Diaz v. Gates, 420 F.3d 897, 2005 WL 1949879 (9th Cir. 2005) (en banc)
David Diaz sued Daryl Gates, Willie Williams, Bernard Parks and many others, alleging violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) as a result of damages he allegedly suffered from police misconduct associated with the LAPD Rampart scandal. One of the elements of a RICO claim is that the plaintiff must prove that he or she suffered injury to business or property. Diaz alleged that he had suffered economic harm in the form of lost employment and employment opportunities and that he was rendered unable to pursue gainful employment while defending himself against unjust charges and while being unjustly incarcerated. The district court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss on the ground that Diaz had failed to allege that he had been deprived of business or property within the meaning of the statute. A panel of the Ninth Circuit originally affirmed the judgment, but following review en banc, the Court reversed the district court’s judgment based in part upon “intervening case law.”