Opinion ID: 377037
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Good Faith as a Defense to a False Imprisonment Claim

Text: 42 The Texas courts, Douthit argues, have held that a jailer cannot avoid liability on a false imprisonment claim by showing that he acted in reasonable good faith. He urges that the district court committed reversible error by allowing the jury to consider the good faith of Sheriff Jones and Deputy McCallum as a defense to his common law false imprisonment claim. Noting the dynamic nature of common law tort principles, the defendants respond that the general trend among American jurisdictions has been to grant a qualified immunity from suit to executive officials. They submit that the Texas courts have not recently addressed the issue of the availability of a good faith defense to a jailer, and urge that if the Texas Supreme Court were presented with such an issue, it would follow the lead of the United States Supreme Court and of other state courts by granting a qualified immunity from liability for false imprisonment to a jailer who could demonstrate that he acted in reasonable good faith. 43 The Texas courts have clearly held that to prevail against allegations that he falsely imprisoned an individual a sheriff or jailer must show that he acted under lawful authority. Foust v. Ford, 209 S.W.2d 941, 942 (Tex.Civ.App.1948); Smith v. Burdett, 114 S.W.2d 384, 385 (Tex.Civ.App.1938). Proof that the defendant sheriff acted in good faith, while relevant to the issue of whether the plaintiff can recover punitive damages, will not enable him to avoid liability under Texas common law for the unlawful imprisonment of an individual. Whirl v. Kern, 407 F.2d at 793-96; Hall v. O'Malley, 49 Tex. 70 (1878); Newburn v. Durham, 10 Tex.Civ.App. 655, 32 S.W. 112 (1895). Therefore, the district court erred in failing to instruct the jury on Douthit's common law false imprisonment claim and in granting judgment on that claim to Sheriff Jones and Deputy McCallum based upon the jury's finding that they had acted in good faith. Jones and McCallum could avoid liability only by showing that they had a lawful basis for incarcerating Douthit prior to his confinement, which, as our discussion in part II indicates, they failed to do.