Source: http://openjurist.org/88/f3d/620/eagle-v-d-morgan
Timestamp: 2013-12-05 00:32:34
Document Index: 678050195

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 12', '§ 20', '§ 1291']

88 F3d 620 Eagle v. D Morgan | OpenJurist
88 F. 3d 620 - Eagle v. D Morgan	Home88 f3d 620 eagle v. d morgan
88 F3d 620 Eagle v. D Morgan 88 F.3d 620
David EAGLE, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.John D. MORGAN, Individually and in his official capacity asofficer of the Jonesboro Police Department; Donna Bogard,Individually and in her official capacity as officer of theJonesboro Police Department; David Allen, Individually andin his official capacity as officer of the Jonesboro PoliceDepartment; Terry Grooms, Individually and in his officialcapacity as officer of the Jonesboro Police Department;Jack McCann, Individually and in his official capacity asofficer of the Jonesboro Police Department; RohnnyMcDaniel, Individually and in his official capacity asofficer of the Jonesboro Police Department, Defendants-Appellants,John Doe, an unknown person, Defendant,City of Jonesboro, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 95-3418.
Submitted March 14, 1996.Decided July 8, 1996.
In 1987, Wayne Ridout, a businessman from Searcy, Arkansas, informed local authorities that David Eagle had stolen enough lumber from Ridout's store to partially construct a new two-story home. Following a police investigation into the complaint, Eagle pleaded guilty in an Arkansas trial court to felony theft of property. Eagle had no prior criminal record and entered his plea pursuant to an enactment that allows Arkansas judges to indefinitely defer further proceedings and place first time felons on a tentative term of probation. See Ark.Code Ann. § 16-93-303(a)(1) (Michie Supp.1996). If the defendant violates the requirements of his probation, the judge may declare him guilty and impose the punishment otherwise provided by law. Id. § 16-93-303(a)(2). On the other hand, the statute directs the court to dismiss the case and expunge the defendant's record if he "fulfill[s] ... the terms and conditions of probation or [is] release[d] by the court prior to the termination period thereof." Id. § 16-93-303(b). Moreover, these measures occur "without court adjudication of guilt." Id.
The trial court accepted Eagle's plea and required him to spend forty-five days in the county jail, serve six years probation, and pay $25,000 in restitution to Ridout. Approximately three years later, a state judge terminated Eagle's probation and entered an order expunging his criminal record. The expungement decree expressly provided that it "restored [Eagle] to [his] civil and constitutional rights as if [the felony theft of property] had never been committed," and as a matter of law it "completely exonerate[d] [Eagle] of any criminal purpose."1 Ark.Code Ann. § 16-93-303(b)(2) (Michie 1987), amended by Ark.Code Ann. § 16-93-303(b) (Michie Supp.1996). Additionally, the state legislature has decreed that an expunged record should be treated as confidential and released only to the individual whose record was expunged and, in certain circumstances, to judicial or law enforcement personnel. Ark.Code Ann. § 16-90-903 (Michie Supp.1996).
§ 12-12-211(a) (Michie 1995), and the pertinent federal provision restricts NCIC access to "criminal justice agencies for criminal justice purposes," 28 C.F.R. § 20.33(a)(1) (1995). Despite these restrictions, JPD was not carrying on an official investigation of Eagle's criminal activity at the time the officers in this case made their inquiries. Further, because the responsible authorities had failed to file notification of the expungement of Eagle's record, the report obtained by the officers did not indicate that the listed felony offense had been stricken.
As a preliminary matter, we must address our jurisdiction to consider the officers' assertion that their actions did not amount to a constitutional violation. It is by now axiomatic that the federal appellate tribunals may normally review appeals only from "final decisions" issued by the district courts. See 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1994); Johnson v. Jones, --- U.S. ----, ----, 115 S.Ct. 2151, 2154, 132 L.Ed.2d 238 (1995). Due to this statutory limitation upon our jurisdiction, a party is in most cases precluded from interrupting litigation by filing an interlocutory appeal from a district court's ruling. See Johnson, --- U.S. at ---- - ----, 115 S.Ct. at 2154-55. Of course, an order denying a litigant's motion for summary judgment is not typically considered a "final decision" worthy of immediate appellate attention.
The Supreme Court has held, however, that a district court's refusal to grant a public official's motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity will, under certain circumstances, qualify as a "collateral order" from which the official may file a prompt appeal. Id. at ----, 115 S.Ct. at 2155 (citing Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 528, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 2816, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985)). The Court has recently reiterated that this type interlocutory appeal is only appropriate when it involves "abstract issues of law" relating to qualified immunity. Id. at ----, 115 S.Ct. at 21