Haygood

OPINION AND ORDER

In Haygood v. Younger, 14 Cal.3d 802 , 122 Cal.Rptr. 760 , 537 P.2d 880 (1975), the California Supreme Court determined that Frank Haygood had spent almost five years longer in prison than was permitted under the applicable law. After he was released he brought this suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , seeking damages against those he believed responsible for his wrongful incarceration. He predicated his claim upon asserted violations of both the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment and the cruel and unusual punishment provisions of the eighth amendment, made applicable to the states under the fourteenth amendment.

After trial, the jury found that defendants Cranke and Seymour caused the plaintiff to be deprived of his constitutionally protected rights, and the court entered judgment accordingly. Those defendants have now moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict pursuant to F.R.Civ.P. 50(b).

I

THE FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The facts relating to the plaintiff’s various terms of imprisonment, and the miscalculation which led to his unlawful confinement are set forth in the California Supreme Court’s opinion in In re Haygood, 14 Cal.3d 802, 804-808 , 122…