Monson v. City of Detroit

LAMARR MONSON, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF DETROIT, et al., Defendant.

Case No. 18-10638

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION

March 6, 2019

Honorable Laurie J. Michelson

Magistrate Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS [30] AND DENYING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SANCTIONS [36]

In the course of investigating Christina Brown's 1996 murder, Detroit police officers arrested Lamarr Monson. After holding him overnight, they promised to release him and not to charge him so long as he signed a statement admitting he stabbed Brown in self-defense. Monson signed the statement. But the Detroit Police Department never released him. Instead, Monson was charged, and his statement was admitted against him at trial. And although Brown was killed by a blunt force trauma to the head, Monson's statement that he stabbed Brown helped to convince a jury he killed her. Monson was sentenced to a term of years in prison.

In 2012, after new evidence came to light, the Wayne County Prosecutor took another look at Monson's case. Although it took some time, eventually a state court dismissed his charges and, in 2017, he was released after 21 years in prison. The Wayne County Prosecutor declined to retry him.

Soon after, Monson sued Detroit, DPD, DPD's chief at the time of his arrest, and the officers personally involved in investigating Brown's murder. Now all Defendants move to dismiss. For various reasons, they say Monson's claims are not plausible. A few of Defendants' arguments have merit, and a few do not. So, for the reasons that follow, the Court will grant in part and deny in part Defendants' motion to dismiss.

I.

The following narrative is drawn entirely from the amended complaint's non-conclusory allegations, which, at this stage, are taken as true. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678-79 (2009).

A.

In early January 1996, when Lamarr Monson was 23, he started hanging out at a dilapidated apartment building on Boston Street in Detroit. (ECF No. 17, PageID.347.) Damaged by fire, the building lacked heat and electricity, but still had some residents. (Id.) Monson frequented Apartment 7A but rarely stayed in the building overnight, preferring instead to spend his nights at his parent's house, or with the mother of his daughter. (Id. at PageID.348.)

Monson met Christina Brown in late 1995. (ECF No. 17, PageID.347.) Although Brown was a 12-year-old runaway at the time (id. at PageID.348), Monson believed she was 17 or 18 (id. at PageID.354). About three or four days a week, Brown hung out with Monson in Apartment 7A, and Brown occasionally spent the night in the building. (Id. at PageID.347-348.)

Monson and Brown interacted with some of the building's remaining residents. These residents knew them as Marc Mason and Crystal and occasionally bought small quantities of crack or marijuana from them. (ECF No. 17, PageID.347-348.) They remembered Crystal as a tall girl who looked to be about 17 or 18. (Id.)

B.

Just before midnight on the evening of January 19, 1996, Monson left Apartment 7A. (ECF No. 17, PageID.348.) He spent the night at his daughter's mother's place. (Id.) Returning to thebuilding the next afternoon, Monson learned from another of the building's residents that the door to 7A was open, but nobody inside responded. (Id. at PageID.348-349.) When Monson entered 7A, he discovered Brown on the bathroom floor. (Id. at PageID.349.)

Brown was severely injured. She could lift her arms but could not speak. (Id. at PageID.349.) Her head was swollen, her face was covered in blood, and there were cuts all over her body. (Id.) Blood spattered the floor and walls of the bathroom. (Id.) And the bathroom's window was broken. (Id.)

Monson ran to the neighboring unit, occupied by Kenneth Brown. (ECF No. 17, PageID.349.) Hysterical, Monson pleaded with Kenneth to call 911. (Id.) But Kenneth did not have a phone, so he ran down the block to a payphone. (Id.) At the same time, Monson drove to his sister's house to call 911. (Id.)

After calling 911, Monson returned to the building. (ECF No. 17, PageID.349.) He placed a blanket on Christina and administered CPR when she stopped breathing. (Id.)

C.

Around 2:10 pm, Detroit Police Officers Vincent Crockett and Jerome Wilson arrived. (ECF No. 17, PageID.350.) Monson met the officers and escorted them to Apartment 7A. (Id.) When Monson and the officers reached 7A, two other residents were also present. (Id.) One of them was Robert Lewis, who identified himself to police as Raymond Lewis. (Id.) Eventually, EMS arrived and transported Brown to a nearby hospital, where, at 2:36 pm on January 20, 1996, she was pronounced dead. (ECF No. 17, PageID.350.)

Based on visible cuts all over her body, the first responders believed Brown was stabbed to death. (Id.)

Back at the apartment building, Officers Crockett and Wilson told Monson, Lewis, and the other tenant not to leave. (Id.) Then the officers ordered all three into a squad car. (Id. at PageID.351.) Crockett and Wilson drove Monson, Lewis, and the other tenant to the homicide unit within police headquarters. (Id.)

