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Austin J. Bass v. Patrick M. Greve, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 18-6069 · judgment February 25, 2020

Certiorari denied · March 1, 2021
Pre-decision estimate: 2% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

Officer Austin Bass (“Officer Bass”) responded to a burglar alarm and found Patrick Greve (“Greve”) outside a locked and closed nightclub, wrapped in a tablecloth, with watery bloodshot eyes and the handle to the door at Greve’s feet. Greve informed Officer Bass that he had attempted to enter the locked building to retrieve some of his personal belongings. The nightclub manager informed Officer Bass that Greve was not authorized to enter the locked building. Officer Bass arrested Greve for public intoxication and attempted burglary. The questions presented are:

  1. Whether Officer Bass had probable cause to arrest under the Fourth Amendment where the suspect admitted to trying to enter a closed and locked building, breaking a door handle in the process, but offered a questionable claim of an innocent mental state when explaining his behavior to Officer Bass.

  2. Whether, even if there was no probable cause to arrest Greve for any offense, Officer Bass was entitled to qualified immunity because the law was not clearly established in this regard.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Melissa Sue Roberge
Metropolitan Government Department of Law

For respondent
Thomas W. Condit
Thomas W. Condit, Attorney at Law

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 6 conferences

Proceedings

  1. Mar 01 2021
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Feb 22 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/26/2021.
  3. Feb 18 2021
    Rescheduled.
  4. Feb 12 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/19/2021.
  5. Jan 21 2021
    Rescheduled.
  6. Jan 19 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/22/2021.
  7. Jan 14 2021
    Rescheduled.
  8. Jan 11 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/15/2021.
  9. Jan 07 2021
    Rescheduled.
  10. Dec 23 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/8/2021.
  11. Dec 18 2020
    Reply of petitioner Austin Bass filed. (Distributed)
  12. Dec 02 2020
    Motion to delay distribution of the petition for a writ certiorari until December 23, 2020 granted.
  13. Dec 01 2020
    Motion of petitioner to delay distribution of the petition for a writ of certiorari under Rule 15.5 from December 9, 2020 to December 23, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
  14. Nov 24 2020
    Brief of respondent Patrick Greve in opposition filed.
  15. Oct 28 2020
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including November 24, 2020.
  16. Oct 26 2020
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from November 12, 2020 to November 24, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
  17. Oct 13 2020
    Response Requested. (Due November 12, 2020)
  18. Sep 30 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/16/2020.
  19. Sep 24 2020
    Waiver of right of respondent Patrick Greve, et al. to respond filed.
  20. Aug 31 2020
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 5, 2020)