Acklin v. City of Inkster

93 F. Supp. 3d 778, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34787, 2015 WL 1287306
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedMarch 20, 2015
DocketCase No. 13-cv-13182
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 93 F. Supp. 3d 778 (Acklin v. City of Inkster) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Acklin v. City of Inkster, 93 F. Supp. 3d 778, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34787, 2015 WL 1287306 (E.D. Mich. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [# 51]

GERSHWIN A. DRAIN, District Judge.

I. Introduction

On July 24, 2013, Deshawn Acklin (“Acklin” or “Plaintiff’) filed the instant Complaint, pursuant to Section 1983 of Title 42 of the United States Code (“Section 1983”) and Michigan law. See Dkt. No. 1. In the Complaint, Acklin alleges that seven police officers, employed by the Police Department in the City of Inkster, used excessive force to execute an arrest without probable cause. See id. at 3-4. Initially, Acklin brought this action against the City of Inkster and the following seven police officers: William Melendez (“Melendez”), Shawn Adams (“Adams”), Jeffrey Czarnecki (“Czarnecki”), Allen Lash (“Lash”), Phillip Randazzo (“Randazzo”), Douglas Parson (“Parson”), and Daniel Schewe (“Schewe”). See id. • at 1.

[782]*782In the Complaint, Acklin asserts that the arresting officers violated his federal constitutional rights, as secured by the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, by subjecting him to an unconstitutional search and seizure. See id. at 3-4. Acklin asserts the officers acted in the scope of their employment in both their individual and official capacities. See id. at 2. Additionally, Acklin asserts the City of Inkster has a custom and policy of falsely arresting citizens, and acted with deliberate indifference by failing to adequately train, supervise, and review the officers’ conduct. See id. at 6-7.

On July 25, 2014, Acklin filed a separate Complaint against Jordan Dotter (“Dot-ter”), an auxiliary police officer for the Inkster Police Department. See Deshawn Acklin v. Jordan Dotter, No. 2:14-cv-12922. The Court consolidated the case against Dotter with the present action; adding Dotter as a Defendant with the other Defendants in the present action. See Dkt. No. 41.

Presently before the Court is Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment. See Dkt. No. 51. The matter is fully briefed, and, after reviewing the briefs of the parties, the Court concludes that oral argument will not aid in the resolution of this matter. Accordingly, the Court will resolve the Defendants’ Motion on the briefs submitted. See E.D. Mich. L.R. 7.1(f)(2). For the reasons discussed herein, the Court will GRANT in part and DENY in part Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment [# 51].

II. Factual Background

DeShawn Acklin was arrested by police officers from the City of Inkster Police Department on July 26, 2011. After reviewing the briefing on this matter, the details of Acklin’s arrest are in dispute. Mr. Acklin’s recollection of the. arrest differs markedly from the events recounted by the Defendants. However, even the Defendants’ recitations of the arrest contain subtle inconsistencies that this Court cannot ignore. In light of the differences between Acklin’s version of events, and subtle inconsistencies in the Officers accounts, the Court will provide a summary of the multiple accounts explaining what occurred on July 26, 2011.

A. Acklin’s Account

Acklin states he was “just hanging out” and driving his mother’s black 2000 Crown Victoria when he picked up his friend Anthony Freeman (“Freeman”) around 10:00 a.m. on July 26, 2011. After picking up Freeman, Acklin states that he and Freeman “cruised around” until 4:00 p.m. listening to music.

After “cruising around,” Acklin recalls picking up four of Freeman’s female friends and taking them to Josh Levye’s (Levye) house, located at 3574 Isabelle Street in the City of Inkster. Upon arriving at Levye’s house, Acklin recalls “hanging out on [Levye’s] porch” with Levye, Freeman, and the four females. To his knowledge, Acklin does not recall anyone possessing weapons or drugs. Acklin specifically asserts that he did not have any weapons or drugs on his person. Acklin does recall having “a fifth of Vodka, but it was unopen.” Acklin asserts that he and his friends “didn’t get to drink [and] we didn’t get to smoke.”

Around 8:00 p.m., Acklin recalls going inside Levye’s house to use the bathroom. Acklin is adamant that only he went into the house at this point. He asserts that he was only in the house for a matter of minutes before the police arrived at the home. When Acklin emerged from the bathroom, he asserts that Freeman had entered the house and that there was “a lot of beating on the door,” which Acklin assumed to be the police.

[783]*783Acklin asserts that he sat in the middle of the house while the police were knocking on the door and did not open the door because it was not his house. Acklin then asserts the police kicked in the side door of the house, came through the kitchen, and turned the corner to encounter him and Freeman. Acklin asserts that he didn’t really know any of the officers, but did seem to imply that he knew Defendant Randazzo, who was wearing plainclothes.

According to Acklin, Randazzo’s partner fist made contact and directed Acklin to freeze, and Acklin complied. Acklin remembers Randazzo’s partner wearing plainclothes and describes him as a muscular white man with a build similar to “the Rock.” After he froze, Acklin says that Randazzo’s partner directed him to come to him, and Acklin complied. Acklin states that the officers directed Freeman to get on the ground, whereupon Freeman was handcuffed.

Similarly, Acklin claims that the officers instructed him to get down. Acklin asserts that he complied and put his hands behind his back. Acklin states he was handcuffed halfway on the floor and halfway on top of a mattress in the living room. Upon being handcuffed, Acklin asserts he was punched in the face, a knee was placed into his back, and he was assaulted by Randazzo and Randazzo’s partner. According to Acklin, he was choked, punched, and beaten until he defecated on himself and went unconscious. Acklin states that the officers were yelling for him to stop resisting, though Acklin insists he was not resisting. Acklin does not recall much about the assault. He does, however, remember an officer dressed in uniform stopping the assault by tapping Randazzo’s partner on the shoulder and saying “that’s enough.”

Acklin remembers getting picked up and everyone having “a shocked face expression[.]” He asserts he was kept in handcuffs and escorted directly to the hospital in a squad car by “the same officers who jumped on [him.]” On the way to the hospital, Acklin claims he asked why he was being arrested. According to Acklin, Defendant Randazzo replied that the officers were looking for a suspect in the neighborhood, and Acklin fit the suspect’s description.

At the hospital, Acklin asserts that Ran-dazzo’s partner taunted him by asking whether Acklin liked the “wrestling moves when he choked [him].” After leaving the hospital Acklin was taken to jail, where he waited for three days. He was able to change out of his soiled clothing within a few hours of sitting in jail. Upon being told that drugs were found on Levye and two guns were found in the house, Acklin states he was surprised. He stated that Freeman wrongly accused him of owning one of the two guns that was found in the bedroom of the house. Acklin asserts he never entered any bedroom inside the house at any time.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
93 F. Supp. 3d 778, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34787, 2015 WL 1287306, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/acklin-v-city-of-inkster-mied-2015.