MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
In Mаy 1983, Stanley Wrice (“Wrice”) was convicted of a violent rape and sentenced to 100 years in prison. Over thirty years later, in December 2013, a state judge granted Wrice a new trial on the ground that two police officers working under Jon Burge’s command had tortured Wrice into confessing. The state then moved to dismiss its case against Wrice.
Wrice has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the two police officers who allegedly tortured him (John Byrne and Peter Dignan); their commanding officers (Jon Burge and Leroy Martin); the lead prosecutor at his trial (Bertina Lampión); the Superintendent of the Chicago.Police Department (“CPD”) from 1998 to 2004 (Terry Hillard) and his chief counsel (Thomas Needham); the Director of CPD’s Office of Professional Standards from 1990 to 1998 (Gayle Shines); and Richard M. Daley, who served as the State’s Attorney for Cook County from 1981 to 1989 and as Mayor of the City of Chicago from 1989 to 2011. Wrice has also sued the City, Cook County, and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office under Monell, respondeat superior, and indemnification theories of liability.
Defendants have moved to dismiss Wrice’s claims on a variety of grounds. For the reasons stated below, I dismiss Bertina Lampkin, Richard M. Daley, Terry Hil-lard, Thomas Needham, and Gayle Shines from the case and grant the City Defen
I. Wrice’s allegations
At the motion to dismiss stage, I must accept Wrice’s factual allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in his favor. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal,
Shortly after midnight on September -9, 1982, a white woman identified as “K.B.” was raped and burned in the attic of a home that Wrice shared with his brother, his sister, and his sister’s boyfriend in the South Shore neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois. Compl. at ¶¶ 19, 38. Wrice and five other black men were arrested in connection with KB.’s rape. Id. at ¶ 19. All six men were allegedly beaten by Sergeant Jоhn Byrne (“Sgt. Byrne”) and Detective Peter Dignan (“Det. Dignan”) during post-arrest interrogations in the 'Area 2 violent crimes ‘ unit. Id. Wrice and three ’ other arrestees—Rodney Benson, Lee Holmes, and Michael Fowler—made incriminating statements and were charged with K.B’s rape. Id. Bobby Joe Williams, one of'the other suspects, was tortured until he implicated Wrice in KB.’s rape. Id. at ¶ 42.
At a pre-trial suppression hearing, Wrice testified that Sgt. Byrne and Det. Dignan had tortured him and called him a “nigger” during his post-arrest interrogation. Id. at ¶¶ 20-25.
At trial, Sgt. Byrne testified that Wrice had implicated himself in K.B.’s rape during a post-arrest interview. Id. at ¶. 39. An Assistant State’s Attorney who was intermittently present during Wrice’s interrogation corroborated that Wrice had confеssed to the crime. Id.
The other evidence against Wrice came from two trial witnesses: Kenny Lewis (“Lewis”) and Bobby Joe Williams (“Williams”). Id. at ¶ 41. The lead prosecutor in the case, Bertina Lampkin, found Lewis five days before trial during her search for additional eyewitnesses. Id. Lewis testified that he saw Wrice burn and beat K.B. on the night in question. Id. Williams, in turn, testified that he saw Wrice having sex with K.B, and heard Wrice say that he had burned- her. Id. at ¶ 42. Sgt. Byrne and Det. Dignan had tortured Williams on the night of his arrest until' he implicated Wrice in K.B.’s rape. Id. at ¶¶ 42, 93-94. Wrice, however, has not alleged that either the prosecution or the defense was aware of the ugly backsto-ry behind Williams’s trial testimony.
Wrice testified in his own defense. He knew that several men were upstairs drinking and using drugs on the night in question, but denied knowing, anything about K.B.’s rape or taking part in the offense. Id. at ¶ 40. Wrice later heard loud noises in the attic, went upstairs, and told everyone to leave. Id. With regard to his confession, Wrice testified that his inculpa-tory statements were the result of torture at the hands of Sgt. Byrne and Det. Dig-nan. Id.
