Park v. Thompson, No. 14-56655 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseAfter plaintiff was acquitted of murder, she filed suit against Detective Karen Thompson and Doe Defendants under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that Thompson violated her constitutional rights to compulsory process and a fair trial by intimidating and attempting to dissuade a key witness from testifying on behalf of the defense, and that Thompson and Doe Defendants conspired to violate her civil rights by orchestrating criminal charges against the key witness. The district court dismissed for failure to state a claim. The court held that plaintiff adequately alleged misconduct by Thompson that rises to the level of substantial interference with a defense witness in contravention of the Compulsory Process Clause of the Sixth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; plaintiff pleaded a sufficient causal connection between Thompson's misconduct and the witness's unavailability; the fact that plaintiff was eventually acquitted does not render the witness's testimony immaterial, nor does it bar plaintiff's section 1983 action stemming from violations of her rights during the underlying criminal investigation and prosecution; the witness's testimony was material to plaintiff's defense because evidence of third-party culpability would have cast some doubt on the government's evidence at plaintiff's trial; and, likewise, plaintiff sufficiently alleged a plausible claim for civil conspiracy. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded.
Court Description: Civil Rights. The panel reversed the district court’s dismissal of a complaint and remanded in an action against City of Santa Monica Police Detective Karen Thompson and Doe defendants alleging defendants violated and conspired to violate plaintiff’s right to compulsory process and a fair trial by intimidating and attempting to dissuade a key witness from testifying on behalf of the defense. The panel held that plaintiff adequately alleged misconduct by Thompson that rose to the level of substantial interference with a defense witness in contravention of the Compulsory Process Clause of the Sixth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The panel further held that plaintiff adequately pleaded that Thompson’s misconduct caused the witness to refuse to testify. The fact that plaintiff was eventually acquitted did not render the witness testimony immaterial, nor did it bar plaintiff’s Section 1983 action stemming from violations of her rights during the underlying criminal investigation and prosecution. The panel concluded that the witness’s testimony was material to plaintiff’s defense because evidence of third-party culpability would have cast some doubt on the government’s evidence at plaintiff’s trial. Finally, the panel held that plaintiff pleaded sufficient facts to state a plausible claim for civil conspiracy under Section 1983. PARK V. THOMPSON 3 Concurring in part and dissenting in part, Judge Fernandez stated that the complaint’s mere general pleading that there was some sort of nexus between Thompson’s action and the witness’s decision not to testify was conclusory and insufficient. Judge Fernandez did not think that there was a proper allegation of a substantive violation, and did not believe that a conspiracy was effectively alleged. He agreed with the majority that the issue of qualified immunity should be remanded to the district court for its consideration in the first instance.
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