Off-Duty Officers Who Allegedly Beat Veteran Must Face Lawsuit

Two New Orleans police officers, who allegedly beat a decorated U.S. veteran of Hispanic descent unconscious while they were off duty, must face a claim that they violated their victim’s civil rights, the Fifth Circuit said.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana dismissed Jorge Gomez’s suit against John Galman and Spencer Sutton, saying he didn’t allege that they acted under color of law when they beat him.

But in a per curiam opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said that Gomez alleged sufficient facts to show Galman and Sutton “utilized their authority ...