In October 2007, Wrice sought leave to file a second successive post-conviction petition, on the ground that “newly discovered evidence substantiated his prior claim that his confession was the product of police brutality and torture.” People v. Wrice,
After a post-remand evidentiary hearing in December 2013, Judge Richard Walsh of the Cook County Circuit Court found that Sgt. Byrne and Det. Dignan had lied at the suppression hearing when they denied torturing Wrice until he confessed. Compl. at ¶¶ 69, 99. The state court granted Wrice a new trial, after which the Cook County Special Prosecutor agreed to dismiss 'all charges against him. Id. at ¶¶ 69, 100.
In May 2014, Wrice petitioned the Circuit Court of Cook County under 735 ILCS § 5/2-702 for a certificate of innocence. Judge Thomas Byrne held that Wrice had failed to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that he was innocent of raping K.B. See Dkt. No. 42-1. Although Bobby Joe Williams had recanted his trial testimony, Kenny Lewis had not. In Judge Byrne’s view, Lewis’s testimony that he saw Wrice raping K.B. was sufficient to defeat Wrice’s assertion of innocence. Id. at 11-12. Wrice’s has appealed that ruling.
II, Analysis
Wrice has asserted a variety of federal and state law claims against Sgt. Byrne and Det. Dignan; 'two of their commanding officers; the lead prosecutor at his trial; the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department (“CPD”) from 1998 to 2004 and his chief counsel; the Director of CPD’s Office of Professional Standards from 1990 to 1998; and Richard M. Daley.
Wrice’s claims include Brady violations and fabrication of evidence (Count I); false arrest and imprisonment (Counts II and VII); torture and physical abuse (Count III); coercive interrogation (Count IV); a racially motivated conspiracy and cover-up (Count V); a Monell claim against the City of Chicago (Count VI); malicious prosecution (Count VIII); intentional infliction of emotional distress (Count IX); and civil conspiracy (Count X). Wrice also seeks to hold the entities that employed the state actors who allegedly viоlated his rights responsible under respondeat superior (Count XI) and indemnification (Count XII) theories.
Defendants have moved to dismiss Wrice’s claims on a variety of grounds including prosecutorial immunity, timeliness, and failure to- state a claim. “To survive a motion to' dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Iqbal,
A. Bertina Lampkin
Bertina Lampkin (“ASA Lampkin”) was the lead prosecutor at Wrice’s criminal trial in 1983 and now sits on the Illinois Appellate Court. Compl. at ¶ 16. Wrice has not alleged that ASA Lampkin knew anything about Sgt. Byme and Det. Dignan torturing Wrice and Bobby Joe Williams. Instead, Wrice’s claims ' against ASA Lampkin are based on her role in locating and preparing witnesses and then presenting their testimony at trial. Id. at ¶ 95.
Specifically, Wrice allegеs that ASA Lampkin violated his constitutional rights when she (1) threatened to charge Williams with KB.’s rape if he did not testify against Wrice, id. at ¶¶ 42, 96; (2) failed to disclose to the defense that she had coerced Williams into testifying, id. at 1146, 96; (3) lied about how she found the state’s other key witness, Kenny Lewis, through his mother five days before trial; id. at ¶¶ 41, 46, 97; and (4) “construed” and “manufactured” Lewis’s “unreliable” testimony implicating Wrice in KB.’s rape, id. at ¶ 97.
ASA Lampkin argues that she is entitled to absolute prosecutorial immunity for all of actions recounted above. The immunity inquiry “focuses on the conduct for which immunity is claimed, not on the harm that the conduct may have caused or the question whether it was lawful.” Buckley v. Fitzsimmons (“Buckley III”),
ASA Lampkin is entitled to absolute immunity for all of the allegedly unlawful actions described in Wrice’s complaint. Wrice’s attempt to challenge ASA Lampkin’s presentation of Lewis’s and Williams’s testimony at trial is frivolous. “Presenting evidence at trial is a core prosecutorial function, protected by absolute prosecutorial immunity and therefore an insuperable bar to an award of damages in a suit for malicious prosecution against the prosecutor.” Id. at 1111; see also Buckley III,
ASA Lampkin аlso enjoys absolute immunity for how she prepared Lewis and Williams to testify. “Once prosecution begins, bifurcating a prosecutor’s role between investigation and prosecution is no longer feasible. If in the course of a trial a prosecutor were to urge one of his witnesses to lie, it would be arbitrary to describe this as an investigative act separate from prosecution; the prosecutor’s conduct would ■ have been ‘intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process,’ and he would therefore be entitled to absolute immunity.” Fields II,
Wrice’s argument that ASA Lampkin was not acting as a prosecutor when she searched for additional witnesses on the eve of trial and allegedly found Lewis through his mother is also baseless. Imbler recognizes that trial рreparation “may require the obtaining, reviewing, and evaluating of evidence.” Id. at 431 n.33,
In sum, ASA Lampkin is entitled to absolute prosecutorial immunity on Wrice’s federal claims. It follows that she is also entitled to absolute immunity on Wrice’s state claims. Id. at 1115 (noting apparent congruence between federal and state prosecutorial immunity); see also Kitchen v. Burge,
B. Richard M. Daley
Richard M. Daley (“Daley”) served as the State’s Attorney for Cook County from 1981 to 1989 and Mayor of the City of Chicago from 1989 until 2011. I divide Daley’s arguments for dismissal based on the two public jobs he held during Wrice’s prosecution and incarceration.
