Gordon H. Cohn v. Richard William Papke and Joseph Charles Brazas

Claiming that he was a victim of police brutality, plaintiff-appellant Gordon Cohn brought this suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and California law, seeking general and punitive damages from defendants-ap-pellees Richard Papke and Joseph Brazas, Los Angeles police officers. Cohn alleged deprivation of specified constitutional rights and invoked pendent jurisdiction for parallel state causes of action.

Trial by jury commenced on May 8, 1978. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of both of the appellees and against Cohn. The district court then awarded the appellees attorney’s fees in the amount of $14,000. Cohn appeals both the judgment on the verdict and the award of attorney’s fees. We find merit in one of his numerous claims, and thus we reverse the judgment, vacate the award of attorney’s fees, and remand for further proceedings in light of this opinion.

The reversible error we find was the introduction of testimony and psychiatric reports concerning Cohn’s prior sexual experiences and sexual preferences. On one of the nights in question, Cohn was arrested by Officers Papke and Brazas on the charge that he had solicited Officer Brazas to engage in a homosexual act. Cohn…