Search | Wrongly Convicted

California Governor's Reversal of Lifer's Grant of Parole Not Based On "Some Evidence"

Article • September 15, 2009

Filed under: Sentencing, Parole, Wrongful Imprisonment

California Governor's Reversal of Lifer's Grant of Parole Not Based On &quot;Some Evidence&quot; by California Governor's Reversal of Lifer's Grant of Parole Not Based On "Some Evidence" The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California granted a writ of habeas corpus to a California lifer whose grant of …

California Prosecutors, Parole Board, State Agencies Entitled to Absolute Immunity in Parole Decisions

Article • June 15, 2009

Filed under: Sentencing, Parole, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment, Eleventh Amendment Immunity, Prosecutorial Immunity, Sovereign Immunity

California Prosecutors, Parole Board, State Agencies Entitled to Absolute Immunity in Parole Decisions by The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal has held that prosecutors, parole board members and state agencies are entitled to absolute immunity for participating in or making parole decisions. The Court’s ruling comes in the case of …

Overdetained California Prisoner Wins $21,800 for False Imprisonment

Article • May 15, 2009 • from PLN May, 2009

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Damages, Administrative Exhaustion, Good Time, Wrongful Imprisonment

Overdetained California Prisoner Wins $21,800 for False Imprisonment by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The California Court of Appeal upheld a Superior Court verdict of $21,800 against state prison officials in a lawsuit filed by a prisoner whose eventually-corrected good time credit earning rate resulted in his being released …

Indeterminate Commitment Order Reversed on Appeal

Article • May 15, 2009

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Appeals, Retroactivity, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment, Sex Offender Treatment, Civil Commitment

Indeterminate Commitment Order Reversed on Appeal by On March 15, 2007, a California superior court erroneously granted a motion requesting the involuntary commitment of David Litmon, Jr. for an indeterminate length of time. The State filed the motion under the terms of Proposition 83, which went into effect in 2006 …

$15,000,000 Verdict for LA Police Officers Upheld

Article • May 15, 2009

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Civil Procedure, Damages, Wrongful Imprisonment, Employee Litigation, False Arrest

$15,000,000 Verdict for LA Police Officers Upheld by On July 14, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a $15,000,000 verdict for three LA police officers who suffered civil rights violations related to an improper and negligent investigation into the officers’ alleged illegal conduct. Paul Harper, …

California Unlawful Arrest and Excessive Force Nets $90,000

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Wrongful Imprisonment, Police, False Arrest, Excessive Force (Police)

California Unlawful Arrest and Excessive Force Nets $90,000 by The City of Salinas, California paid a Daly City man $90,000 to settle his lawsuit for unlawful arrest, detention and excessive force. Maurice Goodman, an African American staff paralegal for the San Mateo County Superior Court, and coach and team president …

California Appellate Court: First-Degree Murderer Released After 24 Years And Four Governor-Reversals Of Grants Of Parole

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Sentencing, Parole, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment

California Appellate Court: First-Degree Murderer Released After 24 Years And Four Governor-Reversals Of Grants Of Parole by The California Court of Appeal, in 2-1 decision, overruled Governor Schwarzenegger’s fourth reversal of a grant of parole for a 60-year-old female first-degree murderer after finding that her release was not supported by …

California Act Requires Three Drug Abuse Violations Before Parole, Probation Revocation

Article • January 15, 2009

Filed under: Parole, Wrongful Imprisonment, Probation, Parole Conditions, Mental Health, Drug Treatment/Rehab

California Act Requires Three Drug Abuse Violations Before Parole, Probation Revocation by California State prisoner Barry Hazle appealed his probation revocation for drug abuse violations that sent him to prison. His third revocation petition alleged violations occurring prior to his second. The court reversed the incarceration ruling. Hazle pled guilty …

California Appellate Court Affirms Parole for Lifer Over Governor’s Objection

Article • January 15, 2009

Filed under: Sentencing, Parole, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment

California Appellate Court Affirms Parole for Lifer Over Governor’s Objection by by John E. Dannenberg The California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 6, affirmed a superior court’s ruling that had overturned Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s reversal of a favorable parole decision for a second-degree murderer. Applying an “especially close scrutiny” …

L.A. Documents Ordered Produced Regarding False Arrest And Prosecution

Article • January 15, 2009

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Discovery, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, False Arrest

