Smiddy v. Varney

665 F.2d 261 Gary D. SMIDDY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Dudley D. VARNEY, Sidney J. Nuckles, Raymond D. Inglin, Gaston Herrera, Jesus C. Aguilar, the City of Los Angeles, California, a Chartered City, and the County of Los Angeles, California, Defendants-Appellants. Nos. 79-3078, 79-3480. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Jan. 5, 1981. Decided Aug. 7, 1981. As Amended on Denial of Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Dec. 21, 1981. Michael Lightfoot, Los Angeles, Cal., for Smiddy; Carla M. Woehrle, Talcott, Vandevelde & Woehrle, Los Angeles, Cal., John H. Bisbee, Bisbee & Nagan, Macomb, Ill., on brief. Tom Todd, Kentfield, Cal., for Varney, etc. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before WALLACE and SNEED, Circuit Judges, and CLAIBORNE * , District Judge. SNEED, Circuit Judge: 1 Gary Smiddy was arrested in 1973 and charged with the murder of Linda Miller. After the charge was dropped for insufficient evidence, he brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against employees of the Los Angeles Police Department. After trial, the district court entered judgment on a jury verdict awarding him $250,000. The…