Judge clears Naperville officer in tenant privacy lawsuit
A Naperville police officer who was sued in 2015 has been cleared of any wrongdoing in a federal case related to a tenant's right to privacy.
Officer Michael Hull, 54, said he is relieved the deadline to appeal has passed after a federal judge granted summary judgment in his favor last summer.
The judgment came about two years after Stephen Tracy filed suit against Hull and the city of Naperville, alleging Hull violated his Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search by entering his apartment without a warrant in October 2014 while his landlord conducted an inspection.
But the summary judgment issued last July by federal Judge Jorge L. Alonso said that's not the case.
Hull stood in the doorway of the apartment while Tracy's landlord conducted a scheduled inspection of the property for 10 to 15 minutes, according to court documents.
"There is no evidence before the court to suggest that Officer Hull entered the apartment to conduct a search, or that his mere presence in the doorway of the apartment was a violation of plaintiff's reasonable privacy expectations when he knew the landlord was coming to inspect the apartment," Alonso wrote in the summary judgment. "No reasonable juror could find that Officer Hull conducted an unreasonable search."
Tracy's attorney, Gregory Kulis, said he has not spoken with Tracy since Alonso issued the judgment and he had no comment.
Hull, who is in his 20th year with the Naperville department and his 30th as a police officer, said he is happy the case has wrapped up so he can stop fielding questions about it from business owners and others in town. He said the suit came as a surprise to him, as accompanying the landlord to Tracy's apartment was part of his regular duties as the downtown beat officer in 2014.
"I went over there just as the peacekeeper," Hull said. "Here I am, I'm just standing on the porch, and the next thing I know, I'm in federal court."
Hull, who lives in Oswego, said he took himself off the list for consideration for a promotion to sergeant while the lawsuit was pending. He is eligible for retirement this year and is considering how much longer he wants to stay on the job.
City Attorney Mike DiSanto defended Hull, whom he said was "vindicated" by the summary judgment in his favor. A partial video of the encounter, which DiSanto said Tracy shot on his cellphone, helped prove Hull did not conduct a search of the apartment.
"We knew Officer Hull had not violated any of Stephen Tracy's Constitutional rights," DiSanto said. "Officer Hull had not violated his right to privacy."
The case was the only pending lawsuit Tracy had filed against the city or any of its police officers, DiSanto said.
It followed a lawsuit filed against Hull and five other police and city officials in 2006 by former Naperville City Council member Richard Furstenau, who had been accused but acquitted of shoving Hull before a parade to celebrate the city's 175th anniversary. Furstenau dropped that suit in 2009.
City officials and Naperville Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 42 President Rick Krakow said they're pleased this suit came to a similar conclusion.
"The court made the right decision," Krakow said. "I hope that it restores Officer Hull's good name in the eyes of this community and brings some peace to him and his family."