(10th Cir. No. 07-1108, filed 04/29/2008). Jail deputy was not entitled to qualified immunity for performing a strip search of a woman jailed on an invalid warrant for someone else. Archuleta was arrested on a warrant for “DV-harassment”meant for Phyllis Rivera, a lesbian Hispanic female, 42-42 year…
Brooks v. Gaenzle (10th Cir. No. 09-1489, filed 08/10/2010). Officers responded to a burglary in progress and were attempting to break down a door when someone shot through it at them. A black male, Brooks, fled the residence and did not heed officer's orders to stop, so they shot him but […]
Ashcroft v. Al-Kidd (No. 10-98, filed 5/31/11). The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Respondent Abdullah al-Kidd as a material witness in a terrorism case. Al-Kidd sued the former United States Attorney General, Petitioner John Ashcroft, alleging that he used the material witness […]
Weise v. Casper (10th Cir. No. 09-1085, filed 01/27/10). In a Bivens action based on the exclusion of plaintiffs, by volunteers acting under government supervision, from a speech by then-President Bush, dismissal of the complaint based on qualified immunity is affirmed where plaintiffs failed […]
Filarsky v. Delia (No. 10-1018, filed 4/17/12). The United States Supreme Court held that a private attorney hired by the government to conduct an investigation was entitled to seek qualified immunity in defense of a Section 1983 claim. Delia was a firefighter who missed work for an extended […]
535 F.3d 1198 (10th Cir. 2008), cert. denied 129 S.Ct. 1003 (2009). In an action brought under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 against defendants-officers and city claiming illegal arrest, excessive force, inadequate medical attention, and failure to train city's police officers adequately, partial denial of…
(10th Cir. No. 09-2006, filed 03/0910). Montoya, a Dona Ana County deputy, shot and killed a man when responding to a domestic dispute. A man called police during a dispute with his adult son. Dispatchers informed the responding officer the suspect had mental issues and there were two firearms at th…
(No. 10-277, filed 06/20/11). Respondent Betty Dukes and other women have brought a Title VII employment discrimination case against Petitioner Wal-Mart Stores. The United States District Court for the Northern District of California certified a class action comprised of all women employed at any Wa…
(No 12-574, filed 02/25/14). In a tort action filed in Nevada arising out of allegations against a Georgia police officer who searched plaintiffs at a Georgia airport, seized a large amount of cash, and allegedly drafted a false probable cause affidavit in support of the funds' forfeiture, the Ninth…
(6th Cir. No. 09-5949, filed 08/22/2011). A police officer who “intentionally” rammed a speeding motorcyclist was not entitled to qualified immunity in civil litigation resulting from the incident because he had clearly violated the motorcyclist's constitutional rights. Thomas Germany was killed in …
(No. 05-1240, filed 2/21/2007). The statute of limitations for a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 claim seeking damages for a false arrest in violation of the Fourth Amendment, where the arrest is followed by criminal proceedings, begins to run at the time the claimant becomes detained pursuant to legal proce…
(No. 103456, filed 03/18/11). Wayman, a guest at the Manhattan Motel 6, was seriously injured by Ristor, who was driving drunk. Ristor was the general manager of the Motel 6 and was on call 24 hours a day. Wayman alleged that Accor was vicariously liable for Ristor's act and that Accor negligently h…
544 F.3d 1143 (10th Cir. 2008). Officers were not entitled to qualified immunity where they engaged in excessive force and caused decedent's in-custody death from positional asphyxia. Troopers were u-turning to go Northbound on I-25. Weigel ran into the back of one of them. Troopers smelled alcohol …
(No. 98,663, filed 8/8/08). KU had no duty to protect or warn of known, obvious dangers. Eric Wellhausen climbed out the window of his 7th Story room in Oliver Hall to stand on a two-foot wide concrete ledge about 5 feet below the window. He fell and died, with a bac of 0.16. The district court prop…
119 S.Ct. 678, 142 L.Ed.2d 636 (1999). Fourteenth amendment does not require law enforcement officers who seize property for criminal investigation to provide property owner individualized notice of state law remedies for return of property when information about those remedies is available from pub…
(10th Cir. No. 05-6353, filed 3/14/2007). A child called 911 and stated that his mother was “going crazy,” that she was “[t]rying to kill herself,” that she was “trying to cut her[self] with a knife” and other statements to the same effect. Those statements, standing alone and in con…
Wichita begins settling damage claims after standoff at apartments – Apartment complex tenants file more than $100,000 for damages. Posted in the Topeka Capital-Journal: September 11, 2013 – 7:52am By The Associated Press. WICHITA – The Wichita City Council has approved the first settlement in at le…
490 F.3d 810 (10th Cir. 2007). In a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against a Colorado Trooper for false arrest, the trooper was entitled to qualified immunity because there was probable cause to arrest the plaintiff for DUI. The trooper stopped Plaintiff for speeding, smelled an odor of alcohol on his bre…
