Westport Insurance v. City of Waukegan

157 F. Supp. 3d 769, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5216, 2016 WL 193385
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJanuary 15, 2016
DocketCase No. 14-cv-419
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 157 F. Supp. 3d 769 (Westport Insurance v. City of Waukegan) 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
Westport Insurance v. City of Waukegan, 157 F. Supp. 3d 769, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5216, 2016 WL 193385 (N.D. Ill. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

HON. JORGE ALONSO, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Westport Insurance Corporation (“Westport”) brought this action against Defendants the City of Waukegan, Lucian Tessman, Donald Meadie, Fernando Shipley, Howard Pratt, Richard Davis, Phillip Stevenson, Terry House, Robert Repp, Burton Setterlund (collectively, the “Waukegan Defendants” or “Waukegan”), and Juan A. Rivera, Jr. (“Rivera”), seeking [771]*771a declaratory judgment that it has no obligation to provide coverage under two insurance policies issued to the City of Waukegan. The case is before the Court on three motions: Westport’s motion to reconsider the Court’s December 11, 2014 trigger ruling, Waukegan’s motion to dismiss Count II of Westport’s complaint, and Waukegan’s motion for a rule to show cause for Westport’s failure to comply with the December 2014 trigger ruling. The Court denies the motion to reconsider, grants the motion to dismiss, and denies the motion for rule to show cause.

I. BACKGROUND

Westport issued two policies to the City of Waukegan: (1) General Liability/Law Enforcement Policy Number 651-006954-9 (“GL/LEL Policy”), providing a $1 million limit of liability for general liability claims and a $1 million limit of liability for law enforcement liability claims; and (2) Umbrella Liability Policy Number 503-164027-8 (“Umbrella Policy”), providing a $5 million limit of liability (collectively, the “Westport Policies”). (ECF No. 48, ¶¶ 32, 34; ECF No. 52, ¶¶32, 34).

The Westport Policies were issued for the period November 1, 1997 to November 1, 1998, and were renewed for the periods November 1, 1998 to November 1, 1999, and November 1, 1999 to November 1, 2000. (ECF No. 48, ¶¶ 32-35; ECF No. 52, ¶¶ 32-35.)

On October 27, 1992, Rivera was transferred from Hill Correctional Center, where he was confined on unrelated charges, to the Lake County Jail on a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum. (ECF No. 48-1, ¶ 52.) Rivera alleges that after several days of illegal interrogation, he was forced to sign a statement implicating himself in the rape and murder of a young girl. (Id. at ¶¶ 53-73.) Rivera was tried for rape and murder in November 1993. (Id. ¶ 103.) He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. (Id.) He was retried and convicted of first-degree murder in September and October 1998, and was again sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. (ECF No. 52, ¶ 23, 24.) The Illinois Appellate Court reversed Rivera’s conviction and entered a judgment of acquittal on December 9, 2011. (ECF No. 48-1 ¶ 113.) Rivera was released from prison on January 6, 2012. (ECF No. 48-1 ¶ 114). He subsequently filed suit against the Waukegan Defendants, asserting claims of civil rights violations in numerous counts, as follows:

(1) a § 1983 claim alleging a coerced and false confession in violation of his Fifth Amendment rights;
(2) a § 1983 claim alleging a coerced and false confession in violation of his Fourteenth Amendment rights;
(3) a § 1983 claim for federal malicious prosecution1;
(4) a § 1983 due process claim alleging exculpatory evidence was withheld;
(5) a § 1983 claim alleging a conspiracy to deprive him of his constitutional rights;
(6) a § 1983 claim alleging a failure to intervene;
(7) an Illinois state law claim alleging malicious prosecution;
(8) an Illinois state law claim alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress;
(9) an Illinois state law claim alleging a civil conspiracy to protect officers from liability;
[772]*772(10) an Illinois state law claim alleging defamation;
(11) an Illinois state law claim for re-spondeat superior,
(12) an Illinois state law claim for indemnification; and
(13) a § 1983 claim alleging a conspiracy to deny Rivera access to courts.

(ECF No. 59, Ex. 1-B, 2d Am. Compl., Rivera v. Lake Cty. et al., Case No. 12 C 8655.2) The Waukegan Defendants tendered their defense to Westport (ECF No. 48, ¶ 45), and Westport initiated this coverage action, seeking a declaratory judgment that Rivera’s claims do not trigger the Westport policies and Rivera is collaterally estopped from arguing otherwise.

The parties filed cross motions for judgment on the pleadings. Judge Darrah, to whom this case was previously assigned, granted the motions in part and denied them in part. On the issue of whether Westport had a duty to defend, Judge Darrah ruled that Rivera’s claim that the use of his coerced confession violated his Fifth Amendment self-incrimination rights triggered Westport’s duty to defend the Waukegan Defendants because the coerced confession was used against Rivera at his 1998 retrial, which occurred within a Westport policy period. On the issue of indemnity, Judge Darrah ruled that the matter was not ripe for judgment while the underlying action remained undecided. (ECF No. 84 (“Judge Darrah’s trigger ruling”) reported at Westport Ins. Corp. v. City of Waukegan, 75 F.Supp.3d 821 (N.D.Ill.2014).)

Westport promptly moved for the entry of a final judgment so it could proceed with an appeal of Judge Darrah’s trigger ruling. (ECF No. 85.) This case was reassigned to the undersigned judge while the parties were in the midst of briefing West-port’s motion. Before this Court issued any ruling, the parties in the underlying action reached a settlement agreement. Westport withdrew its motion for final judgment because the indemnity issue was now ripe for decision (ECF No. 100), and the parties filed the instant motions.

II. WESTPORT’S MOTION TO RECONSIDER

Having withdrawn its motion for final judgment, Westport has now filed a motion for reconsideration of Judge Darrah’s trigger ruling, especially in light of the Illinois Appellate Court’s recent opinion in Indian Harbor Insurance Co. v. City of Waukegan, 392 Ill.Dec. 812, 33 N.E.3d 613, 616 (2015), which addresses another insurer’s duty to defend Waukegan under different policies in the same underlying action brought by Rivera against Waukegan.

Because Judge Darrah’s trigger ruling did not dispose of this case in its entirety, Westport’s motion to reconsider is governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b). Under this rule, a district court has inherent authority to reconsider its own orders entered prior to final judgment. See Saunders v. City of Chi, No. 12-CV-09158, 146 F.Supp.3d 957, 960-62, 2015 WL 7251938, at *2-3 (N.D.Ill. Nov. 17, 2015). “Motions for reconsideration serve a limited function: to correct manifest' errors of law or fact or to present newly discovered evidence.” Conditioned Ocular Enhancement, Inc. v. Bonaventura, 458 F.Supp.2d 704, 707 (N.D.Ill.2006) (citing Caisse Nationale de Credit Agricole v. CBI Indus., Inc., 90 F.3d 1264, 1269 (7th Cir.1996)).

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Bluebook (online)
157 F. Supp. 3d 769, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5216, 2016 WL 193385, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/westport-insurance-v-city-of-waukegan-ilnd-2016.