Estate of Brown v. Thomas

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendants-police officials’ motion for summary judgment in section 1983 action alleging that defendants conducted search of defendant’s home in unreasonable manner, while executing arrest warrant for third-party in defendant’s home that resulted in plaintiff's death during confrontation with defendants. While instant nighttime execution of warrant might be viewed as unreasonable under certain circumstances, especially since defendants were only seeking third-party/burglar as well as his stolen property, plaintiff failed to authenticate expert’s report on issue of reasonableness of County’s policy so as to allow plaintiff to proceed against defendant-County. Moreover, defendants-officers were entitled to qualified immunity, where they were merely following orders/County’s policy when executing warrant during nighttime hours, and where there was no case law that specifically precluded defendant’s actions.