United States Ninth Circuit

In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action alleging that Defendant-Officer failed to protect Plaintiff from being beaten by his cellmate, judgment for Defendant is reversed where the District Court's jury instruction misstated the law by suggesting that Defendant needed to directly cause Plaintiff's injuries, and the error was prejudicial.

Appellate Information

• Argued 05/06/2009
• Decided 06/02/2009
• Published 06/02/2009

Judges

• Before:  PROCTER HUG, JR., HAWKINS and RICHARD C. TALLMAN, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Karen Kreuzkamp (presented oral arguments) and George C. Harris, Morrison & Foerster, LLP, San Francisco, CA, for the appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Vickie P. Whitney (presented oral arguments) and Christopher J. Becker (authored brief), Office of the State of California Attorney General, Sacramento, CA, for the appellee.