Qualified immunity denied for unlawful entry to home in search for murder suspect
Facts (If you are new to §1983 actions, click here for help) In 2018, the Shreveport Police Department (SPD) received a tip that a murder suspect, Christian Combs, was hiding at either 1906 State Street or 1913 State Street in Shreveport, Louisiana. The arrest warrant identified Combs as a 33 year-old Black man. Multiple SPD […]
Subject was not in custody when he voluntarily revealed that he had drugs in his pants
Facts In the early morning hours of November 19, 2019, three Forrest County police officers were investigating a missing person case near Eagle Drive in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The officers had determined that the missing person had been seen with Amondo Stewart, who went by the name Detroit and who was living in a tent in […]
Consensual encounter leads to valid consent where gun is found on defendant
Facts In 2021, Midland Police Department (MPD) Officer Jeremy Renforth was dispatched to follow up on a suspicious person call at the Candlewood Suites motel. The anonymous call had come to the Midland Police Department Communications Center, relaying a description of the subjects —a black male with a blue shirt as well as another black […]
a police officer is justified in using deadly force against a car accelerating towards him
Facts (If you are new to §1983 actions, click here for help) In March 2019, members of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office (JPSO) Special Investigations Bureau used a cooperating individual to organize a heroin transaction with Chris Joseph. Joseph and the individual agreed to meet at an IHOP Restaurant in Gretna, Louisiana. The JPSO unit […]
Tasing an unarmed subject who is surrounded by police for misdemeanor and passively resisting is excessive force
Facts (If you are new to §1983 actions, click here for help) In 2020, Kevin Cobbins was driving to his home in Hammond, Louisiana, following a work shift in New Orleans. Cobbins was approaching an exit on Interstate 55 when a Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office (“TPSO”) unit activated its lights and siren behind him. Cobbins […]
Police denied qualified immunity in neighborly dispute based on factual discrepancies
Facts (If you are new to §1983 actions, click here for help) Prior to the events giving rise to this case, Jacob Gorsky and Olesya Gorsky lived next door to the Koczman family for six years. Over these six years, the two families placed at least 19 complaint calls about one another to the local […]