Opinion ID: 2618736
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: limitations civil rights claims

Text: The claims based on the federal civil rights statutes, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985, are governed by the two-year statute of limitations period contained in § 1-3-115, W.S. 1977. Spiegel v. School District No. 1, Laramie County, 600 F.2d 264, 265-266 (10th Cir.1979). Section 1-3-115 provides as follows: All actions upon a liability created by a federal statute, other than a forfeiture or penalty, for which no period of limitations is provided in such statute, shall be commenced within two (2) years after the cause of action has accrued. Appellant concedes that the appellees' actions giving rise to appellant's claims for relief which were based on alleged civil rights violations occurred between March and May of 1979, more than two years before he filed his action, but argues that the municipal court convictions effectively estopped him from pursuing his civil claims because of the implicit finding of probable cause in those convictions. Therefore, he contends that either the claims did not accrue until the reversal of his municipal court convictions or the convictions tolled the running of the statutes of limitations until such reversal. A claim for relief accrues or arises: `   when that person first comes to a right to bring an action. A cause of action implies that there is some person in existence who can bring suit, and also a person who can lawfully be sued. Again, when a wrong has been committed, or a breach of duty has occurred, the cause of action has accrued, although the claimant may be ignorant of it. A cause of action does not accrue until the existence of such a state of things as will enable a person having the proper relations to the property or persons concerned to bring an action.   ' Cantonwine v. Fehling, Wyo., 582 P.2d 592, 596 (1978), quoting from Bliler v. Boswell, 9 Wyo. 57, 72-73, 59 P. 798, 803 reh. denied 9 Wyo. 80, 61 P. 867 (1900). In this case the actions giving rise to the alleged civil rights violations arose upon appellant's arrest, confinement, and prosecution in March of 1979. At that time, appellant had a cause of action which could be brought against appellees. See: Rodarte v. City of Riverton, Wyo., 552 P.2d 1245 (1976). Appellant's causes of action based on appellees' alleged civil rights violations occurred in March of 1979 and the two-year statute of limitations period began to run at that point. Therefore, unless the statute of limitations was tolled, it expired prior to appellant's filing of his complaint barring his action. In support of appellant's contention that the running of the statutes of limitations was tolled during the pendency of the municipal court criminal proceedings and until the district court's reversal of the conviction resulting from those proceedings, he relies on Keith v. Schiefen-Stockham Insurance Agency, Inc., 209 Kan. 537, 498 P.2d 265 (1972), and Hoover v. Galbraith, 7 Cal.3d 519, 102 Cal. Rptr. 733, 498 P.2d 981 (1972). However, these cases are easily distinguishable. In Keith, supra, plaintiffs filed an action against an insurance broker for failure to procure worker's compensation coverage for the employer of the plaintiffs' decedents after plaintiffs' claims for worker's compensation were denied. The court held that the action sounded in both contract and tort and went on to say at page 272 of 498 P.2d:    Plaintiffs were effectively prevented from suing defendants [on a contract theory] until it was finally determined in Otta v. Johnson, supra [204 Kan. 366, 461 P.2d 758], that insurance had not been procured, nor an election caused to be filed, and with respect to the action sounding in tort actual damages did not result until a final determination of those matters. In this case, it is unnecessary to wait for a determination as to whether or not insurance had actually been procured or to wait for the damages to result. Contract provisions are not here present for determination and the alleged damages occurred when the civil rights were alleged to have been violated. In Hoover, supra, a judgment creditor brought an action against the former directors of a defunct corporation to collect on a judgment debt of the corporation. The court held that the judgment creditor could take no action against the director until the appeal of the judgment against the corporation was final because he was not a judgment creditor until that time. A similar situation does not here exist. In Singleton v. City of New York, 632 F.2d 185 (2nd Cir.1980), cert. denied 450 U.S. 920, 101 S.Ct. 1368, 67 L.Ed.2d 347 (1981), the issue was presented as to whether or not the pendency of criminal charges against Singleton tolled the statute of limitations applicable to his civil rights action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Singleton's civil rights claims arose out of the same incident as the criminal charges. The court held that the statute of limitations was not tolled during the pendency of the criminal proceedings. The same conclusion was reached in Rinehart v. Locke, 454 F.2d 313 (7th Cir.1971), and in Strung v. Anderson, 452 F.2d 632 (9th Cir.1971). Cf. Spiegel, supra. Appellant also refers to the holding of Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 101 S.Ct. 411, 66 L.Ed.2d 308 (1980), to sustain his contention that the statute of limitations is tolled pending a final decision in a criminal case. The plaintiff there filed a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging liability by the defendants for an illegal search and seizure. The search and seizure question had been previously addressed on the plaintiff's criminal case wherein plaintiff was convicted and the conviction was affirmed. The Supreme Court held that a litigant may be collaterally estopped from raising an issue in his civil rights action if that issue has been fully and fairly litigated in a prior state court criminal proceeding, but the court did not address the question before us. In Singleton v. City of New York, supra, the court commented on the better procedure to be followed in those instances in which an action for violation of civil rights had been filed but could not be processed until facts pertaining to it were finally determined in a pending criminal action:    As suggested by the Fifth Circuit, the better course in situations where the district court feels compelled to abstain is to stay, rather than dismiss, the § 1983 action so that the plaintiff is protected from a possible statute of limitations bar to the § 1983 suit. Conner v. Pickett, 552 F.2d 585 (5th Cir.1977) (per curiam); see also Mastracchio v. Ricci, 498 F.2d 1257 (1st Cir.1974), cert. denied, 420 U.S. 909, 95 S.Ct. 828, 42 L.Ed.2d 838 (1975) (§ 1983 suit stayed `by agreement of counsel' pending outcome of state criminal proceedings); Fulford v. Klein, 529 F.2d 377 (5th Cir.1976), affd. en banc, 550 F.2d 342 (5th Cir.1977). Accord, Zurek v. Woodbury, 446 F. Supp. 1149, 1152 (N.D. Ill. 1978). 632 F.2d at 193. Appellant's civil rights claims based on his March 24, 1979 arrest accrued at that time, and the applicable two-year statute of limitations was not tolled during the pendency of the criminal prosecution. Inasmuch as appellant's action was not filed until more than two years after his claims accrued, they are barred.