August 21st, 2019

US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions
Cole v. Carson

Dockets: 14-10228, 15-10045
Opinion Date: August 20, 2019
Judge: Higginbotham
Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law

On petition for rehearing en banc following remand from the Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the denial of summary judgment on plaintiff's excessive force claim. Plaintiff and his parents filed suit against police officers under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that the officers violated plaintiff's Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights during an incident in which the officers shot plaintiff without warning and then lied about what happened. The en banc court held that it will be for a jury, and not judges, to resolve the competing factual narratives as detailed in the district court opinion and the record as to the excessive force claim. Accordingly, the en banc court dismissed the officers' appeal. The court also affirmed the denial of the motion to dismiss the Fourteenth Amendment false charge claim; reversed the denial of the motion to dismiss the Fourth Amendment and Brady fabrication-of-evidence claims based on qualified immunity; and remanded to the district court for further proceedings.

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