Stoner v. Watlingten, No. 12-3383 (8th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed a civil rights action under federal and state law against members of the sheriff's office, including the arresting officer, after he was arrested on suspicion of violating a weapons possession statute. At issue on appeal was the district court's denial of the arresting officer's motion for summary judgment on plaintiff's false arrest claim. Under Arkansas Supreme Court precedent, a reasonable officer would understand a violation of Ark. Code Ann. 5-73-120(a) was predicated upon a person having "a purpose to employ the handgun, knife, or club as a weapon against a person." The court affirmed, agreeing with the district court that the arresting officer was not entitled to qualified immunity because there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether he had probable cause to arrest plaintiff.
Court Description: Civil case - Civil rights. District court did not err in denying arresting officer's motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity as there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the officer had probable cause under Arkansas law to arrest plaintiff for possession of firearms "with a purpose to employ" them "against another person."
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.