Mobley v. Conlisk

376 N.E.2d 247, 59 Ill. App. 3d 1031, 17 Ill. Dec. 248, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 2602
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 1, 1978
Docket76-104
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 376 N.E.2d 247 (Mobley v. Conlisk) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mobley v. Conlisk, 376 N.E.2d 247, 59 Ill. App. 3d 1031, 17 Ill. Dec. 248, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 2602 (Ill. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE O’CONNOR

delivered the opinion of the court:

The plaintiff, Charles Mobley, was discharged from his position as police officer of the City of Chicago following a hearing before defendant Police Board. Plaintiff sought review in the circuit court of Cook County pursuant to the Administrative Review Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1971, ch. 110, par. 264 et seq.) and the court affirmed the decision of the Police Board. Plaintiff has appealed and argues that the findings and decision of the Police Board are against the manifest weight of the evidence.

The charges brought against plaintiff arose from two incidents which occurred on the evenings of March 9, 10 and 11, 1970. The evidence produced at the hearing concerning the March 9 occurrence consisted of the testimony of demon Kimble, Charlie Alexander and Andrew Brown, who testified that plaintiff and his partner Carter stopped and searched them and accepted a $20 bribe from Kimble in return for not placing them under arrest. Plaintiff arid his partner testified that they did stop and search the three men but found no contraband and accepted no money from them.

Kimble testified that on the night in question he was in a car with Alexander and Brown parked in front of a restaurant at 21st Street and Pulaski in the city of Chicago. Plaintiff and Carter drove toward them in an unmarked police car, made a “U” turn and pulled alongside their car. The policemen told them to get out and put their hands on their car. Plaintiff searched the witness and found dice in his pocket. The witness saw plaintiff search Brown and find dice in his pocket also. Carter searched the car and found a pocket knife and a tool for cleaning a printing press. The witness testified that plaintiff told him he could go to jail for having dice and that he would let him save his money to pay for his bond. The policemen told the three to get into the police car and they did. Carter then drove around the block. Kimble said he would give them *5 and Mobley said “five wouldn’t do, at least ten apiece.” Kimble then gave *20 to plaintiff Mobley over the front seat, and the three were released near their car. Alexander noted the police car’s license number and, when the three men went home, Alexander called the police and the witness spoke over the phone. On cross-examination, the witness first said he could not remember the denominations of the bills, but then stated he gave plaintiff two *10 bills. The witness had *50 in his pocket when he was searched, but it was not taken when he was searched. The knife was not a switchblade; it was a small pocket knife. Neither Carter nor plaintiff stated they wanted money, but the witness repeated that he had offered *5 and plaintiff said “five wouldn’t do, he said ten apiece.”

Alexander testified that it was his car that all three men were sitting in. He repeated the way they were stopped and searched and were told to get into the police car. The witness said that nothing was found on his person during the search, but he saw that dice were discovered in the pockets of Kimble and Brown. In the police car, plaintiff said, “Don’t you know you could be pulled in for them knives on the bottom of the seat and the dice?” and, “Do you all have any money?” Kimble said they had about *30 or *40, and “gave the money.” The witness testified that plaintiff searched his car and discovered the knife, which was a pocket knife two inches long when folded, and the tool, which the witness described as a wood-handled blunt blade about l!á inches long, which he used at work. After the two policemen told them to get out, Alexander took down the license number. On cross-examination, the witness testified that Carter had the dice and that he didn’t know which officer had the knife, but then he said that Carter had the knife.

Brown corroborated Kimble and Alexander on the facts of the stop by plaintiff and Carter, the searches of the men and the car, the finding of dice in the pocket of the witness and Kimble, and the finding of two knives inside the car. The witness testified that while the three men were in the back seat of the police car, plaintiff “asked how much money we have. We said ‘five dollars.’ He said that weren’t enough.” The witness saw Kimble take *20 out of his pocket and put it into plaintiff’s hand. On cross-examination, Brown stated that while he was sitting in the back seat of Alexander’s car, he did turn around when the police car went by, but he did not duck down.

Plaintiff testified that a few days before that night the restaurant in front of which Alexander’s car was parked had been robbed. While on patrol with his partner Carter, he observed the car parked two doors from the restaurant, with three men seated inside. The headlights were turned off. When the people in the car saw the police car, they “bent over in a position like they were putting something under the seat,” in a “suspicious manner.” The officers made a “U” turn and double parked next to the car and exited. Neither officer had his gun drawn. Plaintiff saw a “linoleum knife” on the floor of the car and searched Kimble and Brown. Plaintiff testified that he did not confiscate anything, although he found dice in the pockets of Kimble and Brown, which he returned. He denied saying it was illegal to carry dice or that he was going to arrest the three men. Kimble protested to him that “we wouldn’t be doing this if it were a white neighborhood, and that we were merely picking on them.” Plaintiff searched the car, not his partner Carter; all he found was the linoleum knife. There was no other knife or contraband discovered. Plaintiff testified that he questioned and searched the three men because of the recent robbery at the restaurant and because their actions had been suspicious. He denied soliciting money and denied that he had received any money in his hand or on the front seat.

Alphonso Carter, who had also been charged with the violations of the department rules, then testified that he was plaintiff’s partner on patrol that night. He was driving the car when he saw the three men in the parked car make suspicious moves, “as though they were trying to elude us as we passed by.” He was aware of a prior robbery at the restaurant. His search of the men revealed no weapons or other contraband, nor did he see plaintiff discover anything illicit from his search of the car. He observed no violations of any law or ordinance. He drove the police car that night. Everybody got into the police car because it was cold and he drove around the block because the car had been blocking traffic. He saw no money transferred, but he did see Kimble hand his identification over the seat to plaintiff. He did not solicit or accept any money from the three men and he did not violate any other department rules.

The evidence produced at the hearing concerning the March 10 and 11 incident consisted of the testimony of two men, James Webster and James Williams, who had been investigated by plaintiff and his partner on the night of March 10, and who, according to Williams, paid plaintiff *20 on March 11 for not arresting them. Several Chicago police officers testified and corroborated much of Williams’s account of the March 11 transfer of money. Plaintiff and Carter denied solicitation of funds.

James Williams testified that on March 10 he was working as a security guard with James Webster at a supermarket near Pulaski and 31st Street in Chicago.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
376 N.E.2d 247, 59 Ill. App. 3d 1031, 17 Ill. Dec. 248, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 2602, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mobley-v-conlisk-illappct-1978.