Green v. Howser

Record contained sufficient evidence to support jury’s $970,000 verdict in favor of plaintiff in section 1983 action alleging that defendants-parents of plaintiff, sheriff, county prosecutor and private investigator conspired to deprive plaintiff of custody of her child. At time of plaintiff’s arrest on warrant for alleged issuing of bad check, plaintiff referred to defendant step-father as “fucking asshole” before step-father took plaintiff’s child out of plaintiff’s home so as to refute defendants' claim that she had not objected to placement of her child with her parents. Moreover, defendant-Sheriff barred plaintiff from designating custodian of her child as she had right to do. Also, record showed existence of conspiracy, where plaintiff’s parents conducted numerous meetings with law enforcement about plan to seize child and got officials to agree to execute warrant when plaintiff’s husband would not be at home. Also, Dist. Ct. did not err in barring testimony about plaintiff’s criminal history, her alleged neglect of her child or that her husband was dangerous, since said evidence as to why parents sought custody of plaintiff’s child (who was eventually returned to plaintiff through court order) was irrelevant on issue as to whether defendants had violated plaintiff’s due process rights.