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Laws-info.com » Cases » Louisiana » Louisiana Supreme Court » 2000 » 1999-C-1730 ROLAND GIBSON, JESSIE GIBSON, ROLAND GIBSON, JR. AND DENNIS GIBSON v. THE STATE OF LOUISIANA, JOHN ST. JOHN AND LLOYD WEST
1999-C-1730 ROLAND GIBSON, JESSIE GIBSON, ROLAND GIBSON, JR. AND DENNIS GIBSON v. THE STATE OF LOUISIANA, JOHN ST. JOHN AND LLOYD WEST
State: Louisiana
Court: Supreme Court
Docket No: 1999-C-1730
Case Date: 01/01/2000
Preview:Ed. Note: Opinion Rendered April 11, 2000 SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA No. 99-C-1730 ROLAND GIBSON, JESSIE GIBSON, ROLAND GIBSON, JR. AND DENNIS GIBSON versus THE STATE OF LOUISIANA, JOHN ST. JOHN AND LLOYD WEST ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH CIRCUIT, PARISH OF ORLEANS TRAYLOR, Justice* In 1968, Plaintiff, Roland Gibson was convicted of first degree murder and received a life sentence. He subsequently filed an application for post conviction relief and, in 1993, was granted a new trial based upon the failure of the District Attorney to furnish Brady material. Lloyd West, the sole witness testifying against Gibson, recanted his previous testimony and confession wherein he implicated Gibson as the triggerman in the murder. Gibson, his wife, and two sons filed the instant suit for false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and personal injury for Gibson's twenty-five-year incarceration. Without West's testimony, the District Attorney entered a nolle prosequi as to Gibson's indictment on March 31, 1993. After the civil trial in the instant matter, the trial court found the Police lacked probable cause for Gibson's 1967 arrest and awarded Plaintiffs in excess of eleven million dollars in damages. The trial court apportioned ninety percent of the fault to the City and ten percent to West. The City and Lloyd West appealed. The court of appeal affirmed the trial court, but amended fault to include that attributable to the District Attorney under La. Civ. Code art. 2323. The court of appeal apportioned forty-five percent of the fault to the State, forty-five percent to the City, and ten percent to West. The City sought writs with this court. We granted writs to determine whether, after being duly convicted of a crime and later released, a party may succeed in a suit for civil damages against the municipality for his arrest, prosecution, and incarceration on the basis of an alleged wrongful arrest. After a thorough review of the applicable law and the entire record, we answer this question in the negative. We

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JOHNSON, J., not on panel. See Rule IV, Part 2,
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