S:\Rosen\Opinions & Orders\70 October 2011\Flagg.Msj.Wpd
2:05-cv-74253-GER-RSW Doc # 616 Filed 11/01/11 Pg 1 of 102 Pg ID 19381 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION ERNEST FLAGG, as Next Friend of J. B., a minor; TARIS JACKSON, as Next Friend of A. J., a minor; and BRIAN GREENE, as Next Friend of I. B., a minor, Case No. 05-74253 Hon. Gerald E. Rosen Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF DETROIT and KWAME M. KILPATRICK, Defendants. ____________________________________/ OPINION AND ORDER REGARDING DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT At a session of said Court, held in the U.S. Courthouse, Detroit, Michigan on November 1, 2011 PRESENT: Honorable Gerald E. Rosen Chief Judge, United States District Court I. INTRODUCTION On April 30, 2003, Tamara Greene was killed in a drive-by shooting in Detroit, Michigan. Her murder remains unsolved. In this case, Ms. Greene’s minor children — J. B., through his next friend Ernest Flagg; A. J., through her next friend Taris Jackson; and I. B., through her next friend Brian Greene — seek an award of damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the City of Detroit and its former mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, alleging that these Defendants deliberately obstructed the Detroit Police Department investigation into 2:05-cv-74253-GER-RSW Doc # 616 Filed 11/01/11 Pg 2 of 102 Pg ID 19382 their mother’s murder, thereby abridging their right of access to the courts as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Plaintiffs claim that, but for this obstruction, they could have brought a state court wrongful death action against their mother’s killer, and successfully recovered an award of damages from this wrongdoer to compensate them for the loss of their mother.
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