Gibson v. City of Chi.

JAMES GIBSON, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF CHICAGO, a municipal corporation,and former Chicago Police Officers ANTHONY MASLANKA,WILLIAM MOSER, JOHN E. BYRNE, LOUIS CAESAR,JOHN PALADINO, HENRY J. LEJA, JEROME RUSNAK,VICTOR BRESKA, ESTATE OF JOHN M. MCCARTHY,ESTATE OF THOMAS PTAK, ESTATE OF PHILLIP COLLINS,ESTATE OF JOHN OMARA, and ESTATE OF JON BURGE, Defendants.

No. 19 C 4152

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION

July 29, 2020

Judge Sara L. Ellis

OPINION AND ORDER

Plaintiff James Gibson spent over twenty-nine years in prison for a crime he did not commit. After the state court dismissed all charges against him, Gibson filed this civil rights complaint against the City of Chicago, the Estate of Jon Burge, who served as the commander of the Chicago Police Department's Area 3, and the following Chicago police officers: Anthony Maslanka, William Moser, John E. Byrne, Louis Caesar, John Paladino, Henry J. Leja, Jerome Rusnak, Victor Breska, John McCann, John M. McCarthy, Thomas Ptak, Phillip Collins, John O'Mara.¹ Gibson brings both federal and state law claims seeking to hold Defendants responsible for his wrongful conviction. Breska, Byrne, Caesar, Leja, Maslanka, Moser,Paladino, and Rusnak (collectively, the "Defendant Officers"), as well as Burge and the City, have moved to dismiss certain claims pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).²

Having reviewed the parties' arguments and Gibson's complaint, the Court limits Gibson's coerced confession claim to Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment violations. Gibson cannot proceed on a due process claim based on the withholding of the circumstances surrounding his abuse and coerced statement, the failure to disclose the lineups in which Gibson participated and witnesses' failure to identify Gibson in those lineups, and the abuse of another suspect. The Court also finds that Gibson has not adequately alleged a right to counsel or denial of access to courts claim. And because Gibson does not allege facts suggesting Leja's involvement so as to hold him directly liable on any claim, Gibson may only proceed against Leja on his conspiracy claims. The Court also limits the Defendant Officers against whom Gibson can pursue certain aspects of his due process claim. Gibson may proceed to discovery on the remaining claims raised in his complaint.

BACKGROUND³

On the morning of December 22, 1989, Lloyd Benjamin, Leon Coley, Curtis Garmon, Odell Garmon, James Horton, and Hunter Wash gathered at Wash's automobile repair shop at 1118 W. 58th Street, Chicago, Illinois. Benjamin, an insurance salesman, was in the areacollecting insurance premiums. Around 10:48 a.m., Fernando Webb confronted Benjamin as he exited the garage and shot Benjamin twice in the head, killing him. Wash heard the gunshots and exited the garage, at which time Webb shot him once in the head and killed him. The remaining individuals in the garage waited approximately five minutes after the last gunshot before exiting the garage to find Benjamin and Wash on the ground. Coley ran to Wash's house, after which Wash's son, Cortez, called the police. The police arrived on the scene at approximately 10:59 a.m.

Despite canvassing the area, police could not locate any eyewitnesses or physical evidence to help identify suspects. Gibson, whose nickname was Peter Gunn, heard a rumor tying him to the murders, prompting him to call the local police station on December 24 and disclaim any involvement. His call generated a contact card in the Chicago Police Department's database. Without other leads, on December 27, Chicago police officers who worked under Burge's command at Area 3 Violent Crimes started arresting and interrogating individuals mentioned in neighborhood gossip. Collins and O'Mara concocted an anonymous tip pinning the murders on Gibson. Because Gibson was not home when they sought to arrest him, Collins and O'Mara instead arrested Gibson's brother, Harold, and brought him to Area 3 for interrogation. Collins and O'Mara created a false police report to justify Harold's arrest, adding that the anonymous tipster indicated that Harold helped Gibson with the murders.

Upon learning of Harold's arrest, Gibson contacted Collins and O'Mara asking about the basis for his brother's arrest. Breska, Byrne, Caesar, Maslanka, Paladino, Ptak, and Rusnak then arrested Gibson at his home and brought him to Area 3 for questioning. Collins and O'Mara released Harold upon Gibson's arrest. Gibson remained at Area 3 overnight handcuffed to a chair, unable to use the washroom, and without food or drink. At some point, Collins, Maslanka,McCann, O'Mara, and Paladino inserted Gibson into three lineups, but no one identified Gibson, a fact omitted from the police reports.

