IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 15-30563

Summary Calendar

TRENT STEVEN GRIFFIN, SR., 

 Plaintiff - Appellant

v.

NEW ORLEANS CITY; NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT; MARLIN 

N. GUSMAN, Sheriff, Orleans Parish; MITCH LANDRIEU, Mayor, City of 

New Orleans; RONAL SERPAS, Superintendent of New Orleans Police 

Department; ARLINDA WESTBROOK, Commander, Public Integrity 

Bureau; CHRISTOPHER LAINE, Officer, New Orleans Police Department, 

 Defendants - Appellees

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Eastern District of Louisiana

USDC No. 2:14-CV-559

Before DAVIS, JONES, and GRAVES, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

 

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not 

be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH 

CIR. R. 47.5.4.

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

FILED

January 6, 2016

Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

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No. 15-30563

2

Trent Steven Griffin, Sr. appeals the district court’s dismissal of his 

claims arising from his arrest and detention on August 19, 2012. Because the 

claims are time barred, we AFFIRM.

I.

On August 19, 2012, Trent Steven Griffin, Sr. was pulled over, 

questioned by a New Orleans Police Department officer, arrested, and detained

in the Orleans Parish Prison. Griffin alleges that the traffic stop, arrest, and 

detention were without probable cause and a violation of his constitutional and 

civil rights. Griffin further alleges that, while in the Orleans Parish Prison,

he was assaulted by another inmate, the deputies on duty at the prison failed 

to report or charge the other inmate for the assault, and the prison medical 

staff provided him medication without screening for possible complications. 

Griffin filed an administrative complaint with the City of New Orleans’s Public 

Integrity Bureau on December 17, 2012. He subsequently filed this lawsuit on 

March 12, 2014 alleging violations of the Fourth, Eighth, Thirteenth, and 

Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, the Americans 

with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, the Omnibus Crime Control and 

Safe Streets Act of 1968, and various other laws brought under 42 U.S.C. §§ 

1983 and 1985. The district court dismissed all of Griffin’s claims as prescribed 

by Louisiana’s one-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims. 

Griffin now appeals.

II.

We apply the forum state’s most analogous limitations period to claims 

arising under federal laws without a statute of limitations. Edmonds v. 

Oktibbeha County, 675 F.3d 911, 916 (5th Cir. 2012); Price v. San Antonio, 431 

F.3d 890, 892 (5th Cir. 2005). In this § 1983 case, Griffin’s claims are governed 

by Louisiana’s prescriptive period for tort actions, which is one year. Cruz v. 

Louisiana ex rel. Dep’t of Pub. Safety and Corr., 528 F.3d 375, 378-79 (5th Cir. 

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3

2008). Federal law, however, determines the date of accrual for the limitations 

period, which occurs when the plaintiff knows, or should have known, of the 

facts that form the basis of the claim. Burrell v. Newsome, 883 F.2d 416, 418 

(5th Cir. 1989).

We find that Griffin failed to timely file his claims. Griffin was arrested 

on August 19, 2012 and filed an administrative complaint arising from the 

arrest with the City of New Orleans on December 17, 2012. Whether we look 

to the arrest or the filing of the administrative complaint, the latest date to 

timely commence a lawsuit arising from the arrest and detention would have 

been in December of 2013. Since Griffin did not file his claims until March 12, 

2014, the claims are barred and must be dismissed.

III.

The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.

 Case: 15-30563 Document: 00513332421 Page: 3 Date Filed: 01/06/2016