Houston v. Bryan

725 F.2d 516 Ramon Mendez HOUSTON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Richard H. BRYAN, individually and as the Attorney General, State of Nevada; Larry D. Struve, individually and as the Chief Deputy Attorney General, State of Nevada; Robert Manley, individually and as the Chief Criminal Deputy Atty. General, State of Nevada; Brian Hutchins, individually and as the Deputy Attorney General, State of Nevada, Defendants-Appellees. No. 83-1974. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Dec. 16, 1983. Decided Feb. 8, 1984. John Rupp, Covington & Burling, Washington, D.C., for plaintiff-appellant. Donald L. Christenson, Asst. U.S. Atty., Carson City, Nev., for defendants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. Before MERRILL and BOOCHEVER, Circuit Judges, and WYZANSKI * , District Judge. MERRILL, Circuit Judge. 1 Appellant was a witness to a homicide committed in Humboldt County, Nevada, by four persons with whom he was then travelling. He was taken into custody by the sheriff of that county as a material witness on July 4, 1980. Bail was set by a magistrate and, unable to provide bail, Appellant was, on the magistrate's…