## Facts

- In 1958, Milwaukee police officers stopped Daniel Bell, a young Black man; he fled on foot and was pursued by Officer Thomas Grady Jr.
- Grady shot Bell in the back, killing him.
- Officers allegedly planted a knife and fabricated reports claiming Bell threatened Grady to justify the shooting.
- For years, official investigations accepted the fabricated account and rejected the family’s efforts to obtain a truthful investigation or legal relief.
- Decades later, Officer Louis Krause confessed to the false account; Grady was prosecuted and convicted in state court.
- The Bell family filed federal civil-rights claims against Grady, police supervisors/investigators, and the City, alleging both the unlawful killing and an extended conspiracy to conceal the truth and obstruct justice.
- A jury returned verdicts for plaintiffs after a lengthy trial, awarding compensatory and punitive damages; defendants appealed and plaintiffs cross-appealed.
- An earlier 1961 state wrongful-death settlement existed from litigation brought shortly after the killing.

## Issues

1. Whether the 1961 state wrongful-death settlement barred or limited later federal civil-rights claims under preclusion/release principles and full faith and credit.
2. Whether limitations periods barred the federal claims, or whether concealment and obstruction delayed accrual or supported separate actionable injuries.
3. Whether evidence supported § 1983 liability for an unconstitutional shooting under color of law and what damages were available to the decedent’s estate.
4. Whether the father’s estate and siblings could recover under § 1983 for deprivation of familial association and related injuries.
5. Whether evidence supported a civil-rights conspiracy to conceal the killing, obstruct access to courts, and discriminate based on race under §§ 1981, 1983, 1985, and 1986.
6. Whether compensatory and punitive awards were legally permissible, and whether the City could be responsible for indemnification, including punitive damages.

## Decision

- Affirmed in part and reversed in part.
- Upheld the jury’s findings that Grady unlawfully killed Daniel Bell under color of law and that Grady and other officials conspired to conceal the true circumstances of the death.
- Held the 1961 settlement did not broadly preclude later federal claims, particularly claims based on later-arising concealment and obstruction.
- Rejected limitations defenses for significant portions of the case, treating the concealment/obstruction as a distinct actionable course of conduct affecting accrual and timeliness.
- Affirmed substantial compensatory recovery for Daniel Bell’s estate and for Dolphus Bell’s estate for injuries including emotional distress and denial of due course of justice.
- Reversed awards to Daniel’s siblings for loss of society and companionship, holding they lacked a constitutionally protected liberty interest in an adult sibling relationship for § 1983 damages.
- Modified aspects of punitive damages and clarified that the City could not be made to pay punitive damages assessed against individual officers, though it could be responsible for certain compensatory amounts under state indemnification law.

## Legal Principles

- A police killing effected without lawful justification under color of state law can support § 1983 liability for deprivation of constitutional rights.
- A coordinated cover-up by officials—through fabricated reports, planted evidence, and obstruction—can constitute an independent civil-rights violation by impairing access to courts and depriving affected persons of due course of justice.
- Prior state settlements do not automatically bar later federal civil-rights claims when the later suit vindicates distinct federal rights or targets later-arising misconduct beyond the settled action’s scope.
- For § 1983 remedies, state survival and wrongful-death rules may be used through § 1988 to determine recoverable damages so long as they do not conflict with federal policies.
- Parents may have a protected liberty interest in the familial relationship with a child that can support § 1983 recovery for certain relational and process-based injuries; adult siblings generally may not recover § 1983 damages for loss of companionship based solely on their sibling relationship.
- Municipalities are not subject to punitive damages under § 1983, and municipal indemnification may extend to compensatory damages but not punitive awards against individuals.

## Conclusion

The Seventh Circuit sustained civil-rights liability for an unlawful police killing and a prolonged official cover-up that obstructed the family’s pursuit of justice, while narrowing recovery by rejecting siblings’ loss-of-companionship claims and limiting punitive and municipal payment responsibility.


Bell v. City of Milwaukee, 746 F.2d 1205 (7th Cir. 1984)