Tangwall v. Stuckey

In September of 1994, plaintiff-appellee, Donald Tangwall, filed suit under 42 U.S.C. sec. 1983, alleging that the defendant-appellant, Detective Thomas Stuckey, while acting as an employee of the DuPage County Sheriffs Department, arrested him without probable cause in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The complaint also set forth supplemental state claims of false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and wanton and willful conduct against Detective Stuckey, as well as claimed that the County of DuPage was vicariously liable for the Detectives actions. Detective Stuckey, asserting both qualified immunity under sec. 1983 and an "advice of counsel defense," and the County of DuPage each filed motions for summary judgment. The trial court denied Stuckeys motion and granted DuPage Countys. Detective Stuckey appeals the former of those two determinations. We reverse.