Miami Officer Can’t Escape Hannibal Buress’ False Arrest Lawsuit

The Miami police officer who arrested stand-up comedian Hannibal Buress in 2017 can’t escape a lawsuit seeking to hold him liable for violating the actors’ constitutional rights, the Eleventh Circuit ruled Tuesday.

The district court didn’t err in finding that officer Luis Verne isn’t entitled to qualified immunity as to Buress’ claims involving his arrest, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit said in an unpublished opinion. Verne won’t be able to block Buress’s claims that there was no constitutional basis for his arrest as “genuine issues of material fact” remain over whether Verne “falsely arrested” Buress, the ...