Michael Lambert v. Estate of Kevin Brown, by its Successor in Interest Rebecca Brown, et al.

San Diego Police Detective Michael Lambert was investigating a 26-year old cold case involving the brutal mutilation and murder of a 14-year old girl. DNA evidence linked a career criminal, Ronald Tatro, and a retired SDPD Criminalist, Kevin Brown, to the murder. Lambert drafted a 39-page search warrant affidavit, and submitted it to a judge who signed the warrant. (Appendix 46-97a.) Nine months after the search, while the investigation was still pending, Kevin Brown committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree. He did not leave a suicide note. His wife, Respondent Rebecca Brown, filed this lawsuit claiming Mr. Brown killed himself because his property was seized and, until the property was returned, he feared he would be arrested for the murder, wrongly convicted and abused in prison. No admissible evidence supports this theory. Mrs. Brown also alleged that Lambert misrepresented and omitted DNA evidence that suggested the presence of Kevin Brown’s sperm DNA on a vaginal swab taken from the murdered girl was the result of contamination. Lambert sought summary judgment based on qualified immunity, contending his actions were objectively reasonable and that he did not make any material misrepresentations or omissions relating to the DNA evidence. The District Court denied the motion; Lambert appealed to the Ninth Circuit. More than eight months after the matter was argued and submitted, the Ninth Circuit affirmed, with no analysis and little elaboration. This petition presents the following questions: 1. Did the Ninth Circuit err by failing to address whether a reasonable officer in Detective