Jackson v. Weiss et al

Filing 136

MOTION by Defendants Lloyd M. Almdale, Patrick Barker, George Ghorbanian, Mr. Heerdt, George Kalfas for judgment as to medical care claim (Platt, Thomas)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
)
)
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Plaintiff,
)
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vs.
) Case No. 12 C 01373
GEORGE GHORBANIAN, Star #10893,
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Judge Kennelly
GEORGE KALFAS, Star #19329, LLOYD
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M. ALMDALE, Star #20060, PATRICK
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BARKER, Star No. 1390, and EDWARD
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HEERDT, Chicago Police Investigator,
)
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Defendants.
WILBERT JACKSON, JR.,

MOTION FOR JUDGMENT AS A MATTER OF LAW
Defendants George Ghorbanian, George Kalfas, Lloyd Almdale, Patrick Barker and
Edward Heerdt, by their attorneys, Thomas Platt Scott Cohen and Tiffany Harris, for their motion
for judgment as matter of law pursuant to FRCP 50(a)(2)with respect to plaintiff’s claim for
unreasonable delay of medical care, state as follows:
1. Plaintiff claims that defendants unreasonably delayed medical care while in their
custody in violation of his Fourth Amendment Rights.
2. The evidence presented at trial does not support plaintiff’s claim as a matter of law
for the following reasons:
a. The nature of plaintiff’s injuries were not serious to the extent that plaintiff
experienced an unnecessary delay of medical treatment. Dr. Ron testified that
plaintiff had a 2 cm cut to his lip which penetrated the inside of the mouth. She
stated that when she saw plaintiff at 8:17 a.m. on the morning of his arrest, he was
in no apparent distress, he had no active bleeding, and had complaints of wrist and
neck pain. He had no other complaints of pain or injury, including shortness of
breath, rib pain or any other symptoms. Plaintiff reported that he passed out
during the evening, but further examination indicated no objective signs of
concussion.
b. Dr. Ron further stated that plaintiff had no infections or complications from the
injury to his lip and that the injury could be treated up to 24 hours after it occurred
without consequence. Dr. Ron further testified that plaintiff’s wrist pain was
accompanied by a 3 mm fracture which could have been an old injury, although

an acute fracture could not be ruled out. Dr. Ron ordered the application of a
splint as a precautionary measure. She stated that treatment of the wrist injury
could wait at least 1 to 2 days after its occurrence without adverse consequence.
c. Plaintiff testified that he was bleeding from his lip for hours after his arrest
through his admission into lockup at just after 7 a.m., and that he had wrist pain.
Photos of plaintiff show no blood on his shirt or on the bench or area where he
was seated in the processing room prior to entering the lockup. Plaintiff’s arrest
photo shows no active bleeding.
d. Plaintiff did not indicate that he unable to participate in the show up at the White
Castle and said he was able to invoke his right to an attorney when officers
attempted to question him as part of the investigation of the White Castle incident.
3. Viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to plaintiff, he has not met his burden
of proof that the delay in medical treatment from the time of his arrest (approximately
2:51 a.m.) and his receipt of medical care (8:17 a.m.), a period of less than 6 hours,
was unreasonable as a matter of law.
Wherefore, defendants George Ghorbanian, George Kalfas, Lloyd Almdale, Patrick
Barker and Edward Heerdt request this court to grant their Motion for Judgment as a Matter of
Law on the plaintiff’s Fourth Amendment claim of unreasonable delay of medical care.

/s/ Thomas J. Platt
30 N. LaSalle Street, #900
Chicago, Illinois 60602
06181260
312-744-4833