Ryan v. City of Detroit

174 F. Supp. 3d 964, 2016 WL 1238780, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42080
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedMarch 30, 2016
DocketCase No. 11-cv-10900
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 174 F. Supp. 3d 964 (Ryan v. City of Detroit) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ryan v. City of Detroit, 174 F. Supp. 3d 964, 2016 WL 1238780, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42080 (E.D. Mich. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS FALK AND SCHULTZ’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (Dkt.159)

MARK A. GOLDSMITH, United States District Judge

This case centers on a heart-breaking tragedy — the senseless murder of a young mother by her mentally unstable, estranged husband. With the perpetrator of the heinous act beyond the reach of any court, the victim’s mother brings this action to hold police officers accountable for this tragedy. However, having thoroughly reviewed the briefs and record, the Court concludes that there is no evidence presented that the remaining Defendants violated the victim’s claimed constitutional right.

[968]*968This is a civil rights case brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, filed by Plaintiff Deborah Ryan in her individual capacity and as the representative of the estate of her daughter, Patricia “Katie” Williams. The suit alleges that Canton police officers Adam Falk .and Mark Schultz, among others, failed to properly respond to a report made to the Canton Police Department on September 19, 2009 of domestic violence committed by Ed Williams upon his wife, Katie, both of whom were Detroit police officers. Plaintiff alleges that Defendants’ failure enabled Ed to murder Katie three days later on September 22, 2009. In her § 1983 claim alleging equal-protection violations against Falk and Schultz (collectively, for purposes of this opinion, “Defendants”), Plaintiff contends that Katie was treated less favorably than other alleged victims of domestic violence because her assailant was a police officer.

This matter is before the Court on Defendants’ fourth motion for summary judgment (Dkt.159), in which Defendants argue that they are entitled to qualified immunity because they did not violate a clearly established constitutional right. For the reasons explained fully below, the Court grants the motion, as Plaintiff has failed to raise triable issues of fact showing that: (i) Defendants engaged in intentional discrimination; (ii) there were domestic violence victims treated more favorably who were similarly situated to Katie; and (iii) a class of such favored victims assaulted by persons outside of law enforcement exists.1

I. BACKGROUND

The Court addressed the factual and procedural background of this case in an opinion and order granting in part and denying in part a motion for summary judgment filed by the City of Canton, Falk, and Schultz. See Ryan v. City of Detroit, 977 F.Supp.2d 738, 741-745 (E.D.Mich.2013). The Court will only repeat from that recitation of the factual and procedural background the portions that relate to these particular Defendants:

Ed Williams, a Detroit Police Department (“DPD”) homicide detective, was married to Katie Williams, a DPD academy instructor. By 2009, the couple had been married for approximately three years and owned a home on Wall Street in Canton, Michigan. Ed and Katie had marital difficulties, however, and, by September 2009, they had not been living together for two months.
At about 9:45 p.m. on the evening of Saturday, September 19, 2009, Ed came to the Wall Street home and found Katie talking to her boyfriend, Clifford Lee, on the phone. An argument ensued, which culminated in Ed pushing Katie to the ground; Katie sustained a cut on her right cheek. Shortly after midnight, Katie and Lee arrived at the Canton Police Department (“CPD”) headquarters and requested a police escort to accompany Katie back into the home.
Officer Adam Falk was on duty at the CPD headquarters and interviewed Katie. Katie described the domestic violence episode with her husband, but refused to provide her name or Ed’s name. Katie told Falk that she and her husband were both Detroit police officers and that she did not want Ed to lose his job.
Falk informed Katie that all he could do was write a report and let the prosecutor make the determination whether Ed would be charged. Falk said that he would write a report, but would not seek the arrest of Ed' based on the informa[969]*969tion Katie- gave him. Falk also mentioned that the report was a “cover our ass thing,” in case “something really serious happens.” Katie then left the CPD headquarters with Lee. Just before she left the police headquarters, Falk asked Katie “Do you still want anybody to go over to the house?” Katie responded “No.”
Falk prepared a report of his interview with Katie. The report described the incident as a “civil matter” with a disposition of “closed, for documentation-only at this time.” Falk’s report recounts his encounter with Katie and Lee, including Katie’s account of the events where Ed pushed her and she sustained a cut on her cheek. The report also notes that Katie did not want to file a report, and that she wanted a police escort to her home to collect some things, known as a “civil standby,” but then stated that she did not want any assistance and left the station. According to the report, Falk communicated this encounter to his supervisors.
Katie then returned- home the morning of September 20, accompanied by Plaintiff, her mother. 'Katie entered the home unaware that Ed was there. According to Plaintiff, the women had an altercation with Ed, which involved yelling and a scuffle. During this incident, Ed was holding a handgun and intoxicated. Plaintiff called the Canton police for help, but when the police arrived they found that Ed had fled. They also found that Ed had left a note, which one of the responding officers, Lieutenant Mark Schultz, considered to be a “suicide note.”
Shortly after Ed had fled, Schultz issued a notice through the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) regarding Ed. Schultz also contacted DPD to notify them of the incident between two of its officers. The transcript of Schultz’s initial call to Sergeant Martel of DPD reveals that he wanted DPD apprised of the situation so that it would “get a hold of’ Ed. Schultz explained to Martel that he did not think the domestic violence incident would get a full investigation because (i) CPD did not have enough information, (ii) initially, .Katie did not provide her name, and (iii) Falk had only written a civil report. Schultz also told Martel that he was concerned that there may be a “workplace issue” because, from Schultz’s understanding, Ed did not know the identity of Katie’s boyfriend, Lee, a fellow DPD officer.
In deposition, Schultz testified that if DPD wanted to do an internal investigation, CPD would provide DPD with information. Schultz also stated that he hoped that DPD could get a hold of Ed to assess his “mental state.”
* *■ *
According to Schultz, he had a brief conversation with Ed a little after 6 p.m. on September 20, 2009. Schultz told Ed that he knew Ed had left the note. Ed responded that the note did not mean anything. Schultz also told Ed that he had entered the LEIN notice, listing him as a “missing person endangered.” Schultz said that he would not remove the notice until Ed came to see Schultz or went to his supervisor at DPD. Ed said that he was closer to Detroit, so Schultz told Ed to have his supervisor call him when he got to DPD.

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174 F. Supp. 3d 964, 2016 WL 1238780, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42080, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ryan-v-city-of-detroit-mied-2016.