Sperl v. Deukmejian

642 F.2d 1154 Timothy SPERL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. George DEUKMEJIAN, in his capacity as Attorney General for the State of California; and John Van De Kamp, in his capacity as District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles, Defendant-Appellee. No. 79-3810. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Submitted Jan. 19, 1981. Decided March 23, 1981. Donald M. Re, Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff-appellant. Jan A. Pluim, John H. Larson, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendant-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before TANG, SKOPIL and CANBY, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM. 1 Sperl sought declaratory relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2201 and injunctive relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to invalidate his 1974 state criminal convictions because of alleged prosecutorial misconduct. The district court dismissed his claims. Sperl v. Deukmejian, 482 F.Supp. 1026 (C.D.Cal.1980). We affirm. 2 Sperl's claim under § 2201 was properly dismissed. Declaratory relief is not available in federal court to attack a state criminal conviction, Ruip v. Kentucky, 400 F.2d 871, 872 (6th Cir. 1968), cert. denied, 395 U.S. 911 , 89 S.Ct. 1755 , 23…