Section 1983 action based upon a series of police encounters between the Ramirez family and City of Chicago police officers. Specifically, the complaint alleged that the multiple interactions over a three year period of time between Plaintiffs and officers assigned to the 8th District, Area One Detective Division and the Special Operations Section were a result of a conspiracy by the officers to retaliate against Plaintiffs through numerous incidents of false arrest, unreasonable searches of their property, vehicles and persons, and excessive force. Plaintiffs claimed that this retaliation occurred because Plaintiff Laura Ramirez testified on behalf of her neighbor, a former Chicago Police Officer, who was arrested by 8th District officers. In addition to the multiple federal and state law claims against the officers, there was also a Monell claim against the City of Chicago. In fact, during the discovery phase of the lawsuit, there were as many as twenty-nine defendant police officers. Prior to trial, all of the police officers were dismissed as was the Monell claim against the City of Chicago. The only defendant remaining at trial was the City of Chicago for the alleged actions of the officers.
Moreover, the Special Operations Section police officer defendants were among those implicated in the 2006 criminal investigation that resulted in numerous federal and state convictions against officers assigned to that Section. Of the two Special Operations Section officers alleged to have been involved in the Ramirez incidents, one testified at length during the trial to the criminal conduct that lead to his own conviction and the other asserted his Fifth Amendment privilege to all questions asked of him. After a nearly three week trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the City of Chicago in less than two hours.