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Civil Rights — false arrest — qualified immunity

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//March 28, 2012//

Civil Rights — false arrest — qualified immunity

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//March 28, 2012//

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Civil Rights — false arrest — qualified immunity

Where there was arguable probable cause to arrest the plaintiff, and the officer consulted the state attorney’s office before doing so, he is entitled to qualified immunity on the plaintiff’s wrongful arrest claim.

“In this case there was certainly arguable probable cause. The undisputed evidence showed that within seven minutes of being informed of a possible break-in and assault, Turner spotted Fleming in an alleyway approximately one-half block from the crime scene. Fleming was the only person in the area and he substantially matched the description of the intruder that one of the victims had given to Turner—he was wearing a baseball cap, t-shirt, and camouflage cargo shorts. From this evidence, a police officer could have reasonably, if mistakenly, believed that probable cause existed to arrest Fleming. This is true even if Haleigh had described Turner’s t-shirt as ‘light-colored’ because witnesses often have minor details incorrect. See Catlin, 574 F.3d at 365-66 (affirming the grant of qualified immunity to police officers on a false-arrest claim where minor variations existed between the description given to the officers and the actual appearance of the suspect arrested, and stating that the officers were ‘required to show only the reasonableness of their belief that the person they arrested was the person they were seeking; they [we]re not required to show that they knew with certainty that the person they arrested was the person they were seeking’). Significantly, before arresting Fleming, Turner contacted state’s attorney Luckman and relayed this information to him. Luckman agreed that, based on the facts Turner presented, Turner had probable cause to arrest Fleming.”

Affirmed.

11-2170 Fleming v. Livingston County

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, McDade, J., Manion, J.

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