BENTON - East St. Louis Police Chief Kendall Perry, facing an $825,035.97 default judgment on an excessive force claim, swore at a hearing that no one served the complaint on him.
Process server Jim Mourey of Belleville swore he served it.
Senior U.S. District Judge Phil Gilbert heard testimony on Oct. 17 and received briefs from the city and plaintiff Dorian Hendricks on Nov. 7.
City counsel Grey Chatham of Belleville claimed Perry and his assistant testified he wasn’t at city hall on the day of Mourey’s purported service.
Attorney Steven Fluhr of St. Louis County wrote for Hendricks that while a document indicated Perry sought time off that day, “that document could easily have been forged.”
“While the process server has no reason to make up whom he served at the time of the service, the chief has 835,035 reasons," Fluhr wrote.
Hendricks sued the police department, the city, Perry, former assistant chief Nick Mueller and midnight detective Jason Hicks last October.
Fluhr claimed a fight broke out among people Hendricks met at Da Beno night club in the 6800 block of State Street on Oct. 25, 2022.
According to Fluhr, Hendricks was hit on his head a couple of times.
Hendricks and his brother left, people drew guns and Hendricks allegedly drove away.
Hicks allegedly followed in an unmarked vehicle.
Hicks worked security while on duty and Mueller and Perry tolerated it.
Hicks allegedly followed Hendricks to a dead end.
Hicks jumped out, did not identify himself, and allegedly started shooting at the vehicle Hendricks drove.
Hendricks reversed the vehicle and drove past Hicks who continued shooting.
Hicks allegedly fired shots that struck Hendricks’s leg.
Hendricks left the scene and crossed into Missouri where his parents took him to a hospital.
Hendricks allegedly will have pain and partial loss of use of his leg for life.
Perry and Mueller are accused of having a custom and pattern of tolerating excessive force and would assist in covering bad actions by charging members of the community.
Fluhr filed documents last November stating Mourey served summonses on Oct. 25.
Fluhr moved for clerk’s entry of default in December, claiming the city didn’t answer.
The clerk entered it in January and Fluhr moved for judgment of $1.5 million.
Magistrate Judge Reona Daly held a hearing in May and Hendricks testified he constantly felt a burning sensation in his foot, worse when he walked on it.
He told her surgery made his ability to ambulate better but his pain was unchanged.
He told her a physical therapist said there was nothing physical therapy could do.
He told her he had nightmares every night and the only thing he remembered was gunshots.
Daly reached a decision in July but as a magistrate she couldn’t enter default judgment.
She recommended $750,000 for pain and suffering, finding Hendricks became very emotional when he described his injuries and saw a picture depicting bullet holes in his leg.
She recommended $48,303 in medical bills and $26,732.97 in lost wages.
The clerk randomly assigned Daly’s report to Gilbert.
News of the report reached city attorneys at Chatham and Baricevic in Belleville and Grey Chatham Jr. objected on grounds that no one served defendants.
At Gilbert’s hearing, attorney Alvin Paulson of Chatham and Baricevic asked Perry if he was aware there was an alleged summons that he was served.
Perry said yes and Paulson asked if there were three summonses indicating he was served on behalf of himself, Miueller and Hicks.
Perry said that was correct.
Paulson asked if he was served on that date and time and Perry said no.
Paulson asked how he knew and he said, “Because I was not at work on that day.”
Paulson asked when he requested to be off and Perry said Oct. 19.
Paulson asked what date he asked to be off and Perry said Oct. 25.
Paulson asked if he had a speaking engagement that day and Perry said yes.
“You are sure that you absolutely were not served with any three of these summons. Is that correct?” Paulson said.
Perry said it was and Paulson asked what he would have done if he had known of the suit.
“I would have immediately sent all of the information to the city’s attorney,” Perry said.
Paulson said that was all he had and Fluhr said he had no questions of Perry.
Paulson called process server Mourey and asked if he was given direction on who to serve.
Mourey said he generally went to the department in the case and they normally listed it it to the city manager who accepted service for a lot of legal documents.
Paulson asked if he served Shar Lowery and he said yes.
Paulson asked if he knew who she was and Mourey said she was executive assistant in the city manager’s office.
Paulson asked Mourey who told him that and he said, “She did. I’ve served her before.”
Paulson asked if he knew he didn’t serve city manager Robert Betts.
Mourey said he knew that and Paulson said, “You figured if you served Shar Lowery, that that was good enough?”
Mourey said, “I’ve been serving papers for 35 years, sir.
"It used to be we went through the city clerk’s office. A year or two ago they changed city clerks. They will not accept it.
“Now they want you to take it to that department and let their person take it.”
Paulson asked if he served Kendall Perry and Mourey said, “A subject that I believed to be Kendall Perry, yes.”
Mourey said, “We had a conversation concerning the other two people.”
Paulson said, “You don’t know if it was Kendall Perry or not, do you?”
Mourey said, “I addressed him and he addressed himself as the chief, yes.”
Paulson showed him a document and said, “Who does that say that you served?”
Mourey said, “That was chief Kendall Perry personally, 51 year old.”
Paulson said that was all he had and Fluhr asked Mourey how to get in to see Betts.
Mourey said, “You have to push the button, wait for someone to answer the door. They are all locked doors up there.”
He said Shar Lowery said she was capable of receiving papers for Betts.
Fluhr asked Mourey if Betts said in a later conversation that the paper wasn’t presented.
Paulson objected and Gilbert said he’d give it whatever weight it deserved.
Mourey said, “During the conversation there was something to the effect that the papers were lost or not recovered or they don’t have them anymore.
“We served two different entities that day. I would hope that somebody would have made a record of it.”
Fluhr asked if he had seen the chief before and he said, “I’ve served him several times.”
Fluhr said, “You do recognize chief Perry?”
Mourey said, “Yes I do,” and Fluhr said that was all he had.
Gilbert asked Mourey where he got the age on the papers.
Mourey said they used to have people sign them and a federal judge took it away.
“The next best thing is when you’re serving someone to get their description and ask them their age,” Mourey said.
Gilbert said, “You asked who you believed to be chief Perry his age and he told you 51 years?”
Mourey said, “Yes sir.”
Paulson called Lowery and she said she told Mourey she’d take the papers on behalf of the office since according to him he served two other people.
Paulson asked what happened to the papers and she said at some point she would have forwarded them to Betts.
Paulson called Perry’s executive assistant Tramiya Ducksworth and asked if she saw Mourey serve anybody on Oct. 25, 2023.
She said no, and he said, “It would have had to have gone through you?”
She said, “I have to approve you to come in to see the chief of police.”
Paulson asked if she knew she never did that and she said correct.
He asked if she knew Perry wasn’t there that day and she said correct.
Gilbert said he had a question for Perry and Chatham said he could anticipate the question.
Gilbert said, “Give me the answer.”
Chatham said, “He is 51 years old.”
Paulson told Gilbert there was no valid service on anybody and it would be a miscarriage of justice and a violation of due process.
“Service isn’t always good and Jim Mourey, I don’t think he’s a dishonest process server because most of the time he goes in there and he serves somebody and we get notice," Paulson said.
“In this case the proper people did not get served and there was harm because the right people weren’t served.”
In the brief that followed for Hendricks, Fluhr claimed Mourey recorded Perry’s age accurately.
“He did it to prevent the type of hearing we had on this issue," Fluhr wrote.
He claimed Perry failed to produce payroll records showing a personal day on that date.
He claimed such records would be more difficult to contrive.