Doe v. City of Marion

196 F. Supp. 2d 750, 2002 WL 741662
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedApril 23, 2002
Docket1:00CV-0468
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 196 F. Supp. 2d 750 (Doe v. City of Marion) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doe v. City of Marion, 196 F. Supp. 2d 750, 2002 WL 741662 (N.D. Ind. 2002).

Opinion

*752 MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

LEE, Chief Judge.

Presently before the court are a host of motions including: Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment filed on February 2, 2002; Plaintiffs Motion to Strike Defendants’ Evidentiary Materials, Item #4, filed on March 1, 2002; Plaintiffs Second Motion to Strike Defendants’ Evidentiary Materials, filed on March 27, 2002; and Defendant’s Motion to Strike Plaintiffs Designation of Charles Braun as an expert witness, filed on March 18, 2002. All of these motions have been fully briefed and are ripe for consideration.

For the following reasons, Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment will be GRANTED; Plaintiffs Motions to Strike and Defendants’ Motion to Strike will all be DENIED as MOOT.

APPLICABLE STANDARD

Summary judgment is proper “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). However, Rule 56(c) is not a requirement that the moving party negate his opponent’s claim. Fitzpatrick v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago, 916 F.2d 1254, 1256 (7th Cir.1990). A scintilla of evidence in support of the non-moving party’s position is not sufficient to successfully oppose summary judgment; “there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff.” Id. at 1256; In Re Matter of Wildman, 859 F.2d 558, 557 (7th Cir.1988); Klein v. Ryan, 847 F.2d 368, 374 (7th Cir.1988); Valentine v. Joliet Township High School District No. 201, 802 F.2d 981, 986 (7th Cir.1986). No genuine issue for trial exists “where the record as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party.” Juarez v. Ameritech Mobile Communications, Inc., 957 F.2d 317, 322 (7th Cir.1992)(quoting Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986)).

Irrelevant or unnecessary facts do not preclude summary judgment even when they are in dispute because the issue of fact must be genuine. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c), (e). To establish a genuine issue of fact, the non-moving party “must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586, 106 S.Ct. at 1356; First National Bank of Cicero v. Lewco Securities Corp., 860 F.2d 1407, 1411 (7th Cir.1988). The non-moving party must come forward with specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Id. A summary judgment determination is essentially an inquiry as to “whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 251-52, 106 S.Ct. at 2512.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

This case arises out of an unfortunate series of events involving a then-minor child, Jane Doe (“Doe”) and a middle school teacher, Carol Rigsbee (“Rigsbee”). For purposes of this action, the relevant timeline of events begins in September or early October 1997. 2 During this time, Defendant, Sergeant Rob Raymer (“Ray- *753 mer”) was informed by Marion police officer Larry Shaw (“Shaw”) that Shaw and other officers had overheard, via a police scanner, sexually explicit cellular telephone conversations between two females. Shaw further informed Raymer that the conversations were between an unknown adult female and a younger female, known in the conversations by her first name only.

After learning of these telephone conversations, Raymer intercepted cellular telephone conversations four or five times over the next two months. 3 The content of the conversations caused him to believe that the adult female was a middle school teacher and that the younger female was a student. 4 Raymer became concerned that the young girl might be the victim of molestation and brought the matter up to the other officers and Lieutenant Andrea Dunn during shift line-up. 5 The date of this line-up discussion is unclear in the record. According to Raymer, however, the line-up discussion occurred several days to a week before November 25, 1997. At the time he initiated the line-up discussion, Raymer knew Jane Doe’s first name and that she was a student. Raymer did not, however, know the last name of Jane Doe.

During this line-up discussion, Gary Henderson (“Henderson”), a Marion police officer, recognized Jane Doe’s first name because it was an uncommon name. He indicated to Raymer that he knew a middle school teacher, (hereafter, “Rich Doe”) that had a fourteen or fifteen year old female daughter matching the first name of Jane Doe . 6

Within a day or two of learning Rich Doe’s name, Raymer obtained Rich Doe’s telephone number. Shortly thereafter, Raymer overheard, again via scanner, another telephone conversation between Jane Doe and the adult female, later determined to be Rigsbee. While that telephone conversation was ongoing, Raymer dialed Rich Doe’s phone number, waited until he heard, via the scanner, his cell phone ring on the house phone of Jane Doe, and hung up. At this point, Raymer believed that Jane Doe was the young person who had been part of the telephone conversations he overheard. 7

*754 On November 25, 1997, Raymer approached Kent Cocking (“Cocking”), a counselor at Tucker Middle School, to discuss what he knew of this situation with him. Cocking and Raymer then approached Rich Doe and informed him of their suspicions of a sexual relationship between Jane Doe and Rigsbee. Raymer, Rich Doe and Cocking then spoke with Mary Pahmeier (“Pahmeier”), Principal of Jones Middle School. 8 Raymer then spoke to Rigsbee who admitted molesting Jane Doe.

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

Related

Erickson v. Wisconsin Department of Corrections
358 F. Supp. 2d 709 (W.D. Wisconsin, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
196 F. Supp. 2d 750, 2002 WL 741662, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doe-v-city-of-marion-innd-2002.