Sheriffs, Prosecutors Avoid Defense Attorneys’ False Arrest Suit

Alabama deputy sheriffs and the prosecutors responsible for the arrest of a suspect’s attorneys for allegedly hiding evidence of child pornography are entitled to qualified immunity on the attorneys’ false arrest claim, the Eleventh Circuit said.

The defendants had arguable probable cause to make the arrests, the opinion by Judge Andrew L. Brasher said.

Megan Garcia and Victor Revill’s client had a civil investigation and a criminal investigation being conducted against him for alleged child abuse. Sheriffs Sue Ashworth and Brian Ratliff obtained a search warrant for the client’s phones, to look for evidence of child pornography, that was to ...