Cass v. City of Abilene, No. 14-11134 (5th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseMarcus Cass was fatally shot by Officer Chris Smith during the execution of a warrant to collect certain business records. Plaintiffs, Cass's family members, filed suit against the City, along with Smith and the Chief of Police in their individual capacities, alleging retaliation in violation of the First Amendment and various Fourth Amendment violations. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Smith and the Chief on the basis of qualified immunity. The court affirmed summary judgment as to the Chief because plaintiffs produced no summary judgment evidence that he was involved with the execution of the warrant or Cass’s death. Although a reasonable jury could find that the manner in which Smith executed the warrant was unconstitutional and neither the district court nor the parties has addressed whether the violation was clearly established in the law, the court affirmed summary judgment on plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment claim as it relates to the execution of the warrant because plaintiffs have not shown that Smith violated clearly established law. Finally, the court affirmed summary judgment on the remaining claims against Smith because plaintiffs failed to raise fact issues to support constitutional claims for retaliation or excessive force as it relates to Smith's shooting of Cass.
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.