Civil Rights — wrongful arrest

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Civil Rights — wrongful arrest

Where police officers relied on eyewitness reports in making an arrest, summary judgment was properly granted to them on the plaitniffs’ wrongful arrest claims.

“[W]hen Greenlee arrived on scene, he spoke with the Club owner Cedric Taylor, who gave him a seemingly reliable account of what happened. Taylor stated that the two men tried to enter the Club without paying and when they were asked to leave, one struck him in the face. Greenlee did attempt to speak with Matthews and Gillespie, but apparently they were difficult to understand, and Taylor then signed the complaints against the two men. There is nothing to indicate that Taylor’s statement was incredible. The fact that he had no visible injury and the two in handcuffs did means little to Taylor’s credibility. The identity of the winner of a fight is not always indicative of who was the initial aggressor. Greenlee’s investigation may have been brief, but his reliance on Taylor’s statements was reasonable.”

Affirmed.

11-1168 Matthews v. City of East St. Louis

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Reagan, J., Shadid, J.