Klene, et al v Winn, et al Appeal of Denied Qualified Immunity

Klene, et al. v. Winn, et al. is an appeal heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit regarding the denial of qualified immunity for a Los Angeles police detective. The underlying action is a civil rights case filed by plaintiffs who were wrongly convicted. Case details • Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. • Case number: 24-7805. • Parties: o Plaintiffs (Appellants): Klene, et al.. o Defendants (Appellees): Marcela Winn, et al., including Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detectives and Los Angeles Sheriff's Department detectives. • Subject: An appeal of the denial of qualified immunity for Detective Marcela Winn. The plaintiffs allege a conspiracy involving detectives from both the LAPD and the L.A. Sheriff's Department in their wrongful convictions. • Hearing: Oral arguments were held on October 9, 2025, in Pasadena, California, before Circuit Judges Rawlinson, Miller, and Johnstone. Key issues The central issue on appeal is whether Detective Winn should be granted qualified immunity. This immunity protects government officials from liability in civil lawsuits unless their conduct violates clearly established statutory or constitutional rights. In the oral arguments: • Winn's counsel argued that the detective is entitled to qualified immunity because the conspiracy alleged by the plaintiffs is not supported by the evidence. • The argument also addresses witness statements and tape-recorded interviews provided as evidence, suggesting that no reasonable detective would have believed they were acting unlawfully when turning over this information.