1. Daley as State’s Attorney (1981-89)
Wrice alleges that Daley, among others, “concealed and suppressed [his] knowledge of ongoing torture and physical abuse under Burge, blocked and undercut efforts within the Chicago Police Department to expose and discipline offending officers, and refused to intervene to stop the continuing egregious and criminally unconstitutional misconduct.” Compl. at ¶ 2. According to Wrice, in February 1982, Daley learned that the police were torturing African American suspects during а manhunt for the killers of two white Chicago police officers. Id. at ¶¶ 50-52, 54-55, 63. Daley is not alleged to have directed, participated in, or even observed any suspects being tortured, but Wrice faults him for not “halting] or preventing]” those practices. Id. at ¶ 55. Daley also declined to investigate police interrogation methods even after the Director of Medical Services of Cook County Jail advised him in February 1982 that a suspect in Burge’s jurisdiction had been physically abused. Id. at ¶¶ 56-58. Wrice believes that he was tortured and wrongfully convicted of K.B.’s rape all because of Daley’s failure to disclose or investigate allegations of police torture during his tenure as the State’s Attorney for Cook County. Id. at ¶ 64.
Daley argues that he, like ASA Lampkin, is entitled to absolute prosecuto-rial immunity for the actions and omissions summarized above. I agree. Wrice’s allegation that Daley suppressed evidencе of police torture runs squarely into the Seventh Circuit’s holding that “Brady and
As for Daley’s alleged failure to investigate allegations of police torture during his tenure as the State’s Attorney for Cook County, Wrice cannot avoid the well-established principle that a prosecutor enjoys absolute immunity for his decision not to investigate a matter, file charges, or otherwise intervene. See Watson v. Bush, No. 09 C 1871,
2. Daley as Mayor (1989-2011)
After Daley became Mayor in 1989, he allegedly continued to suppress evidence about police torture and refused to launch any investigations. Id. at ¶¶ 71-72. Specifically, Wrice faults Daley for (1) attempting to discredit a report—commonly known as the Goldston Report—released in 1992 that documented systemic abuse of suspects held in Burge’s jurisdiction, id. at ¶ 81; (2) ignoring additional, publicly-disclosed evidence that Burge was the leader of a group that had extracted confessions from African American suspects using torture, id. at ¶ 83; (3) promoting Det. Dig-nan in 1996 despite numerous allegations and sustained findings of torture against him, id. at ¶ 89; and (4) ordering that City of Chicago pay for the legal defense of Burge and detectives who worked under his command, id. at ¶ 91.
Daley is entitled prosecutorial immunity for his allegedly ongoing failure to disclose Brady or Giglio material relating to police torture that he learned during his tenure as the State’s Attorney for Cook County. See Kitchen,
Second, there is no plausible connection between Daley’s alleged actions as Mayor and Wrice’s continued imprisonment during the same timeframe. As I stated in Kitchen, “[i]t cannot plausibly be argued that Kitchen would have been exonerated if Daley had not promoted Dig-nan, or if he had not ordered Burge’s defense, or if he had not criticized the [Golston] Report.” Id. The same observations apply to Wrice’s attempt to hold Daley liable for his conduct as Mayor. See Tillman v. Burge,
In sum, Wrice’s claims against Daley fail across the board for two reasons: (1) Da
C. City Defendants
The so-called “City Defendants” include the City of Chicago; Lt. Burge, Sgt. Byrne, and Det. Dignan (collectively, the “Officer Defendants”); Leroy Martin and Terry Hillard, former Superintendents of the Chicago Police Department from 1987 to 1992 and 1998 to 2004, respectively; Thomas Needham, counsel to Superintendent Hillard from 1998 to 2002; and Gayle Shines, Director of the Chicago Police Office of Professional Standards from 1990 to 1998.
