Williams v. City of Chi.

315 F. Supp. 3d 1060
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Illinois
DecidedJune 1, 2018
DocketNo. 17 C 5186
StatusPublished
Cited by51 cases

This text of 315 F. Supp. 3d 1060 (Williams v. City of Chi.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams v. City of Chi., 315 F. Supp. 3d 1060 (illinoised 2018).

Opinion

Hon. Virginia M. Kendall, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Omar Williams has filed this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging multiple constitutional rights and state law violations by Defendants City of Chicago (the "City"); Cook County, Illinois; Chicago Police Officers Carol Maresso, Marco Garcia, and Donald Hill (collectively, "Officers"); and former Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Megan Goldish. All Defendants have moved to dismiss the claims against them. See (Dkts. 32, 41, 45). The City has also moved, alternatively, to bifurcate the Monell claims. (Dkt. 22). For the reasons stated below, Goldish's and Cook County's motion is granted in part and denied in part, the Officers' motion is granted in part and denied in part, the City's motion to dismiss is denied, and the City's motion to bifurcate is granted.

BACKGROUND 1

On July 1, 2011, some 30-40 people were socializing in a parking lot in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago when two men-Andre Gladney and Javonne Oliphant-were shot. Id. at ¶¶ 14-15. Gladney, who had been drinking and had earlier taken ecstasy and PCP, survived; Oliphant did not. Id. at ¶¶ 14-19. Gladney had been in possession of a Ruger .45 caliber handgun, which he discarded as he fled the scene after being shot. Id. at ¶¶ 16, 20. Antoine Williams ("Antoine"), Plaintiff's cousin, also had been in the parking lot at the time of the shooting. Antoine is a paraplegic who requires a wheelchair and a specially equipped van for transportation. Williams and another individual, Keith Slugg, a parolee confined to house arrest, were employed by the Illinois Department of Human Services to drive Antoine's van in the summer of 2011. Williams drove the van during the day and Slugg drove the van at night. Slugg had left his home for his driving shift on July *10671, and he was with Antoine in the parking lot at the time of the shooting. Id. at ¶¶ 17-18.

Officers Garcia and Hill immediately began to investigate the shooting. Specifically, on July 2, 2011, the two officers interviewed Gladney, who was still in the hospital being treated for his wounds. Gladney, who had been shot from behind while texting, told the officers that he did not know who shot him. The officers recorded their interview of Gladney in a General Progress Report ("GPR") that they later provided to Officer Maresso and that Maresso lost or destroyed. Id. at ¶¶ 21-23. Others present at the scene also were interviewed. One such witness, Jason Jones, gave a description of the shooter that was inconsistent with Williams's appearance; the GPR for the Jones interview did not include any mention of Williams. Another witness, Kenneth McNeal, was interviewed twice, and first explained to Hill and Garcia who he saw at the lot on the night of the shootings. The GPR of this interview was lost or destroyed. Id. at ¶ 25. McNeal later explicitly told Garcia and Hill that he did not see Williams at the parking lot on the night of the shooting. Id. at ¶ 31. Despite this statement, the GPR for this interview did not mention Williams, and McNeal was not asked about Slugg. Id. at ¶¶ 31-32.

In August 2011, Garcia and Hill obtained surveillance video footage of the shootings that reflected that Antoine's van was present and that the shooter or gunman was associated with the van. Williams contends that Garcia and Hill "were told" that Williams was the driver of the van and therefore they immediately suspected that he was a shooter or the shooter. So Garcia and Hill summoned Gladney to review the surveillance footage. According to Williams, even after watching the footage, Gladney continued to tell the officers that he did not see who had shot him. Garcia and Hill allegedly used the recovered Ruger handgun to threaten Gladney (presumably with criminal charges) and "successfully pressured Gladney to say" that it was Williams who shot him. Id. at ¶ 28. A GPR for the interview was created, and notably, it only discussed the shooting of Gladney; it did not mention the shooting of Oliphant. Id. at ¶ 29.

At some point after this interview, Garcia and Hill "realized that Slugg, and not [Williams], was driving the van" on the night of the shooting. Id. at ¶ 33. Accordingly, Slugg was detained and questioned extensively about the shootings, but again, the GPR of his interview was lost or destroyed. Id. at ¶ 34. Shortly thereafter, Slugg was murdered, and, according to Williams, Defendants decided to charge Williams with the crimes.

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315 F. Supp. 3d 1060, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-city-of-chi-illinoised-2018.