Dommer v. Hatcher

427 F. Supp. 1040
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedMarch 7, 1977
Docket72 H 298
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 427 F. Supp. 1040 (Dommer v. Hatcher) 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
Dommer v. Hatcher, 427 F. Supp. 1040 (N.D. Ind. 1977).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND JUDGMENT ORDER

ALLEN SHARP, District Judge.

Plaintiffs brought this class action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the U.S. Constitution seeking declaratory and injunctive relief for the alleged unlawful practice of the Police Department of the City of Gary, Indiana, in arresting individuals on suspicion and holding them for investigation, for periods exceeding twenty-four (24) hours, without filing charges against them or bringing them before a magistrate for a determination of whether the police have the requisite probable cause to hold them. Plaintiffs contend that this practice of “holding for investigation” violates their rights guaranteed under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Indiana Statutes.

Jurisdiction is conferred upon this Court by 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343(3) and (4).

The named plaintiffs are members of a class as certified by order of this Court who are unable to acquire counsel upon being arrested and incarcerated in the Gary City Jail for unreasonable periods of time without being charged. The defendants are various officials of the City of Gary and Lake County, named individually and in their official capacities.

This matter is before the court on the plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment filed on March 17, 1975., The defendants were granted . until April 11, 1975, to respond to plaintiffs’ motion. This Court has received no such response from defendants and makes its findings consistent with Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

The facts alleged in this case state that plaintiffs and members of the class have been incarcerated pursuant to warrantless arrests, and held at the sole discretion of the defendant police and prosecutor. Admissions of fact filed in this case have shown that persons are being held for periods often exceeding a week without being notified of the charges being brought against them and without opportunity for a magistrate to determine whether probable cause exists for their detention. Many of these persons are held for extended periods of time and released without ever being charged with an offense or without ever appearing before a magistrate.

The admissions of fact further demonstrate the widespread practice of the Gary Police Department in detaining persons over three (3) days without being charged or appearing before a magistrate. The three (3) day holding periods are not, however, to be considered representative of how long an individual may be held without charges. There are cases in which individuals have been detained for periods longer than three days without being charged or appearing before a magistrate. (One individual who the police had booked as a “mental” was held twenty-three (23) days without being charged with a crime.)

Other instances of the extensive abuse of plaintiffs’ rights are also represented in the admitted facts. For example, in the one (1) year period from March, 1973, through March, 1974, defendants have admitted holding thirty-one (31) individuals, twelve (12) of whom were never charged, but were held in jail an average of eleven and four tenths (11.4) days before being released. The remaining nineteen (19) individuals were held an average of eight and one tenth (8.1) days before being charged with an offense. Defendants have also admitted that during the four month period from *1042 May, 1974, through August 26,1974, thirty-seven (37) individuals were held, fifteen (15) of which were never charged, but were incarcerated an average of six and eight tenths (6.8) days before being released. The remaining twenty-four (24) were held an average of five (5.0) days before being charged.

The facts, then, undeniably indicate that defendants are holding persons on the authority of the police arrest alone without promptly charging them and without a hearing before a magistrate.

There are two questions for determination presently before this Court. First, whether those persons who are arrested on suspicion and held for investigation for periods exceeding twenty-four (24) hours without having charges brought against them and without being brought before a magistrate for a determination of probable cause for detention, are being denied their Constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment. Secondly, if such persons are entitled to preliminary hearings on the issue of probable cause, what limitations must be set upon those hearings to insure their proper use?

I.

In considering whether or not those persons arrested on suspicion and held for investigation have a right to preliminary hearings, this Court relies on the recent Supreme Court decision in Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 95 S.Ct. 854, 43 L.Ed.2d 54 (1975). The unanimous Court in Ger-stein found that any defendant who is charged by prosecutor’s information and arrested without a warrant must, as a matter of Fourth Amendment right, be afforded a prompt probable cause hearing.

The Gerstein Court spoke on the importance of a preliminary hearing to our criminal process:

Once the suspect is in custody,- however, the reasons that justify dispensing with the magistrate’s neutral judgment evaporate. There no longer is any danger that the suspect will escape or commit further crimes while the police submit their evidence to the magistrate. And, while the State’s reasons for taking summary action subside, the suspect’s need for a neutral determination of probable cause increases significantly. The consequences of prolonged detention may be more serious than the interference occasioned by arrest. Pretrial confinement may imperil the suspect’s job, interrupt his source of income, and impair his family relationships. . . . When the stakes are this high, the detached judgment of a neutral magistrate is essential if the Fourth Amendment is to furnish meaningful protection from unfounded interference with liberty. Accordingly, we hold that the Fourth Amendment requires a judicial determination of probable cause as a prerequisite to extended restraint on liberty following arrest. 95 S.Ct. at 863.

Personal liberty is a precious right— becoming even more precious in its absence. The risk of losing one’s liberty cannot be further endangered by inadequate and unprotective criminal procedures. Therefore, the State must avail prospective detainees with a means whereby liberty is lost only upon a showing of probable cause for detention. To that end, the legislature has effectuated procedures whereby the right to liberty is sheltered against arbitrary action on the part of arresting officers. Rule 5, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

This Court will not sanction the disregard of procedural rules designed to safeguard personal rights. These rules for dealing with arrested individuals are not merely perfunctory in nature.

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427 F. Supp. 1040, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dommer-v-hatcher-innd-1977.