The City Defendants have filed a joint motion to-dismiss that raises nine separatе arguments.
1. Due process claims (Count I)
In Count I, Wrice alleges that he did not receive a fair trial and was wrongfully convicted because the City Defendants fabricated incriminating evidence and suppressed exculpatory evidence. Compl. at ¶ 105.
The City Defendants argue that Count I fails to state a plausible claim for three reasons: (1) Wrice’s use of the term “wrongful conviction” shows that he is attempting to assert a non-cognizable federal malicious prosécution claim; (2) Wrice’s allegations do not state a plausible Brady violation; and (3) Wrice has not stated an evidence fabrication claim.
a. Malicious prosecution claim
Newsome v. McCabe,
b. Brady claim
Wrice relies on two due process theories that do not run afoul of Newsome: (1) a Brady claim and (2) a fabrication of evidence claim. ■ . ,
With regard to the Brady claim, the City Defendants assert that only three categories of exculpatory evidence are at issue: (1) the interrogation techniques used to' obtain Wrice’s confession and Bobby Joe Williams’s statement implicating Wrice in K.B.’s murder; (2) ASA Lampkin’s threat to charge Williams with the crime if he did not testify against Wrice; and (3) the prosecution’s last minute discovery of Kenny Lewis and supposed fabrication of his testimony.
Wrice was present for the interrogation where he was tortured into confessing, so “the police were under no Brady obligation to .tell- [him] again that they coerced [him] into confessing.” Sornberger
Second, the Officer Defendants were not required to tell Wrice about exculpatory 'information already known to the prosecution (i.e., ASA Lampkin’s alleged threat to Williams before he testified and her alleged fabrication of Lewis’s testimony). See Beaman v. Freesmeyer,
What remained unknown to’ the prosecution, however, was that Sgt. Byrne and Det. Dignan had tortured Williams before he implicated Wrice in KB.’s murder.
The Officer-Defendants argue that Wriсe is collaterally estopped from asserting a Brady claim premised on their alleged torture of Williams because the state judge who denied Wrice a certificate of innocence found that Williams’s attempt to •recant his trial testimony was not credible. See Dkt. No. 42-1 at 24-27 (discussing Williams’s recantation affidavit). I will assume, without deciding, that a decision denying a certificate of innocence can result in issue preclusion even though the Illinois legislature had provided ¡that such a ruling “shall not have res judicata- effect on any other proceedings.” See 735 ILCS § 5/2— 702(j). The issue before the state judge was whether Wrice had established by a preponderance of the evidence that he was innocent of the charged offenses. Id. at 8-9 (citing 73,5 ILCS § 5/2-702(g)(3)). Williams’s affidavit recanting his trial testimony was not helpful in establishing Wrice’s innocence, but it does not follow that undisclosed evidence of Williams being tortured would have been immаterial to the credibility of his trial testimony. In other words, the issue before me differs from the issue before the state judge who denied Wrice a certificate of innocence, so one of the basic conditions for application of collateral estoppel is missing.
