Spears v. Conlisk

440 F. Supp. 490, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13111
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedNovember 3, 1977
Docket73 C 277
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 440 F. Supp. 490 (Spears v. Conlisk) 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
Spears v. Conlisk, 440 F. Supp. 490, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13111 (N.D. Ill. 1977).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION

MARSHALL, District Judge.

This is an action by plaintiff Willie Spears, a four-time convicted felon, against James Conlisk, the former Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, the City of Chicago, a municipal corporation, and nine Chicago Police Officers, Edward Castellano, Joseph C. Benigno, Thomas Granias, Kenneth Pardell, Theodore Jensen, Frank Musial, Frank Maher, James Sesso and Donald Melchiori, brought under Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and §§ 1983 and 1988 of Title 42 United States Code, with jurisdiction under §§ 1331 and 1343(3) of Title 28" of the United States Code, alleging that defendants individually and collectively deprived plaintiff of rights guaranteed him by the Fourteenth Amendment. The case was tried to the court without a jury. Prior to trial, defendants Conlisk and the City of Chicago were dismissed by Judge Parsons of this court upon the ground that they were not amenable to suit under Section 1983. Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 96 S.Ct. 598, 46 L.Ed.2d 561 (1976); Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167, 81 S.Ct. 473, 5 L.Ed.2d 492 (1961). Since that dismissal, the Court of Appeals for this circuit has also held that the City in the circumstances of this case is not amenable to suit directly under the Fourteenth Amendment. McDonald v. State of Illinois, 557 F.2d 596 (7th Cir. 1977). At the close of plaintiff’s case, plaintiff conceded that no evidence had been adduced implicating defendants Granias, Benigno and Jensen in the alleged wrongs of which plaintiff complains. Accordingly, they were dismissed as defendants at that time. Thus, what remains is plaintiff’s complaint against Castellano, Pardell, Musial, Maher, Sesso and Melchiori. This memorandum will stand as our findings of fact and conclusions of law under Rule 52(a), Fed.R.Civ.P.

The complaint is in one count. It alleges that on January 31,1972, Castellano unlawfully arrested and shot plaintiff and thereafter falsely accused plaintiff of battery of a police officer and resisting arrest. The complaint proceeds to allege that following the incident between Castellano and plaintiff, Castellano, Pardell, Musial, Maher, Sesso and Melchiori, acting in concert, falsely stated that they had found a gun in a squadrol in which plaintiff was transported, and falsely stated that plaintiff admitted the gun was his when confronted with it. Plaintiff claims that as a consequence of defendants’ individual and collective misconduct, he was falsely charged in the Illinois State courts with unlawful use of a weapon (knowingly carrying a concealed weapon), battery and resisting arrest, and that each of the defendants testified falsely against plaintiff as to those charges at a preliminary hearing, before the Illinois Grand Jury, and at his separate trials on the unlawful use of weapon, battery and resisting arrest charges. It is undisputed that plaintiff was charged as he alleges, was twice tried in bench trials in the Illinois State courts (once on the charge of unlawful use of weapon, and later on the charges of battery and resisting arrest), and was acquitted in those bench trials of all of the charges. This action followed.

At about midnight of January 30-31, 1972, Officers Castellano and Benigno were on patrol duty in their squad car on the far *492 west side of the city. Shortly after midnight they received a radio assignment of a burglary in progress at 333 North Central Avenue. They proceeded to that location and entered a four-story double-winged multi-apartment building. There were two staircases. Castellano went up the staircase serving the north wing; Benigno took the south wing.

Castellano went up to the first floor, checked the long corridor which runs east and west, saw no evidence of burglary or forced entry, returned to the stairwell and proceeded to the second floor. Here he encountered plaintiff who had stopped in the building to visit a friend.

As Castellano stepped out of the stairwell into the east-west corridor, he saw plaintiff about 20 feet down the corridor to the west walking in an easterly direction toward Castellano. Castellano was in uniform and in all of the circumstances, he understandably had his gun in his hand. He told plaintiff to halt. Plaintiff did not heed the command. Instead, he continued toward Castellano with his hands in the side pockets of a pea coat he was wearing.

According to plaintiff, Castellano asked what plaintiff was doing in the building. According to Castellano, plaintiff responded “I’m no burglar.” Both agree that plaintiff kept walking toward Castellano and that Castellano again ordered him to halt and take his hands out of his pockets. Plaintiff kept walking. Castellano repeated the command, but plaintiff continued his approach to within three or four feet of Castellano. At this point, there is an irreconcilable conflict in the testimony.

Castellano testified that plaintiff stopped and took his left hand out of the pea coat pocket, but not his right. Castellano reached forward to pat down plaintiff’s right outer garment. His gun was belt high, pointing at plaintiff’s stomach and was not cocked. As Castellano reached forward with his left hand to pat plaintiff, plaintiff grabbed Castellano’s right wrist and pulled Castellano forward. Castellano’s gun discharged and plaintiff was shot in the left side of the neck, the bullet entering the front (anterior) of the neck and exiting the rear (posterior).

Plaintiff’s version was markedly different. He testified that when he got within four feet of Castellano, he was ordered to take his hands out of his pockets and get up against the wall. Castellano had a gun in his right hand pointed at plaintiff’s midsection. Plaintiff turned and faced the wall and placed his hands on the wall over his head. Castellano was behind him. Castellano started to pat plaintiff down using his left hand. He went into plaintiff’s left hip pocket and plaintiff turned to him and said that he was trying to take plaintiff’s wallet. Plaintiff grabbed Castellano’s left hand. Castellano then put his gun on the back (posterior) of the left side of plaintiff’s neck and told him to get back up against the wall. Plaintiff tried to shift from under the pressure of the gun muzzle. The gun discharged and plaintiff was shot through the left side of the neck with the bullet entering the rear (posterior) and exiting the front (anterior).

According to Castellano, after the shot was fired, both he and plaintiff froze for a second or two. Castellano saw a red circle on the left side of plaintiff’s neck. Plaintiff then slumped toward the wall. Castellano holstered his gun and grabbed plaintiff by the arms. At that point he was joined by Officer Granias who took plaintiff downstairs to a squadrol. The next time Castellano saw plaintiff was at the 15th District police station which, as we shall see, was after plaintiff had been taken to a hospital.

Plaintiff’s version of the immediate post-shooting activity is different. He testified that after he was shot he fell. That Castellano then went through his pockets. Then Castellano called on his hand radio for a wagon. Two more uniformed police came to the second floor corridor.

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

Related

Mosely v. Cassidy
842 F. Supp. 839 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1994)
Joseph L. Bailey v. Kevin C. Andrews
811 F.2d 366 (Seventh Circuit, 1987)
Koch v. Schneider
550 F. Supp. 846 (N.D. Illinois, 1982)
Guyton v. Phillips
532 F. Supp. 1154 (N.D. California, 1981)
Bruce B. Landrigan v. City of Warwick
628 F.2d 736 (First Circuit, 1980)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
440 F. Supp. 490, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13111, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spears-v-conlisk-ilnd-1977.