Cichocki v. Foxx

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedMarch 23, 2021
Docket1:20-cv-02165
StatusUnknown

This text of Cichocki v. Foxx (Cichocki v. Foxx) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cichocki v. Foxx, (N.D. Ill. 2021).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION

JIMMY CICHOCKI,

Plaintiff, Case No. 20-cv-02165 v. Judge Mary M. Rowland KIMBERLY M. FOXX et al,

Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Plaintiff Jimmy Cichocki (“Cichocki”) brings this action against Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly M. Foxx, Assistant State’s Attorney Orlando Carreno (“ASA Carreno”), Assistant State’s Attorney Jason Poje (“ASA Poje”), Cook County Circuit Court Judge Joel L. Greenblatt (“Judge Greenblatt”), private defense attorney Donald J. Cosley (“Cosley”), private defense attorney Lynn T. Palac (“Palac”), and Song Gao (“Gao”).1 Cichocki asserts various federal claims including violation of his right to due process (Count I), false imprisonment (Count II), being forced to make a confession (Count III), being denied his right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment (Count IV), conspiracy to deprive him of his constitutional rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Count V), as well as state law claims of Professional Malpractice (Count VI), Civil Conspiracy (Count VII), Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (Count VIII), Respondeat Superior (Count IX), and Indemnification (Count X).

1 Although this case was filed on April 6, 2020, according to the docket only Greenblatt, Palac and Gao have been served with the Complaint. He alleges that during a protracted domestic abuse and child custody dispute with the mother of his daughter, Defendants conspired to “deprive [him] of his parental rights and frame him for felony kidnapping and child abduction.” (Dkt. 1,

¶ 1). Palac and Judge Greenblatt have each filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. (Dkts. 15 and 23, respectively). For the reasons set forth below, these motions are granted. BACKGROUND The following factual allegations are taken from the Complaint (Dkt. 1) and are accepted as true for the purposes of ruling on these two motions to dismiss. See W. Bend Mut. Ins. Co. v. Schumacher, 844 F.3d 670, 675 (7th Cir. 2016).

Cichocki has one daughter with his girlfriend, Stacy Geng (“Geng”). Although Cichocki was his daughter’s primary caretake from an early age, Geng’s mother, Gao, has repeatedly challenged his parental rights and threatened to take his daughter (her granddaughter) back to her native China. On August 22, 2017, Cichocki was granted a criminal order of protection against Geng after she was arrested and charged for biting him. During the fall of 2017, Cichocki had sole custody of his

daughter. Two days after the criminal order of protection was entered, on August 24, 2017, Cichocki filed for an emergency order of protection against his daughter’s grandmother Gao alleging that she had physically abused him. Judge Greenblatt conducted a hearing on August 31, 2017, which Cichocki attended, to determine whether this emergency order of protection should be extended or vacated. Judge Greenblatt vacated the order. Cichocki alleges that ASA Carreno, who had prosecuted the domestic violence charges that resulted in a protective order against Geng, was present at this hearing, “advocated on behalf of Gao,” and “requested an Order in that

case for Plaintiff to turn over his daughter to [Geng’s] mother, [Gao].” (Dkt. 1, ¶¶ 20, 10). Later that same day, August 31, 2017, Cichocki filed and obtained a second emergency order of protection against Gao. This emergency order of protection was scheduled to be reviewed by the court on September 19, 2017. Instead, Gao went to court and had the order terminated in an ex parte hearing before Judge Betar (not named in this suit) on September 5, 2017. Unable to secure a permanent protective order against Gao in Illinois and

believing that she was planning to take her granddaughter to China, in early October Cichocki “left the state with [his daughter] and went to Oklahoma [. . .] with the intent to file for a protective order in Oklahoma against [Gao]. (Dkt. 1, ¶ 28). By October 13, 2017, Cichocki had returned to Illinois to attend a hearing about the domestic violence case and associated criminal order of protection against Geng. Judge Greenblatt conducted Geng’s hearing on October 13, 2017. ASA Carreno

was prosecuting the charges, and attorney Donald J. Cosley (“Cosley”), also a Defendant in this case, was defending Geng. Cichocki was present as the victim and witness. During the proceedings, he was asked to leave the courtroom so that the judge and attorneys could engage in a pretrial conference pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 402.2 Cichocki asked to participate in the pretrial conference but

