# Linbrugger v. Abercia

> Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · March 22, 2004 · 363 F.3d 537

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9841588

## Case

- **Full name:** Wayne Michael LINBRUGGER II, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jack F. ABERCIA, Etc.; Et Al., Defendants, Jeff Haggard, Deputy, in His Individual Capacity as Deputy of Harris County Constable Precinct 1, Defendant-Appellant
- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- **Decided:** March 22, 2004
- **Citations:** 363 F.3d 537; 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 5351; 2004 WL 551218
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Zainey
- **Judges:** Garwood, Jones, Zainey
- **Cited by:** 24 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9841588

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- stating that an argument made for the first time in a reply brief is waived
- noting that qualified immunity applies absent an underlying constitutional violation

## Opinion text

ZAINEY, District Judge,
concurring:
I join in the majority opinion as a correct disposition under the facts specific to this case. I write separately, however, to express my disagreement with Haggard’s “special needs” argument. It is my opinion that the Fourth Amendment mandate that officers knock and announce their identities, absent exigent circumstances, applies in the field of mental health activity. Likewise, I disagree with the First Circuit’s decision in McCabe v. Life-Line Ambulance Service, Inc., 77 F.3d 540 (1st Cir.1996), discussed in footnote one of the opinion, which held that warrantless, forcible entries by police officers in possession of an involuntary commitment order were reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Therefore, if Haggard had timely raised the special needs argument, I would have concluded that a per se exception to the knock and announce requirement in mental health cases does not comport with the Fourth Amendment reasonableness requirement.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9841588. Public record. Not legal advice.