Opinion ID: 2981315
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Snavely

Text: The district court denied Snavely’s motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds related to the search warrant that he obtained and executed in the search of 347 South Main Street. Even though the district court rested its ruling on its finding of waiver, it discussed the merits of this issue. The district court stated that fact questions remained with respect to whether Snavely (1) acted with reckless disregard for the truth when obtaining the warrant, and (2) executed the warrant without “assess[ing] the affidavit upon which the warrant was based.” See United States v. Washington, 380 F.3d 236, 241 (6th Cir. 2004). No. 10-4415 Cline, et al. v. Myers, et al. Page 6 “An investigator may be held liable under § 1983 for making material false statements either knowingly or in reckless disregard for the truth to establish probable cause for an arrest.” Vakilian v. Shaw, 335 F.3d 509, 517 (6th Cir. 2003). Construing the evidence in favor of Plaintiffs, the alleged action by Snavely would violate clearly established law. “To overcome an officer’s entitlement to qualified immunity, however, a plaintiff must establish: (1) a substantial showing that the defendant stated a deliberate falsehood or showed reckless disregard for the truth and (2) that the allegedly false or omitted information was material to the finding of probable cause.” Id. Plaintiffs produced evidence tending to establish these elements, including Snavely’s deposition testimony that he “didn’t agree or disagree” with the alteration made to the affidavit that changed the address of the house to be searched from 618 Burns Street to 347 South Main Street; the warrant’s failure to allege that Foster was present at 347 South Main Street; the fact that no police officer corroborated the confidential informant’s statement that Foster was present at that address; and the warrant’s inclusion of facts relating only to 618 Burns Street, where Foster was initially thought to be hiding. Construed in favor of Plaintiffs, this evidence would allow a jury to conclude, or at least infer, that Snavely swore to the statements in the supporting affidavit with a reckless disregard for the truth and that the information was “material to the finding of probable cause.” Id. Thus, questions of material fact remain as to whether Snavely’s actions were made with reckless disregard for the truth, and whether the information was material to the finding of probable cause. For this reason, we affirm the district court’s denial of summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds to Snavely. Because we affirm on this ground, we need not consider whether Snavely executed the warrant without “assess[ing] the affidavit upon which the warrant was based.” See Washington, 380 F. 3d at 241. No. 10-4415 Cline, et al. v. Myers, et al. Page 7