Shelton

MEMORANDUM *

Defendants, Butte County Sheriff Mike Grey, Deputy Sheriff Dennis Cooley, Deputy Sheriff Craig Gill, District Attorney Investigator Bernie Lightner, and Chief District Attorney Investigator Edward Szendrey, interlocutorily appeal the district court’s denial of their motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds in William Shelton’s 42 U.S.C. § 1988 action. We have jurisdiction. See Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 530 , 105 S.Ct. 2806 , 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985).

The plaintiffs action sought damages for retaliation in violation of his First Amendment rights. See Mt. Healthy City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 287 , 97 S.Ct. 568 , 50 L.Ed.2d 471 (1977); see also Blair v. City of Pomona, 223 F.3d 1074, 1079-80 (9th Cir.2000); Duran v. City of Douglas, 904 F.2d 1372, 1377-78 (9th Cir.1990); Manhattan Beach Police Officers Ass’n v. City of Manhattan Beach, 881 F.2d 816, 818-19 (9th Cir.1989). Under Mt. Healthy, the question of motivation is critical. Mt. Healthy, 429 U.S. at 287 .

The defendants sought qualified immunity on the ground that, because there was probable cause to institute the investigation of Shelton, the motivation for it was…