affirming the dismissal of plaintiff’s Fourth - Amendment false arrest claim because the defendant police officer’s "negligence alone was insufficient to establish a constitutional violation"
How later courts described this case
- affirming the dismissal of plaintiff’s Fourth - Amendment false arrest claim because the defendant police officer’s "negligence alone was insufficient to establish a constitutional violation"
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
April 5, 2007
For the Fifth Circuit
___________________________
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
No.06-60705
Summary Calendar
___________________________
JAMES R. WILLIAMS,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
VERSUS
CITY OF AMORY, MISSISSIPPI, and JOHN BISHOP,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Mississippi, Eastern Division
1:04-CV-299
Before DAVIS, BARKSDALE and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:1
James Williams appeals the dismissal of his § 1983 claim against the City of Amory,
Mississippi and its police officer John Bishop on summary judgment. Williams’ suit claims that
the defendants arrested him without probable cause in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Williams was arrested after the police observed him driving recklessly, nearly causing two
accidents. He asserts that his arrest was without probable cause and unconstitutional because
witnesses at the scene of his arrest told the officer that Williams did not drink or do drugs and that
he must be suffering from a medical condition.
1
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that this opinion should not be
published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
1
The district court concluded that the evidence in the summary judgment record raised a
genuine issue of fact as to whether the defendants acted negligently, but also recognized that
negligence alone was insufficient to establish a constitutional violation. We agree. As the plaintiff
recognizes, the doctrine of qualified immunity protects all but the plainly incompetent or those
who knowingly violate the law. Malley v. Briggs, 475 U.S. 335, 341 (1986). Williams’ actions
prior to his arrest clearly gave the officers probable cause to arrest him. The officer’s failure to
recognize and act on William’s medical condition was at most negligent and therefore not
sufficiently aberrant to overcome the defense of qualified immunity.
Regarding Williams’ claims against the city, the district court concluded that Williams
failed to establish liability on the part of the city based on a failure to demonstrate that the alleged
misconduct in this case was the result of a municipal policy or custom as required by Monell v.
Dept. of Social Services of City of New York, 426 U.S. 658 (1978). Again, we agree. The
above analysis also supports the conclusion of the district court that Williams failed to state a
claim under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. That act requires “reckless disregard for the safety
and well-being of any person not engaged in a criminal act at the time of injury.” Mississippi
Code Ann. § 11-46-9(1)(c).
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court dismissing the plaintiff’s case on
summary judgment for essentially the reasons stated in the district court’s Order dated July 12,
2006
AFFIRMED.
2