Michael Roane v. Tina Ray

Michael Roane, a drug task force officer, was called at home in 2017 to respond to a place he had never been. As he pulled in, he saw a dog tied to a tree off his truck’s passenger side. When he stepped out, the 150-pound dog aggressively chased the backpedaling Roane down the driver’s side. Thinking the dog had broken free when it closed to within a step in seconds and was about to attack him, Roane fired one shot to protect himself and the dog died. Afterwards, Roane learned the dog was on a lead sliding across a zip line up in the trees. Tina Ray filed suit, claiming unreasonable seizure of her personal property in violation of her Fourth Amendment rights and state law conversion. The District Court dismissed the case, but the Fourth Circuit reversed. After discovery, the District Court granted summary judgment. The Fourth Circuit vacated summary judgment on the Fourth Amendment claim. According to the Fourth Circuit, when it decided at the motion to dismiss stage that two allegations – Roane stopped and took a step forward before shooting – were “material,” those two allegations became “critical,” dictating denial of summary judgment. The Fourth Circuit disregarded the evidentiary record, showing the circumstances and Roane’s perceptions when he acted to protect himself. The questions presented are: 1. Whether Roane’s act had to be the “necessary” or “unavoidable” act, rather than within a range of objective reasonableness, to be considered an act of self-protection