Black v. Wigington, No. 15-10848 (11th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePlaintiffs filed suit against the officers who searched their home, the officers who arrested them, and the sheriff in charge of the jail. Plaintiffs' trailer was searched because officers believed the trailer belonged to someone else. Contraband was found in the trailer and plaintiffs were arrested. However, charges against plaintiffs were dropped after the evidence from the trailer was suppressed. They alleged violations of their federal constitutional and statutory rights, 42 U.S.C. 1983, and various claims under state law. The district court denied the officers' motion for summary judgment. The court concluded that the deputies are entitled to official immunity from the claim of trespass under Georgia law; the deputies and investigator are entitled to qualified immunity from the claim of malicious prosecution; the court joined its sister circuits and held that the exclusionary rule does not apply in a civil suit against police officers; but the sheriff is not entitled to sovereign immunity from the claim under Title II of the Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. 12132. Accordingly, the court reversed in part, affirmed in part, and remanded for further proceedings.
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