Merrel J. Cline v. Morris L. Brusett

Appellant appeals from the district court’s dismissal of a complaint he filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 . The complaint was amended twice. In its final form it contained 15 causes of action and named 65 defendants, including the Attorney General of the State of Montana, many of his assistants and investigators, several county attorneys, sheriffs and judges, and the warden of the state prison.

The thrust of the complaint is that appellees conspired to have appellant convicted of groundless charges stemming from two prosecutions, and to deny him fair trials by, among other things, bribing witnesses, stirring up media attention adverse to him, and knowingly presenting false evidence and perjured testimony to the juries hearing his cases.

The district court dismissed the action, primarily for the reason that the Montana two year statute of limitations, M.C.A. § 27-2-211(l)(c), had run before the complaint was filed. Other reasons for dismissal included failure to serve process, prosecutorial immunity, and failure to state a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 .

We find that 13 of the 15 causes of action are barred by the statute of limitations but that two, causes 11 and 12, are not.…