Christopher Brandt Obtains Complete Dismissal With Prejudice For City, Police Officers

Alleged Civil Rights Violations

Plaintiff sued a North Texas city and three police officers for:

• false arrest and malicious prosecution under the Fourth Amendment;
• a Fourteenth Amendment deliberate indifference claim for violating his right to medical care;
• and a Monell claim against the city for enacting a policy that caused a constitutional deprivation of his rights.

Plaintiff claimed that the police were called to his ex-wife’s home to investigate him for an alleged violation of a protective order against him. Plaintiff was found outside of his ex-wife’s home and the officers noted that Plaintiff appeared to be intoxicated due to the odor of alcohol on his breath. Although no one witnessed him driving his vehicle to the ex-wife’s home, Plaintiff admitted that he had driven to the location. Plaintiff failed to pass the standard field sobriety tests and was arrested for DUI. Later, Plaintiff’s criminal case was dropped by the district attorney’s office and Plaintiff brought claims against Defendants.

Qualified Immunity for Defendants

The court reviewed the body camera footage that the Plaintiff referenced in his complaint and determined that Defendants’ description of the video was accurate, and that Plaintiff’s interpretation of the video was not plausible. The court dismissed Plaintiff’s case with prejudice because probable cause existed to arrest him based on the body camera videos. The court also determined that the videos and Plaintiff’s complaint failed to state a Fourteenth Amendment claim for deliberate indifference to Plaintiff’s serious medical needs.

The court agreed with Defendants and determined that all the police officers were entitled to qualified immunity from Plaintiff’s claims. Additionally, the court agreed with Defendants that Plaintiff had not and could not plead a Monell claim against the City.