Ted Bradford v. Joseph Scherschligt

Ted Bradford was convicted in 1996 of residential burglary and rape. In 2008, after Bradford served his full ten-year sentence, the Washington State courts vacated his conviction based largely on newly-available DNA testing, which excluded him as a contributor of genetic material found at the crime scene. Prosecutors then proceeded to retry Bradford, which resulted in his acquittal in 2010. In 2013, a few days before the three-year anniversary of that acquittal, but more than four years after his conviction was vacated, Bradford filed the underlying 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against Yakima Police Department Detective Joseph Scherschligt, alleging the deliberate fabrication of evidence. The district court, determining that the running of the three-year statute of limitations began on the vacatur of Bradford’s conviction and not the date of his acquittal, granted summary judgment in favor of Detective Scherschligt, finding that Bradford’s claim was time-barred.

Because we conclude that Bradford’s claim accrued when he was no longer subject to criminal charges, we reverse and remand.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In 1996, the Yakima Police Department, led by Detective Scherschligt,…