United States Second Circuit

In a civil case arising out of the arrest and detention of a suspect caught in a drug sting, the District Court's entry of a jury verdict finding an undercover officer-defendant liable for denying defendant his right to a fair trial by fabricating evidence in connection with criminal charges against plaintiff, is affirmed where Ricciuti v. N.Y.C. Transit Authority, 124 F.3d 123 (2d Cir.1997) -- which held that even if there is probable cause to arrest a defendant, an officer who subsequently fabricates that defendant's confession and forwards that information to prosecutors, violates the accused's constitutional rght to a fair trial, and the harm occasioned by such an unconscionable action is redressable in an action for damages under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 -- requires the same result when the fabricated information at issue is the officer's own account of his or her observations of alleged criminal activity which he or she conveys to prosecutors.

Appellate Information

• Published 2016/09/30

Judges

• POOLER

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel