GABBI LEMOS V. COUNTY OF SONOMA, No. 19-15222 (9th Cir. 2022)
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Plaintiff appealed from the district court’s dismissal of her claim under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 alleging that a sheriff’s deputy used excessive force in arresting her. The district court held that Plaintiff’s claim was barred by Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994), because Plaintiff was convicted of willfully resisting, delaying, or obstructing the deputy during the same interaction in violation of Cal. Penal Code section 148(a)(1).
The en banc Ninth Circuit court reversed the district court’s summary judgment for Defendants. The court held that because the record did not show that Plaintiff’s section 1983 action necessarily rested on the same event as her criminal conviction, success in the former would not necessarily imply the invalidity of the latter.
Heck would bar Plaintiff from bringing an excessive force claim under section 1983 if that claim were based on force used during the conduct that was the basis for her section 148(a)(1) conviction. Crucially, the criminal jury was told that it could find Plaintiff guilty based on any one of four acts she committed during the course of her interaction with the Deputy. Because the jury returned a general verdict, it is not known which act it thought constituted an offense. Although any of the four acts could be the basis for the guilty verdict, Plaintiff’s section 1983 action was based on an allegation that the Deputy used excessive force during only the last one. The court held that if Plaintiff were to prevail in her civil action, it would not necessarily mean that her conviction was invalid; and the action was therefore not barred by Heck.
Court Description: Section 1983 / Excessive Force. The en banc court reversed the district court’s summary judgment for defendants County of Sonoma, Sheriff Steve Freitas, and Deputy Marcus Holton in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action brought by Gabrielle Lemos alleging that a sheriff’s deputy used excessive force in arresting her. The district court held that Lemos’s claim was barred by Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994), because Lemos was convicted of willfully resisting, delaying, or obstructing the deputy during the same interaction in violation of Cal. Penal Code section 148(a)(1). The preclusion doctrine established in Heck requires a court to “consider whether a judgment in favor of the plaintiff would necessarily imply the invalidity of his conviction or sentence; if it would, the complaint must be dismissed unless the plaintiff can demonstrate that the conviction or sentence has already been invalidated.” 512 U.S. at 487. The en banc court held that because the record did not show that Lemos’s section 1983 action necessarily rested on the same event as her criminal conviction, success in the former would not necessarily imply the invalidity of the latter. Heck would bar Lemos from bringing an excessive- force claim under section 1983 if that claim were based on force used during the conduct that was the basis for her LEMOS V. COUNTY OF SONOMA 3 section 148(a)(1) conviction. Crucially, the criminal jury was told that it could find Lemos guilty based on any one of four acts she committed during the course of her interaction with Deputy Holton. Because the jury returned a general verdict, it is not known which act it thought constituted an offense. Although any of the four acts could be the basis for the guilty verdict, Lemos’s section 1983 action was based on an allegation that Holton used excessive force during only the last one. The court held that if Lemos were to prevail in her civil action, it would not necessarily mean that her conviction was invalid; and the action was therefore not barred by Heck. The en banc court remanded for further proceedings. Judge Callahan, joined by Lee, dissented, and would affirm the district court’s application of the Heck bar to Lemos’s § 1983 claim. She wrote that the majority’s reason wrongfully presupposed that an uninterrupted interaction with no temporal or spatial break between a § 1983 plaintiff’s unlawful conduct and an officer’s alleged excessive force can be broken down into distinct isolated events to avoid the application of the Heck bar. 4 LEMOS V. COUNTY OF SONOMA
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on July 16, 2021.
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