Appeals Court Adopts Rule Urged by KLLF Brief, Eliminating Barriers to Police Misconduct Lawsuits

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a precedential opinion today making clear that victims of police misconduct can sue law enforcement officers who fabricate evidence against them, regardless of the specific procedural mechanism by which the criminal case against them was dropped. The ruling echoes the arguments made in a brief filed by KLLF in the case on behalf of a coalition of civil rights and criminal defense organizations, including the ACLU, the Legal Aid Society, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

KLLF’s “friend of the court” brief sided with two civil rights plaintiffs seeking to have their lawsuits reinstated after lower courts dismissed the claims because the two men’s criminal charges were dropped without a specific finding of innocence.

One of the plaintiffs, Andrew Smalls, was charged with gun possession, but got those charges dismissed after a state court ruled that the police had conducted an unconstitutional search. Mr. Smalls, who has always maintained that he never possessed a gun, sued the police civilly and won before a federal jury. But a judge overturned his verdict, deciding that the grounds on which Smalls defeated his criminal charges were too technical to support a civil lawsuit for wrongful prosecution.

The other plaintiff, Deshawn Daniel, was arrested during a traffic stop and brutalized by the NYPD, then charged with weapons possession after officers allegedly made up a story about finding a knife in his jacket pocket. His criminal charges were dismissed based on an agreement with prosecutors, but a federal judge ruled that he could not sue the officers for the false charges because his plea deal did not formally exonerate him.

KLLF’s brief explained that barring lawsuits like these would give police carte blanche to fabricate evidence in criminal investigations and worsen unfair power imbalances in the criminal justice system. In its opinion issued today, the appeals court agreed, stating that “to hold otherwise would make a mockery of the notion that Americans enjoy the protection of due process of the law and fundamental justice."

Read a copy of KLLF’s brief here. The Court of Appeals decision is available here.