Rivera Petty v. City of Chicago , 754 F.3d 416 ( 2014 )


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  •                                 In the
    United States Court of Appeals
    For the Seventh Circuit
    ____________________
    No. 12-3303
    RIVERA PETTY, as Administratrix of the Estate of Timothy
    Petty, Deceased, 1
    Plaintiff-Appellant,
    v.
    CITY OF CHICAGO, ET AL.,
    Defendants-Appellees.
    ____________________
    Appeal from the United States District Court for the
    Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.
    No. 07 CV 7013 — Wayne R. Andersen and Virginia M. Kendall, Judges.
    ____________________
    ARGUED SEPTEMBER 17, 2013 — DECIDED DATE JUNE 9, 2014
    ____________________
    Before WILLIAMS, SYKES, and TINDER, Circuit Judges.
    WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge. Timothy Petty was arrested on
    the suspicion that he, along with another person, shot and
    killed Albert Counsel and wounded two others. Petty was
    1 After oral argument, but before this case was decided, Timothy Petty
    passed away. His mother, as administratrix of his estate, continues this
    case in his place and is substituted as party plaintiff.
    2                                                     No. 12-3303
    identified as the shooter and was indicted for murder, but
    was found not guilty after a bench trial. After his acquittal,
    Petty filed a suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the City of
    Chicago and individual Chicago Police Department officers
    arguing that the officers violated his due process rights by
    intentionally mishandling the shooting investigation and
    prosecuting him for murder based on falsified evidence.
    Specifically, Petty alleged that CPD officers held a witness,
    Fredrick Tarver, in a room for over 13 hours without food,
    water, or access to a bathroom until he implicated him. But
    Petty’s argument fails because his “coerced evidence” claim
    is not cognizable under the Due Process Clause.
    In addition, Petty alleged that Defendants concealed evi-
    dence and failed to disclose their misconduct in violation of
    Brady v. Maryland, 
    373 U.S. 83
    (1963). We disagree. Summary
    judgment was proper here because Petty was aware of the
    Defendant’s alleged misconduct before trial and had ample
    opportunity to make use of the information at trial. Finally,
    he claimed that the City was liable for the police officers’
    conduct because it had a policy of detaining people believed
    to be crime witnesses for extended periods of time against
    their will. But his Monell claim also fails because he did not
    suffer a constitutional injury sufficient to support it. 2 There-
    fore, we affirm the district courts’ decision.
    I. BACKGROUND
    A. The Shooting and the Identifications
    2 After Judge Andersen dismissed Petty’s Monell claim, the case was
    transferred to Judge Kendall, who ruled on the summary judgment mo-
    tion.
    No. 12-3303                                                  3
    In the early morning of October 18, 2003, two individuals
    shot and killed Albert Council, wounding Sebastian Moore
    and Lowell Hubbard. Minutes after the shooting, Chicago
    Police Department (“CPD”) officers arrived at the scene and
    were told by witnesses that the shooters were African-
    Americans who wore dark clothing, masks, and skull caps.
    Officers brought witnesses Frederick Tarver and Mario Par-
    ker to CPD Area 3 Headquarters for further questioning. Be-
    tween 13 to 17 hours later, Tarver selected Timothy Petty’s
    photo from a photo array and identified him as a shooter.
    On November 29, Petty, also known as “Spank,” was ar-
    rested on an outstanding warrant and after Moore also posi-
    tively identified Petty as one of the shooters murder charges
    were filed against him. On December 19, Petty was indicted
    for murder and held in custody for 33 months pending trial.
    B. Petty’s Motions Before His Bench Trial
    In state court, Petty moved to quash his arrest and sup-
    press any evidence that arose from it, arguing that he was
    arrested without a valid warrant or probable cause. After
    hearing testimony from CPD officers regarding their con-
    duct surrounding Tarver’s positive identification of Petty,
    his motion was denied.
    Petty filed a second motion to suppress Tarver’s identifi-
    cation testimony, alleging that Tarver recanted his identifica-
    tion and only made the initial false identification because po-
    lice officers told him who to pick out of the line-up. At the
    hearing, Tarver said the police tried to make him pick Petty
    from the line-up, and that he had told the officers he was not
    sure whether Petty was the shooter. He also testified that he
    was not allowed to leave the police station after the line-up
    4                                                  No. 12-3303
    and was left in a locked room until the next morning. Tarver
    said Defendant Detective Michael Conway threatened to
    have his parole revoked if he did not help convict Petty.
    When Tarver was shown the picture of Petty with his signa-
    ture on it, Tarver said that the signature looked like his but
    he did not remember seeing or signing the picture. Tarver
    also stated that he had filed a civil lawsuit against the police
    for their conduct and that the suit was pending. After a hear-
    ing, the state court judge denied Petty’s motion, finding that
    Tarver identified “Spank” to the police and that the police
    acted in good faith and committed no misconduct. At a
    bench trial, Petty was tried for murder and found not guilty.
    Petty then filed a suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the City
    and Defendants, which they removed to federal court.
    C. Petty’s Civil Suit
    In his complaint, Petty alleged that the City was liable for
    the police officers’ conduct under Monell v. Department of So-
    cial Services of City of New York, 
