Civil Procedure & Litigation Flashcards

A plaintiff files a civil lawsuit claiming false arrest. To succeed, the plaintiff must typically prove that the arresting officer lacked:

Answer: Probable cause to believe the plaintiff committed a crime

A false arrest claim requires showing that the officer lacked probable cause, since an arrest made with probable cause is lawful even if the suspect is ultimately not convicted.

An officer testifies at a civil trial and is later found to have committed perjury. Which consequence could follow?

Answer: Criminal prosecution for perjury and potential civil liability for fraud on the court

Perjury in civil proceedings is a crime that can result in criminal prosecution, and deliberately false testimony may also expose the officer to sanctions for fraud on the court.

A class action lawsuit is filed against a police department on behalf of all individuals subjected to an alleged pattern of unlawful stop-and-frisks. Which element is required for class certification?

Answer: The class must share common legal or factual questions and the representative plaintiff must be typical of the class

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 requires that a class share common questions of law or fact and that the representative plaintiff's claims be typical of the class.

An officer's body-worn camera footage is potentially relevant to a pending civil lawsuit. The department receives a litigation hold notice. What must the department do?

Answer: Suspend routine deletion and preserve all potentially relevant video footage

A litigation hold requires the department to suspend its normal document retention or destruction schedule to preserve evidence relevant to the anticipated or pending litigation.

What is the effect of a final civil judgment against a police officer on any related criminal investigation?

Answer: A civil judgment has no direct effect on a criminal case because the two proceedings are legally independent

Civil and criminal proceedings are legally separate; a civil judgment does not create criminal liability, and double jeopardy does not apply between civil and criminal cases.

In a civil excessive force case, the objective reasonableness standard from Graham v. Connor requires courts to evaluate the officer's actions from:

Answer: The perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene at the time of the incident

Graham v. Connor requires evaluating whether an officer's use of force was objectively reasonable from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, not with 20/20 hindsight.

If a police department is under a federal consent decree and an officer violates its terms, what is the most likely direct enforcement mechanism?

Answer: The DOJ can return to federal court to enforce the decree, potentially holding the department in contempt

Consent decrees are court orders, and violations can be enforced by returning to the court that issued the decree, where the department may be held in contempt and face sanctions.