Pearson vs. Muntz, No. 08-55728 (4-5-11)(Berzon with Reinhardt and M. Smith). Can a federal court examine a state’s (actually California Governor Schwarzenegger’s decision) to deny parole to an inmate because of some evidence that the crime was especially callous. The district court had granted the petition but the 9th now reversed. The 9th wrote that it was compelled to reverse because federal examination of a parolee’s due process rights, under the recent Supreme Court’s decision in Swarthout vs. Cooke, 131 S. Ct. 859 (2011)(per curiam), is limited to whether the parolee had the chance to be heard, examined the evidence in advance, and received notification. Due process review does not include looking at the particular quantum of evidence supporting the decision independent of any state law imposed requirement. Once procedures are provided, the due process inquiry ends.
Posts Tagged ‘DUE PROCESS’
Ninth Circuit Opinion 04-07-11
Thursday, April 7th, 2011Are prosecutors immune from lawsuits for fabricating evidence?
Thursday, November 5th, 2009In 2005, Curtis W. McGhee and Terry J. Harrington, both convicted of murder in 1978, sued Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and former county attorneys Joseph Hrvol and David Richter under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging, inter alia, that the Pottawattamie prosecutors coerced false testimony from third party witnesses and then introduced that testimony in their murder trials. The prosecutors argued that they were immune from the lawsuit based on the doctrine of absolute immunity, but both the district court and the Eighth Circuit disagreed. The Supreme Court’s decision will reveal the extent to which prosecutors are immune from liability for their pre-trial misconduct. This clarification may affect the way prosecutors try cases, and will, undoubtedly, influence the degree to which defendants can hold their prosecutors accountable for due process violations.
The Constitution prohibits shielding prosecutors who, well in advance of trial, fabricate evidence in order to frame innocent citizens.
Pottawattamie County, IA v. McGhee (08–1065) | LII / Legal Information Institute
Oral argument: Nov. 4, 2009
Question presented
Whether a prosecutor may be subjected to a civil trial and potential damages for a wrongful conviction and incarceration where the prosecutor allegedly (1) violated a criminal defendant’s “substantive due process” rights by procuring false testimony during the criminal investigation, and then (2) introduced that same testimony against the criminal defendant at trial.
Issue
Can a prosecutor who knowingly procures false testimony and introduces such testimony at trial be subject to a §1983 civil suit?
Facts
In 1978, Petitioners Joseph Hrvol and David Richter obtained convictions and life sentences against Respondents Curtis McGhee and Terry Harrington for the murder of retired police captain John Schweer in Council Bluffs, Iowa the previous year. See McGhee v. Pottawattamie County, 547 F.3d 922, 925 (8th Cir. 2008). Although police attention initially focused on Charles Gates, a man identified by two witnesses as being near the scene with “a shotgun and a dog,” Hrvol and Richter soon turned their attention to McGhee and Harrington. See id. at 926. The foundation of their case against McGhee and Harrington was 16-year-old Kevin Hughes. See id. Hughes, who already had a lengthy criminal record, was facing charges for stealing a Cadillac and possible involvement in the Schweer murder. See id. Detectives offered not to charge Hughes for the murder and drop the laundry list of other criminal charges against him and held out the possibility of his recovering a $5,000 reward for information regarding the Schweer murder if he cooperated in the investigation. See id. at 927. Hughes agreed. See id. (more…)
