Opinion ID: 745257
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Cathleen Compton.

Text: 22 Miller's § 1983 claim against Compton, a private attorney, arises from Compton's recommendation to Deneen that Deneen seek help from the Union County Victim/Witness Program, and Compton's subsequent conversation with Harp regarding Deneen and Miller. Based on this, Miller alleges that Compton conspired with Union County prosecutors to violate Miller's constitutional rights. 4 23 Compton, a private actor, may be liable under § 1983 only if she is a willing participant in joint action with the State or its agents. Mershon v. Beasley, 994 F.2d 449, 451 (8th Cir.1993) (quotations and citations omitted). In 24 construing that test in terms of the allegations necessary to survive a motion to dismiss, this circuit has held that a plaintiff seeking to hold a private party liable under § 1983 must allege, at the very least, that there was a mutual understanding, or a meeting of the minds, between the private party and the state actor. In order to survive a motion for summary judgment or for a directed verdict, evidence must be produced from which reasonable jurors could conclude that such an agreement was come to. 25 Id. (citations omitted). 26 In this case, there is no evidence that Compton had a meeting of minds with any government official that could have transformed Compton into a state actor. Compton's recommendation to Deneen that she seek legal assistance from a government agency certainly did not have this effect; the Supreme Court has rejected the argument that a private party's mere invocation of state legal procedures constitutes joint participation or conspiracy with state officials satisfying the § 1983 requirement of action under color of law. Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922, 939 n. 21, 102 S.Ct. 2744, 2755 n. 21, 73 L.Ed.2d 482 (1982) (quotations and citation omitted). When Compton spoke with Harp regarding Deneen and Miller's situation, she did no more than provide information to a government agency. See Dep. of Caren Harp (June 2, 1995) at 7. To impose § 1983 liability on a private actor for merely answering a law enforcement official's questions regarding a case would have obvious and unfortunate consequences and has no support in precedent or common sense. Considering the record in the light most favorable to Miller, we conclude that Compton was not a state actor, and § 1983 liability could therefore not attach. 5 27