Joliet police officer still seeking settlement conference in revenge porn lawsuit

A Joliet police officer is still expressing interest in holding a settlement conference in an ongoing federal civil lawsuit case concerning allegations of revenge porn.

On Jan. 27, both parties in Officer Cassandra Socha’s lawsuit against the City of Joliet and Detective Edward Grizzle filed a joint status report on the progress of the case.

The report said Socha is interested in a settlement conference and has made a settlement demand. The defendants’ attorneys from the law firm Tressler said they spoke with their clients on whether they were interested in a settlement conference before proceeding with medical and expert discovery.

“After full consideration, the defendants submit that the City of Joliet and Edward Grizzle are not interested in participating in a settlement conference at this time,” the status report said.

The defendants’ attorney previously reported to U.S. Judge David Weisman in 2020 that they were not interested in settlement talks after Socha showed interest.

Socha’s attorney, Hall Adams, said on Wednesday that it would be improper for him to disclose the details of his client’s demands because settlement negotiations are conducted in private.

Adams said Socha made her settlement demand early on in the lawsuit case that was filed in 2018.

“As a plaintiff, you always want to settle cases if you can get a settlement,” Adams said.

A call and message to the city’s attorneys were not immediately returned Wednesday.

Socha’s lawsuit alleged Grizzle “trawled” her cellphone while looking for evidence related to the 2018 trial of her fiancé, officer Nicholas Crowley. She alleged that “private, still and/or video-graphic images” of her and Crowley engaged in sex acts were discovered in the search and shared with other officers.

Attorneys for the City of Joliet and Grizzle have denied the allegations.

The next status hearing in the case has been scheduled for May 10.

Last year, U.S. Judge Jorge Alonso issued a ruling that denied a request from Socha to amend her lawsuit to add former Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner, Detective Donald McKinney and former Officer Phillip Bergner as defendants in the case.

Alonso said Socha’s “eleventh-hour request to amend would cause undue prejudice to the current parties, the new litigants and the court system in general.”

Adams’ proposed lawsuit accused Roechner of directing Bergner to dispose of his phone and said that Bergner did so “knowing that Roechner’s phone contained information [i.e., the private images] having potential relevance” to Socha’s claims.

Roechner said he actually surrendered his cellphone and that it was examined.

“My cellphone was taken and searched by the FBI,” Roechner said.