Opinion ID: 222738
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Town of Cicero Police Forcibly Break Up a Boisterous Party

Text: On September 2, 2000, Alejandro and Maria Duran hosted a party at their Town of Cicero home in honor of their daughter's baptism. At its peak there were close to 100 guests at this event. During the course of the evening, the Cicero Police Department received two separate telephone complaints from neighbors upset about the party. The police response to the second call was tense and eventually turned violent. Officer Robert DeCianni was dispatched to the Duran home to deal with the second call. He had been there only moments earlier to handle the first complaint about improperly parked cars. Almost as soon as DeCianni approached the front yard, he found himself embroiled in a heated verbal exchange with partygoers who were celebrating outside the home. The source of this tension was disputed at trial. According to testimony from some of the plaintiffs, DeCianni was in a foul and belligerent mood as soon as he reappeared on the scene. Using racially insensitive language interspersed with profanity, he crudely ordered the Durans to shut the party down. In contrast, under the Town's version of events, the party guests were initially hostile and combative toward DeCianni. Both sides agree that the situation soon became completely unmanageable. DeCianni called for backup, and as the verbal jousting intensified, even more reinforcements were requested. Within several minutes, Cicero's entire on-duty police force was present outside the Duran home, accompanied by members of neighboring police departments. The name-calling and agitation persisted on both sides. The officers amassed outside the Duran home eventually entered the property through the front gate. Again, the rationale for this decision was disputed at trial. The officers claimed they were attempting to arrest Gonzalo Duran, Alejandro's brother, for throwing a beer bottle at DeCianni. The plaintiffs maintain that the officers' actions were animated by antipathy against the party guests based on their Mexican descent. Whatever the cause, the police presence on the Duran property was inflammatory, and a violent melee broke out almost immediately. The police used pepper spray, night sticks, and other forms of physical force to subdue combative partygoers and compel the rest to move indoors. The 78 plaintiffs in this case  including men, women, and children  claimed they suffered various injuries at the hands of the police. At least five police officers received medical treatment for bites and bruises sustained in the altercation. Seven of the plaintiffs here  Alejandro Duran, Armando Duran, Adolfo Duran, Gonzalo Duran, Joel Uribe, Heriberto Uribe, and Juan Carlos Uribe  were arrested. Juan Carlos Uribe was released without being charged. Misdemeanor complaints were issued against Heriberto and Joel Uribe for obstructing a peace officer, but these charges were never prosecuted. The four Duran brothers were prosecuted on charges of battery and obstructing or resisting a peace officer; they were acquitted by a jury.