Cornish v. Papis

962 F. Supp. 1103, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5930, 1997 WL 218951
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. Illinois
DecidedApril 30, 1997
DocketNo. 90-2396
StatusPublished

This text of 962 F. Supp. 1103 (Cornish v. Papis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cornish v. Papis, 962 F. Supp. 1103, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5930, 1997 WL 218951 (C.D. Ill. 1997).

Opinion

OPINION

RICHARD MILLS, District Judge.

A gas station attendant is attacked and brutally beaten.

The police, without a warrant, arrest a suspect and detain him for four days without bringing him before a judicial officer.

Has the suspect’s rights been violated?

Not under these facts.

I. FACTS

On Monday, October 2, 1989, Scott Bridg-mon, while working as an attendant at a Clark gas station in Peoria, Illinois, was attacked and savagely beaten. Bridgmon is a white male. However, during the investigation, several witnesses advised the police that when they attempted to purchase gasoline at the station, a black male, whom they believed to have been the attendant, approached them and stated either that the pumps were broken or that the station was closed. The police assumed that the black male whom the witnesses saw was Bridgmon’s attacker.

One witness, Richard Sils, described the black male as age 25-29, short hair, a patchy two-day growth of beard, and wearing a blue jacket and pants with a white shirt. Another witness, Theresa Baker, described the black male as 5' 10" to 5' 11" tall, big build, short hair, small mustache, and wearing dark uniform-type pants with a white shirt. Baker also told police that the black male’s shirttail was hanging out of his pants and was splattered with blood. A third witness, George May, described the black male as age 25-30, approximately 6' 3" tall, weighing 170 lbs., medium length hair, and wearing dark clothes. May also stated that the black male was definitely not light skinned. Finally, a fourth witness, Cheryl Rynearson, came forward ten days after the attack in response to a “crime stoppers” appeal to the public for information. Rynearson told the police that the black male was clean-cut, 6' 0" to 6' 2" tall, 180 lbs., and approximately 25 years old.

On Wednesday, October 11, 1989, Officer Hoskins and Sgt. Papis of the Peoria Police Department, on separate occasions, spoke with Anthony Cornish. Both noted that Anthony generally matched the physical descriptions given by the witnesses. The officers also noted that Anthony was wearing dark pants and a white shirt with the shirttail hanging out. Officer Hoskins had prior knowledge of the fact that Anthony and his family lived in close proximity to the Clark gas station. Officer Hoskins also knew that between Anthony’s house and the Clark gas station was a construction site where metal forming stakes similar to the one found at the crime scene could be obtained.1

[1106]*1106Later that same day, Detectives Bridges, Rabe, and Little, and Sgt. Papis went to Anthony’s home. Anthony was not there, so the officers spoke to his wife, Geraldine Cornish. At their request, Geraldine gave the officers a color photograph of Anthony. The officers, in turn, gave the photograph to Officer Gary Siebenthal who reproduced the photograph in a cropped black and white format to make its appearance similar to that of other police department photographs. The police then returned the original photograph the next day.

On Thursday, October 12, 1989, Officer Vera Fernandez took the black and white photograph of Anthony Cornish along with 24 other black and white photographs of black males of similar height, weight, and age as that of Anthony Cornish to George May. May selected Anthony’s photograph from the array and indicated that Anthony looked like the person he saw at the Clark gas station, but he could not make a positive identification. Later that same day, Cheryl Rynearson came to the Peoria police station and from the photographic array, identified Anthony Cornish as the man she saw at the Clark gas station.

After discussing the evidence and the information which they had, the police determined that they had probable cause to arrest Anthony Cornish. Accordingly, Sgt. Adams and two other officers arrested Anthony when he exited his house. The officers then transported Anthony to the police station where he was interviewed by Detective Rabe. Anthony informed Detective Rabe that he could not have committed the crime at the Clark gas station because he was at home watching Monday night football with his friends at the time. Shortly thereafter, Anthony invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and refused to continue with the interview.

Shortly after midnight, Anthony appeared in a physical line-up with four black males with physical characteristics generally similar to his. Rynearson and Baker viewed the physical line-up separately. Detective Bridges was present with both witnesses during these viewings. During the physical line-up, both Rynearson and Baker positively identified Anthony Cornish as the black male whom they saw at the Clark gas station on the day of the beating. Thus, the police booked Anthony Cornish on the charges of attempted murder, armed robbery, armed violence, and aggravated battery and transported him to the Peoria County jail. After these events, Anthony had no further contact with the Peoria Police Department.

During the early morning hours of Friday, October 13, 1989, several alibi witnesses arrived at the Peoria police station on behalf of Anthony Cornish. Although the accounts differ as to whether the witnesses were summoned by the police or whether they arrived voluntarily, it is clear that each alibi witness arrived via his or her own transportation. No alibi witness was brought to the station by a police officer. Among the alibi witnesses who appeared at the police station was Laurie Cornish, Anthony’s sister. The police interviewed Laurie for approximately an hour and a half.

Attorney Thomas Trager also arrived at the police station that night at the request of Loren Cornish, Anthony’s father. However, Thomas Trager was not allowed to see Anthony because Anthony had not specifically requested to see him. Anthony did ask to see his father, and the police obliged. Although Thomas Trager did not speak to Anthony, he contacted the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office on Anthony’s behalf and reached an agreement whereby Anthony would not be formally charged until he had been given the opportunity to take a polygraph examination. If Anthony passed the examination, the State’s Attorney’s Office agreed to release him without filing formal charges.

However, the polygraph examination could not occur until Monday, October 16, 1989. While under normal circumstances Anthony would have been taken before a judicial officer at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, October 13, 1989,2 because it was Attorney Trager’s goal [1107]*1107to have Anthony released without the filing of formal charges, Anthony was not brought before a judge for a formal arraignment.

While Laurie Cornish was being interviewed at the police station, Detective Rabe sought and obtained a search warrant for Anthony’s house. Detective Rabe never executed the warrant, however, because Geraldine Cornish signed a consent enabling the police to search the premises. While other officers searched the house, Detective Rabe interviewed Geraldine. The officers found no evidence at the house.

On Saturday, October 14, 1989, police officers called the Cornishes and asked the alibi witnesses to come to the police station to be interviewed. After the telephone request, Detectives Johnson and Sier went to the Cornish residence and asked the alibi witnesses to come to the police station.

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Bluebook (online)
962 F. Supp. 1103, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5930, 1997 WL 218951, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cornish-v-papis-ilcd-1997.