Plaintiff filed a section 1983 action against two deputies in the Wisconsin state court system alleging that they violated his constitutional rights by telling a jury during deliberations that it had to reach a unanimous verdict and that a hung jury was not a permissible outcome of deliberations. Defendants filed an answer asserting qualified immunity as an affirmative defense. The district court denied qualified immunity to the deputy who made the statement to the jury and provisionally denied qualified immunity to the other deputy. The second deputy then filed an appeal challenging the denial of qualified immunity. The Seventh Circuit dismissed the appeal, finding that the district court’s action did not constitute a final adjudication of the qualified immunity issue and that the court lacked appellate jurisdiction. (LEE, concurring and KIRSCH, dissenting)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Jurisdiction