ATLANTA, GA – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued an opinion in Aguirre-Jarquin v. Seminole County et al. (No. 23-10811), affirming in part and reversing in part a lower court’s denial of immunity claims brought by three former Seminole County Sheriff’s Office employees accused of misconduct in a wrongful conviction case.
The appeal stems from the case of Clemente Javier Aguirre-Jarquin, who was sentenced to death in 2006 for the murders of his two neighbors, Cheryl Williams and Carol Bareis, in Altamonte Springs, Florida. After spending a decade on death row, Aguirre was exonerated when DNA evidence and new testimony implicated another suspect, Samantha Williams, the victims’ daughter and granddaughter.
Aguirre later filed a civil rights lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against former investigators Robert Hemmert and Jacqueline Grossi, and latent print examiner Donna Birks, alleging fabricated evidence, malicious prosecution, and emotional distress.
The Eleventh Circuit dismissed Aguirre’s cross-appeal and dismissed in part the cross-appeals of Birks, Hemmert, and Grossi. The court affirmed the district court’s denial of qualified immunity to Birks on Count I and its denial of state-law immunity to Hemmert and Grossi on Count VII. However, it reversed the district court’s denial of qualified immunity to Hemmert and Birks on Count III and to Hemmert and Grossi on Count IV. The case has been remanded for further proceedings.
The ruling means Aguirre’s claims of misconduct by the former Seminole County investigators will continue in the Middle District of Florida.
