Thomas v. City of Blue Island

178 F. Supp. 3d 646, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45185, 2016 WL 1298784
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedApril 4, 2016
DocketCase No. 15 C 11183
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 178 F. Supp. 3d 646 (Thomas v. City of Blue Island) 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
Thomas v. City of Blue Island, 178 F. Supp. 3d 646, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45185, 2016 WL 1298784 (N.D. Ill. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

AMY J. ST. EVE, District Court Judge

On December 11, 2015, Plaintiff Be-thAnne Thomas, individually and on behalf of the Estate of Robert Thomas Silva, brought the present seven-count Complaint against Defendants City of Blue Island (“Blue Island”) and Blue Island Police Officers Michael Cornell and Kevin Sisk alleging constitutional violations pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and supplemental state law claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a). Before the Court is Defendants’ motion to dismiss brought pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). For the following reasons, the Court denies Defendants’ motion.

LEGAL STANDARD

“A motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) challenges the viability of a complaint by arguing that it fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.” Camasta v. Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc., 761 F.3d 732, 736 (7th Cir.2014). The relevant question at the motion to dismiss stage is not whether the plaintiff will ultimately prevail on the merits, but whether the complaint is sufficient to cross the federal pleading threshold. See Skinner v. Switzer, 562 U.S. 521, 529-30, 131 S.Ct. 1289, 179 L.Ed.2d 233 (2011). Under Rule 8(a)(2), a complaint must include “a short and plain statement of thé claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P, 8(a)(2). Under the federal notice pleading standards, a plaintiffs “factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). Put. differently, a “complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955). In determining the sufficiently of a complaint under the plausibility standard, courts “accept the complaint’s well-pleaded facts as true and construe the allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.” Thulin v. Shopko Stores Operating Co., LLC, 771 F.3d 994, 997 (7th Cir.2014). Also, “although a plaintiff need not anticipate or overcome affirmative defenses such as those based on the statute of limitations, if a plaintiff alleges facts sufficient to establish a statute of limitations defense, the district court may dismiss the complaint on that ground.” O’Gorman v. City of Chicago, 777 F.3d 885, 889 (7th Cir.2015).

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff is the mother of the decedent, Robbie Silva, .and the. Administrator of Sil[650]*650va’s Estate. (R. 1, Compl. ¶ 3.) On December 1, 2005, eleven-year-old Silva was killed by a hit-and-run driver while sledding with friends in Blue Island. (Id ¶ 9.) Immediately thereafter, the Blue Island Police Department (“BIPD”) began investigating the matter.- (Id.) At that time, Defendant Cornell was a detective sergeant and Defendant Sisk held the rank of corporal. (Id. ¶ 10.) Defendants’ superiors assigned Defendant Officers Sisk and Cornell to the Silva investigation. (Id.)

Shortly after Silva’s death, BIPD Officer Marty Robitz informed Plaintiff that the BIPD had a good lead involving a white pickup truck with a male driver. (Id.) In April or May 2006, another police officer informed Plaintiff that a person-of-interest had been identified and that the person-of-interest’s girlfriend was a potential witness to the crime. (Id.) Plaintiff alleges that the girlfriend was also the former sister-in-law of an individual who held significant political connections in Blue Island. (Id.) According to Plaintiff, this politically connected individual owned a towing company that held the contract for Blue Island police tows and also had personal ties to Defendant Cornell. (Id.)

At that time, police conducted a polygraph interview of the girlfriend during which she provided an alibi for the person-of-interest. (Id. ¶ 11.) The police officer who conducted the polygraph concluded that the results were inconclusive. (Id.) Plaintiff alleges that despite this result, Defendant Cornell authored and signed a subsequent report regarding the interview stating that the girlfriend “passed the polygraph” and that “she is telling the truth.” (Id.) Also, Plaintiff alleges that due to Defendant Cornell’s allegedly false report that the girlfriend had passed the polygraph, the BIPD did not pursue this lead. (Id.) In addition, Plaintiff contends that Defendant Cornell told her that the girlfriend had passed the polygraph. (Id. ¶ 12.) Plaintiff maintains that in the following months and years, the BIPD inexplicably abandoned the investigation into the hit-and-run and the case went cold. (Id. ¶ 13.)

Furthermore, Plaintiff alleges that she did everything should could do to spur the BIPD to continue their investigation into her son’s death. (Id. ¶ 14.) Plaintiff, for example, attended Blue Island city council meetings where she would ask city officials for help. (Id.) Also, Plaintiff asserts that she sent complaint letters to the Chief of Police, questioned city officials whenever she saw them, and made regular monthly phone calls to the BIPD inquiring about the status of the investigation into her son’s death. (Id.)

In March 2009, Plaintiff asked BIPD Detective Ismael Haro (“Detective Haro”) to take a fresh look into her son’s case, and Detective Haro agreed to do so. (Id. ¶ 15.) Plaintiff contends that when Detective Haro began his review, he was unable to locate the investigation file. (Id.) In addition, Plaintiff alleges that the archives of the police reports related to the case were missing. (Id.) When Detective Haro confronted Defendant Cornell, who was the lead investigator on the case, Defendant Cornell admitted that he had the file in his personal possession. (Id. ¶¶ 15, 16.) According to Plaintiff, instead of turning over the file, Defendant Cornell demanded to know why Detective Haro wanted to see it. (Id. ¶ 16.) Plaintiff alleges that when Detective Haro explained that Plaintiff had asked him to review the case, Defendant Cornell stated “That woman needs to get over it. Her son is dead and the offender in the case has likely fled to Mexico.” (Id.) Nevertheless, Detective Haro persisted in his request for the investigative file, but Defendant Cornell never produced it. (Id. ¶ 17.) Instead, Detective Haro obtained the file from another BIPD officer. (Id.)

[651]

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
178 F. Supp. 3d 646, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45185, 2016 WL 1298784, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thomas-v-city-of-blue-island-ilnd-2016.