UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS April 26, 2024

Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________

ANDREW J. JOHNSON,

Plaintiff - Appellant, No. 22-8015 v.

CITY OF CHEYENNE, a municipal corporation; LANCE COOPER OVERSTREET, administrator of the estate of George W. Stanford, deceased; ALAN W. SPENCER, an individual, and Does 2 through 20, inclusive,

Defendants - Appellees. _________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming (D.C. No. 2:17-CV-00074-SWS) _________________________________

Robert P. Schuster, Robert P. Schuster, P.C., Jackson, Wyoming (Bradley L. Booke of Robert P. Schuster, P.C., Jackson, Wyoming; Thomas N. Long and Aaron J. Lyttle of Long Reimer Winegar Beppler LLP, Cheyenne, Wyoming; Elliot H. Scherker and Bethany J.M. Pandher of Greenberg Traurig, P.A., Miami, Florida; and Laurence O. Masson, Law Office of Laurence O. Masson, Berkeley, California, with him on the briefs), for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Samuel L. Williams, Senior Assistant Attorney General (Timothy W. Miller, Senior Assistant Attorney General, with him on the brief), Office of the Attorney General, Cheyenne, Wyoming for Defendants-Appellees Alan W. Spencer and the estate of George Stanford.

Norman Ray Giles, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, LLP, Houston, Texas (William S. Helfand of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, LLP, Houston, Texas and J. Mark Stewart Appellate Case: 22-8015 Document: 010111038729 Date Filed: 04/26/2024 Page: 2

of Davis & Cannon, LLP, Cheyenne, Wyoming, with him on the brief), for Defendant- Appellee the City of Cheyenne. _________________________________

Before HOLMES, Chief Judge, TYMKOVICH, and CARSON, Circuit Judges. _________________________________

HOLMES, Chief Judge. _________________________________

Plaintiff-Appellant Andrew Johnson was convicted of aggravated burglary and

sexual assault in 1989. In 2013, a Wyoming state court declared Mr. Johnson

innocent based on DNA evidence and vacated his convictions. Mr. Johnson then

filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Officer Alan Spencer, the Estate of

Detective George Stanford (“Detective Stanford”),1 and the City of Cheyenne,

Wyoming. Mr. Johnson alleged that (1) Officer Spencer fabricated evidence,

(2) Officer Spencer and Detective Stanford violated his constitutional rights by

failing to produce exculpatory evidence, and (3) the City of Cheyenne failed to

maintain adequate policing policies. The district court granted Officer Spencer’s

motion to dismiss the fabrication-of-evidence claim. The district court also granted

summary judgment to Officer Spencer and Detective Stanford on the constitutional

claims, finding that both were entitled to qualified immunity because Mr. Johnson

failed to show that his constitutional rights had been violated. The district court

1 Because, for purposes of this litigation, the Estate is standing in the shoes of the deceased Detective Stanford—who is alleged to have passed away in August 2007—for simplicity’s sake in our analysis, we simply refer to the Estate as “Detective Stanford.”

2 Appellate Case: 22-8015 Document: 010111038729 Date Filed: 04/26/2024 Page: 3

dismissed the claims against the City of Cheyenne and entered final judgment against

Mr. Johnson.

Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm. We concl