Griffin v. City of Chicago

406 F. Supp. 2d 938, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33104, 2005 WL 3447777
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedDecember 13, 2005
Docket05 C 1571
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 406 F. Supp. 2d 938 (Griffin v. City of Chicago) 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
Griffin v. City of Chicago, 406 F. Supp. 2d 938, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33104, 2005 WL 3447777 (N.D. Ill. 2005).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MORAN, Senior District Judge.

Plaintiff Lawrence Griffin brought this action against the City of Chicago and Carlos Mota, alleging violations of his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights arising from his arrest for criminal trespass to a vehicle and prosecution for possession of a controlled substance. Defendant Mota has moved for summary judgment. For the following reasons, defendant’s motion is denied in part and granted in part.

BACKGROUND

The following factual background is based on the statements submitted by the parties pursuant to Local Rule 56, and, for purposes of the summary judgment motion, we construe the facts in plaintiffs favor. See Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970); Bledsoe v. City of Chicago, 1996 WL 406647, *2 (N.D.Ill. 1996) (stating that only reasonable inferences, not all conceivable inferences, will be drawn in favor of the non-moving party). At some date prior to November 5, 2001 — the date of the incident at the heart of this dispute — Dollar Rent a Car entered into a contractual lease with Kyra Hicko-bottom for a four-door gold Chrysler Concorde, bearing the license plate number D321239. When the car was not returned upon the lease’s expiration on October 30, 2001, Dollar Rent a Car filed a formal police report, which was then entered into a police department computer system. On November 5, 2001, as part of a special investigation of auto thefts, defendant *941 Mota and Sergeant Grand entered an Amoco gas station to run license plate numbers, checking for stolen vehicles. During that stop Mota and Grand ran the plate of a gold Chrysler Concorde, license number D321239, in which plaintiff was a passenger. Although the car’s physical appearance did not indicate that it was stolen, the police computer generated a report that the Concorde had been reported as stolen. Therefore, Mota and Grand exited their vehicle and approached the Concorde. At that time the driver, Emmett Hudson, was returning to the car, plaintiff was seated in the passenger seat and a woman, Joyce Davis, was seated in the back seat.

At this point the parties’ versions of the facts differ slightly. Although we construe the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, we note the differences for the sake of clarity. 1 Plaintiff contends that upon approaching the vehicle, defendant Mota ordered plaintiff out of the car. Plaintiff obeyed, exiting the vehicle with his hands out and palms open to show that he was unarmed. Mota ordered plaintiff to get on his knees, repeating the orders to Davis. Grand then had a discussion with Hudson, which resulted in Hudson also being ordered to his knees. Upon a search of Davis, a female police officer who was called in for backup found a plastic bag on her person, presumed to contain drugs. Thereafter, Davis, Hudson and plaintiff were handcuffed and transported to the police station, at which time plaintiff was informed that he was being charged with possession of a controlled substance. Plaintiff alleges that defendant Mota framed him on the drug charges, subsequently filed a false report, and testified falsely at plaintiffs criminal trial.

Mota recites a different version of the facts surrounding plaintiffs arrest. He claims that upon approaching the Concorde, Grand questioned Hudson about the ownership of the car. After giving unsatisfactory answers, Hudson was arrested for criminal trespass to a vehicle. Defendant then asked plaintiff to exit the car so that he could arrest him for criminal trespass to a vehicle. While handcuffing plaintiff, defendant noticed that plaintiff was clenching his left hand. After prying open his hand, defendant recovered a small plastic bag containing cocaine.

At this point, the parties’ stories re-converge. Plaintiff was thereafter charged with possession of a controlled substance, but not charged with criminal trespass to a vehicle. On January 10, 2002, plaintiff filed a motion to quash arrest and suppress the evidence of drugs. The trial court denied that motion and a subsequent motion to reconsider. Plaintiff was found guilty of possession of a controlled substance at a jury trial on March 23, 2002. Plaintiff timely filed 'an appeal, arguing that the evidence at the centerpiece of his prosecution — the drugs found on him upon arrest — should have been suppressed as fruit of an illegal arrest effected without an arrest warrant or probable cause, and that he was denied a fair trial. On October 15, 2003, the Illinois Appellate Court reversed plaintiffs conviction. Thereafter, on March 17, 2005, plaintiff filed this complaint, alleging violations of his civil rights.

Defendant contends that plaintiff is judicially estopped from arguing, contrary to his appellate brief, that he was not carrying drugs allegedly recovered from *942 him. Defendant argues that plaintiffs criminal appellate argument that the drugs were inadmissible as fruit of an illegal search is inconsistent with his current contention that no drugs were recovered from him. Defendant raises this argument for the first time in his reply brief in support of his motion for summary judgment, and thus does not allow plaintiff an opportunity for rebuttal. It is well settled that “[rjais-ing an issue for the first time in reply is improper, as it deprives the opposing party of a meaningful chance to respond.” Peterson v. Knight Architects, Engineers, Planners, Inc., 1999 WL 1313696, *13 (N.D.Ill.1999). See also Commonwealth Edison Co. v. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Com’n, 830 F.2d 610, 621 n. 7 (7th Cir.1987). Although plaintiffs complaint alludes to his innocence from any wrongdoings, plaintiff does not explicitly argue that he had no cocaine until his response brief to defendant’s motion for summary judgment. Viewed in that light, defendant is not barred from answering that contention for the first time in his reply brief. See Beck v. University of Wisconsin Bd. of Regents, 75 F.3d 1130, 1134 n. * (7th Cir.1996) (“ ‘[Wjhere the reply affidavit merely responds to matters placed in issue by the opposition brief and does not spring upon the opposing party new reasons for the entry of summary judgment, reply papers — both briefs and affidavits — may properly address those issues’ ”).

Defendant relies on New Hampshire v. Maine, 532 U.S. 742, 121 S.Ct. 1808, 149 L.Ed.2d 968 (2001), to support his judicial estoppel argument. In that case the Supreme Court held that New Hampshire could not claim that the Piscaraqua River boundary was fixed in one place, when New Hampshire had previously agreed that the boundary of the river should be set at a different point.

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

Related

Wilkinson v. Maese
D. New Mexico, 2021
Hatcher v. State
935 A.2d 468 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2007)
Gray v. Burke
466 F. Supp. 2d 991 (N.D. Illinois, 2006)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
406 F. Supp. 2d 938, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33104, 2005 WL 3447777, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/griffin-v-city-of-chicago-ilnd-2005.