Marshall v. Town of Merrillville

228 F. Supp. 3d 853, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3977, 2017 WL 106424
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedJanuary 11, 2017
DocketCAUSE NO.: 2:14-CV-50-TLS
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 228 F. Supp. 3d 853 (Marshall v. Town of Merrillville) 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
Marshall v. Town of Merrillville, 228 F. Supp. 3d 853, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3977, 2017 WL 106424 (N.D. Ind. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

THERESA L. SPRINGMANN, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter comes before the Court on Defendants Town of Merrillville, Officer Allison Ellis, and Officer Timothy Finnerty’s Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 60] and Motion to Bar Opinions and Testimony [ECF No. 62]. The Plaintiffs, David Marshall, III, and LaMisa Marshall, filed a state court Complaint [ECF No. 1] on January 23, 2014, alleging claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state tort law, which was removed to federal court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1441 and 1446. This matter is fully briefed and ripe for the Court’s review.

FACTS OF THE CASE

On June 5, 2013, the Plaintiffs attended their daughter’s graduation ceremony for Merrillville High School. The ceremony was held in the auditorium of the Radisson Theater in Merrillville, Indiana. The Plaintiffs attended with a large number of family members1 and sat in two adjacent rows in the middle section of the first floor. There were some rows of people seated behind the Plaintiffs’ party. The graduation ceremony began with the singing of the national anthem. Once the national anthem concluded, someone shouted something in the auditorium. The Defendant Officers approached the Plaintiffs’ party, discussed that disturbance with them, escorted the Plaintiffs out of the auditorium, and did not permit David Marshall to return to the ceremony. Although the parties agree on this bigger picture, they dispute most of its details.'

[859]*859A. The Plaintiffs’ Version of Events

David Marshall was seated in the first row of Plaintiffs’ party on the end of that row, with LaMisa Marshall seated to his left. (D. Marshall Dep. 9:22.) Seated in the row directly behind them were Lawrence and Michelle Thunnond. (Id, at 12:1.) While the national anthem was going on, David Marshall and Lawrence were trying to locate the latter’s daughter on stage (who was also graduating), eventually “pointing out that both ... daughters were sitting next to each other.” (Id. at 12:7-14.) At the national anthem’s conclusion, “a lady’s voice yelled out and said ‘BoBo Ducy’ or something like that, really loud, just out of nowhere.” (L. Marshall Dep. 6:17-22, ECF No. 61-2.) The person who yelled that “was in back of’ the Plaintiffs’ party (D. Marshall Dep. 11:3-4), although the Plaintiffs “didn’t know who was yelling” (Id. at 14:1).

Immediately thereafter, Officer Ellis came over to the Plaintiffs’ party because she believed that they were the source of the yelling. (Id. at 12:21-13:1.) Officer Ellis singled out Michelle as the yeller and “told Michelle to shut up.” (Id. at 12:11-17.) Ail of the members in the Plaintiffs’ party “told [Officer Ellis] that we were not the ones yelling.” (Id. at 12:21-22.) Additionally, David Marshall “identified [him]self as a police officer with [his] ID,” as did Lawrence. (Id. at 11:19-23.) The Defendant Officers were members of the Merrillville Police Department, whereas David Marshall was a detective with the Lake County Sheriffs Office. (D. Marshall Dep. 6:2-3.) Lawrence was also a police officer, but the parties did not specify for which municipal entity he worked. As the Plaintiffs’ party tried to explain to Officer Ellis that they were not the source of the disturbance and were not making any noise, “several other Merrillville officers came” over to them in “a very short amount of time.” (Id. at 13:4-12.) “They were argumentative, and they would not let [the Plaintiffs’ party] explain what was going on. One of the officers ... even slapped down [David Marshall’s] cousin’s hands.” (Id. at 14:13-16.)

After just a minute elapsed, Sergeant Finnerty approached and said “let’s go outside and talk about it” to the Plaintiffs. (Id. at 15:7-8.) The police officers kept pushing both of the Plaintiffs until they were outside of the auditorium and its lobby. (Id. at 15:16-23, 16:6-14.) Once the Plaintiffs were outside, Sergeant Finnerty said that if David Marshall “continued to talk,” he would “be going to jail for disorderly conduct.” (Id. at 16:23-24.) David Marshall said, “You all know me as a police officer. Why are you treating me as if I’m not a police officer, that I would be disruptive?” (Id. at. 17:5-7.) He was upset but remained peaceful throughout this interaction, calling his sergeant to get his advice and try to resolve the situation, but Sergeant Finnerty “said again if [he] was to keep on talking that [he’d] be going to [his] own jail.” (Id. at 17:7-9, 18:2-6.) La-Misa Marshall was “kept outside the building about five minutes” after talking with some of the officers. (L. Marshall Dep. 10:2-3.) Ultimately, LaMisa Marshall was permitted to go back inside, while David Marshall was not arrested or charged but was barred from returning to the auditorium for the remainder of the ceremony. (Id. at 10:6-11.)

B. The Defendants’ Version of Events

The Defendant Officers were acting as security at the graduation ceremony. (Town Interrog. No. 6, ECF No. 61-6.) Officer Ellis “was facing the stage” when she “heard somebody screaming ‘Juicy,’ a couple times.” (Ellis Dep. 17:15, 33:6, ECF No. 61-3.) Once she “turned around the yelling had stopped.” (Id. at 33:10-11.) However, Officer Ellis “observed a female2 waving her arms in the air” who [860]*860was seated in the area where “David Marshall was seated immediately after hearing somebody screaming ‘Juicy.’ [Officer Ellis] went over to speak with her” in order to tell her “that she needed to lower her voice and stop yelling or she’d be asked to leave.” (Id. at 17:16-21.) When Officer Ellis walked up to talk to that woman, “[t]he male sitting directly to the right of her and the male sitting directly in front of him3 began yelling at me that it wasn’t her that was screaming.” (Id. at 18:2-5.)

At that point, Officer Ellis said “[t]hen just be quiet. Then I just need you guys to lower your voice and stop arguing. Just be quiet.” (Id. at 18:7-8.) But David Marshall said, “No. I will not be quiet.” (Id. at 18:19.) After Officer Ellis had spoken to Michelle Thurmond, “[David Marshall] was approximately four inches from [her] face saying that I had the wrong person.” (Id. at 35:21-23.)4 Officer Ellis “believed at the time [she] had the right person. But when they were arguing with [her],” she began to have doubts that she had the right person. (Id. at 18:10-11.) While Officer Ellis attempted to quiet the Plaintiffs’ party, at least four other police officers arrived, including Sergeant Finnerty, having “heard a male’s voice screaming.” (Finnerty Dep. 23:8, 23:16-17.) That voice turned out to be David Marshall’s, whom the police officers “tried to get” to be quiet, because by that point “Mr. Thurmond had quieted down.” (Ellis Dep. at 18:21-24; Ellis Answers Interrog. No. 9, EOF No. 61-7.)

Because David Marshall “would not be quiet ... he was asked to leave the auditorium.” (Ellis Dep. at 19:1-2.)5 The Defendant Officers “did not see anybody put their hands on [the Plaintiffs]” as they were escorted out of the auditorium. (Id.

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228 F. Supp. 3d 853, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3977, 2017 WL 106424, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marshall-v-town-of-merrillville-innd-2017.