Anokwuru v. City of Houston, No. 20-20295 (5th Cir. 2021)
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The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) dismissal of plaintiff's 42 U.S.C. 1983 claims. Plaintiff's claims stemmed from his arrest for aggravated sexual assault where the district attorney's officer subsequently dismissed the case based on lack of probable cause to believe that plaintiff committed the offense.
The court concluded that the district court did not err by dismissing plaintiff's constitutional claims for false arrest where the arrest was reasonable and established no constitutional violation; for malicious prosecution because he abandoned this claim on appeal and, to the extent that he does not concede the issue, there is no freestanding right under the Constitution to be free from malicious prosecution; and for equal protection where plaintiff failed to allege that he was treated differently than persons similarly situated to him and that the treatment stemmed from discriminatory intent. Furthermore, the district court did not err by dismissing the claim for failure to train where plaintiff has not plausibly alleged that the City's training practices were inadequate or that the City was deliberately indifferent to plaintiff's rights. The court also concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying plaintiff's fourth request for leave to amend, and did not err by sua sponte dismissing plaintiff's constitutional claims against the officer.
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