Shannon Paine v. City of Lompoc, and Daniel P. Ast Individually and as Opinion a Peace Officer Timothy E. Tietjen, Indivdually and as a Peace Officer

Shannon Paine was arrested on July 4, 1993, in Pismo Beach, California, by police officers from the Cities of Pismo Beach and Lompoc. He was charged with resisting arrest and with battery on a police officer. The prosecutor later dropped the charges.

In a § 1983 suit against the municipalities and several individual police officers {“Paine /”), Paine claimed that he was subjected to excessive force during the arrest. In particular, Paine contended that Pismo Beach police officer Robert Jones, who knew and disliked him, injured his legs. Daniel Ast and Timothy Tietjen, both Lompoc police officers and individual defendants in Paine I, testified that they helped restrain Paine during his arrest, but denied knowing who, if anyone, had restrained Paine’s legs. Other witnesses testified that Jones did not take part in restraining Paine. The jury returned a verdict for the defendants, upheld by this court on appeal. See Paine v. City of Lompoc, 160 F.3d 562 (9th Cir.1998).

In this lawsuit {‘Paine II ”), Paine alleges that Ast and Tietjen participated in a conspiracy to suppress and fabricate evidence pertinent to Paine I about Jones’ role in the arrest. Specifically, Paine claims that…