The City Defendants tacitly concede that the interrogation techniques used against Williams are Brady material, so that portion of Claim I survives. To be clear, I am not endorsing Wrice’s argument that the officers who interrogated Williams had a Brady obligation to disclose that they fabricated evidence. See Saunders-El v. Rohde,
c. Fabrication of evidence claim
Wriсe’s final due process theory is that the Officer Defendants fabricated evidence against him when they (1) tortured him into confessing and (2) tortured Williams into implicating Wrice in K.B.’s rape. '
The Seventh Circuit has “consistently held that a police officer who manufactures false evidence against a criminal defendant violates due process if that evidence is later used to deprive the defendant of her liberty in some way.” Whitlock,
The issue before me is whether Count I is a genuine fabrication of evidence claim or merely a complaint about coercive interrogation techniques. Petty compels the conclusion that Count I is coercion claim that must be dismissed. Petty alleged that Chicago Police officers held a witness “for over for over 13 hours without food, water, or access to a bathroom until he implicated” Petty in a murder. Id. at 417-18. The police allegedly harassed the same witness at his home and refused to release him until he identified Petty as the murderer. Id. at 419. Setting aside the “fabrication of evidence” label that Petty had affixed to his claim, the Seventh Circuit held that “his claim is a ‘coercion’ case for which there is no cognizable duе process claim, as opposed to an ‘evidence fabrication’ case where there is a cognizable claim.” Id. at 422-23. At most, Petty had alleged that the officers knew or should have known that the witness’s statement was “flawed” because of the coercive interrogation tactics they used. The court held that Petty’s allegations of police coercion were quite “different than alleging that CPD officers created evidence that they knew to be false, which is the hallmark of a fabrication case.” Id. at 423.
Petty is fatal to Wrice’s attempted fabrication of evidence claim; The Officer Defendants are not accused of telling Wrice or Williams what to say about K.B.’s murder knowing, that the information was false.
2.False arrest and imprisonment claims (Counts II and VII)
The City Defendants argue that Wrice’s false arrest and imprisonment claims, Counts II and VII, are time-barred. Wallace v. Kato,
.Wrice waited until August 2014 to file his false arrest and imprisonment claims, so I must dismiss them as untimely. Wrice has conceded this point in his opposition brief. See Dkt. No. 45 at ¶ 26 (voluntarily dismissing Counts II and VII).
3.Excessive force claim (Count III)
In Count III, Wrice alleges that he was the victim of torture and physical abuse in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The City Defendants argue that the statute of limitations started to run on such a claim when the allegedly excessive forced was used against Wrice in September 1982. See Evans v. Poskon,
4.Coerced confession claim (Count IV)
In a reсurring theme, the City Defendants argue that Count IV is untimely because Wrice’s coercive interrogation claim accrued in September 1982 when he was allegedly tortured.
The primary constitutional basis for Wrice’s coercive interrogation claim is his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
Once the state obtained a conviction against Wrice using his allegedly coerced confession, Heck v. Humphrey,
The City Defendants argue that Moore v. Burge,
In sum, Wrice’s coerced confession claim under the Fifth Amendment accrued in May 1983 when his confession was used against him at trial, but the claim was tolled until December 2013 when a state judge granted him a new trial. Wrice filed suit in August 2014, well within the two-year statute of limitations that governs § 1983 claims in Illinois.
5. Conspiracy claims (Counts V)
In Count V, Wrice claims that all nine individual Defendants conspired to commit the constitutional violations alleged in Counts I through IV. Compl. at ¶ 124 (“§ 1983 conspiracy claim). He also claims that Defendants were part of a “racially motivated conspiracy” to deprive him and other African American suspects of equal
Defendants have moved to dismiss the § 1983 conspiracy claim in Count V on the ground that Wrice’s allegations are vague and generalized. Wrice concedes, as he must, that his § 1983 conspiracy claim is premised only on his viable constitutional claims: Count I (Brady claim) and Count IV (coerced confession claim). See Smith v. Gomez,
The complaint does not allege facts from which a plausible inference can be drawn that nine public officials—i.e„ the two police officers who allegedly tortured him, their commanding officers, the lead prosecutor at Wrice’s trial, Richard M. Daley, and three CPD officials who assumed office years after the trial— agreed to suppress evidence of police torture that would have been exculpátory at Wrice’s trial. Only Sgt. Byrne and Det. Dignan were allegedly aware that Williams had been tortured. It is difficult to understand how seven other state actors could have conspired to suppress evidence of which they were not aware. With respect to Wrice’s broader allegation about an undisclosed pattern or practice of torturing African American suspects, the complaint is devoid of facts suggesting that all nine Defendants agreed to conceal those facts from Wrice in an effort, to secure and sustain his ■ conviction. See Beaman,
As for Wrice’s conspiracy claim based on his coerced confession, that constitutional violation was complete when the confession was used against him at trial. See Chavez,
In sum, Wrice has framed his § 1983 conspiracy.- claim in implausibly broad terms. See Andrews,
6. Monell claim (Count VI)
In Count VI, Wrice seeks to hold the City of Chicago liable for the federal constitutional violations he alleges in Counts I through V. “If the plaintiff fails to [allege] a [plausible] violation of his constitutional rights in his claim against the individual defendants, there will be no viable Monell claim based on the same allegations.” Swanigan v. City of Chicago,
The City has not moved to dismiss Count VI on any other ground, so I reserve judgement on whether Wrice’s alleged constitutional injuries resulted from a municipal policy or custom.
