United States Seventh Circuit

In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit alleging excessive force by police in arresting and interrogating plaintiff on a drug charge, finding of liability against defendant-police officer, award of damages, and summary judgment in part for defendant-city are affirmed where: 1) various rulings excluding or limiting witnesses and other evidence produced by defendant were not abuses of discretion; 2) the punitive damages award was not excessive or disproportionate to compensatory damages; 3) plaintiff waived his appeal of the dismissal of his unlawful-detention claim by not raising it; and 4) police had probable cause to arrest plaintiff, and a malicious-prosecution claim therefore failed.

Appellate Information

• Argued 11/28/2007
• Decided 08/14/2008
• Published 08/14/2008

Judges

• WOOD, Circuit Judge., Before EASTERBROOK, Chief Judge, and FLAUM and WOOD, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Seventh Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• James E. Thompson (argued), Jonathan I. Loevy (argued), Michael Kanovitz, Loevy & Loevy, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Mara S. Georges, Christopher M. Grunewald, Robert L. Schultz (argued), Office of the Corporation Counsel Appeals Division, James E. Thompson, Francis P. Cuisinier, Hartigan & Cuisinier, Chicago, IL, for Defendant-Appellee.