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Civil rights Keyed to Jeffries, 5th Ed.
Newton v. Rumery
Citation:
480 U.S. 386 (1987)Facts
In 1983, Bernard Rumery, a businessman with no prior criminal record, called Mary Deary, who was the victim and primary witness in a pending sexual assault case against Rumery’s friend, David Champy. Following this call, Deary contacted the police, claiming Rumery had threatened her to drop charges against Champy. Rumery was arrested for witness tampering, a Class B felony in New Hampshire. Rumery retained Stephen Woods, an experienced criminal defense attorney, who contacted the prosecutor, Brian Graf. After discussions, Graf agreed to dismiss the charges if Rumery would sign an agreement not to sue the town, its officials, or Deary for any harm related to his arrest. One factor in Graf’s decision was protecting Deary from the trauma of testifying. Woods drafted the agreement, explained it to Rumery, who considered it for three days before signing. The charges were dropped, but ten months later, Rumery filed a §1983 action alleging constitutional violations. The defendants moved to dismiss based on the release-dismissal agreement. The district court found the agreement valid and enforceable, noting Rumery was sophisticated, well-represented, and made a voluntary decision. The Court of Appeals reversed, adopting a per se rule invalidating all such agreements as contrary to public policy.
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