L.A. Documents Ordered Produced Regarding False Arrest And Prosecution by California State resident Raul Ramirez sought production of documents pertaining to his unlawful arrest and prosecution of a crime he was subsequently acquitted. The documents were for use in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action and were ordered produced with …

Remedy for Failure to Give California Parole Violator Timely Revocation Hearing is Release from Custody

Article • January 15, 2009

Filed under: Sentencing, Parole, Wrongful Imprisonment

Remedy for Failure to Give California Parole Violator Timely Revocation Hearing is Release from Custody by by John S. Dannenberg The California Court of Appeals has held that when a parole violator is denied a timely revocation hearing that comports with the due process protections set forth in Valdivia v. …

California Thwarts Due Process In "Medically Disordered Offender" Post Release Commitment Trial

Article • January 15, 2009

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Involuntary Treatment/Drugging

California Thwarts Due Process In "Medically Disordered Offender" Post Release Commitment Trial by California Mentally Disordered Offender (MDO) Roy Cobb, Jr., appealed a court order, imposed after his statutory release date, committing him to the state hospital. The order was affirmed because Cobb was put on notice prior to his …

$45,000 Damage Award to Traveler Detained in San Francisco Airport

Article • August 15, 2008

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Damages, Injunctions, Sanctions, Wrongful Imprisonment

$45,000 Damage Award to Traveler Detained in San Francisco Airport by The plaintiff was awarded $45,000 in compensatory and punitive damages against federal customs inspectors for unlawful detention at an airport on suspicion of drug smuggling. The plaintiff lacks standing to seek injunctive relief since she is not likely to …

33,000 California Prisoners May Need Credits Recalculated Due To Retroactive State Court Decisions

Article • June 15, 2008 • from PLN June, 2008

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Staffing, Good Time, Wrongful Imprisonment, Employee Litigation, Guard Unions

33,000 California Prisoners May Need Credits Recalculated Due To Retroactive State Court Decisions by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg Three recent California court decisions interpreting California’s sentencing laws have spawned a need for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to recalculate the release dates of an estimated …

County Immune for Holding Federal Detainee Without Court Hearing

Article • May 15, 2008

Filed under: Court Access, Court Appearances, Wrongful Imprisonment, Federal Tort Claims Act, Municipal Liability

County Immune for Holding Federal Detainee Without Court Hearing by The plaintiff, a federal detainee held in a county jail, was detained for 12 days before being taken before a judicial officer. The Feds settled. The County could not be held liable because its actions did not cause the deprivation: …

Wrongfully Imprisoned California Man Awarded $18 Million

Article • August 15, 2007 • from PLN August, 2007

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Damages, Wrongful Imprisonment, Police, False Arrest

Wrongfully Imprisoned California Man Awarded $18 Million by On February 15, 2006, a federal jury in California awarded $18 million to a man who was wrongly charged with sexual assault of a child and imprisoned for 10 months. During his false imprisonment in the Los Angeles County Jail, Ramirez, 26, …

California Federal Court Awards Falsely Arrested/Imprisoned Man $850,000

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Police, False Arrest

California Federal Court Awards Falsely Arrested/Imprisoned Man $850,000 by On December 31, 2003, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California awarded $850,000 to a man who was falsely arrested and imprisoned for seven weeks due to misidentification by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). In 1999, the …

Arrestee Stated §1983 Claim Against Coroner; Heightened Pleading Standard Overruled

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Malicious Prosecution, Wrongful Imprisonment, False Arrest

Arrestee Stated §1983 Claim Against Coroner; Heightened Pleading Standard Overruled by Arrestee Stated §1983 Claim Against Coroner; Heightened Pleading Standard Overruled The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, ruled that the district court erred in holding an arrestee to a heightened …

California: Good-Time Statute Not Violative of Ex Post Facto

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sentencing, Ex Post Facto, Good Time, Wrongful Imprisonment

California: Good-Time Statute Not Violative of Ex Post Facto by The Supreme Court of California held that the application of a good-time statute enacted on January 1, 1983 to prisoners convicted before that time and under a different good-time statute did not violate the state or federal ex post facto …

California Man Awarded $55,000 for False Arrest

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, False Arrest

California Man Awarded $55,000 for False Arrest by On October 25, 2002, a California jury awarded $55,000 to a man who was falsely arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and held in jail for approximately 4 1/2 days before being released. Plaintiff Roger Brass was arrested on the …