Chevallier v. Hand, No. 12-2983 (8th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed suit against defendant, the deputy sheriff that had arrested him, alleging excessive force and false arrest under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments and 42 U.S.C. 1983. The district court found that defendant had failed to meet his burden of proving probable cause and denied his motion for partial summary judgment on the false arrest claim. The court found no merit in defendant's claim that the district court effectively imposed a novel requirement that an officer may conduct a warrantless arrest for a misdemeanor offense only if that offense took place in the presence of the officer. The court reversed and remanded, concluding that defendant met his burden of showing arguable probable cause and he was, therefore, entitled to qualified immunity with respect to the false arrest claim.
Court Description: Civil case - Civil rights. District court's denial of defendant's motion for summary judgment did not rely on a holding that a warrantless arrest on a misdemeanor charge is only permitted when the offense was committed in an officer's presence, and an argument that such a holding was error must be rejected; however, the district court erred in denying the officer's motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity as the officer established that he had arguable probable cause for plaintiff's arrest.
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