    436 U.S. 658
    (1978). Specifi-
    cally, he asserted that the City had a policy of detaining
    people believed to be witnesses to crimes for extended peri-
    ods of time against their will. The City moved to dismiss Pet-
    ty’s Monell claim, arguing that Petty could not have suffered
    a constitutional violation because he was not the one de-
    tained, and without a direct link, he could not establish a di-
    rect connection between the City’s alleged policy and his al-
    leged injury. Judge Andersen granted the City’s motion to
    dismiss.
    In the same complaint, Petty alleged that the individual
    officers: (1) violated his due process right to a fair trial by
    inducing prosecutors to wrongfully prosecute him; and (2)
    deprived him of exculpatory information in violation of
    No. 12-3303                                                   5
    Brady v. Maryland, 
    373 U.S. 83
    (1963). He claimed that the in-
    dividual defendants coerced Tarver into falsely identifying
    Petty as the shooter by holding him against his will at the
    police station, harassing him at his home, and arresting and
    refusing to release him until he identified Petty from a line-
    up. He believes that CPD officers violated Brady because
    they failed to tell prosecutors how Tarver’s identification
    was secured.
    When the case was transferred to Judge Kendall, Defend-
    ants moved for summary judgment on Petty’s due process
    and Brady claims and they filed a statement of undisputed
    facts under United States District Court for the Northern
    District of Illinois Local Rule 56.1. In Petty’s response in op-
    position, he admitted everything in the Defendants’ state-
    ment of facts and submitted a 56.1 statement with 169-
    paragraphs of additional facts. Petty also provided 42 exhib-
    its spanning 480 pages.
    Defendants moved to strike all but the first 40 para-
    graphs of Petty’s 56.1 statement citing Local Rule 56.1, which
    prohibits a party from submitting more than 40 paragraphs
    without permission from the court. The district court struck
    all those additional facts because Petty never sought, nor re-
    ceived, permission to file additional paragraphs and granted
    summary judgment in favor of the Defendants.
    Petty filed a motion to reconsider the court’s ruling, cit-
    ing Whitlock v. Brueggemann, 
    682 F.3d 567
    (7th Cir. 2012),
    which had been decided a day before the district court ruled
    against him. He argued that Whitlock held that the deliberate
    manufacture of false evidence violates the Due Process
    Clause and that the district court’s decision contradicted
    Whitlock. He also moved for leave to file a statement that
    6                                                  No. 12-3303
    contained more than 40 paragraphs. The court denied his
    request to file the additional paragraphs and his motion for
    reconsideration. He now appeals that decision as well as the
    grant of summary judgment as to all of his federal claims,
    and the dismissal of his Monell claim against the City.
    II. ANALYSIS
    First, Petty contends that the district court should have
    allowed him to submit a fact statement in excess of 40 para-
    graphs. Second, he argues that the district court erred when
    it granted summary judgment for the City on his due pro-
    cess and Brady claims. Finally, he asserts that it was error for
    the district court to dismiss his Monell claim. We address
    these issues below.
    A. No Error in Striking Petty’s Additional Facts
    Petty contends the district court abused its discretion by
    striking his additional fact statements in excess of that al-
    lowed by local rules. A party filing a motion for summary
    judgment under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Proce-
    dure must file “a statement of material facts as to which the
    moving party contends there is no genuine issue and that
    entitle the moving party to a judgment as a matter of law.”
    N.D. Ill. Local R. 56.1(a)(3). The non-moving party must file
    a response to the moving party’s statement, and, in the case
    of any disagreement, cite “specific references to the affida-
    vits, parts of the record, and other supporting materials re-
    lied upon.” Koszola v. Board of Educ. of City of Chicago, 
    385 F.3d 1104
    , 1108 (7th Cir. 2004) (quoting N.D. Ill. Local R.
    56.1(b)(3)(A)). According to Local R. 56.1(b)(3)(C) “[a]bsent
    prior leave of Court, a respondent to a summary judgment
    motion shall not file more than 40 separately-numbered
    No. 12-3303                                                    7
    statements of additional facts.” We review district court de-
    cisions concerning compliance with local rules for abuse of
    discretion. 
    Id. Petty argues
    that the district court should have given him
    greater leeway to submit more than 40 paragraphs given the
    complexity of the case, but we do not agree. Petty violated
    Local Rule 56.1 by submitting additional facts in excess of
    the 40 permitted without permission from the court, and
    tries to justify his error by arguing that malicious prosecu-
    tions and due process cases are so fact intensive that the par-
    agraph limitation is simply not practical. While this kind of
    case may be more complex, Local Rule 56.1 contemplates
    this very problem and outlines how movants may address
    their concerns within the confines of the rule. See Local R.
    56.1 Committee Comment (“A party may seek leave to file
    more asserted statements of … additional fact, upon a show-
    ing that the complexity of the case requires a relaxation of
    the … 40 statement limit.”). If Petty felt that his case required
    the district court to relax the limit, he should have asked the
    court to excuse compliance with its rule before he submitted
    his additional statement of facts that violated the court’s rule.
    But, he did not do that. We have said that district courts may
