CA7: Ptf’s suit for arrest for possession and obstruction was barred by arguable PC

Plaintiff was arrested for possession of cocaine and obstructing justice when he allegedly swallowed the baggie of drugs. He was taken to a hospital and drank charcoal and other liquids to pass it and he was x-rayed. Nothing was recovered. At jail he was put in a dry cell for a week and still didn’t pass it. Later he prevailed on the obstruction and possession counts by pleading to some other stuff he already apparently had. His suit was barred by arguable probable cause. The fact he never passed the baggie isn’t proof the officer was lying. Baker v. Fermon, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 2035 (7th Cir. Jan. 23, 2020).*

The officers here had collective knowledge that added up to reasonable suspicion, including defendant’s travels in that collective knowledge, which he lied about, and that added to the reasonable suspicion to lawfully extend the stop, here only seven minutes total. United States v. Howard, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10554 (E.D. Tenn. Jan. 22, 2020).*

This entry was posted in § 1983 / Bivens, Collective knowledge, Qualified immunity. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.