10-1318 Lawson v. Veruchi

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Civil Rights
Wrongful arrest

Where a police officer knowingly included false statements in the arrest warrant affidavit, summary judgment was improperly granted to him on the suspect’s suit for wrongful arrest.

“In this case, Jeffery A. claims that he presented sufficient evidence that Veruchi knowingly included false statements in the arrest warrant affidavit and that without those false statements, probable cause was lacking to arrest him. We agree. While there was probable cause to believe that a man named ‘Jeffrey’ (spelling unknown) Lawson had attacked Colvin, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to Jeffery A., there is absolutely no evidence that he was the ‘Jeffrey’ Lawson who had attacked Colvin. Rather, if Colvin’s deposition testimony is true, she did not identify Jeffery A. as the attacker, but had identified another individual. In turn, that would mean that Veruchi’s arrest warrant application falsely stated that Colvin had identified Jeffery A. from the photo array. Submitting a knowingly false statement precludes reliance on an arrest warrant. Id.”

Reversed.

10-1318 Lawson v. Veruchi

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Kapala, J., Manion, J.

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