    require parties to strictly adhere to their rules. See Elustra v.
    Mineo, 
    595 F.3d 699
    , 710 (7th Cir. 2010). Because Petty had the
    opportunity to comply with Local Rule 56.1 but chose not to,
    the district court did not abuse its discretion by striking
    those additional facts.
    Petty also argues that the district court was “overly
    harsh” in striking his additional paragraphs. We disagree.
    We have stated that “it is not the parties[’] prerogative to de-
    termine when a rule can be satisfied by other than what the
    8                                                     No. 12-3303
    rule requires.” Midwest Imports, Ltd. v. Coval, 
    71 F.3d 1311
    ,
    1317 (7th Cir. 1995). If parties fail to comply with local rules,
    they “must suffer the consequences, harsh or not.” 
    Id. We have
    “consistently and repeatedly upheld a district court’s
    discretion to require strict compliance with its local rules
    governing summary judgment.” 
    Koszola, 385 F.3d at 1109
    (quoting Metro. Life Ins. Co. v. Johnson, 
    297 F.3d 558
    , 562 (7th
    Cir. 2002)).
    Finally, Petty argues that the district court’s striking of his
    excess paragraphs harmed him. Once again, we do not
    agree. The court’s ruling did not negatively impact his case.
    In addition to Petty’s admitted 40 paragraphs, he agreed to
    all of the City’s statements of material fact, which referenced:
    (1) Petty’s allegations regarding CPD officers’ treatment of
    Tarver; (2) whether the attorney tasked with prosecuting the
    case would have brought charges if she had known how
    CPD officers treated Tarver; and (3) that Tarver’s subsequent
    lawsuit was disclosed to Petty during the course of his mur-
    der trial. Although Petty’s excess paragraphs were struck,
    enough facts remained for the court to rule on his due pro-
    cess, Brady, and Monell claims.
    B. Summary Judgment Was Proper on Due Process
    and Brady Claims
    Petty contends that the district court erred when it grant-
    ed summary judgment for the City on his due process and
    Brady claims. We review the district court’s grant of sum-
    mary judgment de novo, construing the facts in the light
    most favorable to the non-moving party. Mercatus Group,
    L.L.C. v. Lake Forest Hosp., 
    641 F.3d 834
    , 839 (7th Cir. 2011).
    No. 12-3303                                                    9
    Petty alleges that CPD officers systemically wore down
    Tarver by placing him in a locked room that had no win-
    dows or toilets, and then deprived him of food, water, and
    sleeping arrangements for over 13 hours until Tarver falsely
    identified Petty as the shooter. Additionally, Petty claims
    they did not disclose to the prosecutor that Tarver was co-
    erced into implicating Petty.
    While Petty makes allegations that would concern any
    court and would require close scrutiny of police tactics, an
    examination of the record reveals that Petty’s allegations do
    not reveal that the police committed a Brady violation or vio-
    lated his due process rights.
    1. No Due Process Claim
    Petty argues that CPD officers violated his right to due
    process by manufacturing evidence against him and coerced
    Tarver into giving false witness statements inculpating him.
    In the past, we have labeled a claim like Petty’s as a mali-
    cious prosecution claim. See McCann v. Mangialardi, 
    337 F.3d 782
    , 786 (7th Cir. 2003) (stating that an allegation of manu-
    facturing evidence is an “in essence, one for malicious prose-
    cution, rather than a due process violation”). And we did not
    allow the claims to be brought in federal court because there
    was an adequate state law remedy. See Fox v. Hayes, 
    600 F.3d 819
    , 841 (7th Cir. 2010) (stating that “a plaintiff cannot in-
    voke the substantive due process clause where state laws
    provide an adequate postdeprivation remedy for the com-
    plained-of conduct”). Following that precedent, Petty’s claim
    would have been barred from being brought in federal court
    because Illinois provides an adequate remedy for his mali-
    cious prosecution claim. See Ray v. City of Chicago, 
    629 F.3d 660
    , 664 (7th Cir. 2011) (stating that the plaintiff cannot bring
    10                                                   No. 12-3303
    a Section 1983 malicious prosecution suit because Illinois
    law recognizes tort claims for malicious prosecution). Petty
    argues that we recently changed how we examine these cas-
    es in Whitlock v. Brueggemann, 
    682 F.3d 567
    (7th Cir. 2012),
    and should be willing to allow his claim to stand. We need
    not address his argument because, as discussed below, this
    is a coercion case, not a fabrication case like Whitlock.
    In Whitlock, two police officers, an Illinois State Police in-
    vestigator, and a State’s Attorney formed an “investigative
    team” that conspired to frame two men for murder, and
    covered up their alleged misdeeds for two decades. The two
    defendants were convicted of murder, but were later exon-
    erated. The police officers and prosecutor allegedly fabricat-
    ed the testimony of two witnesses who were essential to the
    State’s case. We have “consistently held that a police officer
    who manufactures false evidence against a criminal defend-
    ant violate[d] due process if that evidence is later used to
    deprive the defendant of her liberty in some 
    way.” 682 F.3d at 580
    . And we stated that there was no reason that the same
    logic should not apply to prosecutors acting in an investiga-
    tory capacity who fabricate evidence that is used to obtain a
    wrongful criminal conviction. 
    Id. More recently,
    we had the opportunity, in Fields v. Whar-
    rie, 
    740 F.3d 1107
    (7th Cir. 2014) (“Fields II”), to comment on
    Whitlock and its effect on due process jurisprudence. In Fields
    II, we stated that a prosecutor who falsely creates evidence
    against a defendant violates the defendant’s due process
    