7. Malicious prosecution claim (Count VIII)
In Count VIII, Wrice alleges that the three Officer Defendants, acting without probable cause, initiated a malicious prosecution against him and conspired with the other individual Defendants to continue that prosecution. Compl. at ¶ 138.
“Under Illinois law, to state a malicious prosecution claim, [Wrice] must show ‘(1) the commencement or continuation of an original criminal or civil proceeding by the defendants; (2) termination of the proceeding in his favor; (3) the absence of probable cause; (4) the presence of malice on the defendants’ part; and (5) damages.’ ” Wade v. Collier,
Defendants argue that Wrice’s malicious prosecution claim is implausible for three reasons: (1) Wrice’s own allegations show that the state had probable cause to prosecute him for K.B.’s rape; (2) Wrice had not pleaded facts from which an inference of malice can be drawn; and (3) Wrice’s criminal case was not terminated in a manner indicative of his innocence.
I start with Defendants’ third argument. “The tort of malicious prosecution under Illinois law includes among its elements a demonstration that the assertedly wrongful prosecution terminated in the plaintiff’s favor in a manner implying innocence.” Bridewell v. Eberle,
In Swick v. Liautaud, the Illinois Supreme Court adopted the majority rule that “a criminal proceeding has been terminated in favor of the accused when a prosecutor formally abandons the proceeding via a nolle prosequi, unless the abandonment is for reasons not indicative of the innocence of the accused.”
Count VIII must be dismissed, without prejudice, because the complaint does not support an inference that the nolle prose-qui order entered in state court was indie-
8.Intentional infliction of emotional distress (Count IX)
In Count IX, Wrice alleges that all nine individual Defendants engaged in “extreme and outrageous conduct” for their roles in his prosecution and allegedly wrongful conviction for K.B.’s rape. Compl. at ¶¶ 143-44.1 agree with Defendants that Count IX is time barred.
“The limitations period for tort claims, such as intentional infliction of emotional distress, against governmental entities and their employees... is only one year pursuant to 745 ILCS 10/8-101.” Evans v. City of Chicago,
Wrice’s claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress accrued no later than May 1983 when he was convicted. Yet Wrice did not bring that claim until August 2014, well beyond the one year statute of limitations. Therefore, I dismiss Count IX as untimely.
9.Civil conspiracy (Count X)
I have dismissed all. of Wrice’s state law claims, so his civil conspiracy claims necessarily fails. See Siegel v. Shell Oil Co.,
10.Respondeat superior (Count XI)
Wrice’s state law respondeat superior claims fails because none of his underlying state law claims are plausible. See Lawlor v. N. Am. Corp. of Ill,
11.Indemnification claim (Count XII)
Wrice has sued Cook County and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office on the ground that they are responsible for any judgment entered against ASA Lamp-kin or Daley. Compl. at ¶ 159. Because I have granted ASA Lampkin’s and Daley’s respective motions to dismiss, see supra at §§ II.A and II.B, I must dismiss Wrice’s indemnification claim against Cook County and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. .
D. Section 1983’s personal involvement requirement
To summarize, I have held that only two of Wrice’s constitutional claims under
1. City Officials
Terry Hillard, Thomas Needham, and Gayle Shines (collectively, “the City Officials”) argue that they were not personally involved in either the alleged Brady violation or Wrice’s allegedly coerced confession and should be dismissed from the case. The City Officials did not assume office until seven to fifteen years after Wrice’s conviction. Beсause they played no role in Wrice’s arrest, interrogation, or prosecution, they cannot be held responsible for allegedly coercing him into confessing. See Hill v. City of Chicago, No. 06 C 6772,
As for the City Officials’ alleged concealment of Brady material, Wrice has not alleged that they came into possession of any exculpatory information relating to his case that was known to the state at the time of his original trial. Cf. Kitchen,
In sum, the City Officials did not personally participate in Wrice’s allegedly coerced confession or any alleged Brady violation, so I dismiss them from this case.
