Worthington v. Wilson,

790 F. Supp. 829 (C.D. Ill.1992)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Worthington (P), filed a civil rights action claiming excessive force after his arrest by two police officers from Peoria Heights, Ill. (D). The suit was filed two years after the incident. P had been arrested by two police officers, and when he was, he advised the officers that he had an injured hand. They still manhandled him, handcuffed him, and pulled him up off the ground by his handcuffs. P suffered broken bones in his hand. The city and three unknown police officers were named. D removed the action to federal court. P then filed an amendment to name two of the officers and which dropped the city as a defendant. The officers moved to dismiss under the statute of limitations. P claimed that the amended complaint related back to the time of the original complaint. The magistrate recommended the dismissal and P appealed. The officers argue that Rule 15(c) relation back is not permissible because there was no mistake concerning the proper party. P merely did not know who the parties were. P contends Illinois law is controlling and the state statutes permit relation back because P’s inability to discover the officers’ names was not for want of diligence.