    right. 740 F.3d at 1114
    . We also explained that there is a dif-
    ference between coercing witnesses to testify and fabricating
    witness testimony. 
    Id. at 1110
    (“Coerced testimony is testi-
    mony that a witness is forced by improper means to give;
    No. 12-3303                                                  11
    the testimony may be true or false. Fabricated testimony is
    testimony that is made up; it is invariably false. False testi-
    mony is the equivalent; it is testimony known to be untrue
    by the witness and by whoever cajoled or coerced the wit-
    ness to give it.”).
    In fabrication cases, the police or prosecutor manufac-
    tures evidence that he knows to be false. See, e.g., 
    id. (the prosecutor
    fabricated evidence that he knew to be false from
    a prospective witness); 
    Whitlock, 682 F.3d at 571-72
    (the pros-
    ecutor was a part of an investigative team that told witnesses
    what to say knowing that the information they gave the wit-
    nesses was false). As we said in Fields II and reiterate here, a
    prosecutor fabricating evidence that she knows to be false is
    different than getting “a reluctant witness to say what may
    be true.” 
    See 740 F.3d at 1112
    .
    In Buckley v. Fitzsimmons, we explained that “[c]oercing
    witnesses to speak … is a genuine constitutional wrong, but
    the persons aggrieved [are the witnesses] rather than [the
    arrestee].” 
    20 F.3d 789
    , 794 (7th Cir. 1994). Therefore, obtain-
    ing a statement with coercive tactics that inculpated the ar-
    restee may have violated the witness’s rights, but it did not
    violate the arrestee’s due process rights. 
    Id. In Whitlock,
    we
    emphasized the point when we observed that “[c]oercively
    interrogating witnesses, paying witnesses for testimony, and
    witness-shopping may be deplorable, and these tactics may
    contribute to wrongful convictions, but they do not neces-
    sarily add up to a constitutional violation even when their
    fruits are introduced at trial,” because “[e]vidence collected
    with these kinds of suspect techniques, unlike falsified evi-
    12                                                             No. 12-3303
    dence and perjured testimony, may turn out to be 
    true.” 682 F.3d at 584
    . 3
    After carefully reviewing the record, applying Fields II
    and Whitlock, we conclude that Petty’s claim fails because his
    claim is a “coercion” case for which there is no cognizable
    due process claim, as opposed to an “evidence fabrication”
    case where there is a cognizable claim. Although Petty’s case
    appears to be a fabrication case because he alleges that the
    police “manufactured false evidence” and used “false identi-
    fication” to prosecute him, a deeper look reveals that the
    case is more accurately described as a coercion case.
    Petty alleges that CPD officers coerced Tarver into giving
    false evidence by threatening him with jail time if he did not
    cooperate, holding him against his will in a locked room
    without food or water for over 13 hours, badgering him, and
    pressuring him to identify Petty as one of the assailants. As a
    result of their alleged tactics, Petty argues that the Defend-
    ants knew or should have known that Tarver’s statements
    3 Although Buckley and Whitlock examined the use of coerced and fabri-
    cated evidence as it relates to prosecutorial immunity, the same due pro-
    cess constitutional analysis that applies to prosecutors applies to police
    officers during the early stages of an investigation because the police and
    prosecutors are essentially performing the same investigatory function.
    Fields 
    II, 740 F.3d at 1115
    ; 
    Whitlock, 682 F.3d at 580
    (stating that a prosecu-
    tor acting in an investigatory capacity is subject to the same rules as a
    police officer because a “prosecutor who manufactures evidence when
    acting in an investigatory role can cause a due process violation just as
    easily as a police officer”). In Whitlock, we observed that it would be “in-
    congruous to hold a police officer liable for fabricating evidence but hold
    that the prosecutor has not committed any violation for taking the same
    action in the same 
    capacity.” 682 F.3d at 580-81
    (internal citation omit-
    ted).
    No. 12-3303                                                   13
    were flawed. Although we do not decide here whether such
    actions amount to coercion, the tactics alleged in this case are
    similar in nature to other coercion cases. See, e.g., 
    Buckley, 20 F.3d at 794
    (prosecutor threatened witnesses and repeatedly
    interrogated them). This is different than alleging that CPD
    officers created evidence that they knew to be false, which is
    the hallmark of a fabrication case. Petty’s claim fails because
    he did not allege in his complaint, his statement of material
    facts in opposition to the Defendant’s motion for summary
    judgment, or his appellate brief that CPD officers manufac-
    tured evidence that they knew to be false.
    As we held in Fields II, the true nature of the claim mat-
    ters and parties should be precise in their terminology. Alt-
    hough Petty may have used terms and phrases such as
    “manufactured false evidence” and “false identification,”
    when one closely examines the evidence, it is clear that his
    case is a coercion case. There is not one shred of evidence to
    suggest that CPD officers fabricated evidence, which would
