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CA7: Excessive force during arrest claim not barred by Heck

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Plaintiff’s claim he was “beaten mercilessly both before and after the officers gained custody of him” was not barred by Heck. He was proceeding pro se and had a hard time articulating his claim, but he did. Evans v. Poskin, 09-3140 (7th Cir. April 16, 2010)*: We held in Gilbert that, under similar circumstances, a prisoner need not repudiate his allegation that he did nothing wrong in order to maintain that he was the victim of excessive force. Heck prevents such a person from prevailing in the §1983 action on a position incompatible with the conviction, but the plaintiff need not adopt the defendants’ view of what occurred in order to contest the degree of force used. Defense counsel could not be ineffective for not challenging part of the affidavit for the search warrant under Franks because his argument would not undermine any probable cause...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 18, 2010 (boomark / email).