2. Leroy Martin
At the time of Wrice’s prosecution, Leroy Martin (“Martin”) was Commander of the Area 2 Detective Division. Compl. at ¶ 10. In that capacity, Martin directly supervised Lieutenant Jon Burge and was the command supervisor of Sgt. Byrne. Id. Martin later served as Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department from 1987 to 1992. Id.
Martin knew about Wrice’s allegations that Sgt. Byrne and Det. Dignan had tortured him, yet Martin failed to investigate those allegations and allowed Wrice’s confession to be used against him at trial. Id. at ¶ 66. Martin’s apparent ratification of coercive interrogation practices allegedly used to obtain Wrice confession makes him a plausible participant in the underlying Fifth Amendment violation that occurred when the confession was used аgainst Wrice at trial. See Kitchen,
Martin’s failure to investigate allegations of police torture against black suspects also makes him a plausible participant in concealing Brady material that Wrice could have used to cast doubt on the voluntariness of his own confession and Williams’s trial testimony.
Jon Burge, the commanding officer of the Area 2 violent crimes unit, was a more active participant in the alleged Brady and Fifth Amendment violations than Martin. Burge allegedly hid from prosecutors that Wriee’s confession and Williams’s statement were the products of torture. Compl. at ¶ 45. These coercive interrogations were allegedly carried out with Burge’s “encouragement, participation, and ratification.” Id. at ¶47. In light of these allegations, there is a plausible factual basis for holding Burge personally responsible for suppressing Brady material and violating , his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
III. Conclusion
For the reasons stated above, I dismiss Richard M. Daley, Terry Hillard, Bertina Lampión, Thomas Needham, and Gayle Shines from the case and grant the City Defendants’ motion to dismiss as to Count I (except the embedded Brady claim); Counts II; Count III, Count V (except §§ 1985 and 1986 claims); Count VI (except as tq the Brady and coerced confession claims); Count VII; Count VIII (without prejudice); Count IX, Count X, Count, XI, and Count XII (except against the City).
Notes
. See People v. Wrice,
. In his reply brief, Wrice concedes that "Daley is entitled to absolute prosecutorial immunity for his suppression of exculpatory information while he was serving as a prosecutor.” Dkt. No. 46 at 9 n. 10 (emphasis from original removed).
.. Wrice also claims an entitlement under Brady to evidence of a larger pattern or practice of torturing African American susрects into confessing. Compl. at ¶ 53.. The .pending motions to dismiss do not require me to make a judgment about the plausibility of that theory.
. Wrice has alleged. that ASA Lampkin coerced Williams into testifying against Wrice, not that she knew Sgt. Byrne and Det. Dignan-had tortured Williams into implicating Wrice in the first place. See Compl. at ¶¶ 46, 96.
. In their reply brief, the City Defendants concede that their collateral estoppel argument is premature because Wrice has appealed the denial of his application for a certificate of innocence. See Dkt. No. 54 at 8 n.2. There is no need to delay ruling on the collát-eral estoppel argument, however, because the legal issue in the state court proceedings differs from the Brady claim before me.
. The closest Wrice comes to stating an evidence fabrication claim comes in Paragraph 47 of the complaint where he alleges that the Officer Defendants "constructеd” his confession and "fed [it] to him after he was broken." Nothing in that paragraph suggests that the officers knew that the information they allegedly fed to Wrice was false.'
. The parties have not discussed whether the substantive due process component of Wrice’s coercive interrogation claim is time barred, so I take no position on that issue.
. . Matz and Franklin show that whether a Fifth Amendment coerced confession claim is subject to deferred accrual under Heck turns on whether and how the confession was used to obtain a conviction. See Patrick v. City of Chicago,
. See Compl. at ¶ 82 (faulting Shines for failing to investigate allegations of police torture that were brought to her attention); ¶ 88 (accusing Shines of concealing sustained findings of torture and abuse of other suspects); ¶ 90 (criticizing Hillard and Needham for overturning torture findings and refusing to investigate other allegations of torture).
