George Borunda and Richard Borunda v. Michael Richmond and Richard Way, Police Officers, City of Salinas

Appellants Michael Richmond and Richard Way, police officers for the City of Salinas in Salinas, California, appeal from an order of the district court entering judgment on the jury’s special verdict in favor of plaintiffs, George and Richard Borunda, in an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming that appellants had violated the plaintiffs’ fourth amendment rights by arresting them without probable cause. Appellants contend that the district court erred (1) in admitting evidence of the Bo-rundas’ acquittals in a prior state criminal proceeding; (2) in admitting the amount of the attorneys’ fees incurred in defending against the state criminal charges; and (3) in denying their motions for nonsuit and/or directed verdict. We reject these contentions and affirm.

I.

FACTS

This appeal arises from events that transpired during the early evening hours of September 9, 1984, a Sunday. The facts are in dispute, and there exist three different accounts of the events that occurred on that particular day.

Officer Michael Richmond’s version of the incident was that he and Officer Way, on duty in uniform and driving a marked patrol unit, pulled up in front of 827 Beech Street in…