Opinion ID: 2974275
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Pinckney Defendants

Text: Plaintiffs’ § 1983 case against the Pinckney Defendants is based on the contention that the Pinckney officers violated the Fourth Amendment when they entered the Hardesty home without a search warrant. The Pinckney officers arrived on the scene after the Hamburg officers had gone to the back door, looked into the windows, and determined that they needed to enter the house in order to see if medical assistance was required. The Pinckney officers entered the house with the Hamburg officers based upon the information provided by the Hamburg officers that an individual in the house appeared unconscious and bleeding. Reliance upon such information insulates the Pinckney officers from civil liability in the event the information relied upon was defective. See United States v. Hensley, 469 U.S. 221, 230 (1985); Whitely v. Warden, 401 U.S. 560, 568 (1971); Feathers v. Aey, 319 F.3d 843, 851 (6th Cir. 2003). Therefore, even if the Hamburg officers had violated the Fourth Amendment in the course of learning of the apparent emergency, the Pinckney officers’ entry into the house based on that information would not subject the Pinckney officers to § 1983 liability. Consequently, there is a separate and independent basis for affirming the grant of summary judgment in favor of the Pinckney Defendants.