Opinion ID: 758771
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Inquest Testimony Claims

Text: 17 The district court also correctly concluded that Appellants lacked standing to pursue their Fourteenth Amendment-based due process and equal protection claims relating to Burns's and Pope's inquest testimony about Douglas and the shooting. 18 Addressing Appellants' due process theory first, it appears to be an open question whether allegations of perjury, without more, state a due process claim under § 1983. See, e.g., Briscoe v. LaHue, 460 U.S. 325, 326 n. 1, 103 S.Ct. 1108, 75 L.Ed.2d 96 (1983) (The Court has held that the prosecutor's knowing use of perjured testimony violates due process, but has not held that the false testimony of a police officer in itself violates constitutional rights.); Holt v. Castaneda, 832 F.2d 123, 125 (9th Cir.1987) (finding an officer to be entitled to absolute immunity for any constitutional violation caused by perjurious testimony against plaintiff); see also White v. Frank, 855 F.2d 956, 961-62 (2d Cir.1988) (holding that an officer who initiates baseless prosecution by committing perjury may be liable for malicious prosecution). We need not resolve this question today for Appellants have not demonstrated they have standing to assert such a claim even if such a right exists. 19 The Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause extends only to those governmental actions that deprive one of a life, liberty, or property interest of constitutional magnitude. Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 569-70, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972); Wedges/Ledges of Cal., Inc. v. City of Phoenix, 24 F.3d 56, 62 (1994). Here, Appellants identified no life, liberty, or property interest of which they were deprived by the officers' testimony. That leaves only any potential claim that might exist on behalf of Douglas's estate. Assuming, arguendo, that the estate of a person who is the subject of perjury after death can state such a claim, Appellants are barred from asserting that claim for the same reasons that preclude them from asserting Douglas's potential Fourth Amendment claim. 20 A slightly different analysis controls Appellants' equal protection theory. Citing Smith v. Ross, 482 F.2d 33 (6th Cir.1973), Appellants contend Burns and Pope violated their duty to enforce equally Nevada's statutes that make it unlawful for individuals to commit perjury or to falsely report that a person has committed a crime. See Nev.Rev.Stat. §§ 199.120 & 207.280. 21 In Smith, the state actor in question was a local deputy who attempted to have an interracial group evicted without a legal basis and threatened to withdraw police protection for them unless they left town. This type of conduct--an intentional, race-motivated refusal to enforce laws intended for the protection of the general populace--poses a clear equal protection issue. In contrast, Appellants allege Burns and Pope violated state laws applicable to themselves, not that discriminatory animus motivated them to decline to enforce generally applicable laws. Such violations may give rise to liability under state law, but state law violations do not, on their own, give rise to liability under § 1983. Lovell v. Poway Unified Sch. Dist., 90 F.3d 367, 370-71 (9th Cir.1996). Moreover, Appellants cite no authority for the proposition that these laws were intended to protect family members of a perjury victim. Finally, even if this theory of relief would support a claim by the estate of a decedent who has been the subject of an officers' false report or testimony, Appellants have not demonstrated they have standing to present such a claim. 22 In sum, even if Appellants' allegations are taken as true, they have not demonstrated their own rights to due process and to equal protection of the laws that have been infringed, or that they are able to stand in Douglas's place as to any violations of his constitutional rights inflicted by the officers' testimony.