Subject not in custody when he made statement

Facts On the morning of 7 July 2021, law enforcement executed a search warrant based on an investigation into a private chat room dedicated to the advertisement and distribution of child pornography. The investigation led law enforcement to Pennington’s residence in Las Vegas, Nevada. (He had recently been granted parole after serving ten years for […]

Qualified immunity denied for detention following search of apartment

Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) On September 4, 2015, the emergency services dispatch in Abilene, Texas, received an anonymous call wherein an unidentified individual informed the dispatcher that “I just shot my girlfriend” and “I used a 9mm to shoot my girlfriend right in the f—ing eye.” The […]

Question as to whether responding officer could smell marijuana

Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) In July 2020, Cedric Otkins parked his car in the parking lot of the East Bank Bridge Park after it had closed, violating St. Charles Parish Ordinance Section 17-2. Spotting Otkins’s car, Sergeant Jack Gilboy of the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office pulled […]

Qualified immunity for officer who used knee strike to combat non compliant subject

Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) In mid-2017, Dwayne Walker was released on parole after serving approximately thirty years in prison for a variety of convictions ranging from drug crimes to burglaries. Just a few months after his release, on November 14, 2017, Walker agreed to sell crack cocaine […]

Factual disputes of confrontation results in denial of qualified immunity for officer

Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) On July 1, 2017, Fernando Morales—accompanied by his wife, Zerenia Cardoza; their two minor children; his cousin, Yesenia Jaquez; Jaquez’s son; and Sonia Baca, a family friend—drove through the parking lot of an El Paso Walmart after leaving a nearby water park. While […]

qualified immunity granted for officer who consulted with prosecutor before making arrest

Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) Some time before she was arrested, Jacqueline Perry voiced concerns at a neighborhood meeting about her neighbors playing loud music. Police officers present at the meeting gave her a non-emergency dispatch number to report any future disturbances. On October 8, 2017, Perry called police […]