Webb

Plaintiff David Q. Webb obtained an $80,000 jury verdict in this civil rights action against Carson City, Nevada, after he was prosecuted without probable cause for obstruction of justice. His lawyers were awarded fees. In this opinion, we resolve two appeals: Defendant Carson City’s appeal from the adverse verdict, and the separate appeal resulting from a challenge to the fee award by Plaintiffs counsel.

In Carson City’s appeal, we hold that deputy district attorneys are final policymakers in Nevada for purposes of establishing municipal liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 . As a result of our holding, we affirm the jury’s verdict.

We reverse and remand on the appeal by Plaintiffs lawyers because the district court applied an incorrect legal standard in computing the fee.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A. Facts

On June 27, 1997, Deputy Darrin Sloan chased a car into the parking lot of the Carson City Inn. At the time of the pursuit, radio traffic identified the owner of *1162 the car as Freddy Little. The driver, who was African American, got out of the car, and Deputy Sloan continued the chase on foot. After leaping over several fences in pursuit, Deputy Sloan…