Newman v. Twp. of Hamburg

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Someone murdered Chappelear in February 1992. Sergeant Calhoun of the Hamburg Township police led the investigation. Newman became the primary suspect based. Ballistics showed that Newman’s gun was the murder weapon, which police found in a duffle bag that contained hairs similar to Newman’s. Masters said that he saw two young men with light brown hair drive by Chappelear’s home in a car much like Kulpa’s not long before the murder. Both Newman and his friend Kulpa had light brown hair. In Calhoun’s affidavit supporting his request for a warrant to arrest Newman, he presented this and other evidence. The judge found probable cause, and the police arrested Newman. A jury convicted Newman of murder. In 2008, the Sixth Circuit held that the evidence presented at trial did not suffice to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. As a free man, Newman filed a 42 U.S.C. 1983 malicious prosecution action against Calhoun, claiming that Calhoun’s affidavit purposefully distorted Masters’ statement. . The court rejected Calhoun’s motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. The Sixth Circuit reversed, stating that there was ample evidence of probable cause for Newman’s arrest and no evidence of deliberate or reckless misrepresentation by Calhoun. View "Newman v. Twp. of Hamburg" on Justia Law