary, as they were the product of torture committed by Chicago Police Officers. In 2018, the Circuit Court of Cook County ruled that Wilson's confession was tortured from him and granted him a new trial at which the confession would be barred. Two years later the Office of the Special Prosecutor began Wilson's third trial, relying on manufactured and false evidence. The Special Prosecutor, however, mid-trial moved to dismiss all charges against Wilson with prejudice.
Wilson then filed a sprawling ten-count Complaint against seventeen defendants, who include Chicago Police Officers, former Cook County State's Attorneys, former City of Chicago officials, and the City of Chicago (the City), asserting 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims and supplemental state law claims. R. 1, Compl.[1] Defendants move to dismiss the Complaint on several grounds, including the statute of limitations, absolute and qualified immunity, failure to state a claim, and the unconstitutionality of the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission Act, 775 ILCS 40/1, et seq.[2] R. 47, Trutenko Mot. Dismiss; R. 58, Horvat Mot. Dismiss; R. 59, Hartnett Mot. Dismiss; R. 69, Daley Mot. Dismiss; R. 72, Hyman Mot. Dismiss; R. 74, Kunkle Mot. Dismiss; R. 75, City Mot. Dismiss; R. 168, Martin Mot. Dismiss.[3]
Background[4]
On February 9, 1982, during the course of a traffic stop, Chicago Police Officers Fahey and O'Brien were shot and killed. Compl. ¶¶ 57, 80-81. Wilson allegedly was the driver of the car and Andrew a passenger. Id. ¶¶ 82-83. The murders led the CPD to conduct the City's largest manhunt in history. Id. ¶ 57. Defendant Jon Burge (Burge), who was the commanding Violent Crimes Lieutenant at Area 2, was in charge of investigating the murders of Officers Fahey and O'Brien. Id. ¶ 58.
Three days after the murders, on February 12, 1982, Anthony Williams (Williams), an African American, was arrested and told that he “was the one that shot” the two officers. Compl. ¶¶ 63, 232. At CPD headquarters, Burge, among other CPD officers, tortured Williams. Id. ¶ 64. Burge tried unsuccessfully to get Williams to confess to killing Officers O'Brien and Fahey. Id. ¶ 65.
Also on February 12, 1982, an eyewitness to the murders tentatively identified Donald White (White), an African American, as the shooter of the two officers and White's brother-in-law, Dwight Anthony (Anthony), also an African American, as the driver of the car in which the shooter was riding. Id. ¶¶ 67-68, 232. White and Anthony were arrested the evening of February 12, and Defendants Thomas McKenna (McKenna), Patrick O'Hara (O'Hara) (both CPD detectives who worked at Area 2), Burge, and others questioned White. Id. ¶¶ 59, 68-69. Burge and the other CPD officers tortured White, who eventually gave a false statement. Id. ¶¶ 70-77.
Two days later, on February 14, 1982, Wilson, who is African American, was arrested and taken to Area 2, where he was interrogated by several Chicago Police Officers, including Detectives McKenna and O'Hara. Id. ¶¶ 38, 107-08, 113. After Wilson denied any knowledge about the murders of Officers Fahey and O'Brien, McKenna struck Wilson several times about the face and body, and then hit him in the head several times with a phone book. Id. ¶¶ 115-16, 118. O'Hara also hit Wilson in the face, chest, and side while Wilson denied involvement in the murders. Id. ¶ 116. After Burge instructed O'Hara to stop hitting Wilson in order to not “leave marks . . . on his face,” McKenna later started to choke Wilson and then put a revolver in Wilson's mouth. Id. ¶¶ 129-30. When Wilson still refused to make a statement, Burge told McKenna to take the gun out of Wilson's mouth, then left the interrogation room and returned carrying a bag that contained a black box. Id. ¶¶ 133-34. Burge uncuffed Wilson and placed wires on Wilson's hands. Id. ¶ 134. Wilson felt an electric jolt go through his body. Id. ¶ 135. Burge electroshocked Wilson three times. Id. ¶ 136. Eventually, Wilson informed the officers that he would say whatever they wanted him to say. Id. ¶¶ 139, 141.
Shortly thereafter, Defendant Lawrence Hyman (Hyman), supervisor of the Felony Review Unit of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office (CCSAO), who was on the second floor of Area 2 in a room close to where the interrogations of Wilson and Andrew were taking place, walked into the interrogation room, and said that he heard that Wilson was going to make a statement. Compl. ¶¶ 49, 142. Wilson instead told Hyman that he wanted to see his attorney, after which Hyman left and McKenna and O'Hara returned, beat Wilson again, and told him that if he requested a lawyer again he would be tortured again. Id. ¶ 144. Wilson, believing the only way he would leave Area 2 alive was to give a statement, finally agreed to give a statement. Id. Hyman, along with Defendant Michael Hartnett (Hartnett), a Cook County Court Reporter who was also present at Area 2 as Wilson and Andrew were being tortured, were called into the interrogation room to take Wilson's statement. Id. ¶¶ 11, 146, 148. Hyman and Hartnett took Wilson's statement in McKenna's presence. Id. ¶ 149. Hyman, in derogation of CCSAO policy and practice at that time, did not ask Wilson if he had been physically abused or otherwise mistreated. Id. ¶ 150.
Andrew was separately arrested, taken to Area 2, and tortured into confessing to the murders the same day as Wilson. Compl. ¶¶ 85, 88, 92, 105.
Defenda...
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