Heflin v. Town of Warrenton

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ELLIS, District Judge.

This case presents the question whether plaintiffs conviction for the criminal act that triggered his arrest should bar his § 1983 suit for the excessive force that he claims was used in effecting his arrest. In perhaps more familiar terms, the question presented is whether the so-called “illegal act defense” is a bar to a § 1983 suit alleging police use of unconstitutionally excessive force in making an arrest.

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On the evening of September 30, 1991, plaintiff, Larkin T. Heflin, III, his wife, children, and a few family friends gathered to watch the…