The Supreme Court held in a 6-3 decision on Thursday that the statute of limitations for a 42 U. S. C. §1983 fabricated-evidence claim does not begin until the criminal proceedings against a defendant have finished.
The plaintiff in McDonough v. Smith was a commissioner of the county board of elections who processed ballots in a primary election in Troy, New York, in which the defendant, Smith, was specially appointed to investigate and prosecute a case of forged absentee ballots. McDonough was acquitted of all charges at a second trial on December 21, 2012.
