Willie B. Davis v. James H. McAteer Clerk, Circuit Court, City of St. Louis, Missouri

MEHAFFY, Circuit Judge.

Davis, the appellant, a prisoner in the Missouri Department of Correction serving two life sentences and five twenty-five-year sentences imposed after pleas of guilty in October, 1955, brought this suit for damages against the clerk of the Circuit Court of St. Louis, Missouri under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983, alleging that the clerk lost certain court files which would corroborate his claim that he, Davis, was kept under the influence of drugs while in the city jail prior to his guilty pleas which rendered his pleas invalid. The federal district court, The…