A former Joliet City Council member lost his lawsuit against a former police chief and a deputy chief who claimed they used him as an “unwitting tool” in their conspiracy against the former mayor.

On Friday, Kankakee County Judge Lindsay Parkhurst issued a court order granting summary judgment in favor of retired Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner, former Joliet Deputy Police Chief Marc Reid and the city of Joliet.

“We are disappointed but respect the Court’s ruling,” Dickinson’s attorney Frank Andreano said.

Dickinson filed a lawsuit in 2023 that claimed Roechner and Reid used him as an “unwitting tool” in their alleged conspiracy against former Joliet Mayor Bob O’Dekirk.

Dickinson’s lawsuit claimed Roechenr and Reid solicited him to make a police report against O’Dekirk.

The police report was turned over to the Illinois State Police, and their investigation led to Dickinson being charged with attempted obstruction of justice, which was amended to attempted disorderly conduct.

The charge was dismissed in 2022 after a special prosecutor did not object to a defense motion for a dismissal.

In Parkhurst’s court order, she said the “police conduct” of Roechner and Reid was “superseded and rendered immaterial” by the independent investigation by Illinois State Police that led to a case against Dickinson.

Illinois State Police “separately developed sufficient evidence” for the prosecution of Dickinson, Parkhurst said. That meant Roechner and Reid were “not liable for commencing” the prosecution, she said.

“The obstruction of justice charges are based on [Illinois State Police] independent discovery of [Dickinson’s] false statements, not on the local police’s (Roechner and Reid’s) actions or initial report,” Parkhurst said.

Parkhurst determined that those facts are “fatal” to Dickinson’s claim of “malicious prosecution.”

Parkhurst said when the Illinois State Police discovered Dickinson lied during the investigation, that discovery “established probable cause” for the obstruction charge, and that existence of probable cause provides a “complete defense to the malicious prosecution claim.”

Parkhurst said she construed the facts of the case “strictly” against Roechner and Reid and “liberally” in favor of Dickinson and still found that “lying to police is probable cause to pursue an obstruction of justice prosecution.”

Parkhurst determined Dickinson’s other claims were filed beyond the statute of limitations.