concluding that there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the plaintiff's action of requesting car keys from an officer and "gesticulating erratically" would create a hazardous or physically offensive condition
How later courts described this case
- concluding that there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the plaintiff's action of requesting car keys from an officer and "gesticulating erratically" would create a hazardous or physically offensive condition
- “The issues of whether there was probable cause to arrest and whether excessive force was used are distinct.”
- “[A] private front yard is the type of private property where the public is generally excluded and thus a jury could conclude it was unreasonable for [an officer] to believe [a person’s] front lawn is a ‘public place’ ‘to which the public ... has access.’ ” (quoting Ky.Rev.Stat. § 525.010(3))
- defendant’s husband and children were not members of the public
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
ALAN E. NORRIS, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
As the district court recognized in its opinion granting summary judgment, this lawsuit arose from an unfortunate series of events marked by a combination of “a marital dispute and a parental concern for children, perhaps inadequate communication among law enforcement, distraught and emotional participants, and perhaps, overreaction by the police.” Memorandum Option at 2. While Chief Riggs’ decision to arrest Mrs. Nails may have been ill-advised with the benefit of hindsight, not every questionable decision on the part of law enforcement arises to the level of a constitutional tort. In this case, I would affirm the conclusion of the district court that “[biased on the [] facts as they appeared at the time of arrest, a reasonable and prudent officer had sufficient evidence to establish probable cause to arrest Plaintiff for disorderly conduct,” Id at 6.
In all other respect, I concur in the opinion of the majority.