164059P.pdf   06/11/2018  James Dean  v.  Burdette Searcey
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  16-4059
   U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska - Lincoln   
   [PUBLISHED] [Shepherd, Author, with Benton and Kelly, Circuit Judges] 
   Civil case - Civil rights. For the court's prior opinions in the matter, 
   see Winslow v. White, 696 F.3d 716 (8th Cir. 2012); White v. Smith, 696 
   F.3d 740 (8th Cir. 2012); and Dean v. Cty of Gage, 807 F.3d 931 (8th Cir. 
   2015), cert. denied, 136 S.Ct. 2490 (2016). Plaintiffs were exonerated of 
   the murder of Helen Wilson in 2008 and brought this Section 1983 action, 
   asserting their arrests and imprisonment were the result of a reckless 
   investigation and manufactured false evidence, as well as parallel 
   conspiracy claims under Section 1985; the matter was tried to a jury which 
   awarded the plaintiffs approximately $28.1 million in damages. The court 
   would not review or reverse its prior ruling as to whether the county 
   could be held liable; the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's 
   verdict finding the County liable; the facts developed at trial continue 
   to support the court's prior conclusion that the sheriff's deputies were 
   not entitled to qualified immunity; the deputies conducted a reckless 
   investigation, purposefully ignoring the physical evidence; further, in 
   certain instances they fabricated evidence against the defendants, 
   including coaching witnesses to supply false testimony; limited references 
   to plaintiffs' innocence did not warrant a new trial, especially in light 
   of the court's curative actions and the overwhelming evidence in the case; 
   no error in instruction on reckless investigation.