The following excerpt is from Mendez-Garcia v. City of Madera, Case No. 1:13-cv-01793-MJS (E.D. Cal. 2015):
actions whose unlawfulness would render a conviction or sentence invalid, a 1983 plaintiff must prove that the conviction or sentence has been reversed on direct appeal, expunged by executive order, declared invalid by a state tribunal authorized to make such determination, or called into question by a federal court's issuance of a writ of habeas corpus. Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 486-87 (1994). A claim for damages based upon a conviction or sentence that has not been so invalidated is not cognizable under 1983. See id. at 487.
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