(10th Cir. No. 06-2245 and 06-2260, filed 6/13/2008). Two gang members sued Albuquerque detectives claiming they were maliciously prosecuted for murder based on fabricated evidence. The gang members claimed the detectives coerced fellow gang members into implicating the plaintiffs in a quadruple hom…
180 F.3d 699 (5th Cir. 1999). An officer's use of a racial epithet (“boy” and “nigger”, both of which the officers denied), does not constitute violation of a subject's 14th Amendment rights to equal protection under the law unless it is accompanied by physical harassment or other constitutionally o…
172 F.3d 1220 (10th Cir. 1999). Officers had felony arrest warrant for subject. Mother allegedly refused entry without search warrant, but there was conflicting evidence. Officer's searched twice, but did not find subject inside. Subject had been seen in area several times, had given his mother's ad…
(1st Cir. No. 04-1374, 1390 and 1418, filed /2005). City could be liable to the mother of an off-duty police officer shot by an 8-day rookie. Two on-duty officers responded to a restaurant fight. They saw a guy run to a car with a gun. The rookie officer left his position of cover and positioned him…
court and case no. unknown, profiled on findlaw.com on September 26, 2013. The U.S. Border Patrol settled a racial profiling lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. The settlement resolves a lawsuit that alleged agents were racially profiling peopl…
(9th Cir. No. 09-17792, filed 7/10/12). Taser Had No Duty to Warn of Metabolic Acidosis. The Ninth Circuit upheld dismissal of a failure to warn lawsuit against the company, concluding that Taser International had no reason to advise police agencies in 2004 that the stun guns could cause the conditi…
(9th Cir. No. 98-30149, filed 6/5/2001). The Supremacy Clause in the Constitution does not prohibit the State of Idaho from prosecuting an FBI sharpshooter, Lon Horiuchi, for alleged criminal actions in the shooting at Ruby Ridge….
328 F.3d 1230, 1253-54 (10th Cir. 2003). Defendants, police officers and social workers, were not entitled to qualified immunity when, in the absence of exigent circumstances, they entered plaintiff's home without knocking or seeking a warrant and removed her 12-year old son from the home. The warra…
(10th Cir. No. 09-3103, filed 08/13/10). Stearns filed a civil rights suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Cowley County, the City of Winfield, the district attorney and nine individual law enforcement officials, alleging violations of his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches…
district court case profiled in Kansas Lawyer, v. 16 No. 3, Week of 1/22/ – 1/28/06. Court approves settlement of 2.98 million to a 17-year old hurt by a former Grandview police officer chasing a stolen car through Leawood. The officer ran a red light and hit broadside the car in which Rothbrust was…
(No. 100,831, filed 01/08/10). A 12-105b claim served on a utilities accountant and personnel manager substantially complied with 12-105b because she was the de facto clerk and the board did not maintain offices at the utility. Because the plaintiffs prematurely filed their petition six days after f…
Case No. Unknown – Profiled on PoliceOne.com on 10/19/11). The Pittsburgh City Council has approved paying $62,000 to cover the attorney fees of a man who won just $269 when a federal court jury found officers were wrong to use a stun gun on him. The jury delivered that verdict two months ago, sayin…
232 F.3d 190 (3rd Cir. 2000). Officer's threat to disclose arrestee's suspected homosexual orientation to his grandfather, which threat resulted in the arrestee's suicide, is actionable as a privacy violation and officer is not entitled to qualified immunity. Officer should have known that sexual or…
(10th Cir. No. 01-1010, filed 8/8/2002). A claim under 42 U.S.C. section 1983, based on a state's failure to conduct the requisite background and insurance checks prior to an infant's death at a licensed day care facility, is not actionable where no state conduct created or increased the danger to t…
Posted: September 10, 2013 – 3:55pm in the Topeka Capital-Journal. By Tim Hrenchir. Stormont-Vail HealthCare Inc. is suing the state of Kansas, Shawnee County and the city of Topeka seeking payment of medical bills incurred by a man hurt in a crash at the end of a vehicle chase in October 2010. Atto…
548 F3d 595 (7th Cir. 11/24/08). A county work release inmate harassed, then murdered a woman and two other people before committing suicide. Their heirs sued the county claiming the sheriff's failure to act on the woman's complaint and revoke work release deprived the plaintiffs of due process. The…
(6th Cir. No. 11-1998, filed 01/14/13). 911 medical emergency call creates “exigent circumstances” justifying warrantless entry and search of premises. In December 2008, Susan Stricker, an attorney and registered nurse, called 911 in Cambridge Township, Michigan. Her 20-year old son Andrew had overd…
533 U.S. 194, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001). Excessive force analysis is distinct from qualified immunity analysis. A finding of unreasonable force does not necessarily preclude an officer from being entitled to qualified immunity….
