Jeremy Newton v. Tim Ray

[DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT __________________________________ FILED U.S. COURT OF APPEALS No. 08-10926 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT JULY 14, 2008 Non-Argument Calendar THOMAS K. KAHN __________________________________ CLERK D. C. Docket No. 06-02315-CV-3-IPJ JEREMY NEWTON, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus TIM RAY, Defendant-Appellee. _________________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama __________________________________ (July 14, 2008) Before TJOFLAT, BIRCH and DUBINA, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: The defendant deputy sheriff arrested the plaintiff for encouraging his wife to “assault” his sister. According to plaintiff’s amended complaint for money damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for false arrest, plaintiff’s sister called the police and the defendant responded to the call. The defendant observed that plaintiff’s sister had a bloody nose; she told him that the plaintiff had “egged on” the assault. She subsequently swore out a complaint against him. The defendant moved to dismiss the amended complaint on the ground that he was entitled to qualified immunity. The district court granted the motion. In a well reasoned Memorandum Opinion, the court held that the defendant “reasonably could have believed that probable cause existed in light of the information he possessed at the time he arrested the plaintiff.” The plaintiff now appeals. We find no error in the district court’s reasoning, and therefore affirm. AFFIRMED. 2