Facts

Ronald Ross sued the City of Oakland and former Sergeant Steven Lovell in connection with a murder conviction plaintiff maintained he did not commit.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff alleged that defendants maliciously prosecuted him for the attempted murder of Renardo Williams in 2006. Plaintiff alleged that he was convicted because of a faulty photo lineup, police coercion, and withholding of exculpatory evidence. Plaintiff alleged that the victim denied identifying plaintiff as the shooter and that Lovell suggested that the victim should nevertheless identify plaintiff as the shooter. Plaintiff alleged that the victim's statement regarding that event was exculpatory and wrongfully withheld from him. Following his release, plaintiff filed this lawsuit against defendants for malicious prosecution. Plaintiff alleged that he served nearly seven years in prison due to defendants' wrongful conduct.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Defendants alleged that the victim was not the sole witness to identify plaintiff as the shooter. Although the court subsequently vacated his conviction, its decision for so doing was based solely on another witness's misconduct and not due to any of defendants' alleged misconduct. Defendants also alleged that none of Lovell's alleged misconduct led to his conviction. Rather, other perjuring witnesses sealed his fate. Defendants asserted several reasons why plaintiff's claim should be rejected. Among them, defendants argued that there was no evidence of plaintiff's alleged false-evidence claim. Defendants denied that Lovell ever acted in bad faith. Furthermore, defendants claimed Lovell was entitled to qualified immunity. Defendants also shut down plaintiff's Monell claim.

Result

The court, although finding Ross's experience tragic, nevertheless declined to hold Lovell and the city liable, explaining that Ross was not prejudiced by Lovell's conduct. Accordingly, the court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants.

Other Information

FILING DATE: Feb. 21, 2014.