Here Is a “Policy” Or “Custom” When There Was Significant Evidence of Brady Violations by the Orleans Parish District Attorney in This and Many Other Cases
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No. _________ ================================================================ In The Supreme Court of the United States --------------------------------- --------------------------------- EARL TRUVIA; GREGORY BRIGHT, Petitioners, v. HARRY F. CONNICK, in his capacity as District Attorney for the Parish of Orleans; GEORGE HEATH, Detective, Individually and in his official capacity as Officer of the City of New Orleans Police Department; JOSEPH MICELI, Individually and in his official capacity as Officer of the City of New Orleans Police Department; THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS; EDDIE JORDAN, Respondents. --------------------------------- --------------------------------- On Petition For Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The Fifth Circuit --------------------------------- --------------------------------- PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI --------------------------------- --------------------------------- ERWIN CHEMERINSKY PHILLIP E. FRIDUSS Counsel of Record LANDRUM, FRIDUSS UNIVERSITY OF & ASH, LLC CALIFORNIA, IRVINE 8681 Highway 92 SCHOOL OF LAW Suite 400 401 E. Peltason Woodstock, Georgia 30189 Irvine, California 92697-8000 (678) 384-3012 (949) 824-7722 [email protected] [email protected] ROBIN BRYAN CHEATHAM WILLIAM T. MITCHELL ADAMS & REESE, LLP MICHAEL HOFFER One Shell Square CRUSER & MITCHELL, LLP 701 Poydras St., Suite 4500 275 Scientific Dr. New Orleans, Louisiana 70139 Suite 2000 (504) 581-3234 Norcross, Georgia 30092 [email protected] (404) 881-2622 [email protected] [email protected] Counsel for Petitioners ================================================================ COCKLE LEGAL BRIEFS (800) 225-6964 WWW.COCKLELEGALBRIEFS.COM i QUESTIONS PRESENTED Earl Truvia and Gregory Bright spent 28 years in prison for murders that they did not commit. In 2002, 26 years after they were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, a state court in Louisiana vacated their convictions, finding that the Respondents in this lawsuit had suppressed exculpa- tory and impeachment evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963). Truvia and Bright sued Respondents, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, for money damages for the constitu- tional violations they suffered. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Truvia’s and Bright’s civil suit, in part, based on this Court’s decision in Connick v. Thomp- son, 131 S.Ct. 1350 (2011). This case presents two issues of national im- portance: 1. Whether the Fifth Circuit erred in refusing to find a triable issue as to whether there is a “policy” or “custom” when there was significant evidence of Brady violations by the Orleans Parish District Attorney in this and many other cases. 2. Whether proving municipal policy or custom requires proving similar unconstitutional acts that occurred before the events giving rise to the lawsuit or whether proof of a policy or custom can be based, in part, on similar unconstitutional acts that occurred following the events involving these plaintiffs. ii PARTIES TO THE PROCEEDING All parties are listed in the caption. RULE 29.6 STATEMENT None of the petitioners is a nongovernmental corporation. None of the petitioners has a parent corporation or shares held by a publicly traded com- pany. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Questions Presented ............................................ i Parties to the Proceeding .................................... ii Rule 29.6 Statement ............................................ ii Table of Contents ................................................. iii Table of Authorities ............................................. vi Opinions Below .................................................... 1 Jurisdiction .......................................................... 1 Statutory Provision Involved ............................... 2 Statement of the Case ......................................... 2 Reasons for Granting the Writ ............................ 6 I. THIS COURT SHOULD GRANT CER- TIORARI TO RESOLVE A SPLIT AMONG THE CIRCUITS AND A QUES- TION OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE AS TO WHAT IS SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE OF A POLICY OR CUSTOM OF VIOLA- TIONS OF BRADY V. MARYLAND TO CREATE LIABILITY UNDER 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ......................................................... 6 A. Unlike in Connick v. Thompson, Plaintiffs in This Case Do Not Rely on a Single Incident of Misconduct to Establish a Municipal Policy, But Ra- ther Show Many Instances of Uncon- stitutional Withholding of Brady Material By the Orleans Parish Dis- trict Attorney’s Office .......................... 