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Robert Weisler, III v. Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 17-30951 · judgment June 18, 2018

Certiorari denied · January 7, 2019

Pre-decision estimate: 5% cert probability

Before the decision, roughly the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Fifth Circuit decision below, a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and a petition filed soon after the judgment below, and down for a state or local-government respondent.

Question presented

Justice Ginsburg, recently noted that Devenpeck v. Alford has “set[] the balance too heavily in favor of police unaccountability to the detriment of Fourth Amendment protection,” and it should be revisited. District of Columbia v. Wesby, 138 S. Ct. 577, 594

(Ginsburg, J. concurring). Under Devenpeck, a police officer’s reason for a warrantless arrest is irrelevant to determining whether he acted reasonably by effectuating the arrest for the purposes of Fourth Amendment analysis under 42 U.S.C. §
But qualified immunity already protects all officers but the malicious and incompetent, and Heck v. Humphrey already protects officers against claims for unlawful arrest when the arrestee was ultimately convicted of the crime for which he was arrested. The question presented is whether Devenpeck, which only protects officers who either incompetently or maliciously arrest a person for a crime the arrestee did not commit, should be overruled.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Tillman J. Breckenridge
Stris & Maher LLP

For respondent
Daniel Rault Martiny
Martiny & Associates, LLC

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

Jan 07 2019
Petition DENIED.
Nov 28 2018
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/4/2019.
Nov 20 2018
Reply of petitioner Richard Weisler, III filed.
Nov 07 2018
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including November 7, 2018.
Nov 07 2018
Brief of respondents Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, et al. in opposition filed.
Oct 31 2018
Motion to extend the time to file a response from October 31, 2018 to November 7, 2018, submitted to The Clerk. filed.
Oct 19 2018
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including October 31, 2018.
Oct 17 2018
Motion to extend the time to file a response from October 17, 2018 to October 31, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
Sep 17 2018
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 17, 2018)