Bohannon v. City of Milwaukee

998 F. Supp. 2d 736, 2014 WL 549206, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17056
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedFebruary 11, 2014
DocketCase No. 13-CV-1224-JPS
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 998 F. Supp. 2d 736 (Bohannon v. City of Milwaukee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bohannon v. City of Milwaukee, 998 F. Supp. 2d 736, 2014 WL 549206, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17056 (E.D. Wis. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER

J.P. STADTMUELLER, District Judge.

The plaintiff, Joe Bohannon (“Bohannon”), filed his complaint in this matter on October 31, 2013. (Docket # 1). In it, he alleges that Michael Vagnini (‘Vagnini”), a former police officer with the Milwaukee Police Department (“MPD”), unlawfully strip-searched him near a public street, while MPD officer Matthew Gadzalinski (“Gadzalinski”) stood by and did nothing. (Compl. ¶¶ 13, 15). He further asserts that he attempted to flee but officers Vagnini and Gadzalinski tackled him and punched and kicked him, eventually joined by officers Jeffrey Dollhopf (“Dollhopf’), Erin Perleberg (“Perleberg”), and others. (Compl. ¶¶ 18-20). He sues Vagnini; Gadzalinski; unknown officers and officers Dollhopf and Perleberg; the City of Milwaukee (“the City”); and the officers’ supervisors, Chief Edward Flynn (“Flynn”) and Sergeant Jason Mucha (“Mucha”), for violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, under various theories of liability. (Compl. ¶¶ 40-69). The defendants answered the plaintiffs complaint, (Docket # 15), and thereafter moved for partial judgment on the pleadings, pursuant to Rule 12(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Docket # 22). That motion is fully briefed (Dockets # 23, # 24, # 26), and the Court now addresses it.

1. BACKGROUND

Before turning to the substance of the defendants’ motion to dismiss, the Court will first discuss the plaintiffs allegations and claims in further detail.

1.1 Alleged Facts

The plaintiff was driving his brother’s car on April 21, 2008, when Vagnini and Gadzalinski pulled him over on Teutonia Avenue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Compl. ¶¶ 10).1 Vagnini ordered the plaintiff to exit the car. (Compl. ¶ 12).

Then, despite an alleged lack of probable cause, Vagnini strip-searched the plaintiff. (Compl. ¶ 13). Apparently unconcerned with affording the plaintiff some modicum of privacy, Vagnini pulled the plaintiffs pants and underwear out, reached into the plaintiffs pants, and shoved his finger inside the plaintiffs anus, all in a public thoroughfare with no privacy. (Compl. ¶ 13). Gadzalinski, meanwhile, stood by and did nothing. (Compl. ¶ 15).

The plaintiff elbowed Vagnini in his jaw in an effort to prevent further assault, and attempted to run away. (Compl. ¶ 18). [740]*740Then Vagnini and Gadzalinski tackled the plaintiff to the ground and punched and kicked him repeatedly on his body. (Compl. ¶ 19). Defendants Dollhopf, Perleberg, and other unknown officers arrived on the scene and joined in punching and kicking the plaintiff. (Compl. ¶ 20). Defendants then arrested plaintiff and took him to the Fifth District police station. (Compl. ¶ 21).

This incident was, apparently, not an isolated one. In 2012, the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office investigated other similar incidents. (Compl. ¶ 23). In October of 2012, the State of Wisconsin charged Vagnini, Dollhopf, and two other officers with various crimes stemming from illegal strip searches and cavity searches. (Compl. ¶¶ 25-26). Vagnini and Dollhopf both negotiated plea agreements and pled guilty to some of the charges brought against them. (Compl. ¶¶ 27-29).

However, long before the State of Wisconsin charged Vagnini, Dollhopf, and the other officers, the Milwaukee Police Department had received complaints about similar illegal strip and cavity searches. {See Compl. ¶¶ 32-39). Indeed, as early as 2008, MPD’s Internal Affairs Division and supervisors, including defendants Flynn and Mucha, received such complaints (Compl. ¶¶ 32, 34-35), but consistently rejected them as meritless (Compl. ¶ 33). Meanwhile, MPD’s supervisors did not discipline the accused officers or take action to better train or supervise them. (Compl. ¶¶ 33, 36).

1.2 Plaintiffs Claims and Defendants’ Motion

The plaintiffs complaint alleges various theories of liability against the defendants. Specifically, he alleges the following claims:

Count One: Unreasonable search and seizure in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against Vagnini (Compl. ¶¶ 40-41);
Count Two: Excessive Force in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against Vagnini, Gadzalinski, Dollhopf, Perleberg, and the unknown officers (Compl. ¶¶ 42^3);
Count Three: Failure to intervene in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against Gadzalinski (Compl. ¶¶ 44-45);
Count Four: Conspiracy to deprive the plaintiff of his constitutional rights in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against Vagnini, Gadzalinski, Dollhopf, Perleberg, and the unknown officers (Compl. ¶¶ 46-52);
Count Five: Municipal liability in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and pursuant to Monell v. Dep’t of Social Semces, 436 U.S. 658, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978), against the City (Compl. ¶¶ 53-62);
Count Six: Supervisory liability in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against Flynn and Mucha (Compl. ¶¶ 63-66); and
Count Seven: Indemnification, pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 895.46, such that the City must pay any tort judgment for which its employees (here, Vagnini, Flynn, Mucha, Gadzalinski, Dollhopf, Perleberg, and the unknown officers) are responsible (Compl. ¶¶ 67-69).

The defendants have moved to dismiss Count Five (Br. in Supp. (Docket # 23) at 9-14), Count Six (Br. in Supp. at 14-18), and Count Four (Br. in Supp. at 19-20), pursuant to Rule 12(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

2. LEGAL STANDARD ON RULE 12(c) MOTION

The Court reviews a motion under Rule 12(c) using the same standard it would when reviewing a motion under [741]*741Rule 12(b)(6). Buchanan-Moore v. Cty. of Milwaukee, 570 F.3d 824, 827 (7th Cir.2009) (citing Pisciotta v. Old Nat’l Bancorp, 499 F.3d 629, 633 (7th Cir.2007)). This means that the Court must treat all of the plaintiffs factual allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in his favor. Scherr, 703 F.3d at 1073 (citing Fail-Safe, 674 F.3d at 892). Doing so, the Court must then determine whether the complaint contains sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to “state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009).

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Bluebook (online)
998 F. Supp. 2d 736, 2014 WL 549206, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17056, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bohannon-v-city-of-milwaukee-wied-2014.