Dunlap v. City of Phoenix12/27/1990
truction) of exculpatory evidence. The prosecution's duty to disclose exculpatory evidence to a criminal defendant arises out of the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution. See United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 107, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 2399, 49 L.Ed.2d 342, 352 (1976); Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 86-87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 1196-97, 10 L.Ed.2d 215, 218 (1963).
Dunlap had recourse against the defendants if they, as alleged, violated his constitutional rights by an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1988), which states:
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State . . . subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the person injured in an action of law, suit in equity, or other proper proceedings for redress.
The United States Supreme Court has recently held that § 1983 actions are properly characterized as personal injury actions. Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261, 276, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 1947, 85 L.Ed.2d 254, 266 (1985). Therefore, the applicable statute of limitations is the state statute corresponding to injuries to the person. Id. at 279, 105 S.Ct. at 1949, 85 L.Ed.2d at 268-69. In Arizona, the limitations period for personal injuries is two years. A.R.S. § 12-542(1) (Supp.1989). Thus, Dunlap had to file a § 1983 action before June 2, 1982. He did not do so.
The fact that Dunlap alleges that the defendants violated his constitutional rights in a fraudulent manner does not alter the underlying character of the alleged tort. See Taylor v. Betts, 59 Ariz. 172, 179-80, 124 P.2d 764, 767 (1942). In Taylor, the plaintiff sued the members of the corporation commission for fraudulently certifying that an insurance company was solvent. The supreme court held that the one-year limitations period for liability arising out of a statute applied to the case and added:
It is true that plaintiff alleged that the particular acts on which she bases her claim for relief were done willfully, fraudulently and negligently, but the duty to perform these acts at all and the responsibility of defendants, in case the acts were done in the manner set forth in the complaint, arise out of the statute and that only.
Id. As in Taylor, the mere fact that Dunlap might be able to phrase his complaint in terms of fraud does not change the fact that the duty the defendants allegedly breached arises out of the fourteenth
amendment as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. at 107, 96 S.Ct. at 2399, 49 L.Ed.2d at 352, and Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. at 86-87, 83 S.Ct. at 1196-97, 10 L.Ed.2d at 218.
The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court has recently disposed of a similar attempt to extend the statute of limitations. In European American Bank v. Cain, 79 A.D.2d 158, 436 N.Y.S.2d 318 (1981), the bank loaned money to Cain to buy a car from Pepe Motors. Cain signed a note in favor of the bank and granted it a security interest in the car. The bank issued a check, payable to both Pepe Motors and Cain, for the amount of the loan plus three dollars to record the bank's lien on the car. After Cain defaulted on the note, the bank sued Pepe Motors for its failure to record its lien, claiming that the dealer had breached an implied contract to do so. Because a state law and an administrative regulation required the dealer to n
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