    have been a due process violation. “Manufactured false evi-
    dence” and “false identification” are not magic talismans
    that will transform a coercion case into an evidence fabrica-
    tion case and give rise to a cognizable claim where one does
    not exist. Instead, we will look at the underlying facts of the
    claim. While Petty did not have the benefit of such a bright-
    line distinction when he initially brought his case, after Fields
    II and Whitlock plaintiffs should be cognizant of the termi-
    nology they use so as to not to confuse these two types of
    cases.
    2. No Brady Claim
    Next, Petty argues that CPD officers committed a Brady
    violation by not disclosing to the prosecutor how it obtained
    14                                                   No. 12-3303
    Tarver’s eyewitness statement. To succeed on a Brady claim, a
    plaintiff must show that: (1) the suppressed evidence is ei-
    ther exculpatory or impeaching and is favorable to the ac-
    cused; (2) the government, either willfully or inadvertently,
    suppressed the evidence; and (3) the suppressed evidence
    resulted in prejudice. Harris v. Kuba, 
    486 F.3d 1010
    , 1014 (7th
    Cir. 2007). To establish that evidence was suppressed, a
    plaintiff must demonstrate that: “(1) the state failed to dis-
    close known evidence before it was too late for [a defendant]
    to make use of the evidence; and (2) the evidence was not
    otherwise available to [a defendant] through the exercise of
    reasonable diligence.” Collier v. Davis, 
    301 F.3d 843
    , 850 (7th
    Cir. 2002). The relevant inquiry is not whether the City dis-
    closed the potentially exculpatory information at all, but
    whether Petty had sufficient time to use any exculpatory in-
    formation revealed to him during trial.
    Petty knew of the City’s alleged misconduct before his
    trial started. He was so aware, in fact, that he tried to sup-
    press all evidence that emanated from it. At the motion to
    suppress hearing, Petty called Tarver to testify about CPD
    officers’ alleged violation. Tarver testified that he felt threat-
    ened and coerced by the police into identifying Petty as the
    shooter. Tarver also stated that he had a civil suit pending
    against the police for their treatment of him. After hearing all
    the evidence, the court found no police misconduct and Pet-
    ty was acquitted at the bench trial.
    Petty not only knew of Tarver’s treatment before his trial
    began, he had the opportunity to explore this topic at trial
    and could have subpoenaed the CPD officers to compel their
    testimony to cast doubt on Tarver’s identification. Because
    Petty knew of Tarver’s alleged coerced identification before
    No. 12-3303                                                    15
    his trial started and had sufficient time to use that infor-
    mation at his trial, summary judgment was appropriate on
    the Brady claim.
    C. Petty’s Monell Claim Was Properly Dismissed
    Finally, Petty alleges that at the time of the shooting,
    CPD officers acted pursuant to the City’s “widespread, per-
    manent and well-settled” policy of detaining witnesses to
    crimes for extended periods of time against their will, which
    resulted in his arrest, charge, and detention for 2½ years. He
    argues that the district court erred when it dismissed his
    Monell claim for failing to provide sufficient evidence to
    support his claim. We review a district court’s dismissal un-
    der Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) de novo, con-
    struing the allegations in the light most favorable to the non-
    moving party. Village of DePue, Ill. v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 
    537 F.3d 775
    , 782 (7th Cir. 2008).
    Under Monell v. Department of Social Service. of City of New
    York, municipalities and other local governments can be held
    liable for a tortfeasor’s actions that it employs. 
    436 U.S. 658
    ,
    690 (1978). For municipality liability to arise, however, there
    needs to be more than an employment relationship between
    the alleged tortfeasor and the municipality. See Collins v. City
    of Harker Heights, Tex., 
    503 U.S. 115
    , 122 (1992). Liability only
    accrues if the tortfeasor inflicts a constitutional injury on the
    plaintiff in the execution of the government’s policy or cus-
    tom. Id.; see also Sornberger v. City of Knoxville, Ill., 
    434 F.3d 1006
    , 1029 (7th Cir. 2006). For a municipality to be held liable
    for a tortfeasor’s actions, the municipality’s custom or policy
    must deprive a claimant of his constitutional rights. City of
    Oklahoma City v. Tuttle, 
    471 U.S. 808
    , 817 (1985) (plurality
    opinion) (stating that Monell teaches that the city may only
    16                                                  No. 12-3303
    be held accountable if the [constitutional] deprivation was
    the result of municipal custom or policy). To establish mu-
    nicipal liability and prevail on his Monell claim, it is not
    enough for Petty to allege that CPD’s alleged policy injured
    him. Rather, he must establish: (1) that he suffered a constitu-
    tional injury, and (2) that the City authorized or maintained
    a custom of approving the unconstitutional conduct. Thomp-
    son v. Boggs, 
    33 F.3d 847
    , 859 (7th Cir. 1994). But if no consti-
    tutional violation occurred in the first place, a Monell claim
    cannot be supported. See Sallenger v. City of Springfield, Ill.,
    