D.

At the homicide unit, a police investigator named Barbara Simon gave Monson two documents. One sought Monson's consent to search his vehicle for evidence. (ECF No. 17, PageID.353.) And the other was a form titled "Constitutional Rights Certification of Notification." (Id.) Among other things, the form indicated Monson had the right to have an attorney present. (Id.) Monson read the form and asked to call his parents in order to arrange a lawyer. (Id.) Someone told him he could call after he signed the forms. (Id.) Monson signed both forms as Marc Mason. (Id.) Officers never gave Monson access to a phone. (ECF No. 17, PageID.357.)

While Monson was at the station, Detroit police officers collected forensic evidence. (ECF No. 17, PageID.351-352.) The search of Monson's car turned up nothing. But in the bathroom where Brown was discovered, Officer Paul Mark noticed blood smears on virtually every surface. (Id. at PageID.352.) And the bathroom's window was broken out, with blood on the outside of the frame. In the bathroom sink, Mark found a knife, its blade bent. (Id.) And in the bedroom next to the bathroom, Mark found a blood-stained toilet tank lid wrapped in a mattress cover. (Id.) Dusting for prints, Mark found some on the bathroom mirror, some on the shower walls, and some on the toilet tank lid. (Id.) Each set was given its own evidence tag. (Id.)

Back at the station, Simon interrogated Monson. (ECF No. 17, PageID.353-354.) During the interrogation, Monson learned that Brown was actually 12 years old. (Id. at PageID.353-354.) And Monson learned that Brown succumbed to her injuries. (Id.) But the entire time, Monsoninsisted he had nothing to do with Brown's murder. (Id.) Monson said he was not at the building that night, he was at his daughter's mother's house. (Id. at PageID.354.)

For four hours, Simon pushed back. Simon urged Monson to admit that he had a sexual relationship with Brown. (ECF No. 17, PageID.354.) Monson consistently denied it. (ECF No. 17, PageID.354.) And Simon made no attempt to corroborate Monson's alibi. (Id.)

Undeterred, around 7:45 that evening, Simon wrote out a statement and told Monson if he signed it he could make his phone call. (Id.) The statement made no mention of Monson's alibi and indicated Monson said he had sex with Brown one time. (Id. at PageID.355.) Hoping to get his phone call, Monson signed the first statement. (Id.) Simon left the station. (Id.)

But Monson was not given access to a phone. Instead, officers continued to interrogate Monson for another three hours. (ECF No. 17, PageID.355.) Finally, around midnight, officers escorted Monson to a holding cell. (Id.) He did not sleep. (Id.)

The next morning, January 21, 1996, Simon returned to the station. (ECF No. 17, PageID.355.) She was assigned the "officer in charge" of Brown's case. (Id.) Her job was to oversee the investigation, take evidence to the crime lab, and prepare a report for the Wayne County Prosecutor. (Id.)

That same morning, officers retrieved Monson from the holding cell. (ECF No. 17, PageID.356.) They took him to the office of Joan Ghougoian, the homicide unit's commander. (Id.) Ghougoian told Monson that her officers wanted to charge Monson with first-degree murder. (Id.) Pointing to a stack of paper on her desk, Ghougoian said the evidence against him was "overwhelming." (Id.) But Ghougoian offered to help. (Id.) She told Monson that if he signed a second statement, establishing that he stabbed Brown in self-defense, she would make sureMonson would be released in less than 24 hours. (Id.) Otherwise, Ghougoian told him, he would go to jail for first-degree murder. (Id.)

Monson considered his options. (ECF No. 17, PageID.356.) And as he did, Ghougoian asked him about the crime scene. (Id.) She asked him how he thought the murder happened and suggested possible scenarios. (Id.) Monson went along. (Id.) Memorializing their hypotheticals as an "information summary," Ghougoian urged Monson to act quickly if he wanted to go home. (Id.) Relying on Ghougoian's promise of a speedy release, Monson agreed to sign the proposed "information summary." (Id.)

At that point, at Ghougoian's behest, Officer Charles Braxton appeared. (ECF No. 17, PageID.357.) Braxton and Ghougoian had a short conversation out of Monson's earshot. (Id.) And then Monson was escorted to Braxton's office. (Id.) There, Braxton once more read Monson his rights. (Id.) Once more, Monson asked if he could use a phone to call a lawyer. (Id.) Braxton said, "we'll see." (Id.)

Then, with Ghougoian's help, Braxton turned the "information summary" into Monson's second statement. (ECF No. 17, PageID.357.) Exhausted, Monson laid his head down on Braxton's desk. (Id.) Occasionally he nodded yes or no in response to a question from Braxton. (Id.) But mainly, Braxton typed the...