James Arthur Jackson v. The Official Representatives and Employees of the Los Angeles Police Department in and for the County of Los Angeles
Opinion
Opinion
This appeal concerns a civil rights action for damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1970), in which appellant’s complaint was dismissed by way of summary judgment.
Jackson, a state prisoner, bases his action on certain events surrounding his arrest and conviction for armed bank robbery. He contends it was error to dismiss each and every one of the numerous counts of his complaint. Most of these claims are without merit, but we deem three matters sufficiently weighty to justify discussion.
Appellant argues that his 1962 arrest and a subsequent search of his car were illegal. The district court disposed of this contention on grounds of collateral estoppel, reasoning that these issues had been determined at his criminal trial and, again, in a later, unsuccessful federal habeas corpus proceeding. However, the records of those prior judicial proceedings reveal that the arrest and automobile search were never considered on their merits. Since collateral estoppel — in contrast to the aspect of res judicata known as bar — requires actual litigation of an issue, appellant was not precluded from raising them in his civil rights action.