The police corruption scandal in Chicago’s Austin Police District, which already has tarnished the city’s image, also seems certain to hit hard in the municipal pocketbook.
In other cities marred by scandals involving dirty cops, criminal defendants have turned into civil plaintiffs and won millions of dollars in lawsuits.
And in Chicago last week, defense lawyers were confident that such suits will be a sure thing–that the city will cave in and settle civil rights claims, many of which will portray the plaintiffs as victims arrested for crimes they did not commit.
On Friday, the first such lawsuit was filed. Thomas Harris, 53, a former employee at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, filed suit in U.S. District Court alleging that Chicago police officer Alex Ramos, indicted in the Austin scandal, planted drugs on him more than three years ago.
“We will be looking for seven-figure damages,” said Harris’ attorney, David Odom. Harris still faces criminal charges stemming from his arrest by Ramos.
The lawsuit is the first of what likely will be many such claims, which often constitute the second wave in police corruption scandals.
Typically, defendants convicted or charged on the basis of tainted evidence–produced by dirty cops–get their criminal cases thrown out, then hire a lawyer and file suit.
In Philadelphia, the convictions of more than 150 people so far have been overturned in the wake of a scandal in which police officers concocted phony warrants and stole from suspected drug dealers. That city has already paid out more than $3.5 million to people who have sued for being wrongfully arrested or imprisoned.
In New York, where dozens of officers in one precinct were convicted of drug dealing, robbery and perjury, about 100 people have had their tainted convictions tossed. Subsequent lawsuits have cost the city more than $1 million, and the figure is expected to climb as high as $10 million.
In Chicago, any damages awarded to defendants would come from city coffers since the city is self-insured.
City lawyers plan to examine the merits of each civil lawsuit before they start writing settlement checks.
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“It’s important that people know the city doesn’t pay out money willy-nilly,” said Duncan Harris, first assistant corporation counsel for the city.
Although the exact number of criminal cases that could be affected as a result of the federal indictment of the seven Austin District officers is still unknown, an examination of court records by prosecutors and defense lawyers suggests that the total will be at least 200.
The seven tactical unit officers from the West Side police district have been charged with taking $65,000 from suspected drug dealers who actually were undercover federal agents. Last week one of the seven officers, Lennon Shields, pleaded guilty to robbery.
Harris, the plaintiff in the suit filed Friday, was living at the Austin YMCA when he was arrested by Ramos on Dec. 7, 1993.
According to police reports, Ramos, who was moonlighting as a private security guard at the YMCA, overheard Harris and a woman discussing a drug deal in Harris’ room. Ramos said he peeked through the open door and saw, on the bed, several yellow plastic bags he suspected contained drugs.
When Ramos tried to enter, a scuffle ensued. Ramos said he later found a small amount of crack cocaine in the room.
But Harris, in his lawsuit and in an interview, tells a different story.
He says that several days before his arrest, Ramos had asked him to sell drugs for him at the YMCA. Harris said he refused– something that enraged the officer.
“I told him that I didn’t want to be involved in it,” said Harris, who in the mid-1970s was convicted of armed robbery and served about 7 years in federal prison. “He told me that I didn’t have a choice.”
Harris said he was preparing to move out of the YMCA to get away from Ramos when the officer barged into his room.
“He put one hand around my throat and a gun to my head,” Harris said. “He said, `You can’t skip out on me. You’re going to jail, you punk.’ “
Ramos then planted drugs on him, Harris said.
Since then, Harris has spent 15 months in the Cook County Jail. He was freed last week when a judge released him on a signature bond after Ramos’ federal indictment was raised by Harris’ defense attorney.
Harris has refused to plead guilty to the drug-possession charge, even though he probably would have served only about two months if convicted, according to lawyers involved in the case.
“I didn’t do it, and I felt as though if I took it to a jury I could prove it,” Harris said. “I want them to drop the case against me and compensate me for the time I was locked up and the hardship.”
Prosecutors say they have not yet decided whether to drop the criminal case against Harris. So far, 29 defendants have had their cases thrown out because of the involvement of the Austin 7.
Harris has filed suit against Ramos, the city and the YMCA on a variety counts, including assault, battery, false arrest and imprisonment, and negligent hiring and retention of police officers.
Though the alleged frameup of Harris occurred before the corrupt activities cited in the federal indictment, that doesn’t prevent Harris from suing. Prosecutors, for example, are reviewing criminal cases handled by the officers since the time they were hired, reflecting the belief that their allegedly corrupt activities may have occurred over a longer period of time.
Plaintiffs alleging police misconduct can file actions under federal law, claiming civil rights violations, or under state law for such common law torts as unlawful arrest or imprisonment. Often, they make claims under both state and federal laws.
The applicable federal law came onto the books in 1871. It provides a remedy in cases where a government official, acting under the color of state law, abuses his position and deprives a person of his constitutional rights. In a twist added in the 1970s, the law allows a judge to award attorney fees to the prevailing party–a prospect that holds great appeal for plaintiffs’ lawyers.
In civil suits, plaintiffs do not have to establish their innocence on the criminal counts in order to prevail. They must simply prove their allegations by a preponderance of the evidence.
“It isn’t, `I didn’t do it,’ ” said William R. Quinlan, a Chicago lawyer and former corporation counsel for the city. “It’s that he did what I have alleged”–that is, violated the plaintiff’s civil rights.
And when the police officer has already been criminally charged or convicted of doing the type of things the civil suit alleges, that’s not a difficult case to make.
In New York, for example, a man who was released because of police perjury admitted to prosecutors that he had indeed been dealing drugs when arrested. Still, his unlawful imprisonment lawsuit against the city netted a $725,000 settlement because police had admitted lying about details of the case.
Often in police corruption scandals, the only witness the city can offer to rebut the plaintiff’s allegations is one of the very officers whose alleged misconduct triggered the scandal.
If there are criminal charges pending against the officer, he will most likely take the 5th Amendment and refuse to testify. And if the officer has already been convicted, he could testify but would likely have very little credibility.
City attorneys say Chicago will not necessarily be turned into an open cash register.
Under indemnity provisions in state law and under city ordinance, Chicago agrees to pay if one of its police officers is found liable for violating a person’s civil rights. But the indemnity provision applies only to cases where the officer is acting in good faith and within the scope of his employment. The city could argue that the kind of criminal activity alleged in the Austin scandal falls outside that scope.
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Plaintiffs can also try to establish that the city is itself liable. Plaintiffs can argue that a departmental policy or custom led to the civil rights abuses, or that the department’s hiring and training provisions were so substandard that they demonstrated deliberate indifference toward the rights of citizens.
In unlawful imprisonment lawsuits, the issue often is not so much liability as damages. There is no set figure for what a day or month behind bars is worth. It all depends upon the individual plaintiff and the jury, which considers a host of factors such as lost income and harm to reputation.
A career criminal who happens to get nabbed on one occasion when he wasn’t breaking the law won’t necessarily be awarded a huge settlement.
The range in monetary awards was illustrated by two lawsuits in Chicago in the last 10 years.
George Jones, the son of a Chicago cop, was 18 years old and the editor of his high school newspaper when he was falsely accused of murder and rape. He spent seven weeks in jail. He received $800,000 from a jury in 1987.
But a few years ago, a man who spent 7 years in prison on a murder conviction based upon a bogus confession that police tortured out of him settled for a little less than $100,000. He had a previous criminal record.