8 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS – Continued Page B. This Court Should Grant Certiorari to Resolve a Conflict Among the Cir- cuits and an Issue of National Im- portance as to What Is Sufficient Evidence to Create a Triable Issue of Fact as to Whether There is a Policy or Custom with Regard to the Uncon- stitutional Failure to Disclose Excul- patory and Impeachment Material to Criminal Defendants. .......................... 15 II. THIS COURT SHOULD GRANT CER- TIORARI TO RESOLVE A SPLIT AMONG THE CIRCUITS AND A QUES- TION OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE AS TO WHETHER PROOF OF MUNICIPAL POLICY OR CUSTOM REQUIRES AC- TUAL PROOF OF PRIOR VIOLATIONS OR WHETHER PROOF OF DELIBER- ATE INDIFFERENCE AS TO TRAINING WHICH CAUSED A CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATION IS SUFFICIENT .................. 19 Conclusion............................................................ 21 APPENDIX United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinion, Filed Aug. 8, 2014 ................. App. 1 United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Order, Filed Sep. 10, 2012 ................................................................ App. 21 v TABLE OF CONTENTS – Continued Page United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Order, Filed May 9, 2013 ................................................................ App. 50 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Order on Rehearing En Banc, Filed Sep. 15, 2014 .................................................. App. 56 vi TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page CASES Bertuglia v. City of New York, 839 F.Supp.2d 703 (S.D.N.Y. 2012) ................................................. 17 Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963) ............. passim City of Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378 (1989) ............. 9 Connick v. Thompson, 131 S.Ct. 1350 (2011) .... passim D’Ambrosio v. Marino, 747 F.3d 378 (6th Cir. 2014) ............................................................ 18, 19, 20 Haley v. City of Boston, 657 F.3d 39 (1st Cir. 2011) ........................................................................ 17 Ligon v. City of New York, 925 F.Supp.2d 478 (S.D.N.Y. 2013) ........................................................ 20 Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978) ....................................... 7, 15, 17 Owen v. City of Independence, 445 U.S. 622 (1980) ....................................................................... 16 Owens v. Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, 767 F.3d 379 (4th Cir. 2014) .................. 16, 17 Smith v. Cain, 132 S.Ct. 627 (2012) ...................... 4, 11 Tsao v. Desert Palace, Inc., 698 F.3d 1128 (9th Cir. 2012) ................................................................. 20 United States v. Olson, 737 F.3d 625 (9th Cir. 2013) .......................................................................... 7 STATUTES 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ................................................. passim vii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES – Continued Page OTHER MATERIALS Ken Armstrong & Maurice Possley, The Verdict: Dishonor, Chi. Trib., Jan. 10, 1999 .......................... 8 Hugo Adam Bedau & Michael L. Radelet, Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases, 40 Stan. L. Rev. 21 (1987) .............................. 8 Bennet L. Gershman, Reflections on Brady v. Maryland, 47 S. Tex. L. Rev. 685 (2006) ................... 7 Janet C. Hoeffel, Prosecutorial Discretion at the Core: The Good Prosecutor Meets Brady, 109 Penn. St. L. Rev. 1133 (2005) ................................ 7, 8 James S. Liebman et al., A Broken System: Error Rates in Capital Cases, 1973-1995 (2000) ......................................................................... 8 1 Earl Truvia and Gregory Bright respectfully petition for a writ of certiorari to review the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. --------------------------------- --------------------------------- OPINIONS BELOW The opinion of the court of appeals is reported at 577 Fed. Appx. 317 (5th Cir. 2014) and is found at Appendix (App.) p. 1. The court of appeals’ order denying Petitioners’ timely petition for rehearing en banc was entered September 15, 2014, and is found at App. p. 56. The opinion of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana is report- ed at 2012 WL 3948613 (E.D. La. 2012), and is found at App. p. 21. --------------------------------- --------------------------------- JURISDICTION Petitioners seek review of the final decision of the court of appeals entered on August 8, 2014. A timely petition for rehearing en banc was denied on Septem- ber 15, 2014. This Court’s jurisdiction rests on 28 U.S.C. § 1254(1). --------------------------------- --------------------------------- 2 STATUTORY PROVISION INVOLVED The statutory provision codifying a civil action for the deprivation of rights, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, pro- vides: “Every person who, under color of any stat-