Opinion

O'Hara v. Petal Police Department

  • 260 F. App'x 632
Court
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Filed
Dec 20, 2007
Status
Unpublished
On the bench
Reavley, Smith, Barksdale
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 6.0%

The opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

FILED

December 20, 2007

No. 06-61028

Summary Calendar Charles R. Fulbruge III

Clerk

SHAWN O’HARA,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

PETAL POLICE DEPARTMENT,

c/o Chief Lee Shelbourne, et al.;

DAVID BENOIT, Acting as a Petal Police Officer;

DAVID BENOIT, Acting as an Individual;

JONATHON NOBLES, Acting as a Petal Police Officer;

JONATHON NOBLES, Acting as an Individual;

BRIAN PACE, Acting as a Petal Police Officer;

BRIAN PACE, Acting as an Individual;

DANA ANDERSON, Acting as a Petal Police Officer;

DANA ANDERSON, Acting as an Individual,

Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Mississippi

No. 2:05-CV-103

No. 2:05-CV-104

No. 06-61028

Before REAVLEY, SMITH, and BARKSDALE, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

Shawn O’Hara appeals the summary judgment and the dismissal with

prejudice of his consolidated suits. Construed liberally, O’Hara’s pro se brief con-

tains argument on the denial of his false arrest and false imprisonment claims

on qualified immunity grounds, the alleged improper treatment of his car and

daughter, the denial of his claims under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (“VRA”)

and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (“FHA”), and the denial of his state law claims

on account of his failure to file the notice of claim required under the Mississippi

Tort Claims Act (“MTCA”). O’Hara has waived appellate review of any other is-

sues. See Yohey v. Collins, 985 F.2d 222, 225 (5th Cir. 1993) (recognizing that

even pro se litigants must brief arguments to preserve them).

O’Hara argues that the district court erred in determining that defendants

were entitled to qualified immunity with respect to his claims that defendants

falsely arrested and falsely imprisoned him when they removed him from a laun-

dry business on July 4, 2004. This court reviews de novo a summary judgment

predicated on qualified immunity, applying the same standards as does a district

court. See Mack v. City of Abilene, 461 F.3d 547, 555 (5th Cir. 2006).

After reviewing the record, we conclude that the district court did not err

in determining that defendants are entitled to qualified immunity because a rea-

sonable officer under the same circumstances could have concluded that O’Hara

had committed or was committing an offense. See Haggerty v. Tex. S. Univ., 391

F.3d 653, 655-56 (5th Cir. 2004). Defendants’ actions regarding O’Hara’s car and

daughter during the approximate two-hour period that O’Hara was detained also

were objectively reasonable for qualified immunity purposes. See United States

*

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.

2

No. 06-61028

v. Castro, 166 F.3d 728, 734 (5th Cir. 1999); United States v. Ponce, 8 F.3d 989,

996 (5th Cir. 1993).

Furthermore, the dispatch record contradicts O’Hara’s contention that Da-

na Anderson falsely conveyed, in dispatching officers to the laundry, that O’Hara

had previously been escorted off the laundry premises by police. O’Hara’s un-

supported and conclusory assertion that Anderson lied is insufficient to establish

the existence of a genuine issue for trial. See FED. R. CIV. P. 56(e); Little v. Li-

quid Air Corp., 37 F.3d 1069, 1075 (5th Cir. 1994) (en banc). Defendants’ actions

concerning the July 4 incident were objectively reasonable for qualified immuni-

ty purposes, irrespective of the details of any prior incident at the laundry in-

volving O’Hara. O’Hara’s assertion that defendants’ answers to his complaints

contained perjury is without merit.

O’Hara’s allegations regarding the VRA and FHA do not implicate the pro-

tections afforded under those acts. See Allen v. State Bd. of Elections, 393 U.S.

544, 548 (1969) (VRA); Meadowbriar Home for Children, Inc. v. Gunn, 81 F.3d

521, 530 (5th Cir. 1996) (FHA). Regardless of whether O’Hara satisfied the

MTCA’s notice requirement, defendants’ actions were objectively reasonable, and

O’Hara thus cannot make the showing required for recovery under the MTCA.

See MISS. CODE ANN. § 11-46-9(1)(c) (2002).

AFFIRMED.

3

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