Lockett v. Ericson, et al., No. 09-16609 (9th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed a federal complaint against officers and the Mount Shasta Police Department pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that the officers violated his Fourth Amendment rights when they entered his home without a warrant and obtained evidence that he had driven under the influence of alcohol. Plaintiff had pled nolo contendere to a violation of California Vehicle Code section 23103.5(a). The district court dismissed plaintiff's section 1983 complaint, concluding that the case was barred by Heck v. Humphrey and that the district court therefore lacked subject matter jurisdiction. The court held, however, that Heck did not bar the section 1983 claim where plaintiff's conviction derived from his plea, not from a verdict obtained with supposedly illegal evidence. The court also held that, even if the terms of plaintiff's appellate waiver were ambiguous, the court would construe that ambiguity against the government and conclude that the waiver in the plea agreement did not affect plaintiff's ability to pursue this separate civil law suit. The court further held that there was no collateral estoppel bar to plaintiff's Fourth Amendment claim in this civil action. Therefore, the court reversed and remanded.
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