officer not liable for excessive force although video showed subject hand was empty
Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) During the early morning hours of March 31, 2017, Brian Poole was driving around Shreveport, Louisiana. He did not want to return to his sober living home because he had relapsed and would be drug-tested upon his return. A positive drug test would […]
Police had reasonable suspicion for stop and consent was voluntary for search of home and truck
Facts On March 29, 2020, around 3:49 p.m., in Arlington, Texas, 911 operators received several calls about a shooting. The gunshots were heard near a Boys and Girls Club. Callers reported arguing between men, yelling, and ultimately gunshots. A witness identified a dark-colored (black or gray), older pickup truck with a driver’s side that needed […]
Qualified immunity granted for officer who entered gated curtilage to arrest subject who walked away and refused to provide identification – see update at bottom of case
Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) Ricardo Sauceda was fifty years old and disabled at the time of the events in question. Sauceda and his neighbors, the Cortez family, had a fraught history. Sauceda had lodged numerous complaints against the Cortez family to the San Benito Police Department. On […]
After subject requested to remain silent officer improperly asked for passcode to phone
Facts On February 28, 2021, Border Patrol Agent Ryland Brown pulled over a black Chevy Equinox on suspicion of possible alien smuggling due to indicators such as mud and handprints, a low suspension, obstructions in the vehicle, and its high rate of speed. Upon stopping the vehicle he saw Lisandro Guia-Lopez as the driver, codefendant […]
Police had reasonable suspicion of drug trafficking for stop and thus delay to investigate traffic violation was not relevant
Facts Jesus Leonardo Esquivel-Carrizales (Esquivel) was arrested as a passenger in a car in which officers discovered methamphetamine and cocaine. Prior to the stop of that car, Brownsville Homeland Security (HSI Brownsville) agents had an ongoing drug trafficking investigation which had identified several people who were truck drivers or employed in the commercial cargo business, driving […]
Qualified immunity granted for former JPD officers as clearly established prong not addressed
Facts (If you are new to 1983 actions, click here for help) On October 27, 2017, officers Kenneth Short and Cobey Smith, former police officers for the city of Jackson, Mississippi, responded to a report of a shooting incident at a known drug house. The victim described the shooter as a 150-pound black male wearing […]