The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declined to weigh in — for now — in the wrongful arrest and racial discrimination case seeking to expunge the conviction of the man who spent four decades in prison in a deadly 1970 Tucson hotel fire.
Louis Taylor, 68, was 16 years old when he was convicted of igniting the blaze that killed 29 people. He spent 42 years in prison but was released in 2013 after pleading no contest to the charges, setting aside his 1972 conviction.
Two years later, in a claim, later amended in 2021, Taylor sued Pima County and Tucson on grounds of wrongful arrest, racial discrimination, prosecutorial misconduct, civil conspiracy and negligent investigation, according to reporting by Courthouse News Service. He’s been in a legal fight to have his conviction expunged so could seek damages.
On Monday, April 8, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit said that while they were unsure a federal court could expunge a state trial conviction, the matter was better suited to be handled as an appeal after trial, not before one.
The judges also cited ongoing factors in the ongoing court fight. Among them was Pima County Attorney Laura Conover’s role in the civil case. The county’s top prosecutor recently said another office should be ready to investigate the Taylor criminal case should anything new be learned in the litigation of his civil lawsuit.
The court also noted the age and complicated nature of the case where a lot of the witnesses who would be needed in a retrial might be dead. And it said expunging the 2013 deal would mean Taylor’s incarceration would be back on the table and potentially eliminate his ability to seek damages.
In a 2021 order denying the county’s motion for summary judgment, U.S. District Judge Rosemary Márquez wrote that she would consider expunging the conviction. The county has argued to the appellate court that expunging would be unconstitutional.
Earlier this year, Márquez ordered Taylor’s discrimination lawsuit to trial. It is set to begin on April 22.
