Excessive Force

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$1.38 Million Verdict for Elderly Victim of CPD Abuse

October 21, 2011 in City of Chicago, Excessive Force, False Arrest, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, Malicious Prosecution, State Court, Verdict by Adele Nicholas | No comments

A Cook County jury returned a verdict of $1.38 million on October 14 for a 67-year-old woman who suffered a heart attack and stroke after being shoved to the ground by 25th District Chicago police officer Jorge Cerda.

According to Plaintiff’s attorneys Jeff Neslund and Michael Robbins, Officer Cerda was trying to arrest the plaintiff’s daughter on the porch of her home when he shoved the plaintiff to the ground in the doorway. Plaintiff’s head hit the marble floor, causing subdural bleeding. When the plaintiff went to the police station to complain about the rough treatment, Cerda arrested her, charged her with aggravated assault and threatened to have her deported.

Plaintiff had a heart attack while in the police lock up and was hospitalized for two days. Only an hour after she was discharged, she was readmitted to the hospital, suffering an ischemic stroke, which left her permanently paralyzed on her left side.

The plaintiff asserted claims for battery, false arrest, malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The City of Chicago employed its foolish “no settlement” policy and offered the Plaintiff nothing to resolve the case prior to trial.

New Case: Montejano v. Chicago, 11 C 6838

October 2, 2011 in City of Chicago, Excessive Force, New Case by Adele Nicholas | No comments

According to a new case recently filed in the Northern District of Illinois, on September 29, 2010, Chicago police officers arrested George Montejano. While in a police lockup, Montejano became ill due to his diabetes and needed to be transported to the hospital. Defendant-Officers Benjamin Sanchez and Scott Pietryla allegedly put a handcuffed Montejano in the back seat of a squad car without a seat belt and then deliberately drove wildly so that Montejano would be injured while in the back seat. The complaint asserts claims under Section 1983 for excessive force and failure to intervene, along with state law claims for battery, negligence and willful and wanton conduct.

The case is George Montejano vs City of Chicago, 11 C 6838. Plaintiff Montejano is represented by Mark Parts and Faith Spencer. The complaint is available here.

Pointless “Affirmative Defenses” and the Judge Shadur Benchslap

August 25, 2011 in Cook County, Cook County Jail, Excessive Force by Adele Nicholas | No comments

Judge Milton I. Shadur of the Northern District of Illinois is known for his literate, often witty, and always well written opinions. He’s also known for his intolerance for boilerplate language in answers to complaints. His well known pet peeve is defendants who make wholesale denials of facts of which they lack personal knowledge, and affirmative defenses that are clearly inapplicable to the case. God help the lawyer who doesn’t heed Judge Shadur’s warnings! He’s likely to (a) fine the lawyer; (b) order the lawyer not to charge his client for his time drafting a new answer; (c) order the lawyer to send his scathing opinion directly to the client.

Judge Shadur sent down another benchslap (credit: Above the Law) this week, this time in the Section 1983 case Roberto Flores-Bahena v. Hovel, et al., 11 C 2671. The victim was Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Sorich, who angered Judge Shadur by asserting affirmative defenses of (1) immunity from punitive damages for official capacity claims (the complaint was clear that the defendant was named in his individual capacity) and (2) “objective reasonableness” (the complaint alleged that the defendant corrections-officer beat plaintiff while he was handcuffed, leaving him with broken ribs, a broken eye socket and a broken nose).

An earlier order told Sorich that the defenses lacked merit, but Sorich apparently reasserted them in his amended answer. Judge Shadur struck the answer in its entirety and ordered Sorich to beg for mercy:

Accordingly attorney Sorich is ordered, in accordance with Rule 12(c)(1), to respond on or before September 6, 2011 as to why an appropriate fine should not be imposed on him personally.

Ouch.

$333k Verdict Against Chicago Police Officers who Shot Family Pet

August 21, 2011 in Excessive Force, False Arrest, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, Verdict by Adele Nicholas | 2 comments

A Chicago jury awarded $333,000 to a family whose black lab “Lady” was shot and killed by Chicago police officers during a search at their South side home in 2009. The search turned up no evidence of criminal activity, and the dog was friendly and non-threatening, according to the Plaintiffs. Teenage brothers Thomas and Darren Russell were home during the search. Thomas testified that he answered the door when police knocked and asked to lock up the dog before they came in. The officers refused, and when the friendly pooch rounded the corner wagging its tail, Officer Richard Antonsen fired his duty weapon, killing the dog. To make matters worse, the officers arrested Thomas and charged him with obstruction. He was found not guilty.

