Lacrosse detectives seek dismissal of lawsuit
By Ray Gronberg, The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The ruling changed state law on the question of whether cops and other people can be liable when a prosecutor decides to charge someone with a crime, attorneys representing former Sgt.
It also aligned state doctrine with the federal doctrine that in late 2012 prompted the
The subsequent state
Their dismissal request, dated
Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann were the three members of
They were exonerated a year later, after N.C. Attorney General
The players sued later in 2007, alleging police and city officials conspired with former District Attorney
Although the 4th Circuit tossed the players' federal-law claims, Beaty retains jurisdiction over the lawsuit because they live in other states. But he's obliged to follow the lead of
City officials were able to get the federal civil-rights claims thrown out by the 4th Circuit because Nifong, it said, made his own, independent decision to pursue the rape charges even though the detectives had briefed him on the weaknesses of the evidence.
Police would've been liable under federal law only if they'd "misled or unduly pressured the prosecutor," an allegation the players never made, the 4th Circuit said.
But the 4th Circuit declined to halt the malicious-prosecution suit because at the common-law level, a series of
Last July's state
The justices overruled a state
Significantly, the case was one a
The case focused on allegations that an investigator from the
The information suggested the former owner hadn't told the
But
The Court of Appeals agreed; the
Speaking through Justice
That "balances and protects important public interests," allowing "citizens to make reports in good faith to police and prosecutors without fear of retaliation if the information proves to be incomplete or inaccurate," Edmunds said.
The court's seven justices were unanimous on the point, two dissenting from the decision only to say it should have sent the case back to the trial judge for more work. The other justices disagreed, opting to resolve it without further lower-court involvement.
The decision left an opening for the lawyers representing Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann to argue it shouldn't apply to the lacrosse case, as police detectives aren't "private persons" under the usual understanding of the law.
But Gottlieb's and Himan's attorneys noted Edmunds had quoted legal guidelines from the
That suggests the
A response from the players is pending.
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