Brewster v. Shasta County
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM
BACKGROUND
Plaintiff Thomas Brewster (“Brewster”) was charged in California State Court with the murder of Terry Arndt and the sexual assault of Sherri Gillaspey. During his trial, exculpatory DNA evidence was discovered, and the charges against him were dismissed. Brewster then filed the instant action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in federal district court against the investigating detectives (Brad McDannold and D. Com-pomizzo), the Shasta County Sheriffs Department, the County of Shasta, and the California Department of Justice. Defendants moved for summary judgment, contending, among other things, that detectives McDannold and Compomizzo were entitled to qualified immunity from Brewster’s claims for damages, and that the County was not liable under § 1983 for the sheriffs actions.
*911 On September 21, 2000, the district court entered an order denying the defendants’ motion for summary judgment as to the detectives’ claim of qualified immunity. 2 Defendants then filed this interlocutory appeal. Because the parties are familiar with the facts of the case, we recount the facts here only as necessary to explain our ruling.
' DISCUSSION
1. Jurisdiction