    630 F.3d 499
    , 504 (7th Cir. 2010) (“[A] municipality cannot be
    liable under Monell when there is no underlying constitu-
    tional violation by a municipal employee.”).
    Petty’s Monell claim fails because he did not suffer a con-
    stitutional injury and so has no basis to support a Monell
    claim. In the past, we have said that “[i]t is well established
    that there can be no municipal liability based on an official
    policy under Monell if the policy did not result in a violation
    of [a plaintiff’s] constitutional rights.” Houskins v. Sheahan,
    
    549 F.3d 480
    , 493 (7th Cir. 2008) (quoting King v. East St. Lou-
    is School Dist. 189, 
    496 F.3d 812
    , 817 (7th Cir. 2007)). Coercing
    witnesses to secure information that may ultimately be false
    does not per se violate Petty’s constitutional rights. See Fields
    
    II, 740 F.3d at 1112
    (stating that “coercion per se does not
    make a prosecutor acting as an investigator liable should the
    coerced evidence be used to obtain a conviction of an inno-
    cent criminal defendant”). Even if the City had a policy of
    detaining witnesses until they gave up information, Petty’s
    Monell claim could not succeed because it is not his rights
    that would be violated by such a policy. Since Petty’s due
    process constitutional rights were not violated by CPD offic-
    ers’ allegedly coercive tactics, he cannot prevail on his Mo-
    No. 12-3303                                                     17
    nell claim and the district court properly dismissed his claim.
    See, e.g., 
    Houskins, 549 F.3d at 493
    . (stating that the plaintiff’s
    Monell claim failed because she failed to establish that she
    was deprived of a constitutional right); Alexander v. City of
    South Bend, 
    433 F.3d 550
    , 557 (7th Cir. 2006) (finding that a
    municipality defendant cannot be liable under Monell for a
    policy or custom of inadequately training and supervising
    its police officers, unless the defendant violated a constitu-
    tional guarantee).
    III. CONCLUSION
    We AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 12-3303

