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CA6: Police destruction of plaintiff's garage was a "meaningful interference," and a trial question remains on reasonablenss

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Plaintiffs' claim against defendants for executing a search warrant unreasonably survived summary judgment on qualified immunity. Officers got a search warrant for plaintiff’s property to search for a person missing since 1997. They drilled holes in plaintiff’s concrete garage floor, and a cadaver dog allegedly alerted. They emptied the garage and started digging. They piled dirt on plaintiff’s belongings considering it “junk.” Their digging down 15' undermined the structure, and they supported it on their own. They found nothing and left, and they felt unobliged to do anything to restore the condition of the property. Ground water from rain created a pond in plaintiff’s garage. This was a “meaningful interference” with plaintiffs' property and fact questions remain on whether it was reasonable [and it certainly seems from the opinion that it was not], and this right was clearly established at the time...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 09, 2010 (boomark / email).