Loston v. St Mary Parish et al

Filing 17

RULE 7(a) HEIGHTENED PLEADING REVIEW. After review, the undersigned concludes that the plaintiff has "supported his claims with sufficient precision and factual specificity to raise a genuine issue as to the illegality of defendants' conduct at the time of the alleged acts." Schultea, 47 F.3d at 1434. Thus, no order limiting discovery under Schultea is appropriate. Signed by Magistrate Judge Patrick J Hanna on 12/9/2016. (crt,Alexander, E)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
KE'VON TRAMAR LOSTON

CIVIL ACTION NO. 6:16-0964

VERSUS

JUDGE DOHERTY

ST. MARY PARISH SHERIFF'S
OFFICE, ET AL.

MAGISTRATE JUDGE HANNA

RULE 7(a) HEIGHTENED PLEADING REVIEW
In this §1983 civil rights suit, plaintiff has sued the St. Mary Parish Sheriff
Deputies Sennett Wiggins and Beau Martin in their official and individual
capacities. In their answer, these defendants plead qualified immunity. The
undersigned has therefore conducted an evaluation of plaintiff's complaint to
determine whether it meets the applicable heightened pleading requirement. See
Schultea v. Wood, 47 F.3d 1427, (5th Cir. 1995); Baker v. Putnal, 75 F.3d 190, 195
(5th Cir. 1996).
After review, the undersigned concludes that the plaintiff has “supported his
claims with sufficient precision and factual specificity to raise a genuine issue as
to the illegality of defendants’ conduct at the time of the alleged acts.” Schultea,
47 F.3d at 1434. Plaintiff alleges that Deputies Wiggins and Martin violated
plaintiff's Constitutional right to be free from unreasonable seizure when they
arrested and detained him for theft of an ATV 4-wheeler, without having any

objective evidence to directly implicate him in the crime. Although the court may
later determine the facts in favor of these defendants, the sole issue presented here
is whether plaintiff has satisfied the heightened pleading requirement of Shultea,
which the undersigned concludes he has. Thus, no order limiting discovery under
Schultea is appropriate.
Signed at Lafayette, Louisiana on this 9th day of December 2016.

__________________________________
PATRICK J. HANNA
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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