NC: Police withholding exculpatory evidence found in a SW from DA that undermined PC stated § 1983 and malicious prosecution claim

Police withholding exculpatory information found in a search warrant from the DA that fully undermines the probable cause for a charge states a malicious prosecution claim. A grand jury indictment based on the faulty information doesn’t immunize the officer. Braswell v. Medina, 2017 N.C. App. LEXIS 748 (Sept. 5, 2017):

As demonstrated by these and other allegations in Braswell’s complaint, the crux of his § 1983 claims is that evidence possessed by the Officers — including records seized from Braswell’s home — actually exculpated rather than inculpated Braswell by showing that he had, in fact, invested large sums of money into legitimate financial institutions. In light of these allegations, we are satisfied that Braswell’s complaint adequately alleged a lack of probable cause for his arrest and prosecution on the charge of obtaining property by false pretenses. See, e.g., Simpson v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 231 N.C. App. 412, 417, 752 S.E.2d 508, 510 (2013) (reversing trial court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s malicious prosecution claim because her “allegations, which we are required to treat as true, [were] sufficient to withstand a motion to dismiss.”); Enoch v. Inman, 164 N.C. App. 415, 419, 596 S.E.2d 361, 364 (2004) (reversing trial court’s granting of motion to dismiss because the “allegations, including the factual details summarized above, [were] sufficient to support a § 1983 claim ….”).

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Accordingly, in cases where law enforcement officers conceal or fabricate evidence in order to falsely show that probable cause exists to prosecute a criminal defendant, the intervening decision of the prosecutor or grand jury will not immunize the officers from liability on a malicious prosecution claim under § 1983. As shown above, Braswell’s complaint in the present case sufficiently pled facts in support of such a theory.