On Monday, a U.S. District Court judge overturned a jury’s decision to award Kyle Zoellner $750,000 in damages for what he alleged was “malicious prosecution” by former Arcata Police detective Eric Losey during the investigation into the killing of David Josiah Lawson.

Zoellner

The ruling, issued by presiding U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, concludes that Zoeller was unable to prove “the lack of probable cause element of his malicious prosecution claim” because “a reasonable officer with Mr. Losey’s knowledge would believe there was a fair probability that Mr. Zoellner stabbed Mr. Lawson” because Zoellner “had a motive to stab Mr. Lawson.”

To be clear, this week’s ruling made no determination about Zoellner’s involvement in Lawson’s death. The civil trial was brought forth to determine if there was probable cause for Zoellner’s arrest and whether or not Losey had acted maliciously to frame Zoellner.

The court notes that probable cause “does not require a belief ‘to an absolute certainty, or by clear and convincing evidence, or even by a preponderance of the available evidence’ that Mr. Zoellner committed the stabbing,” but is established, rather, by the totality of the circumstances. “Probable cause is not a high bar.” 

An eyewitness had seen Lawson and Zoellner “fighting and entangled together on the ground” that night. “When [the witness] managed to separate them, he observed that Mr. Lawson has been stabbed in the chest. No one else was there fighting with Mr. Lawson,” the order states. “[The witness] described what he [had seen] within minutes of the incident and in detail.”

There was also a significant amount of blood on Zoellner’s clothing that was deemed inconsistent with his injuries. “A reasonable officer with Mr. Losey’s knowledge could believe that the soaked-through blood on Mr. Zoellner came from Mr. Lawson,” the order states. “No forensic evidence disputed that inference and Mr. Zoellner does not identify any evidence known to Mr. Losey that suggests otherwise.”

This evidence, in addition to several other witness accounts, established probable cause to arrest Zoellner and charge him with Lawson’s murder. 

But Losey made a big mistake. His police report stated that the aforementioned witness had identified Zoellner as the assailant in the killing of Lawson when the witness had not actually identified Zoellner by name.

Losey told the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office about the error before the preliminary hearing began on May 1, 2017, but the DA’s Office opted to proceed with the hearing.

Soon thereafter, a state court judge found that the DA “had not proved probable cause to hold Mr. Zoellner for trial and dismissed the murder charge without prejudice,” the order states. Zoellner subsequently filed suit against the city of Arcata, Losey and several other APD employees and people in City Hall in 2018, accusing them of unlawful arrest, malicious prosecution, defamation and other civil rights violations. 

Earlier this year, a U.S. District Court judge threw out the bulk of the civil suit, excluding claims against Losey. The latter resulted in the ruling that came out on Monday.

Zoellner will have the opportunity to appeal the decision, but the civil proceedings aren’t over just yet. There is still a “bifurcated claim” that was not a part of the recent trial. In September 2021, a judge ruled that one of Zoellner’s claims — that the city’s outside counsel, Patrick Moriarity, threatened him with prosecution unless Zoellner dropped his lawsuit — would be held over and tried separately.

The court will hold a case management conference on Nov. 17 to discuss next steps regarding the bifurcated claim. “An updated joint case management conference statement is due seven days in advance,” the order’s conclusion notes. “The statement should address whether separate judgment should be issued on the malicious prosecution claim (along with the claims disposed of on summary judgment).”

DOCUMENTS:

PREVIOUS LoCO COVERAGE OF THE LAWSON CASE: