Downtown Lawyer

After serving fourteen years in prison for a 1988 kidnapping and rape he did not commit time against a six-year-old girl, Leonard McSherry’s name was cleared by forensic evidence and the confession of the actual perpetrator. McSherry filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Long Beach, California, its police department, and two officers, alleging police made up the victim’s descriptions of the crime scene, coerced her to identify him as her kidnapper, ignored exculpatory evidence, and arrested him without probable cause. The trial court dismissed the case, noting that defendants were entitled to qualified immunity. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit noted that McSherry could not produce evidence that officers’ fabricated evidence or that leading interview tactics influenced the prosecutor’s decision to file charges against him and pursue a conviction. Because he “failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the alleged fabrication or any misconduct by Defendants caused his arrest, prosecution, and conviction,” the court affirmed dismissal. For the full story, click here.