After the lineups, Collins and O'Mara questioned Gibson while he remained handcuffed in a room. They then left Gibson alone in the room for several hours, returning with Maslanka, Paladino, and Ptak. Paladino told Gibson "we through playing with your ass, nigga," and slapped him several times. Doc. 1-1 ¶ 30. Gibson continued to deny his and his brother's involvement in the murders. The denials prompted Maslanka to kick and punch Gibson in the ribs while stating, "you're going to tell us something different than that. We are going to kick your ass all night." Id. Collins and O'Mara joined in punching and kicking Gibson.

Gibson remained detained for a second night, again handcuffed to a chair and without food or drink or access to a washroom. On December 29, Breska and Rusnak interviewed Gibson and asked him to take a polygraph examination. After they emphasized that a polygraph would "clear all of this up and stop all this ass whooping," Gibson agreed. Id. ¶ 32. But before going for the polygraph, Collins and O'Mara entered the room and proceeded to tell him they were "done playing with [him]" while punching him. Id. ¶ 33. Byrne, Caesar, Maslanka, McCann, and Paladino then entered the room. Byrne pulled out his gun and asked if Gibson used it in the murders. Gibson continued to deny all involvement. Maslanka then left and reentered the room with a silver colored iron. After pointing out Gibson's Peter Gun tattoo, Maslanka used the iron to burn the tattoo off Gibson's right arm.

Breska and Rusnak then took Gibson for a polygraph. Gibson touched or tore the paper the polygraph machine used, which led Breska and Rusnak to strike Gibson in the back of the head, physically restrain him, and take him back to Area 3. On the drive back, in an attempt to stop the torture, Gibson told Breska and Rusnak of rumors that "K.D.," also known as "Bodine,"was involved in the murders. Gibson knew Webb by both of these nicknames. Upon hearing this, Collins, Maslanka, Paladino, and Ptak detained Eric Johnson (K.D.)⁴ and Webb (Bodine).

Upon his return to Area 3, Gibson saw Johnson in an interrogation room. Placed in a separate interrogation room while handcuffed, Gibson told Collins and O'Mara that he saw K.D. give Bodine a pistol to stop their abuse. Caesar, McCann, and Moser then entered the room and fed Gibson the following story: Gibson saw Johnson give Webb a pistol and Webb then shot Benjamin. Gibson repeated the story to Caesar, McCann, and Moser, who brought him to an office and removed his handcuffs. Gibson provided Linda Peters, an Assistant State's Attorney, with a statement in line with the story Caesar, McCann, and Moser fed him. Linda Peters also interviewed Johnson and Webb. But Linda Peters and another Assistant State's Attorney, Bill Merritt, refused to approve charges absent additional corroboration. Upon this refusal, McCann took Gibson to Maslanka and Paladino, who released Gibson and drove him home on December 30. Johnson and Webb remained in custody.

Before the police released Gibson from custody, his sister Loraine Brown, an Army sergeant home on leave, went to Area 3 in her uniform looking for Gibson. Burge told her that Gibson would be released later that day. When Gibson returned home, his family members noticed he was in pain and had burns on his arm and a swollen face. Gibson reported that the police had beaten him, prompting Brown to report the abuse to Ann Peters of the Chicago Police Department's Office of Professional Standards ("OPS"). Gibson also spoke with Ann Peters, relaying his treatment while in custody and specifically naming Collins and O'Mara. Ann Peters indicated someone would contact Gibson within three days.

Meanwhile, at Area 3, officers continued interrogating Johnson and Webb. Johnson initially told Maslanka and Paladino that he was asleep at home at the time of the murders.Maslanka and Paladino responded by beating Johnson and telling him that Gibson implicated him in the murders. Breska, Caesar, McCann, and Rusnak joined the interrogation. Caesar and McCann indicated they would take Johnson for a polygraph examination. When Johnson refused, McCann stated, "nigger you're taking a polygraph test," punched Johnson in the stomach, and, with Caesar, took him for a polygraph. Id. ¶ 49. On the drive back, McCann confessed that they did not have anything on Johnson but could not release him given Gibson's statement. They told Johnson that, to be released, he had to state that he saw Gibson murder Benjamin and Wash. Johnson initially refused, but after McCann struck and choked him in Caesar's presence, he agreed to tell Linda Peters that he saw Gibson shoot Benjamin. But once in the room with Linda Peters, he instead reported that the police had beaten and threatened him and that he was home asleep when the murders occurred. After Linda Peters relayed this to Byrne, Byrne ordered Caesar and McCann to take Johnson into another interrogation room. Byrne entered with his gun out, asked Johnson if it was like the gun used to commit the murders, and then pointed it at Johnson, telling him to "stop fucking lying" and "tell them you had something to do with this shit nigga." Id. ¶ 51. Moser followed up by informing Johnson...