Civil Rights and Criminal Matters
In US v. Davis, No. 08-16654, the court of appeals affirmed defendant's firearm possession conviction, on the ground that the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule allowed the use of evidence obtained in reasonable reliance on well-settled precedent, even though in this case the Supreme Court overruled that precedent in Arizona v. Gant.
Rehberg v. Paulk, No. 09-11897, concerned an action for malicious prosecution, retaliatory investigation and prosecution, and evidence fabrication. The court of appeals affirmed the denial of defendants' motion to dismiss based on absolute and qualified immunity in part, holding that plaintiff sufficiently alleged the requisite retaliatory motive, absence of probable cause, and but-for causation to state a retaliatory prosecution claim. However, the court reversed the order in part, on the grounds that 1) even if defendants knew one defendant's testimony before a grand jury was false, they still received absolute immunity for the act of testifying to the grand jury; and 2) plaintiff's voluntary delivery of emails to third parties constituted a voluntary relinquishment of the right to privacy in that information.
Griswold v. Cty. of Hillsborough, No. 09-12421, involved an action by plaintiff, a disabled veteran, claiming that defendants violated his rights under the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003, by interfering with plaintiff's businesses' ability to obtain certain government contracts. The court of appeals affirmed the dismissal of the complaint on the ground that plaintiff's claims were barred under the doctrine of res judicata due to earlier litigation brought by plaintiff's companies arising from the same facts.
Related Resources
- Full Text of US v. Davis, No. 08-16654
- Full Text of Rehberg v. Paulk, No. 09-11897
- Full Text of Griswold v. Cty. of Hillsborough, No. 09-12421