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Qualified Immunity

By: Derek Hawkins//April 18, 2017//

Qualified Immunity

By: Derek Hawkins//April 18, 2017//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Tina M. Ewell v. Eric Toney, et al

Case No.: 16-1009

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and EASTERBROOK and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Qualified Immunity

Tina Ewell was a close friend and confidante of her sister, Eve Nance. So close, in fact, that when Nance shot and killed her husband, Ewell helped Nance dispose of his body. For this, a Wisconsin court convicted Ewell of a number of felony and misdemeanor charges in October 2016. But she is not asking us to second-guess those convictions. Instead, she is complaining about an aspect of the criminal investigation—namely, her initial arrest and detention immediately after the murder. During the period between her release from that detention and her indictment in the criminal case, she filed a civil rights action complaining that the detention was not supported by probable cause but was instead for the impermissible goal of building a case against her. Resolving the case before the state criminal proceeding began, the district court dismissed her suit, and this appeal followed. Because we conclude that Ewell is not entitled to damages on most of her claims, and that the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity on the rest, we affirm.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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