CA8: Officer wins two § 1983 cases in same day from E.D. Mo., Cape Girardeau

The officer had cause for defendant’s stop for a broken taillight and then found a warrant for his arrest. “Wood also alleges that after the fact, Wooten fabricated evidence about the arrest (and then invoked his Fifth Amendment right about it). This later conduct does not negate Wooten’s probable cause at the time of the arrest. See Bowden v. Meinberg, 807 F.3d 877, 881-82 (8th Cir. 2015). Excluding the allegedly fabricated evidence, Wooten had probable cause based on the outstanding warrant or the broken headlight. See id.” Wood v. Wooten, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 2374 (8th Cir. Jan. 28, 2021).*

There is no Eighth Circuit precedent or controlling authority as to whether an officer has probable cause to make a DWI arrest under the circumstances presented, and the court looks for a robust consensus of cases to answer the question. A survey of Missouri cases demonstrates that even if the defendant officer acted without probable cause in arresting plaintiff, existing law did not give him fair warning that his conduct was unconstitutional. Thus, he was properly granted summary judgment. Kuessner v. Wooten, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 2373 (8th Cir. Jan. 28, 2021).*