In Spencer v. Krause, published May 18, 2017, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a judgment as a matter of law in defendants' favor in a case in which a plaintiff alleged he entered into an Alford plea (i.e., a plea that the suspect is innocent but pleads guilty because of the evidence against him) to statutory rape, and was thereafter sent to prison for a life sentence, to statutory rape because a defendant detective fabricated statements from children that the plaintiff had molested them. The plaintiff sued the defendants under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 for violating his 14th Amendment rights by fabricating evidence. The jury found for the plaintiff, but the district court then granted the defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law on the ground that the plaintiff had failed to prove that the defendant detective knew or should have known of his innocence.
The 9th Circuit ruled that proof of actual or constructive knowledge that a suspect is innocent is not an element of a claim for deliberate fabrication of evidence where there is direct (rather than circumstantial) evidence of fabrication. Fabrication can be proven by circumstantial evidence, such as an investigator continuing investigation of a person after she knows or should know the person is innocent. But where there is direct evidence that the investigator deliberately fabricated evidence, knowledge of the suspect's innocence is not relevant. The 14th Amendment forbids fabricating evidence whether or not the defendant knows the suspect is innocent. Here, the plaintiff introduced evidence that the defendant investigator included scores of statements in her reports that the witnesses, testifying at trial, denied making. That was sufficient direct evidence to support the verdict.
The 9th Circuit also rejected the defendants' argument that the jury should have been instructed that the plaintiff had to prove lack of probable cause to establish causation. Acknowledging a split among circuits on the issue, the 9th Circuit ruled that fabrication of evidence that causes a plaintiff to enter into an Alford plea despite a belief of innocence, and to be convicted, violates the 14th Amendment regardless of whether probable cause was present.
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