Citation Numbers: 754 F.3d 416

Judges: Williams

Filed Date: 6/9/2014

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 1/12/2023

Authorities (22)

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Sallenger v. City of Springfield, Ill. , 630 F.3d 499 ( 2010 )

Ernest C. Collier v. Cecil Davis, Superintendent of the ... , 301 F.3d 843 ( 2002 )

Mercatus Group, LLC v. Lake Forest Hospital , 641 F.3d 834 ( 2011 )

King Ex Rel. King v. East St. Louis School District 189 , 496 F.3d 812 ( 2007 )

Ray v. City of Chicago , 629 F.3d 660 ( 2011 )

Elustra v. Mineo , 595 F.3d 699 ( 2010 )

Keith Harris v. Dennis Kuba and Edward Muzzey , 486 F.3d 1010 ( 2007 )

Houskins v. Sheahan , 549 F.3d 480 ( 2008 )

Stephen Buckley v. J. Michael Fitzsimmons , 20 F.3d 789 ( 1994 )

Village of DePue, Ill. v. Exxon Mobil Corp. , 537 F.3d 775 ( 2008 )

robert-thompson-v-rod-boggs-police-officer-of-the-city-of-havana , 33 F.3d 847 ( 1994 )

Kathleen Koszola v. Board of Education of the City of ... , 385 F.3d 1104 ( 2004 )

Richard L. Alexander v. City of South Bend, South Bend ... , 433 F.3d 550 ( 2006 )

scott-sornberger-and-teresa-sornberger-individually-and-on-behalf-of-their , 434 F.3d 1006 ( 2006 )

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company v. Mildred Johnson v. ... , 297 F.3d 558 ( 2002 )

Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. , 98 S. Ct. 2018 ( 1978 )

Brady v. Maryland , 83 S. Ct. 1194 ( 1963 )

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