Wilcox v. Arpaio, No. 12-16418 (9th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CasePlaintiffs filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and supplemental state law against the County and other County officials, alleging that they wrongfully investigated, prosecuted, and harassed plaintiffs in retaliation for plaintiffs' opposition to the actions of the County Sheriff, County Attorney, and their deputies. At issue was whether federal or state privilege law governs the admissibility of evidence of an alleged settlement reached during mediation of federal and state law claims. The court concluded that the privilege law governs, but that the County waived any available privilege. Therefore, the court affirmed the district court's enforcement of the settlement agreement reached in mediation.
Court Description: Mediation. The panel affirmed a district court order granting plaintiffs’ motion to enforce a settlement agreement reached during mediation in an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law against Maricopa County and certain present and former County officials. The panel held that federal privilege law governs the admissibility of evidence of an alleged settlement reached during the mediation of federal and state law claims. The panel determined, however, that in this case the County waived any available privilege and therefore that the district court did not err in admitting and considering allegedly privileged documents and testimony. The panel concluded that the district court did not clearly err in finding that the County authorized the County Manager to settle plaintiffs’ claims and therefore did not err in enforcing the settlement agreement.
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