Opinion ID: 2809264
Heading Depth: 6
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: False Statements in Lucas’s DEA-6 Report

Text: Finally, Webb alleges that Lucas’s DEA-6 report of October 14, 2005, contained false statements. Aside from allegedly falsely reporting the date of the N-17 recording, which was discussed above, these alleged falsehoods include the following: (1) Lucas reported that he and other officers met with Bray before the Webb drug buy, but the other officers stated that they did not meet Bray; (2) Lucas reported that he and Conrad/Webb exchanged money for drugs directly, but Bray and Conrad testified that Lucas exchanged money for drugs with Bray, then Bray passed the money to Conrad; and (3) Lucas falsely documented the person who sold him drugs as being 6’3” tall when he was only 5’9” tall. The district court determined that these “alleged fabrications do not rise to the level of a constitutional violation.” Webb, 2013 WL 1303776, at . This conclusion is correct as to the first two items because those discrepancies were not reasonably likely to affect the jury’s decision. See Gregory, 444 F.3d at 737. But the misstatement about the suspect’s height may have affected the jury’s decision because truthfully reporting the height of the suspect as being 5’9” would have seriously undermined the case against a 6’3” defendant. Whether it was objectively reasonable for Lucas to mistake a 5’9” suspect to be 6’3” remains a factual question for the jury. Therefore, the district court improperly granted Lucas summary judgment with respect to this claim.