The jury awarded $175,000 to Thomas, $85,000 to Darren and $35,000 each to the boys’ parents, who were not home during the execution of the warrant. The jury also hit Antonsen with $2,000 in punitive damages and a supervisor on the scene with $1,000 in punitives.

The case is Russell v. City of Chicago, et al., 10 C 525, and was tried before Judge Marovich. Smith, Johnson & Anholt represented the plaintiffs. Corporation counsel represented the city.

Daley Will Have to Answer Questions about Burge Police Torture Coverup

August 11, 2011 in City of Chicago, Excessive Force, Jon Burge, Police Torture by Adele Nicholas | No comments

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer ruled that former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley will remain as a defendant in the case Tillman v. Burge et al., 10 C 4551. Michael Tillman was incarcerated for nearly 24 years before evidence came to light that he had been tortured into confessing to a rape and murder he did not commit by officers under the watch of former Area Two police commander Jon Burge. Tillman’s conviction was vacated in January 2010, and he received a certificate of innocence shortly thereafter. Burge was convicted last year of perjury for lying about his knowledge of police torture at Area Two.

Tillman’s civil suit names Daley as a defendant, alleging that he played a role in the conspiracy to cover up widespread police abuse and torture at Area Two. For now, Daley remains a defendant in the case, although his attorneys are requesting the judge reconsider her ruling. His deposition has been noticed for September 8.

Country Club Hills Sued in Police Shooting

July 29, 2011 in Country Club Hills, Excessive Force, Malicious Prosecution, New Case, Police Shooting by Adele Nicholas | 1 comment

Hazel Crest, Illinois resident Abeid Armour filed suit July 25, 2011, against Country Club Hills and two police officers. On July 24, 2010, Officer John Silas shot Armour, allegedly without justification. Officer Guiveda Francois was present for the shooting and allegedly conspired with Silas to falsely charge Armour criminally to cover up the unjustified shooting. The case asserts claims for excessive force, assault, battery, malicious prosecution and civil conspiracy. The case is currently pending before Judge Joan Gottschall in the Northern District of Illinois. The complaint is available here.

Update on Civil Case against Anthony Abbate

July 27, 2011 in Anthony Abbate, City of Chicago, Excessive Force, Independent Police Review Authority, Internal Investigations, Monell, Office of Professional Standards by Adele Nicholas | No comments

In February 2007, Chicago police officer Anthony Abbate was captured on video attacking and punching 125-pound bartender Karolina Obrycka at Jesse’s Shortstop Inn near Belmont and Long on Chicago’s northwest side. Abbate allegedly became enraged when Obrycka refused to continue serving him alcohol after he was already intoxicated. Abbate claimed to be acting in self defense. You can evaluate that claim for yourself based on the infamous video (embedded below). Unsurprisingly, Judge John Fleming didn’t buy the self defense line, and convicted Abbate of aggravated battery and sentenced him in June 2009 to community service, anger management counseling, and two years of probation.

Obrycka has filed a civil lawsuit against Abbate and the City which is currently pending before Judge Amy St. Eve in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The parties are currently engaged in expert discovery.

Among the more interesting issues is Obrycka’s Monell claim, in which she argues that the City’s defective and biased procedures for investigating complaints of excessive force by Chicago police officers was a cause of the beating — essentially that Abbate knew he could act with impunity. In support of this contention, Obrycka’s lawyers have offered several expert witnesses, including Thomas Smith, the former chief investigator at the Office of Professional Standards (now known as the Independent Police Review Authority). Smith identified ten factors that negatively impacted OPS’s ability to adequately investigate complaints of police misconduct. Some of the factors Smith identifies are:

A rule barring investigators from reviewing past civilian complaints against an accused officer;
The policy of finding a complaint “not sustained” unless there is physical evidence to prove the civilian’s version of events;
The fact that accused officers are not required to give an interview to an investigator, but rather can answer questions in writing;
A lack of independence from the Chicago police department;
The multiple levels of review and second-guessing after OPS made a disciplinary determination;
The requirement that a complainant must submit a sworn affidavit before any investigation can commence.

