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Resisting conviction not collateral estoppel to excessive force claim

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Resisting arrest conviction does not collaterally estop an excessive force claim. Lamond v. Maher, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9078 n. 1 (S.D. Ind. February 5, 2008): The defendants also argue that Lamond is collaterally estopped by the outcome of the criminal prosecution--the outcome being that Lamond was convicted based on his plea of guilty--from pressing his civil rights claims here. There is a body of law that addresses how a court in a civil suit is to treat a criminal conviction where the use of excessive force by police officers could have been a defense to a charge of resisting law enforcement. This principle cannot be applied conclusively here, however, for even if a jury had convicted Lamond this would not automatically bar a claim of excessive force in a subsequent civil action...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 10, 2008 (boomark / email).