(10th Cir. No. 00-1295, filed 12/17/2001)(unpublished). District court did not err in denying defendant officers' motion for judgment as a matter of law on unreasonable seizure handcuffing claims. Evidence indicated plaintiffs were handcuffed for over an hour during the search of their home, plainti…
(No. 05-1631, filed 4/30/07). In this case, a Coweta County, Georgia, deputy clocked the suspect's vehicle driving at 73 miles per hour in a 55-mile-per-hour zone. The deputy pursued, and in attempting the flee, the suspect drove between 70 and 90 miles per hour, passed other vehicles by crossing to…
157 F.3d 1054 (6th Cir. 1998). Officer who revealed confidential informant's identity was entitled to qualified immunity when CI was assassinated. Duty to protect CI was not clearly established….
300 Fed. Appx. 832 (11th Cir. 2008, unpublished). Warrantless entry into the plaintiff's home violated his Fourth Amendment rights, and the law clearly prohibited such conduct, so defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity. Officers went to Shepards house to arrest him for lewd and lascivious…
577 F.3d 1196 (10th Cir. 2009). Mountain View officers stopped two vehicles for traffic violations that actually occurred in the adjoining City of Denver. The Circuit granted the officers qualified immunity, because a reasonable police officer would not have known in 2006 that extra-jurisdictional, …
(10th Cir. No. 08-2105, filed 07/31/09). A fourteen year old African-American girl and a thirteen year old Hispanic girl sued Albuquerque police (AP) for hauling them to the police station. AP were investigating robberies described as being committed by a black female, 5'2″ and 110 to 120 pounds, so…
165 F.3d 511 (7th Cir. 1998), cert. denied,(No. 98-1744). Deputy Chief of Detectives not entitled to qualified immunity on state-created danger claim. Chief of Detectives assured informer and prosecutor that tape of informer's phone call would not be released, but did nothing to prevent release whic…
(10th Cir. No. 99-1375, filed 7/30/2001). Bare allegation that public official had person arrested without probable cause or in retaliation for exercising First Amendment rights is insufficient to state a claim for civil rights violation under 42 U.S.C. 1983….
Case No. 10 C 525 (N.D.Ill., August 18, 2011). A federal jury awarded a family $333,000 after a Chicago police officer shot and killed the family's nine-year-old Labrador retriever. To add insult to injury, the jury awarded $2,000 in punitive damages against the officer who shot the dog, and $1,000 …
(unpublished, 10th Cir. No. 01-1455/01-1481, filed 8/5/2004). Mere threats by a law enforcement officer to use excessive force sufficiently states an unreasonable seizure claim sufficient to withstand summary judgement. Officer allegedly threatened to hit Smith with his gun while Smith was laying on…
607 F.3d 655, (10th Cir. 2010). In an action claiming that a BATF agent violated plaintiff's Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizures when the agent shot plaintiff, the denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity is reversed where a reasonable officer would have had pr…
(No. 08-1438, filed 04/20/11). States, in accepting federal funding, do not consent to waive their sovereign immunity to private suits for money damages under RLUIPA. Sovereign immunity therefore bars this inmate's suit for damages against the State of Texas….
Shawnee County Case No. 09C799, tried week of 5/23/11 in Div. 6. Suit alleged that Scott Scurlock used excessive force in arresting suspect after a short pursuit. Plaintiff was pulled over for speeding about 12:38 a.m. on Aug. 9, 2008, by a Shawnee County sheriff's patrol car containing a deputy and…
183 F3d 902 (8th Cir. 1999). Plaintiff, a pre-trial detainee suffered injuries rendering him a quadriplegic after he was placed with his hands cuffed behind his back in a police wagon and was thrown forward into the bulkhead of the passenger compartment. There were no seatbelts or other safety restr…