A litigation boutique based in Oakland, California, representing plaintiffs and defendants in complex civil litigation.
The Norton Law Firm Representing Joaquin Ciria v. San Francisco Police Department Inspectors in Section 1983 Civil Rights Action for Wrongful Conviction
The Norton Law Firm represents Joaquin Ciria in a Section 1983 lawsuit stemming from his wrongful conviction for a 1990 San Francisco murder. Ciria, who has always maintained his innocence, spent 32 years in prison before his conviction was vacated and charges dismissed in April 2022, following a successful habeas corpus petition brought by the Northern California Innocence Project.
The federal civil rights (Section 1983) lawsuit, filed in November 2022, alleges that San Francisco Police Department’s homicide inspectors coerced a teenage witness into falsely identifying Ciria as the shooter. Although the witness initially supported Ciria’s alibi, the inspectors allegedly threatened him with murder charges unless he implicated Ciria—offering to treat him only as a witness if he complied. Ciria’s arrest and eventual conviction relied primarily on this allegedly coerced statement; there was no forensic evidence linking Ciria to the crime, and eyewitnesses had failed to identify him in photo arrays.
In February 2024, the defendant officers sought summary judgment, arguing that qualified immunity shielded them from liability from their allegedly flawed investigation of the 1990 murder. The district court rejected that argument in part, allowing Ciria’s claims for violation of his constitutional rights against fabrication of evidence and malicious prosecution to proceed to trial. The defendants appealed the ruling to the Ninth Circuit.
George C. Harris, a partner at The Norton Law Firm and prior advocate in a $15 million wrongful imprisonment case, argued the appeal in April 2025. He urged the court to affirm the lower court’s ruling and allow Ciria’s claims to be heard by a jury.
“This case seeks justice and some compensation for the horror of 32 years of wrongful imprisonment,” Harris said. “We hope to present Joaquin’s case to a jury after the Court of Appeals rules on the defendants’ appeal.”