Wheeler v. Hronopoulos

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendants’ motion for summary judgment in section 1983 action alleging that defendants subjected plaintiff to unlawful search and arrest that resulted in criminal charges to which plaintiff had ultimately been acquitted. Record showed that informant, who had been reliable in past, supplied defendants with information about guns in plaintiff’s apartment, and that defendants had brought informant to judge who issued two search warrants. Dist. Ct. could properly find existence of probable cause so as to defeat plaintiff’s claims contained in his section 1983 complaint due to submission of informant’s tip to judge. Moreover, plaintiff waived any argument regarding dispute over existence of informant, since: (1) plaintiff had failed to raise issue in Dist. Ct.; and (2) plaintiff had relied on existence of informant when making different argument in front of Dist. Ct. Plaintiff also waived any Brady claim regarding defendant’s alleged failure to procure fingerprint evidence, since plaintiff had never alleged said claim in his amended complaint.