2 Rule 402 says that “[u]pon request by the defendant and with the agreement of the prosecutor, the trial judge may participate in plea discussions.” I.L.R.S.Ct. Rule 402. Cosley and Judge Greenblatt denied the request because he was not a party to the case. Cichocki alleges that before he left the courtroom, he “heard [Gao] say to Cosley from the gallery that she would pay a million dollars” to Cosley, [ASA] Carreno, and

Judge Greenblatt “if they would provide an order to give [Cichocki’s daughter] to [Gao].” (Dkt. 1, ¶ 32). “Gao then said, ‘make it two million for each of you,’” (Dkt. 1, ¶ 33). Cichocki goes on to allege that just before “Judge Greenblatt entered the side room, [ASA] Carreno ran up to the judge and whispered something to him, after which the judge’s eyes lit up.” Id. According to Cichocki, Judge Greenblatt then issued an order against Cichocki to turn over his daughter to Geng’s mother, Gao, by the following Monday, October

16, 2017, at 9:00 AM. Cichocki asserts in his Complaint that this order was void for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Later that afternoon, Geng’s domestic violence case was recalled and Judge Greenblatt “made statements as though [Cichocki] was the client of a police social worker named Eva Jasinska (who is not an attorney) and claimed that [Cichocki] would receive the child-turnover order from Ms. Jasinska.” (Dkt. 1, ¶ 36).

The Complaint does not clearly describe the events that followed this October 13, 2017 hearing. Cichocki alleges that the Defendants in the instant case falsely claimed “that [Cichocki] attended a child placement hearing in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, on October 16, 2017, when in fact [Cichocki] was in Oklahoma on that date requesting an order of protection against Defendant Gao.” (Dkt. 1, ¶ 38). Cichocki next says that the Defendants falsely claimed he “saw the way the case was going and decided to leave with the child against the Judge’s wishes” when in fact he had been “excused on the record and did not have [his daughter] with him.” Cichocki did return to Oklahoma after the October 13th hearing “completed his petition for a

protective order against [Gao] in Pottawatomie County, OK [on October 16th]”. (Dkt. 1, ¶ 42). It is not clear from the record whether he brought his daughter with him to Oklahoma, but neither he nor his daughter were present at the placement hearing in Illinois on October 16th. Cichocki alleges that the Defendants “unlawfully arrest[ed], detain[ed] and convict[ed]” him. (Dkt. 1, ¶ 39). He further alleges that ASA Poje “approved a felony warrant” and that Judge Greenblatt “later signed the arrest warrant.” (Dkt. 1, ¶ 40).

On November 7, 2017, Cichocki was arrested by United States Marshals in Oklahoma and jailed in the Pottawatomie County Safety Center. He was extradited to Illinois on February 5, 2018 and charged with child abduction, despite, according to the Complaint, having “sole physical care and possession at that time.” (Dkt. 1, ¶ 46). In support of this assertion of custody, Cichocki claims he did not receive the October 13th court order requiring that he turn his daughter over to Gao until he was

arrested.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Bradley v. Fisher
80 U.S. 335 (Supreme Court, 1872)
Erie Railroad v. Tompkins
304 U.S. 64 (Supreme Court, 1938)
Stump v. Sparkman
435 U.S. 349 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Dennis v. Sparks
449 U.S. 24 (Supreme Court, 1980)
Polk County v. Dodson
454 U.S. 312 (Supreme Court, 1981)
Wilson v. Price
624 F.3d 389 (Seventh Circuit, 2010)
Morton Nesses v. Randall T. Shepard
68 F.3d 1003 (Seventh Circuit, 1995)
Robert M. Levine v. Richard Kling
123 F.3d 580 (Seventh Circuit, 1997)
Cooney v. Rossiter
583 F.3d 967 (Seventh Circuit, 2009)
In Re Marriage of Isaacs
632 N.E.2d 228 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1994)
Morris v. Margulis
718 N.E.2d 709 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1999)
Maere v. Churchill
452 N.E.2d 694 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1983)
Kramer v. Dirksen
695 N.E.2d 1288 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1998)
In Re Marriage of Devick
735 N.E.2d 153 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2000)
Paulsen v. Cochran
826 N.E.2d 526 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Cichocki v. Foxx, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cichocki-v-foxx-ilnd-2021.