Judge St. Eve ruled June 16, that these opinions were relevant and admissible.

After the SOS scandal, which resulted in the indictment of numerous police officers from the “Special Operations Section,” the City tried to clean up some of the problems with OPS by renaming it the “Independent Police Review Authority.” But many believe that’s just window dressing. The definition of “not sustained” is the same; the sworn affidavit requirement is the same; IPRA is even housed in the exact same office as OPS was.

Judge St. Eve’s ruling on the testimony of Thomas Smith is available for free here.

Probation for Ex-Streamwood Cop Convicted in Beating

May 31, 2011 in Excessive Force, Village of Streamwood by Adele Nicholas | No comments

On March 28, 2010, Ex-Streamwood police officer James Mandarino tried to curb a car driven by 28-year-old Ronald Bell near Schaumburg Road and East Avenue in Streamwood. Bell didn’t stop his car until he got into his own driveway a few blocks away. And Mandarino was not happy. What happened next was caught on video:

The squad car video depicts a clearly unjustified beating, in which Mandarino gets out of his car with his gun drawn, hits Bell over the head with a metal baton 15 times while Bell cowers on his knees, and tazers Nolan Stalbaum, the passenger.

After this beating, Mandarino charged Bell with resisting arrest, reckless driving, and several traffic infractions. Mandarino charged Stalbaum with resisting. Because how better to justify excessive force than with false charges?

Thankfully, the video surfaced a few days later, and Mandarino was charged with two felonies: official misconduct and aggravated battery. In March of this year, Cook County Circuit Judge Thomas Fecarotta Jr. convicted Mandarino on both counts after a bench trial, reportedly saying: “If a picture speaks a thousand words, the video speaks a million.”

Today, Fecarotta sentenced Mandarino to 30 months of probation and 150 hours of community service.

Chicago Tribune has more coverage here.

New Case Filings

May 23, 2011 in City of Chicago, Excessive Force, Illegal Search, New Case by Adele Nicholas | 1 comment

In Gillard v. City of Chicago, et al., 11 C 3440, filed today, Carl Gillard, a 40-year-old Chicago resident was driving near 63rd and State when he alleges Chicago police officers Lou Laurenzana and Jenny Molda stopped him for no reason. Although he produced a valid license, registration and proof of insurance, the defendant police officers searched his car, apparently finding drugs (although the complaint is vague on this point). Gillard won the criminal case on a motion to suppress, but spent three months in Cook County Jail in the meantime. Sounds like a hard case to bring to a jury.

Similarly, Coglianese v. Chicago Ridge, et al., 11 C 3419, filed Friday, arises from a traffic stop. In this complaint, the plaintiff alleges that his minor son was a passenger in the back seat of a car driving on Rigeland Avenue in Chicago Ridge when police officer Dropkowski stopped the car, made the kid get out of the car and beat him.

Chandler, et al. v. City of Chicago, et al., 11 C 3075

May 15, 2011 in City of Chicago, Excessive Force, False Arrest, Malicious Prosecution, New Case by Adele Nicholas | No comments

On May 9, 2011, Chicago residents Brian Chandler and Dave Duncan filed a civil rights lawsuit against Chicago police officers Stanley Kus and Vincent Morales. The case arises from a July 22, 2009, incident in which Chandler and Duncan were stopped by the Defendant-Officers. According to the lawsuit, Duncan was driving and Chandler was a passenger in the car, but the Defendant-Officers falsely stated that Chandler was the driver and charged him with driving on a suspended license. The charge against Chandler was dismissed on March 22, 2011.

According to the complaint, Defendant-Officer Kus pointed a loaded gun at the plaintiffs’ heads during the traffic stop. The suit alleges that Morales failed to intervene to stop Kus from using excessive and unreasonable force. The case claims constitutional violations including excessive force, illegal search and seizure, false arrest, malicious prosecution and failure to intervene.

The case is pending before Judge Grady in the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago. The plaintiffs are represented by Richard Dvorak.

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