Ott v. City of Milwaukee

48 F. Supp. 3d 1197, 2014 WL 4715952
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedSeptember 19, 2014
DocketCase No. 09-C-870
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 48 F. Supp. 3d 1197 (Ott v. City of Milwaukee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ott v. City of Milwaukee, 48 F. Supp. 3d 1197, 2014 WL 4715952 (E.D. Wis. 2014).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

RUDOLPH T. RANDA, District Judge.

This action arises out of the 1996 wrongful conviction of Plaintiff Chaunte Ott (“Ott”) for the murder of Jessica Payne (“Payne”). Ott alleges that the Defendants coerced false statements from two men implicating him in the murder, and breached their ongoing obligation to disclose information to him when they learned that the DNA profile from Payne’s murder matched the DNA profile from another woman’s murder in which Ott was not involved. (Compl. 7, 9.) (ECF No. 1.)

This Decision and Order addresses Ott’s motion to amend or correct his complaint (ECF No. 166) to voluntarily dismiss Defendants Ricky Burems, Percy Moore (“P. Moore”)2, and Michael Dubis (“Dubis”) from this action without prejudice and without costs and to add Milwaukee Police Department (“MPD”) Detective Michael Wesolowski (“Wesolowski”) as a defendant in this action, and the motion of Defendants City of Milwaukee (“Milwaukee”), Arthur L. Jones (“Jones”), Nanette H. He-garty (“Hegarty”), Carl Buschmann (“Buschmann”), James DeValkenaere (“DeValkenaere”), Robert Simons (“Si-mons”), E. Moore, Burems, Dubis, and P. Moore for summary judgment dismissing this action. (ECF No. 167.) It also addresses Ott’s request in his memorandum opposing the Defendants’ motion for summary judgment to voluntarily dismiss his claims against Hegarty and E. Moore and his false imprisonment claim (Count II) (PI. Corrected Mem. Opp’n Defs. Mot. Summ. J., 38.) (ECF No. 178.)

Motion to Amend or Correct and Request for Dismissal

Ott’s motion to amend or correct with respect to dismissal of Burems, Du-bis, and P. Moore was filed in an effort to simplify the action in advance of summary judgment and ensure that Ott’s claims proceed against only the proper defendants. The only issue is whether the dismissal should be with or without prejudice. Having considered the parties’ arguments, the Court will dismiss this action against Bu-rems, Dubis, and P. Moore without prejudice because the dismissal request was made prior to the filing of the summary judgment motion and the Court has made no rulings on the merits of Ott’s claims against these defendants.

The Defendants oppose adding Weso-lowski to this action, asserting that based on their arguments with respect to Busch-[1201]*1201mann any such claim would be futile. As will be further explained, the Court agrees. Ott will not be allowed to add Wesolowski as a party. Ott’s motion to amend is granted as to the dismissal of Burems, Dubis, and P. Moore and denied in all other respects.

The dismissals of Hegarty, E. Moore and the false imprisonment claim as subsequently requested by Ott will be with prejudice because the request was made in response to the summary judgment motion. And it is based on the undisputed facts that Hegarty was not in any way personally involved in this action and that E. Moore was not .involved in any of the alleged unconstitutional conduct (See PI. Resp. Defs. PFOF ¶¶82, 97) (ECF No. 174), and because the false imprisonment claim (Count II) may not be pursued as a matter of law.

Standard for Summary Judgment

Summary judgment is appropriate “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Summary judgment should be granted when a party that has had ample time for discovery fails to “make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” Id. If the moving party establishes the absence of a genuine issue of material fact, the non-moving party must demonstrate that there is a genuine dispute over the material facts of the case. Id. at 323-24, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The Court must accept as true the evidence of the nonmovant and draw all justifiable inferences in his favor. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Summary judgment is appropriate only if, on the record as a whole, a rational trier of fact could not find for the non-moving party. Rogers v. City of Chi., 320 F.3d 748, 752 (7th Cir.2003). ’

Relevant Facts3

On the morning of August 30, 1995, the dead body of 16-year-old Jessica Payne (“Payne”) was found on a mattress behind a vacant home at 3116 North 7th Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her throat had been cut, and she was found partially clothed with her bra torn and her pants pulled down. After collecting the physical evidence and interviewing the initial witnesses, the Payne homicide went cold until it was assigned to DeValkenaere and Buschmann4 as a cold case. They were considered the primary detectives with the responsibility of investigating the case. The only lead DeValkenaere and Busch-mann had at the time they were assigned the case was Richard “Cortez” Gwin (“Gwin”). Ientha Waller (“Waller”), a jailhouse informant, told DeValkenaere that someone named “Cortez”'told her “he had a white bitch for sale.” (Donnell Decl., Ex. 14 (MPD Oct. 4, 1995, DeValkenaere Supplementary Rpt.) at 2.) (ECF No. 173-14.) According to the Defendants’ reports, Waller also told DeValkenaere that Sandra Giles (“Giles”) had told her that she had held the white girl for four days, the girl wanted to get away, and that when the girl tried to leave, “we killed her.” (Id. at 5.)

[1202]*1202On October 24, 1995, Buschmann and DeValkenaere arrested Gwin, age 17, for the homicide of Payne, held him in custody, and interviewed him. Gwin did not implicate Sam Hadaway (“Hadaway”) or Ott in the murder of Payne. The next day DeValkenaere and Buschmann released Gwin from custody and then re-interviewed him about his knowledge of the Payne homicide. This time, according to DeValkenaere and Buschmann, Gwin said Hadaway told him that Ott had killed Payne.

Hadaway5 came into the MPD detective bureau voluntarily on October 24. He was interviewed by MPD detectives on October 24, 25 and 26, and he denied that he or Ott had any involvement in the Payne homicide. On October 27, Hadaway was arrested. While he was in the city jail, Hadaway indicated that he wanted to talk to detectives. Hadaway was interviewed by Buschmann and DeValkenaere on October 27 and provided an account implicating Ott in Payne’s murder. DeValkenaere and Buschmann destroyed the notes they took during their interrogation of Hadaway, 'and no record was ever made of the first hour and half of their interrogation.

Simons, an MPD detective trained to conduct polygraph examinations, conducted a polygraph of Hadaway on November 1, 1995. Simons also obtained a statement from Hadaway, part of which was an account that he and Ott had attempted to rob Payne.

Ott was charged under Wisconsin law with first degree intentional homicide. A jury trial was held and concluded with a guilty verdict.

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Bluebook (online)
48 F. Supp. 3d 1197, 2014 WL 4715952, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ott-v-city-of-milwaukee-wied-2014.